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This is what I always try to tell myself; while less attractive than I'd like, the loose skin is not going to harm me. Those extra 130 pounds may have killed me.

It’s all skin that has been over stretched much like an old well used hair band or old well worn knickers. Your skin will bounce back a little but factors like age (we stop producing elastin in our early 20s), how much weight you carried, how long you carried it, genetics, etc. impact how much loose skin you end up with. There’s nothing you can do about except have it surgically removed. Exercising works on the muscles not the skin so the scaffolding underneath might be better but the skin will still be loose except for what you fill out with muscle. Collagen & retinal creams won’t really help with the laxity (certainly not how much we can have). They will make your skin smoother, even out skin tone & texture. Same with collagen supplements. Honestly I’ve tried a few things for various periods of time and I still have loose skin. I’d give it 4-6 months & if no change I gave up on it. My skin quality has improved & my arms are nicely shaped but I still have bat wings, marionette lines on my face & a little waddle. Initially after my loss I had a number of fine lines that ran from under my chin. They’ve reduced dramatically but whether it was RF, collagen serums, collagen supplements, UV lights, my remaining body fat resettling & a better diet I don’t know but there’s still loose skin. I had some filler put in the side of my face just in front of my ears - was sunken there as I had no fat left in those pockets at all. Thought we ‘d try it to see if I got a little lift too - not noticeable if it did give a lift but my face shape is better. I’m trying dermal needling RF (Secret RF) at the moment. Predominately for acne scarring but if I get a little tightening that’s a bonus. I know it won’t get rid of it. I mean I am almost 58 & naturally should have some laxity & saggy skin. Aging & gravity are hard to beat … except with surgery. The loose skin is way better than being obese.

3 years ago I had a RNY bypass, lost 126 lbs. I’m down to a size 8 some 6’s but I’ve always liked my clothes loose. I’m still trying to get use to the changes to my body, and I’m wondering what others have done to better these problem areas. Mine is my neck, I now have all this extra skin that hangs like a Turkey waddle and I’m very conscious of it. When the pandemic was happening and we had to wear masks I could hide it with the mask. Now that the pandemic is pretty much under control tho I feel like that’s what people look at when they look at me. Please help me, get rid of this, is there exercises that will get rid of it? I’ve been using collagen and retinol creams and putting collagen in my soups even. Plastic surgery is my last resort if there even is a surgery to remove neck skin. My other problem area is my arms - bat wings, I’ve been lifting 10 lb weights doing various exercises and I do see some change but not enough that completely satisfy me, again I use my lotions and take my collagen but could use some suggestions from someone that might have had the same issues and let me know what they did. Thank you😀

It’s still a Gastric Bypass tho. A person would automatically think you would loose weight..they need to be more specific. Thank you for your opinion very much

Hello fellow shorty! I'm an inch shorter than you and my starting numbers are very similar to yours! I had my surgery in September 2021, I reached my goal weight of 110 in October 2022. Overall, this surgery has been life-changing and I am so glad I was brave enough to go through the process. I had some issues in the beginning, but once I started to recover it went fast. Right now if I'm being completely honest the biggest problem I have is trying to keep what weight I have left ON so I can still shop in the adults' section and not have to buy everything in kids' sizes. You're going to stall here and there, some will be short and sometimes it will feel like you haven't lost an ounce in a month; stay the course, trust the process, and know that a lot of the time stalls are giving your skin and muscles a chance to catch up and adjust.

This could be a hormonal response to the procedure. My primary care doctor did give me a derm referral because prior to my surgical date I was having rosacea flare-ups as the result of dietary changes. Our skin is so sensitive. If your primary care doctor can give you something to get you some relief - I'd go that route and wait to see the specialist. I agree that your surgeon's office may not be equipped to handle such a specialized 'symptom'. My doctor prescribed Metronidazole gel which I use topically once a day. It's just a thin clear gel that dries quickly, but my face has appreciated the break from the flare-ups. I hope you get relief soon!

