Who has returned to pre op weight?

I'm so sorry Letmeout it must be so devastating for you but at least your life has normalizes again so hopefully you can try to begin again.  My head has been a killer at times also and I have been ultra slack in finding another psychologist the first one let me down.  Having read your and Amandas comments I should pull my head out of the sand and find someone suitable as even at this stage just off 12mths I can see that it is an ongoing slog for many.  I believe I will be one of those as snacking is a problem for me.

I am going to do the 2 week opti again I am going to buy it this week yeah it doesn't make me feel excited like it did pre op with the op just around the corner.   However I think finding a turning point to start the downward journey is pretty damned important more important really then anything else.  Maybe you could join me in giving it a new start it can't hurt and maybe it will give some salvation to a bad situation for you both good luck with whatever you try just remember to keep on trying you are both worth the effort.

I was sleeved May 2011 and went from 109kg to 74kg.. I am now 93kg!!!!

Yep, I feel pretty angry with myself, failed again, and the weight loss was awesome, I felt A MAZE ING!!!

So who knows how this happens, its a lot to do with the head, and lack of control over emotions vs food! For me, I began an intense new role in admin, lots of sitting and nothing else, along with two hours drive to and from.  There wasn't time or energy for walking before and after with two kids needing to be on buses at 7.30am in the next town, and collected at 4.45pm.  Then there was an 8 month separation from my husband which I thought I was handling quite well, but this was when the weight really started to go up. We are happily together again now.  There have been plenty of emotions, stress and exhaustion over the past two years.

At the moment I am thinking constantly about food, what I put in my mouth and hoping it slowly shows on the scales....just like the old days.

I still have restriction, but that doesn't stop you from joining everyone else at work/out with a couple of wines and some cake or cheese.  It was all fun at the time, but now I have the depressing realisation that most of my wardrobe just doesn't look good at all, barely fitting some of it, and back to dowdy clothing.

It feels terrible, let me tell you.  Don't take this thing for granted for a second!!

I have just joined the forum today in the hope to find some help.
I was sleeved in August 2010, weighing 106.5 kg. I lost 35.5 kilos in record time getting down to 71 kg. I was so happy with my weight, was wearing a size 10 dress for the first time since I was about 8 years old. Unfortunately my old/ bad food habits returned and I have put on 13kg. I have been back to my surgeon who could only offer me an appointment with the dietician, who of course is mega skinny and can't understand that I HATE tuna.
I have been looking at the option of a revision. Has anyone had one?

Thanks for writing here Linda.

It is soooo good to hear from someone sleeved long term.... 5 yrs! Wow.

Obsessed..... Call it being vigilant..... I think it wise to stay on top of things.

Do you have a diary? I might go take a look.

We'll done on your longterm success.

Ginger

Just stumbled across this topic.....
I am nearly 5 yrs out and  i weigh every day that I am at home!
I know it seems a bit extreme but it works for me.
I seem to swing  a little bit, holidays etc but get back on track as soon as I can and it gradually goes back down.
Am determined I will not regain, feel obsessed but so what! If it works for me, it works for me!
Linda

I've not been sleeved yet, but also worry about regain. Talked to my dietician today about this. He was very reassuring - has dealt with over 200 sleeve patients, and not one of them has regained. But they all work with him to stay vigilant & monitor, & stick to the plan.

I'm also sure my psych will probably weigh me every time he sees me, so no doubt that sort of accountability helps keep one on track.

I can imagine it would be all too easy, in the absence of these kinds of support networks, to slowly fall back into bad habits. Especially during times of emotional upheaval. 

So I guess my plan of attack is to build up a good team of specialists so if I start to have difficulties, it can be dealt with asap.

I suppose, not being sleeved yet, this is one of my big fears.... That I will have the sleeve and in a year or two... I will somehow put it all back on. I know it is a tool (well, heard it is a tool, I have a lot to learn practically once I'm sleeved).. And that it's not a magic pill, however, I'm worried about how the sleeve will effect my metabolism. Like probably all of us on here.... I have a sluggish metabolism and that has, with a number of other factors, led to my weight gain. I suppose I'm worried that having the majority of my stomach cut off permanently, will, down the track, 5yrs, 10 yrs, 20 yrs and further somehow change the way my body will metabolise food, and that one day I will not be able to control this aspect of my weight loss or weight maintenance. 
I know it sounds crazy, and I really don't have a lot of knowledge about how the body works medically..... It's just one of my fears. 

