Weight Gain Right After Surgery?

[LessOfAmy 4]

I had a DS on 4/19, spent 2 nights in the hospital, and then had to travel 4 hours to get home yesterday. I was disappointed when I finally stepped on the scale to find I had gained 11 pounds!!! Is this normal? Is this because of the IV fluids?

[Arabesque 7,468]

Yep, it is. They pump you full of lots of fluids. You’ll pee it out over a couple or so days & the scale will drop. But it is a shock when you see the number on the scales & realise how much they filled you with.

PS Congrats on your surgery.

Edited April 23, 2024 by Arabesque

[LessOfAmy 4]

Thanks! I was NOT expecting the scale to go up. I was shocked, but I know it will go down eventually.

[catwoman7 11,223]

yep - super common. It's just the IV Fluid.

[Arabesque 7,468]

I honestly didn’t notice it after my sleeve surgery but I was in hospital for a couple of days so it was day 4 before I think I weighed myself so had likely already peed most if not all of it out. I was out the next day after my gall removal & there was a good 2+kgs (5 odd lbs) on the scales (at my current weight so a lot comparatively). Yikes. I swear all I did was pee for the next few days. 😁

[NickelChip 1,332]

So. Much. Fluid.

Seriously, my hands were so puffy that all my wrinkles disappeared (spoiler: they came back).

I was also in for 2 nights and that IV was going non-stop. It took a little over a week for me to return to my day of surgery weight. Totally normal. They really should warn you, though.

[ms.sss 15,735]

so when i had my WLS, when i got home one the next afternoon, i was just under 2 lbs lighter.

but when i had my plastics, 2 days later (i was in hospital longer) i was 5 lbs heavier...and i was like 115 lbs at the time so that was a lot considering my frame. like @nickelchip my hands where like inflated balloon paws...(i'll see if i can find a pic)

[LessOfAmy 4]

Yes, NickelChip, that is definitely something we should be told to expect going into surgery. The whole point of WLS is to lose weight, so to gain weight after surgery was alarming. I've lost 8 of the 11 so far. Trying to be patient!

[LessOfAmy 4]

I am SO bummed. Tomorrow I will be 1 week post-op and I've lost 0 pounds. I finally made it back to my pre-surgery weight today.

[AmyTexan 0]

I’m glad you asked this! I am 1 week post-op and still up 2# from my pre-surgery weight. Finally meeting my fluid goals and almost at Protein goals, hoping that scale will start moving and give me a momentum boost!

[LessOfAmy 4]

It will come off. You just have to be patient. I just wish someone had told me to expect it so I wasn't SO disappointed after surgery. The weight has come off very slowly for me, but part of that is a lack of mobility due to being bone-on-bone in both knees. I was supposed to have them replaced by now, but NOTHING in 2024 went as planned.

My plan for 2024:

• January
  • Remove lap-band
  • Gastric Bypass
• Fall
  • Be at BMI goal to have both knees replaced while my deductible is paid for after WLS

My Actual 2024

• January
  • Removed lap-band only
  • No gastric bypass due to complications from lap-band
• April
  • Had Duodenal Switch surgery
• June
  • Found out I was being laid off, last day – Oct 4
• August
  • Had lipoma removed from thigh (while deductible is paid for)
• September
  • On wound VAC as incision did not heal from August surgery
• October
  • Job and Insurance with paid deductible ends
  • Start new job with new insurance
• Rest of 2024
  • Don’t get knees replace since:
    • I just started a new job and it didn’t seem right to take time off as soon as I started
    • My insurance deductible is no longer paid for, so I will wait until I start over again in 2025
    • And oh yeah, I’m not at the doctor’s BMI goal yet since I didn’t have WLS surgery in January as I planned.

Here is hoping 2025 goes more to plan. 😊 Happy New Year!!