Everyone is different in the way they loose weight. Men on the whole, tend to loose quicker than women. You are doing really great with the weight loss and getting your protein and liquids in to you so well. The weight loss will slow down as you begin to eat more normal foods but then your restriction will kick in to keep you honest. After a while the hunger comes back and that's when all we have learned will be needed to keep us on track. Enjoy this honeymoon period you are in, be ready for the 3 week stall.

Hi beauties! I'm in so much pain. My face have been doing whatever it want to do. My chest broke out first a few days after my sleeve. It's been about a week now that my face have followed. It itch and burn so bad. I don't know what could help. My Dr is currently out the office this week and her team is acting really slow. The dietitian told me that I may need to contact my primary care. I informed her this happen after surgery so maybe its a reaction to it. She acting as if this isn't some what common after the procedures as if I'm making this up. I have read several research articles of this happening to patients from different studies surrounding it. I have sent pictures and everything. Even informed my surgeon before she left for her mini vacation. I guess my surgeon thought it would heal by now but no. I feel like i need some medication to help stop the burn and itch and to heal my face properly. I'm afraid i will have marks left on my face whenever it do finally calm down. Have you experienced? How long did it take for your skin to resolve? Did your Dr prescribe medication?

I'm contemplating skin removal, but I'm hesitant with regard to recovery, cost, etc. Do any of you have regrets about choosing to do plastics? Anything you would do differently if you knew then what you know now?

Agree, had some pants I never wore, tried it on and they were a little tight when sitting, 3 weeks later they were loose, only wore those once [emoji57] Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had surgery 2 days before you. nothing (literally, lol) makes me sick. I take the barimelts. Theyre... okay. initial taste is fine but have a terrible aftertaste/burp. lol im on all solid foods (soft/chewed really well). about the only thing i havent tried yet are raw veg/salad. I figure ill give that a bit longer just because I know its a bit harder to digest. I am getting all of my protein from food at this point, 60 grams and am eating around 7/800 calories a day. losing around 3 pounds a week (lower BMI), which I am good with. Slower rate of loss means more muscle kept and less loose skin

Hey y'all! Glad to see some updates around here. It's been 4 months and some change, and I've lost 70 lbs since surgery! Almost 125 since my highest weight. I feel better than I have in years. I started off as a 5XL and now can wear 3XL and even some 2XL! Went from a 30 in jeans to 24 (which are loose on me, so I think I may be 22 or lower now - I still need to update wardrobe) I had a stall in mid-December and just recently had another that lasted 10 days where my weight only went up and down or stayed the same! Finally started trending downwards again a few days ago. My pouch tolerates everything I've given it. No problems there. I eat whatever I want at this point but still do 1 protein shake/day. I'm hovering around 800-1000 calories per day. Pros: I used to get horrible pains in my lower back and hips and now I have a ton of stamina and can actually walk around a grocery store to go shopping! Sex is a lot more fun! ☺️😆 I can feel my bones. Especially when I sleep on my side at night, my kneecaps actually touch each other (can also be a con lol) I can cross my legs! I can sit on the floor and not feel like I'm going to fall over backwards! It's fun to jiggle parts of my body 🤣 Physical hunger still gone and full cues still intact. I know to stop when the hiccups start. Food bills are so much cheaper!!! I'm content with a happy meal. No heartburn (yet)! Cons: My mood is ALL OVER THE PLACE. Hormones from fat loss make me up and down all the time. I never know what kind of day it's going to be when I wake up. I also have a mood disorder to begin with, so that doesn't help either. Loose skin everywhere!! If I'm too "active" it will make a clapping noise. Like it's cheering me on. 😂 I'm a bit self-conscious about the skin under my neck The rest of it I can deal with, lol. My boobs and butt are leaving. Mental hunger is rude! I have to carefully watch myself from grazing. Some days are harder than others. I think my food addiction has turned into a shopping one. I'm still lazy and don't really work out. I do a lot more than I used to though, so it balances out I think. 😅 Food isn't fun anymore. But that's also a good thing... I can say it has been way easier than I expected it to be though. I thought I'd be more upset about it. Here's some before/after pics! They're from last month, but I don't think I've lost much more 10 lbs since then anyway due to the stall I had. This one was right before the liquid diet and the after is the end of January, so about 75 lbs difference. This was on my way to my first appointment in early 2022 and then last month. I've lost 105 lbs between those 2. This is a fun graph of my weight loss since the beginning of the liquid diet. I weigh myself everyday using this app (Libra) so I can see the trends. Then I only record my actual weight every week in MyFitnessPal. It's worked well for me so far. My current goal is to hit 100 lbs lost before my 6-month surgiversary! 30 lbs to go!