Hearing that there are sleevers out there who are back to wear they started.....even with slicing off a big portion of a vital organ, does scare me. 

Ginger

I can't tolerate very much exercise as I have two desiccated discs in my lower back, even walking is a challenge for me. But I have been assured by the surgeon that with the weight loss I will get much relief for the back pain and I hope to be able to do some water aerobics or swimming at least. We can only do what we can, within our own limits of our bodies but we can do something.

Swayback even if you can't do any exercise I think that you'll find the weight will come off, I haven't done any exercise as yet and my weight loss is going ok.

Yes I know for you Sway ordinary exercise is not something you can do but who knows after the weight loss maybe you will be able to last a bit longer.  There is a little fellow who goes to the TAFE gym where I go to who has cerebral palsy and he does a little bit on the bike with the full seat can't think of its name maybe reclining, he goes pretty slow but he still makes it move one of the young trainer says they did some work in a nursing home with old people 70s plus in chairs and they all improved there muscle strength just doing seated bar bell weights around 1 or 2kgs.  So exercise is not just for the fit able bodied its about finding out what you can do and doing it.  Sure in your case it may seem not much to some but to you it will be like the marathon and that will be fantastic.  Even seated repetition exercise with light weights with rest inbetween will see improvement I thought that maybe you have done some exercise with a physiotherapist movement equals exercise its just different exercise. But in a case like yours it will help to strengthen your limbs they must be very weak by now after such a terrible bout of prolonged illness.  There are some therapy pools near us supervised by physiotherapist maybe there are some near you I think as long as they are supervised individually you can get some money back with private health.  Maybe one of your specialist can look into that for you.  Don't be to disheartened you really don't know what will happen after the weight loss maybe your health will improve greater then you hoped we all hope for that.

That's a little depressing for me because I simply can't exercise. I have something called Neuro fatigue which means my muscles can only do about three minutes of any activity before they weaken and they just get worse until they won't work.

The thing is my surgeon knows this and still agreed to the surgery and exercise was never mentioned. I have decided I want to do some water exercise but it will have to be supervised because if my muscles stop working while I'm in the water, I'll drown. I'll wait and see.

Having this surgery and seeing what kind of weight loss outcome I have without exercise might be a good test for other people in the same situation.

I agree with Angeleque its not a matter of being judgmental it is a matter of making people aware of the dangers of complacency. 

Think about it we were all that way we kept of thinking well I am getting fatter but I'm not that bad and oh I will just go on a diet and it will be alright.  Well it wasn't then and it won't be now we still have to stay active and play a strong part in our destiny we have to be vigilant yes we are on a diet for ever more.  Activity is our friend no we don't have to become gym junkies but activity needs to become more important as we reduce in size. As the smaller we are the more prone we will become to putting back on the weight if we don't maintain our muscle mass with good muscle mass we can help to burn fat.  So for those who do believe this op means less food equals less weight it is only one part, exercise is very very important if we allow our muscles to become weak we will regain so for those who do nothing start walking and not just on the flat try some hills you don't have to go to expensive gyms the outdoors is free its there waiting for us to enjoy.

Oh I sound like some kind of guru but I can tell all of you I hated exercise all my life but since the op and with all the loss I am for the first time ever seeing activity in a whole new way.  I go to a gym and feel ho hum on the way there but walk out feeling better and brighter I can't believe I am saying this but exercise is a miracle more then even the sleeve and it hasn't cost me $7000 and 80% of my stomach god I wish I could have convinced myself of it earlier but damn I could not and would not thats how much I hated it.

I bet those unlucky ladies never discovered its miracle and I truly feel for them they must feel shocking those poor buggers.  But lets all take on board this info and use it for our benefit.

... a good alert for those of us secretly thinking the magic will last forever ... i know 2 successful sleevers, one 4 yrs out, last i saw her she was doing 8 aerobics classes a week... she had become an aerobics instructor, and has since gone from small to medium size,(but very normal sized) and another 2 years out is a gym junkie to keep that weight off .... I can't see myself exercising like that ever, so I just hope that i can manage it other ways. I know it won't be easy though. Have any long termers really been able to keep it off without too much thought or effort? Curious...

so far from judging

Please do understand in no way judging fellow sleevers who put weight back on

merely sharing how freaked out I was at seeing these persons in persons after the tremendous transformations...

