I lost 103 pounds with WLS over 3 years ago. However I put back 18 pounds and I'm scared. It happened over a 6 month period, but it feels like it happened over night. (I weigh myself every day). I am visiting my surgeon today to discuss options. Possibly lap band over the gastric bypass. But I would rather not. I am getting back to protein, fruit and veggies only. And I have increased my exercise. But I feel scared because I feel hungry all the time like I used to. Anyone else going through this? Or have had lap band on top of gastric bypass? Please help me.
I went from 267 - 169 (never reaching my goal weight of 120-130) from my WLS in October 2003. I call myself a WLS failure because I never changed my mentality and worked through my food addictions.
Now here I am in June 2007 and I weigh between 178-182. It's sad that I have regained some weight and continue to regain. My mother (I'm 34, mind you) chides me all the time, "Lynne, you didn't come all this way to put the weight back on." -- Just another slap to me when I already feel anger in myself for having failed.
If I could do it again, which I am wishing to god that I could, I wish that the show could address the past WLS failures and work with some of us to finally get us over our previous inabilities to change our lives and our addictions. If I could, I would want to be re-opened and have my stomach stapled even smaller or perhaps try banding. I want a second chance and a better support and education system. Fix my "tool" and help me to keep it in working condition.
I have to ask: Do you stay in touch with your Doc? Mine is so involved in my care, but I love him for that and wouldn't change Dr Fontana for nothing.
Are you involved in any kind of support group? I am not but I do go to therapy once a week. I really need to because I have lost weight before and gotten in good shape only to put it back on. But you haven't failed just had a set back. Go back to square one- eat 60 grams of protein a day and only eat 6 small meals a day. Weigh everything.
They gave you the tools but you can do the rest. Exercise- eat what the diet was at first and the weight will come back off.
If you haven't changed who your mind is- the Doc changing you body isn't going to help. Go to OA but you have to want this. Go to the stores where the clothes are small and cute- go to the mall. Saturday I walk to the mall walk around there for about 3 hours then walk home. It allows me to show people who I am- gives me good excerise and I can window shop for what I dream of wearing and how to get there. You would be surprised at what a boost it is to do this.
Also my Doc has said it's not the pouch that gets big but the opening at the bottom. It actually loosens over time, but I am not a Doc. So maybe Doc davis can respond to this comment.
Hi Lynne and Jaime, I just wanted to give you an update that might help both of you too. Lynne I am also 34 with a mom, who means well, but doesn't always talk about my weight in a sensitive manner either. I went to my surgeon, which I haven't done in the past. I could have, but he is over an hour away and my previous insurance did not cover the aftercare visits. Now I have a new insurance that covers it. Since I am always strapped for cash I couldn't afford it before. He told me I needed to eat a lot more protein. I wasn't eating enough of it. Also I needed to limit my carbs to one per meal and it should be about 25 percent of my meal. The other 75 should be mostly protein and vegetables. If I needed a snack it should be protein. Also I should only have 2 fruits a day. With my old mindset of dieting I was eating lots of veggies and fruit. I was also eating way to many carbs and not drinking enough water. Exercise of course (yuk) is also a factor. I have lost 4 of the 18 pounds I gained. He said I could have reached a lower goal in the beginning. But I just want to get these pounds off and focus then on losing more. Lynne you are not a failure. You did something drastic to lose the weight and you lost a large amount. You deal with it everyday and that is not failure. I am also 34, single and feel very pressured. But you know in the end, I accomplished something. And no one can change that. I will look normal to everyone else in the world and not abnormal. So tell your mama that. And tell her that although she loves you, she can no longer talk about weight with you. It's not her issue to discuss. I will try it on my mother too. Although, you know moms are crafty. Best of luck, AMY
so actually it all boils down to a lifetime of dieting and trying to control an addiction (food). I have generations of obesity in my family.. so no one can tell me it is not genetics. hunger is the driving force to me. not what others have said about rewarding myself or eating when I am sad or when I want to celebrate or when I am happy or when I am depressed.. I imagine they all play some part but to be honest.. I really think it is just plain hunger.. not cravings, hunger I do know the difference. and that my friends is the life long battle. btw I am feeling great,happy, busy and healthy but I am still hungry LOL
I have found the one thing that helps me with the hunger is my anti-depressent. I take Zololoft and have to double my dosage during my cycle. This combats my overeating, carb behavior and mood swings. Talk to your Doc if you are feeling depressed or think you may need something to take the edge off.
