One year - Lost 230lb - But, need help!!

Congrats. Great job. Don't underestimate your achievements. I would up protein by 10 g or so per day. Thats what my dr. told me to speed up weight loss. And stay away from the white carbs - eat veggies instead. And try to get an extra mile of walking in each day. Those few things should help. And congrats on being a member of the "half yourself" club. Diane S

Denis,

That is impressive! One thought I had was about acid. I made goal weight and had a few years of successful maintenance. Then I had a spike in acid, went off plan due to a lot more hunger, and started gaining. Turned out I had a hiatel hernia return with a vengeance causing a lot of acid. The acid was mimicking hunger, and when I ate I temporarily felt better. This caused the gain. After having it repaired I dropped right back down to my normal maintenance weight. Long story short- acid might be the culprit. Mine was the silent type, no heartburn or anything. If not that, consider if something changed recently. For example, getting prescribed medications know to cause weight gain (like steroids- I eat nonstop on those).

Hmm interesting. So you didn't feel any pain or anything else from acid? How did you find out about acid then? Any specific test?

thanks

No. Prior to vsg I had horrible acid issues. Burning, waking up choking, having to sleep elevated, etc. None of that post op. Literally, the only way I can tell post op is that I feel "hungry" when I know I shouldn't. I should clarify that though- if I am eating a lot of carbs, that makes me feel hungrier, but is not an acid issue. If I suspect acid now, I just take my prescription meds... if the hungry goes away then acid. I will then take it for a few days to settle down everything and that usually holds for a while.

So now- never any burning. Sometimes (hardly ever) a little reflux. When the hiatel hernia was severe, I couldn't keep solid food down. But I am not sure if my symptoms (nausea, vomiting, pain) was just the hernia, just the failing gallbladder, or a combination. The doc did say hernias can cause nausea and inability to keep food down if severe. Prior to that stage though, I started eating a lot of ice cream. It made me feel better for like 5 minutes, but then much worse. So yea, stay away from ice cream!

Just realized I didn't answer the how they found out/test question. While the gastro doc was trying to figure out what was wrong (already determined gallbladder had to come out) he palpatated the abdomen and found a painful spot. Due to the location it had nothing to do with the gallbladder, and I have a history of cancer. He ordered a CAT scan. CAT scan found the hernia. My surgeon who took out the gallbladder (same guy who did my sleeve) said he doubted the CAT scan, and had me do an upper gi. That confirmed it.