I confess... initally i was petrified at the thought of getting "too skinny" ha!!!! i was terrified that I would be able to stop the weight loss...

I give thanks mine was uneventful... have survied and learned how to live with sleeve post op

no I dont tell others I have had it and no one would guess.

i do though admit to having a dietician and learnng tools to get in shape again....

i eat anthing.. i do graze.... but just smaller portions more regularly.... i find eating slowly, smaller portions and not drinking at meal time.... very helpful tools, but its being active..... gosh.... I am on the go all the time... i walk and walk.... love it.....

I pray I never go back to being big again......

so felllow sleevers.... no judgement .... just sharing caring adivces.... keep up the good work stay viligant and get moving :)))

At the risk of sounding negative – I think we all tell our selves and others that this is a tool but our subconscious wishes it to be miracle cure – I know mine did for the first 6 months. During that time I thought I would be happy if I could only eat ½ a cup a meal for the rest of my life and I was very selective in what I ate. Now that I have reached goal weight, the dust has settled and I am back down to earth from the “honeymoon period” I am struggling every day. Old habits, that I don’t even think about, will always be there and I am quickly learning that 56 years for conditioning will never go away and I will have to press the override button 10 – 20 time a day. I am finding it quite depressing at times and can fully understand how people do put their weight back on.

To add a little ray of hope – my surgeon told me the same as Jules - that up until 2 years ago sleeves were very different as they experimented in finding the right area and size for long-term success. Leaving even 1 -2 millimeters too much of the stretchy part of the stomach can make a huge difference to the success rate – he emphasized that this required microscopic precision. In doing this the recovery time was lengthened from 2 weeks to 6-8 weeks.
So while it is alarming to hear of some long-term sleevers who have regained weight it could be for this reason.

For me - the “Battle of the Carbs” will be my lifetime struggle.

Bev

I know that its very alarming to be able to put that weight back on, when i was in hospital, a lady who was done just 3 years ago was in to see what could be done again for her. unfortunatly her dr. said the scar tuissue was too much, couldnt redo it. bypass would be the next option. on my question to my surgeon about that happening, was his assurance that the surgery is done a little differently now as in they shape the stomach a little more, so its a bit harder to overeat. neverless i think i will be very vigelant too, as it scared to bee j out of me. jules

Yes, I understand how scary that would be.

Of course we all know that it's possible to put weight back on, and not every weight loss tool works for every person, but to put that much back on again must be a very big disappointment to the people it happens to.

And, in fact, it really could happen to any one of us. Let's face it - we turned to the sleeve as a way to help us because of our weight problem. And I'd be very surprised if more than a tiny percentage of us got to our biggest because of any reason other than overeating.

Why do we overeat? Well, there it is - if we could solve that one, perhaps the weight would stay off forever!

I know that I'm very disappointed in myself for putting around 12kg back on, and I'm nearly 5 years out. I can only imagine how these other sleevers feel - please don't judge them, as we're all in the same boat, and I bet they're doing a big enough job of judging themselves!

OMG that is very scary.

I had heard about another lady putting on 50kgs... I cannot believe you would be able to do that. Must have stretched that little tummy.

I will be super vigilant, never will I ever be fat again.



Val

I know it's scary. Like you say - be vigilant.

Indded Jupiter,

I do believe it was a wake up call....

Whilst I dont appear to be in danger at present - i have been on right track....

but seriously, it freaked me out...... that anyone would allow themselve to get back there

as we all know..l we palteau and generally kick start again..... but to return to pre op and propably more.,

no way,,,,,, !!!!!!!!!!!!!

i give thanks daily for the chance I have been given..... I am alive.... :)))))))))

Keep up the good work fellow sleevers..

stay positive and on track Jupiter..:))

Ive always been told that the sleeve is just a tool, not a miracle cure, so I knew this was possible before I went into it. I plan to work this tool to the best of my abilities, it feels like the last chance Ill have to really sort this stuff out.

:)

To those who thought it could never happen
OMG it can !!!!!

this past month I have come into contact yet again to three of the
very people who inspired me in the first place to take the step
only to see that they are bigggggggggggggg people again :((

I honestly dont know what to say except fellow sleevers we must remian viligant !!!

i never want to go back.... I feel amazing having lost well over 50+ kgs in just under two years
uneventful surgey and post op.... each day just gets better and better.....

but i had to share with fellow sleever the shock horror at the discovery that this is not pernmanent
the weight can creep back on!!!!!!!!!!!