ahhhh but you see I am not depressed I am just hungry... I do know when I feel depressed, and I am not. I am very happy with my weight loss (72 as of today).. happy that I take 4 drugs instead of 14 like I used to. I guess I just wanted to tell people that it is not always an emotional issue.. sometimes it is something you were born with maybe some sort of genetics.. where you hunger sensation just doesn't turn off
Well I think the protein thing is right. Because I have lost 7 of the 18 pounds and it's only been a week. I think it is a life long diet you will be on, but the best part is you don't start out at 274 dieting. You are at 185 trying to get down the same 20 or 30 pounds that everyone else is trying to lose.
Jamie I too became bulemic. I saw your other post. But I don't really think I was before surgery. I just have a hard time with adjusting to my new life. I hope you are doing better now. I wish you the best. Even though I don't know you. But I wonder if bulemia is common with our type of surgery do to the hard time we have eating and emotional adjustments. It looks like the next episode will deal with that. AMY
bestauntie- do you have an email or way I can get in touch with you? I caused my own dumping knowingly. My Doc says that this is a rare case- what was your doc's take on it? Did you have to go to rehab? My Docs are still going back and forth over this even tho I have gotten a handle on it with meds.
I am so thankful for your post- I struggle daily between doing the dumping and eating to little, so starving myself. I felt very alone when this was all happening and like what had I done to myself. But with the guidance of my Docs I am coming around.
my doctor says dumping is not bilemia, I think it is two differnt things. Dumping is when you eat something your body rejects to the point of severe pain,nausea, diarrhea... just kind of wait until it passes. It has nothing to do with the type or amount of food.. one can experience dumping by consuming junk food or nutritonal low cal - even the amount is not the problem. Bulemic episodes on the other hand are within our abilty to control or stop.. if we have the strength and will power. not easy but we do have the ability there. there is no control over dumping other than you probably will never eat that particular food item again. and there may be more than one food that sets it off. my weight loss is 73 lbs as of today.. one day at a time - a lifelong neverending battle but did you see the word lifelong? At least I know I will live a longer life now
Thanks for your post. I can explain this to everyone because this is basically a new form of eating disorder. I do mine on purpose, not because I just eat to much or what I eat. I eat to give me dumping. I think about causing the dumping to take the weight off. So I use dumping like a laxative. The dumping is used as a control for weight. Like my Doc says I am using the tool to harm myself. I used to do it very often because I was trying to get to a lower weight much like a person who makes themslves throw up. I tried that too but because of the pouch that didn't work. Sugar works just as good. It was all very sad to be standing over the counter dumping a bag of sugar in my mouth just so the weight would come off. I did this when I felt I had no control over my life. I have gotten allot of help to over come this, sometimes I still do it but no where as often. I think the difference is why I did it verses when it happens because of eating. It is something Docs are starting to see more of.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: jamiecar,
Nicholaa, how can you call yourself a failure after you lost nearly a HUNDRED pounds? How about giving yourself a little love and saying "I did it before. I can do it again."
I am new to this forum. I thought I was alone and a failure. I had gastric bypass 8/2002. I lost about 160lbs and over the last 2-3 years have regained 90. I went to a specialist and had all kinds of diagnostic tests done. The results were that the opening and exit of my pouch are too large but my pouch is ok. The doc said see a psychiatrist and exercise......more surgery has not been proven to be effective. I feel worse now (physically and mentally) than when I weighed 340lbs. Anybody been through this ? Suggestions? I just want to feel normal. Has anybody been banded after gastric bypass? HELP !!!
It is quite interesting and it is a procedure made for people that have had the bypass and need more help in losing weight. I read some of it, and it sounds like what some of you might be interested in. I don't think a doctor would do a bypass and then do a lapband. I don't know, but I doubt it. Anyway, thought this might help. Take care.
Thanks so much for your response. I actually live about an hour from the hospital where this surgeon practices. I will be looking into this over the next couple of days and will post an info that I come across.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by nicholaa: "I call myself a WLS failure because I never changed my mentality and worked through my food addictions".
