2 years post-op gained 20lbs back.

[Kasey Farmarco 1]

My starting weight was 230 lbs and all together I lost 110 lbs. I'm 5'2". I got the surgery 2 years ago and everything was great until recently I started gaining weight quite rapidly. I am always hungry (definitely not pregnant) and when I eat I am back to eating pre-op portions. How do I reverse this before I lose all hope in losing weight again? I try to do the liquid diet again almost everyday but fail miserably. I ALSO CAN NOT STOP EATING AT NIGHT!!!!! I am getting so worried I don't know what to do. Is it possible to shrink my pouch back down? Please help me!!!

[Maineman 14]

I guess its back to, trying hard not to over eat . I am battling the desire to over snack, and I'm only 10 months out! I hope you are successful!

[rte837 141]

PLEASE: Consult with your Dr. It's possible the pouch is stretched or the outlet has stretched. I was 241, 5'. Lost 108 lbs. and when I got back up to 195, I FINALLY consulted with my Dr. I was so afraid of being yelled at or turned away. He was awesome. I DID have to have a revision (this was at the 5 yr mark), but it was worth it to me. I just wish I hadn't waited so long!! I might have been able to avoid a second surgery if I had asked for help sooner. I, too, am a night grazer. I wish you the best. Please keep in touch.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I am 18 months post-op on RNY surgery. I have been told that at about a year and a half, the stomach begins to heal. As a result, the stomach increases it's absorption of calories from 70% to 100%. I don't know this for a fact but several individuals more advanced in the surgery than I have indicated this.

If this is the case, then it is relatively easy to begin to put the weight back on. One would have to reduce caloric intake to stabilize weight. At the moment my weight is stable and I believe my pouch has not grown. (If I try and eat more than a cup of food at a meal, my stomach shuts me down.) At the moment, I try and control any hunger urges by consuming fats. I have one cup of coffee with real home-made whipping cream each day. I also consume around 3 Adkin's treats each day. I avoid all processed sugar but I am not afraid of artificial sweeteners or natural ones like those found in fruits and milks or plants such as Stevia. I also weigh myself each morning and keep a record of my weights.

[Dhdhshhshd 42]

My starting weight was 230 lbs and all together I lost 110 lbs. I'm 5'2". I got the surgery 2 years ago and everything was great until recently I started gaining weight quite rapidly. I am always hungry (definitely not pregnant) and when I eat I am back to eating pre-op portions. How do I reverse this before I lose all hope in losing weight again? I try to do the liquid diet again almost everyday but fail miserably. I ALSO CAN NOT STOP EATING AT NIGHT!!!!! I am getting so worried I don't know what to do. Is it possible to shrink my pouch back down? Please help me!!!

I don't know if this is helpful or how beneficial, but I've come across this type of information a few times. Not sure how necessary it is to "retrain your pouch", but it seems to make sense. I'm only two weeks out from my rny, but I'd consider his in the future if I got off track. Good luck; I'm sure you're frustrated and scared.

http://5daypouchtest.com/plan/faq.html

[kevinshane75 0]

Hi! Im just a lil over 4 years post op & have been where ur @ (shamefully, several times) actually @ that point right now (the reason ive joined this forum) I can tell u this. The 1st 3yrs after my surgery was a dream. I did everything I was supposed to, followed all instructions to the letter. The past year has been a nightmare for me. Personal issues blind sided me & ive really messed up falling back into old habits, abusing this tool that was a god send to me that truly saved my life. I thought that id blown it & ruined it all. 3mos ago I was able to eat like I used to (lets say like 3 plates @ chinese buffet) needless to say this caused complications with my pouch & I wound up in the hosp. I thought 4 sure that id stretched out my pouch & there was no coming back from it. I ended up with a bleeding ulcer & a vessel had come unattached. I had to have the ulcer cauterized & the vessel blocked via a catherization procedure. I was on Clear Liquids for about a week and a half, full liquids for 3 days then diet as tolerated for 2 days b4 I was discharged. Well in that amount of time I went from being able to consume obscene amounts of food to being able to only tolerate 4 bites of anything. It was no joke like I had just been released from the hosp following my surgery years ago. Well ud think lesson learned, right? Nope... im back to overeating & losing control again. Im very well aware of it this time & thank god I havent done any damage and im now 32hrs into the 5day pouch test & I can already tell a difference with my pouch. Its not easy, in fact its hard as hell but worth it. So yeah, for me I can say I "shrank" my pouch back down. There is hope

[onikenbai 33]

My starting weight was 230 lbs and all together I lost 110 lbs. I'm 5'2". I got the surgery 2 years ago and everything was great until recently I started gaining weight quite rapidly. I am always hungry (definitely not pregnant) and when I eat I am back to eating pre-op portions. How do I reverse this before I lose all hope in losing weight again? I try to do the liquid diet again almost everyday but fail miserably. I ALSO CAN NOT STOP EATING AT NIGHT!!!!! I am getting so worried I don't know what to do. Is it possible to shrink my pouch back down? Please help me!!!