I had a gastric bypass because of medical issues. I had a fundolipication that had failed after about 8 years ago. This left my esophagus in an L shape & made it hard for food to go down. My surgeon is one of the top Thorasic surgeons in the country. He told me to get all my info on the internet 🙄 He said that a Roux n y would permanently fit my problem. Because it was a medical problem & not just to loose weight I didn’t have to do all of the things weight loss people do. I did loose 70 pounds then put 15 back on. I think my body has settled on the weight that it is happy at. I know if I go over that my digestive tract will be unhappy.

I'm not sure if that will necessarily cause problems, but you'll probably be dealing with loose skin again after you lose weight...

It can take ages for our heads to catch up with the reality of how we look when we’re losing & have lost the weight. I’m almost 4 years out & last week I was folding my knickers & wondered how these tiny things actually fit around my butt. But they do. Same with how other people see you. It takes time for their image of you to change from the overweight you to the slimmer you. It’s why we get all those how much more weight are you going to lose & you should stop losing you’re getting too thin comments. I picked my goal weight based on the lowest weight I was always able to get down to so I was able to visualise what I’d look like & what size clothing I’d be able to wear. Well that fell to pieces when I lost more. I couldn’t see myself at all. Would be shocked when I realised reflections in stores mirrors & shop windows were actually me. I haven’t weighed this since I was 12 (almost 46 yrs ago now) & I didn’t know how much I actually weighed then so it makes sense I couldn’t understand or visualise it. Proved it to myself by putting on the tutu I wore then but it was super freaky & weird me out at the time at the time. I also did something that probably sounds a bit odd but I used to google the weight & height of celebrities I thought might be about my size to get a better idea of what I may look like. Oh & I second @Smanky’s advice to get in & wear those beloved old smaller sizes when you can. I remember I was only able to rewear a beautiful Dries Van Noten outfit I’d kept twice because in 4 weeks it was simply too big. I also lost my window to wear some clothing because the seasons were wrong. 😩 For a laugh, here’s a pxt of me in 2021 wearing the one tutu I kept & one of me at 12 in 1977 wearing the other tutu I wore at the same concert. (Wish my arms & thighs were still that slim - dang loose skin. 😁)

So I read an interesting article early on in my research obsession that stuck with me. It said most people who get weight loss surgery are shocked when they "actually loose the weight". Meaning we are all so used to yo yo diets and unsuccessful attempts that when we ACTUALLY loose a significant amount we are shocked. Its almost like we are wired to not really believe its going to happen for us until it does and we are surprised. I think about that article a lot when "goal weights" are mentioned to me. I feel super unsure about setting a goal weight for myself.

I'm glad to hear you are happy with the results. If I ever decide to do plastic surgery, I might consider removing the loose skin on my belly. I'm not too concerned about my forearms and thighs. I still need to loose some weight

No dumb questions here. It’s all new & strange to us all in the beginning. I get my roots done every 4 weeks & was no different before or after surgery. Had it done a couple of days before surgery & again 4 weeks later. Can’t do anything to stop that hair loss if it happens to you. It’s just your normal hair loss cycle accelerated. Your new hair is still growing just at it’s usual rate. The supplements, shampoos, etc. don’t seem to change a thing. Doesn’t matter whether you take them or not the hair loss tends to last about three months. Can’t do anything about the loose skin either. Too many factors beyond our control dictate how much you’ll have: age, genetics, how much weight you lose, how long you carried your weight, etc. There’s always surgery to remove it if you choose. Whether you’ll need a walking stick or aid is personal. I didn’t. Didn’t use a binder either. Slept on my side in bed from my surgery too. Didn’t have trouble getting up or down - was careful & went slowly just in case. But we’re all different. Speak with you surgery in regards to what activities you can start/resume & when. It may be 4 weeks until you can start cycling, yoga, etc.as they may pull at your internal stitches while you are still healing. There are lots of seated exercises you can do in the beginning but walking is best. Check with your surgeon & your prescribing doctors about your meds too. Some surgeons prefer you not to swallow meds for a few weeks so you may have to look for alternatives or other means if taking them if that’s what you’re told. I was swallowing meds in hospital. Wasn’t easy at first as I had a bit of swelling but it was fine by day 3 or 4. I spread when I took mine through out the day (but I didn’t have many to tape). All the best.