Those of you who are having a problem with re-gaining weight after gastric bypass, can you explain a little about what you think is putting the weight back on? I'm asking because I recently had VSG WLS and I can't even fit more than 5 to 7 tablespoons of food in my stomach at a time, even if I wanted to. Unless you're drinking high caloric liquid, like milk shakes or alcohol or tons of fat-laden gravy. (Carnie Wilson said the weight she gained back was due to her drinking a lot in the period following the birth of her daughter). I'm just wondering what you could possibly be doing wrong, with such a small stomach, to be gaining weight. But the other thing I wanted to say is, do you really think that relatively small percentage of re-gained weight makes you a weight-loss failure??? I mean, compared to what you were, you haven't gained so much. You just have to try to stop it before it gets out of control. In the words of Yogi Berra, It ain't over 'til it's over. I know what it's like to re-gain lost weight -- it's heartbreaking. I lost 175 lbs. on a liquid diet over 7 months. I took very good care of myself, fell crazy in love and then, after a year, suffered a very painful breakup. I not only re-gained the 175, but I piled on an extra 100 lbs. on top of that. That was with a big stomach full of everything I could eat. But you have a much smaller stomach, now. Doesn't that keep you from eating a lot? I probably sound ignorant to you, but I want to try hard to learn from others' experience.
I can't believe these posts and I've read them all. Do you realize that you spend most of your days, thinking about what you can eat and how much? Sounds like most of you have gained alot of weight back and now want to do something else. I would suffer from depression too if that is all I had to worry about. My goodness, eating right and exercising is the best medicine. Not an operation where they rearrange your intestines. This is why you are supposed to eat only proteins, the body can no longer process much else. You have seen where people on the show have to lose 100 pounds before surgery, and they do. So why have the surgery if they can do that? Just keep going and you will be fine. People say, well you gain the weight back, well, seems to me, you all have proved this operation doesn't work unless you stick to their plan and never deviate. The point is, nothing works unless you commit yourself to proper food and a regime of exercise. Save yourself the anguish and the problems that come after the surgery. I know I will be chastised about this post, but read it more than once and see if you haven't had the surgery, should you, and if you have, you better call your doctor and he will tell you that you have to be on that diet till the Good Lord calls ya!
Yes, you will most likely regain weight after Gastric Bypass but it is up to you. I had my surgery three years ago and kept in contact with five other people who had surgery at the same time - all have put at least 50% of the weight they initially lost back on. As a doctor myself, I spoke to my surgeon honestly and asked "Why?". He said that all the good surgeons know this is happening but consider it still the best way to go and that if it enables one person in a hundred to change their life and get to a normal weight then it is worth it. I then looked into scientific statistics and he is right. Here's my personal - I went from 299lbs to 179lbs (my best weight should be 120). That means I had a seriously good weight loss by bypass standards and I was very happy with it. I do not know anyone who reached their normal BMI goal and was genuinely slim - but remember, a good surgeon will tell you that a 50% loss of your excess weight is good. I no longer have Type 2 Diabetes, my back doesn't hurt anymore, my blood pressure is in normal range. After two years, like everyone else in the support group, my stomach had stretched quite a bit which I was warned of. Your ability to eat certain foods increases. The "grazing" begins ...Instead of four little meals a day, it becomes normal to pick at food during the day. You realize you can get away with half a cookie and then go back two hours later for the other half - before you know it, one friend told me she can eat six large cookies in a day that way. The weight goes back on and you keep telling yourself that something must be wrong with the operation because it is nothing you are doing! Before I knew it, at the end of year two, I'd put 30lbs back on. We all sat one evening with the surgeon and nurses at a meeting. One of the other ladies asked me a question ..."How come you are still doing okay?". Well, the honest answer is that one of the other ladies and myself had started to do that old fashioned thing called dieting. I got the 30lbs back off plus another 10lbs and still losing - but it was returning to hard work of making careful food choices. I live on a paeolithical diet - sound strange LOL??? Well, not really. I figured that if we carry the gene that made us so successful surviving in ancient times, that maybe my body would be happier on the diet that was primarily eaten back then. I eat "hunt and gather" foods - plain meat, fish and eggs with vegetables, fruit and nuts. I don't eat grains, beans, potatoes or cheese. The other lady decided that she couldn't face counting calories and went on a modified high protein. Neither of us eat processed, fast, tinned, packaged foods or sugar. The sad part is realizing that the majority that have this operation believe that they can live the same lifestyle and will become slender and healthy - the surgeon I saw was very good and very honest and said that this was a beginning but it would be my hard work that would enable it to be successful and he was right. Firstly, work out how many lbs overweight you are, divide that by 2 - that's your goal to have had a successful op. In other words, if you are 120lbs overweight - a great weight loss will be 60lbs. If you are 300lbs overweight - a great weight loss will be 150lbs. That's your aim. Keep watching carefully what you eat especially around the two year point which appears to be the biggest danger mark for weight regain. Decide from the beginning that fast food, processed foods and sugar aren't part of your life anymore - don't do what many do .."How great, I'm going to lose weight because I can only eat half a portion of french fries now! Eventually, that half a portion is going to become three-quarters and then a whole portion. Change what you eat NOW. Would I have the operation again? Yes! It is the start of a great decision you have made for yourself.