Is there another external factor involved? I was put on a new drug earlier this year and I put on 15lbs in just over two weeks despite not changing my eating habits one bit. I got off that drug real fast and it took me months to get that weight back off. Another one of my drugs is known to give you carb cravings from hell. I just stopped taking it for the first time in 15 years and I've dropped 10lbs in three weeks.

The liquid diet sets you up to fail because it leaves you unsatisfied. I don't do liquid Proteins (long story) so my pre-op diet was all actual food. If you want to do a reset, I can email you that. It's healthy and balanced and does the job if you stick to it.

Now is the time to find a new, time consuming hobby that does not mix well with food: photography, knitting, stained glass, puzzles, swimming, tai chi, basket weaving, whatever. Anything to get you away from the TV and its endless food commercials. I don't have a TV at all because I just can't handle the commercials. You don't realize how much they drive you to the kitchen until you're in front of the TV maybe only once every two or three months and one night of it drives you insane.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I underwent my 1 1/2 year appointment with the nutritionist and doctor. One of the points I brought up was the story that I heard that the stomach begins to heal at 1 1/2 years and absorbs more calories. It turns out that is a "myth".

The main reason for the weight gain (in the maintenance phase) is that individuals begin to graze and when they graze they expand their stomach and then take on more weight.

They also said that after RNY surgery, the part of the stomach that absorbs sugars and fats has been cut away. Therefore if one eats too much sugars or fats, the intestines don't know what to do with this and pass it through the system (diarrhea). But as time goes on, the intestines begin to adapt and absorb sugars and fats.

I am 18 months post-op and my pouch is still tight. I can tell because when I eat solid foods like steaks or chicken, at some point before I consume a cup, my stomach begins to warn me not to eat anymore. I attribute this tight pouch to my meal plan. From almost the beginning, I focused on consuming high Protein home-made Soups and chili. It is a softer food that because the ingredients were mixed had more flavor. Also it was easy to take the required amount using measuring cups and easy to heat using a microwave oven. Also the food went down smoother and didn't generate that painful experience when you eat too much. At the moment, I am about 10 pounds below my goal weight.

I stay away from processed sugar. I rely on natural sugars found in fruits and milk, in synthetic sugar such as Splenda and other natural sugars such as Stevia. In the beginning if I grazed I concentrated on grazing on Proteins. But now I mainly graze on fats. Fats have the ability to take away hunger. I stay away from grazing on carbs. I do graze. But I also monitor my weight daily.

I laid out what I was eating and my meal plan with the nutritionist. Their take was just keep doing what I am doing.

[My Bariatric Life 764]

Here are a few tips:

Check with your healthcare professional and see if you...

• can take a prescription weight loss drug short term to get your appetite under control.
• can take an OTC weight loss drug short term to get your appetite under control.
• could follow a Paleo diet - I have no hunger cravings on Paleo but if I eat refined carbs or sugar (even natural sugar or artificial sweetener) it kicks my hunger into gear and I eat more (esp at night) and gain weight.
• need an antidepressant like Wellbutrin for binge eating disorder or nighttime eating; also check for depression.
• have metabolic syndrome, in which case I was told by my nutritionist to balance Protein and carbs 2:1 at every meal to lose weight
• are medically fit to exercise more than you already are.

Also, follow the pouch rules. It is never too late to retrain your pouch!

My starting weight was 230 lbs and all together I lost 110 lbs. I'm 5'2". I got the surgery 2 years ago and everything was great until recently I started gaining weight quite rapidly. I am always hungry (definitely not pregnant) and when I eat I am back to eating pre-op portions. How do I reverse this before I lose all hope in losing weight again? I try to do the liquid diet again almost everyday but fail miserably. I ALSO CAN NOT STOP EATING AT NIGHT!!!!! I am getting so worried I don't know what to do. Is it possible to shrink my pouch back down? Please help me!!!