the surgeon who did my body surgeries will not keep patients under anesthesia for more than six hours. He starts getting tired, and some surgeons (including him) consider it dangerous for patients to be under anesthesia for longer than that. I was OK with that - I didn't want anyone operating on me if they were really tired! My lower body lift took four hours. He did the breast and arm procedures during the second surgery. That took close to six hours, I think. The face/neck lift was an afterthought - I originally wasn't going to do it. I had that done a couple of years after my body surgeries and by a different surgeon - one who specializes in faces. That one didn't take as long - maybe three hours?? the lower body lift was the worst pain-wise. It was really painful for about a week, and after that it was mostly just discomfort, but that went on for quite awhile - it's been a few years now so I don't remember how long- - maybe a month or two? I couldn't stand up straight for a couple of weeks because it was too painful. I used a walker for the first week or two. Again, after that it was mostly just discomfort. yes they were to remove loose skin. They also did liposuction and tightened my abdominal muscles, which were all stretched out (I think that's why that particular surgery is so painful - it's the muscle tightening).

The pain from plastic surgery was a lot more intense than laparoscopic weight loss surgery for me (however to me it was comparable to a caesarean). I also didn’t think I would pursue skin removable when I started because I was so focused on health. Honestly I could have gone either way but what pushed me over the edge was someone asking when was I due. I was not pregnant. I booked a plastic surgery consult less than 6 months after that. I see a lot of sleeveless compression tops for men and that might be I lighter layer option to consider.

When I had WLS, skin removal was the last thing on my mind. I had read about it and everything said it was worse that WLS... by far. My WLS was VERY painful, as it was open and I had 30-40 staples and a drain. I decided I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. After a couple+ years I came to the bridge. As much extra skin as I had, and the associated issues, I decided to pursue it. Think of it this way: Did you ever think you would have WLS until you decided it was time? Same thing. The price (in pain) would be high, but it seemed worthwhile. I finally found a surgeon that would entertain doing my stomach and thighs for me. He was actually enthusiastic. He had perfected a method with nearly invisible scars. I won't go into details, but for unexpected reasons it went horribly. I ended up with 70-80 staples and 2 drains. Every movement was a new experience in pain. The stories underplayed the pain. I knew I could do anything for a day, or a week, or a month. Especially since I had no choice by then. I would have done my thighs a few months later when I was able if the newly discovered risk weren't so high. Pain is fleeting. Good luck, Tek

Just curious, why you had three plastic surgeries? All to remove loose skin? What was the down-time while recovering from surgery? This is what worries me. The pain also lol

Good to know. It’s funny my surgery is scheduled for March 20th and I have already jumped from what if I die, get cancer and can’t absorb nutrients, don’t lose the weight - to what am I going to do about lose skin!!! Another dumb question - how did you tell people/ respond to invitations for lunches or dinners?

I agree with most everyone that there is little you can do about stretched and ripped (let's get real) skin. However, don't accept that you must pay for tummy-tucks or anything else. My insurance paid for my abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck), and had approved my thighs had I continued. I wasn't worried about my arms, but I could have made similar cases and had insurance pay. Remember: "Reconstructive." Start documenting rashes, back pain, infections, etc. and your plastic surgery becomes a "reconstructive" surgery rather than a cosmetic one. Because mine were reconstructive mine were 100% paid by my insurance. Good luck, Tek