It's been 5 years since my VSG...

It's been 5 years since my VSG. I lost 99.8 pounds. I have gained back 15 in the last year and am working on losing it. All of a sudden, I am REALLY HUNGRY all the time. Can any of you relate and offer some tips. I am still eating Protein First and then Veggies. Thanks. :-)

Hunger could be from stomach acid. Acid reflux is common with VSG. Talk to your doctor about this.

Thanks for replying...but I am on Meds for Acid Reflux. Anyone else 5 years or more out having the same problem I am having?

dehydration can mimic hunger. Maybe you need more fluids. Do you get 64+ oz of sf liquid a day?

I can be hungry a lot too - a lot of it is head hunger but it is still there. And the more I indulge in carbs the hungrier I feel which led to a 20 pound gain last year. I lost it all earlier this year by doing WW and staying mostly low-carb. I am up again by about 3.5 due to newly dating meaning lots of meals out. But the days when I follow my WW routine I do pretty well with my hunger.

I am not on here near as much as I used to be due to so many life issues I just haven't had a chance to. At any rate I too am 5 years out from getting my sleeve done and over the last year I had increasing hunger and started to regain. It felt like it was getting out of control and the more I ate anything sweet or high carb the worse it got. Work with your surgeon and get it back under control before the weight gain increases. I felt too embarrassed at first to talk to mine about it but now am glad I did as she is helping me get back on track.

In January 2021, It will be 7 years since my VSG surgery.

I was 250lb, my surgery weight was 240lb. My lowest weight was 140lb. I maintained 150-155lb for 5.5years, eating very well and exercising. I became a runner.

In my 6th year, I noticed 10lb weight regain. I lost it and gained it the entire year. Most likely it was hormonal, considering my age. But, no matter the protein, the water, the exercise, I couldn't shake those pounds. I was hungrier and hungrier, and I could eat much more.

At 20lb regain, I was still running and I felt great, but the pounds didn't go away.

If you read about the VSG, you'll read about regain starting in the 3rd or 4th year because the restriction loosens up. The tool is restriction -- not the surgery. Once the tool loosens up, it doesn't work as well anymore and you are back to dieting.

I'm healthy and happy, but I currently have 25lb extra that seem to be with me for the long haul. And, before anyone attacks me, I am in year 7 -- not year 1 or 2 or 3. I can attest to the fact that the restriction starts loosening up and hunger pains come back. We all know that the VSG is NOT a cure, and the surgery is not the tool, the restriction is the tool. And if the tool is restriction, then when it starts loosening, the tool isn't working as well as it used to. It has its time limitations.

If VSGers who are out 5+ years would post here, we'd hear all about weight regain, whether 10 or 50 pounds, or more. I guarantee it. The most important thing, is to either accept that extra weight or do something about it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life dieting -- I already spent the first part of my life doing that.

And so, I'm getting resleeved next week because the VSG has made such a huge difference in my well-being. It gave me 7 full years of greatness!

Hi...Thanks for your answer. I am curious as to what you mean by "the restriction is the tool" and I am also wondering why you are getting re-sleeved if you are only 25 pounds up? No criticism meant, I am just curious. Thanks. :-) Kay

Hi Kay,

I've been resleeved now. I had a hiatal hernia fixed (acid reflux), and my stomach had a bulging end that looked like a tennis ball and now is a sleeve shape again.

So, why did I do it at only 25lb regain? (It turned out to be 30lb, actually.) I think I answered that in my post. The same reason I did it the first time. My health is more important than anything else. I have no restriction. I want my restriction back. I have good food habits, but one can't eat 600-800 calories a day without restriction. Actually, yes, models and actresses do it. Perhaps a regain at 3 years would not have been a big deal because I still had some restriction. One of the questions the surgeon asked me when I first contacted him was how much of a sandwich I could eat. I had to go out and buy a sandwich, which I hadn't done in 7 years, and then, try to eat it. It blew my mind that I could eat the whole thing. Another tidbit, a couple I'm friends with who had their VSGs 10 years ago, have both regained 75% of their weight and both had plastics -- I have not had plastics.

I've read all the clichés on this board: My feeling is that the opinions expressed by others are not informed by who I am, where I come from nor what my genes or DNA are nor my experience. We are not all the same. However, I enjoy reading everyone's experience because I learn something here and there.

I know my biggest mistakes: carbonated water and prosecco. I drink carbonated water, like it's regular water. Every day for the last 3 years -- huge mistake. In my professional life, there was much socializing, before covid. I drank prosecco and champagne, 2 to 3 nights a week. Both very bad for the stomach. Huge errors I will not make again. I stopped drinking carbonated anything in June of this year.

And another big reason, that is personal, is that there is rampant diabetes causing blindness in my family, my great-grandfather, grandfather and mother are/were blind (great grandfather and grandfather are deceased), but none is/was obese, just 20 to 40 lb overweight. That scares me.

Anyway, Kay, my journey is not yours. You have your own reasons for doing or not doing what you do, of course, and I wish you all the best.

I am 6.5 years out. Like you, yes I was very hungry but I noticed it was when I ate carbs like sweets and chips. I started at 347 and got down to 247. I then gained and loss each year about 5-10 lbs. I've actually loss weight since the pandemic (239lbs) because I do intermittent fasting. I stop eating 7pm at night and I do not eat again until after 11am in morning. Sometimes, If I eat later at night I go later in morning. My biggest help-and yes I know it has high sodium content-are pickles. The dill pickles I eat are under 50 calories so they do not break my fast, and I also at times have bullet proof coffee. So what works for me and I cannot say for anyone else - is a combination of Intermittent Fasting and low carbs. My original goal of 220 lbs is now not so far away-even with the pandemic. But at times I do go into a food coma, but I've been able to keep it to weekends, and I've learned that as long as I discipline myself during the week, my weekends-although they may retard weight loss- does not add on the lbs to me that I loss. So that is what works for me after 6.5 years. I'm sure others are different and would not agree with how I go about it-but it works for me!! Wish you well.