Question:
Has anyone gone through the surgery & still not lost weight?

I had my surgery 10 weeks ago and have done everything by the book. I exercise, get in the protein and drink the water. I just went in for my monthly check up and discovered that I had lost only 6 pounds in the past month. My starting BMI before surgery was 74.2 so I should be losing at a much more rapid rate. My doctor is also amazed. He told me it's almost supernatural the way my body is fighting to hold on to its fat. Has anyone else gone through this? If so, how long before your body finally gave in and gave up its fat or did that never happen? I'm incredibly frustrated and can honestly say that at this point this surgery has not been worth the pain, money or the aggravation.    — [Anonymous] (posted on October 30, 2001)

October 29, 2001
Hi, I didn't lose weight at my 6 week check up,I wanted to die. The women in the waiting section all had loss a lot of weight. But it started coming off at 10lbs a month Ilost 100 lbs in the first year. I just passed the first year by two weeks. My doctor told me not to worry, that I would lose weight and to lose it slow would be better, I would surely keep it off. Dont worry. Patricia Craden
   — Patricia C.

October 30, 2001
You didn't say what type of surgery you had. Not that it would make a difference, you should loose weight with any of them. How many small meals are you eating? Did you used to fast alot? I ask these questions because I used to fast alot. Loose, gain, loose, gain etc.. Now I have noticed that my body seems to be holding on to the fat from past experience. I have lost, but I am loosing very slowly. VERY SLOWLY. What I did was measure only 2oz. and added 1 2oz. meal after my dinner. When I did that, my body thought it wasn't in starvation anymore and dropped a couple of pounds.If I keep my body just on the edge of ketosis, then I loose. If I go into ketosis, I don't see anything on the scales. Now, in between time, I have noticed when I'm not loosing, I am loosing inches. So maybe you are doing a little bit of that as well. Have you figured up how many calories you are getting a day? Are you drinking high sugar drinks? They all add up. Please keep us posted and let us know if any of our advice has worked.
   — K T.

October 30, 2001
How FRUSTRATING for you! You poor thing! I'm sorry I can't say that I have had experience with this. But I've seen MANY people's posts on this and it's not long before the weight starts coming off. I wonder if maybe you gained some muscle with the exercising you are doing...since muscle weighs more than fat. A good suggestion is to take your measurements. Usually, when you are not losing the weight...your body is redistributing and you are actually losing inches. Good Luck to you Hon. You'll do it:)
   — Nicole P.

October 30, 2001
There was a young mother in my support group who had wls when she was around 300lbs. She lost 40lbs. very quickly and then just stopped losing. She was very dedicated and compliant and did all the things that she should have done; but, she never lost another pound. She came to the group meetings faithfully for 6 or 7 months. We had the same surgeon who said that this sort of thing does happen.....it's rare...but for unknown reasons some patients lose little or no weight. One day she stopped coming to group and we never saw her again. I still get a little weepy thinking about her. She was so young ....
   — [Anonymous]

November 2, 2001
I have known three people who needed to have revisions fairly early on. In one case, the revision was to reduce the stomach size at about 14 months. In the other two, it was to shorten the common channel (these are all DS surgeries, which involve a distal bypass to begin with). There are some bodies which require even more drastic measures than a *normal* RNY or DS. While I hope this is not the case for you, it is not a hopeless situation. Keep talking to your surgeon, and discuss the possibility that by six months, if the weight loss has not kicked in, you consider a revision to shorten the common channel. Kate
   — kateseidel

September 6, 2002
I had surgery in 1996. The most weight I lost efortlessly was 30lbs which happend when I was in the hospital on IV. Once I got out of the hospital, the weight just was not dropping off like I had expected. I also did not notice a big difference in the quantity of food I could eat. I lost about 50lbs in 10 months , but it was only after encorporating lots of walking in my routine. I would have to power walk 7 days a week for NO LESS than an hour to lose weight. Not what I expected at all. Here I am, 6 yrs later feeling like a total failure. I have decided to see if I can have the surgery again....I just hope I can find a good surgeon whois willing to help me and I hope my insurance will cover it.
   — Rhonda S.