Originally posted by lu69: I can't believe these posts and I've read them all. Do you realize that you spend most of your days, thinking about what you can eat and how much? Sounds like most of you have gained alot of weight back and now want to do something else. I would suffer from depression too if that is all I had to worry about. My goodness, eating right and exercising is the best medicine... Not an operation where they rearrange your intestines. This is why you are supposed to eat only proteins, the body can no longer process much else. You have seen where people on the show have to lose 100 pounds before surgery, and they do. So why have the surgery if they can do that? ... The point is, nothing works unless you commit yourself to proper food and a regime of exercise. Save yourself the anguish and the problems that come after the surgery...
Lu69, Your post didn't indicate whether you've had WLS yourself or speak from a presumptive point of view instead. I think your thesis point is limited. Not every post-op fill their days with thoughts of their food options, although anyone who has an eating disorder, food addition or happen to utilize food as a means of self-soothing may well be examples of your assumption. (By the way, Lu69, have you ever considered how consuming thoughts of alcohol may be for the alcoholic? or finding a "fix" may transform the normality of any person addicted to drugs (illegal or prescribed)?
Every human is uniquely designed for living a life completely unlike any other--creating each adult is the child they entered life as along with their childhood experiences (good or bad), emotional baggage left by words of encouragement or distrust or distain or devaluation. Hot on the childhood heels into the same adult comes the school kid, the teenager (whether an adventurer or shy, uptight or calm, verbal or a listener); plus the multitude of adult experiences where they felt safe, trusted, insecure, dumb, doubted, etc. It's pretty easy to attempt to take every WLS post-op, as if they were a round peg being jammed into a standardized square WLS program hole. ... Sounds simple, but it isn't.
My WLS (open RNY) occurred in 1999 when there were no formalized bariatric multidisciplinary programs; support groups were of a "one size fits all" structure meaning pre-ops come to hear about the surgeries while post-ops attend for words of supportive help in living life. Post-ops who regained weight, for whatever reason-medications, overeating, out eating physical mechanics, health issues (yes, they often happen), etc. may not share struggles in front of pre-ops/newbies whose responses reflect judgement rather than support; some never return due to feelings of failure.
Lu69, healthy eating and regular exercise are extremely important, you are correct. I'd ask just a bit more compassion...how about encouraging these to reconnect with their original bariatric surgeon with the intent to find their footing on the WLS journey once again, focusing completely toward improved health? ... It's a thought.
Bonnulife. No I have never had WLS, I don't need it. As far as my post, I did tell the posters to talk to their doctors. Read the last couple of lines of the post. As far as compassion. What did I say that makes you feel I have no compassion. I simply commented on what the posters had already written, I don't think I was mean about it. I also said, I would be chastised by my comments, and I was right. This may be a fact not everyone knows. 70% of your immune system is in your intestines. When that is tampered with, no good can come of it. That's why I think this operation is not necessary if people would not look at it as a quick fix. After they have this surgery, their problems have become worse in my opinion. If you have a surgery that doesn't even allow you to have a piece of your birthday cake, that's pretty sad. The doctors try to explain all this, but I really don't think most people hear them. They agree to anything and everything just to get the surgery. Soon they will be finding out the long term effects of this surgery. It's too soon, but that day will come. If one feels that it is their only hope, so be it, but they should also be totally prepared for what comes after, and the problems that can occur because of it.
I just wanted to add this. After reading your post again, Bonnulife, I noticed you chastised me alot. Yet, you said very little about yourself. You had your surgery 9 years ago? Did you lose the weight you wanted? Are you happy and healthy? To me you sound bitter and I say that because of the way you answered me. I would not talk about the lack of compassion after the way you talked to me, if you are one of the masses who have gained the weight back. Let is know!
LOL
