I’m about 5 and a half weeks post-op, and my period showed up about a week ago. I haven’t seen a period in roughly 3 years (very irregular). The issue is this: sweet/salty cravings have surfaced, I’ve gained 2 lbs during this week that my period has been on. I’ve had horrible pms symptoms, my flow has been super heavy ?. Has anyone else experienced weight gain this early on? Please tell me that I haven’t messed anything up. It’s very discouraging to see the scale go up when I was losing just fine. At 1 month post-op I was down a little over 30 lbs total from my highest weight. I’m just hoping to see the numbers on the scale start to go down again. Especially after my period has gone off; should the weight I’ve gained go away? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year ?!!

Edited January 1, 20215 yr by Slvdn2020

Sounds like hormonal weight gain (fluid retention) due to pms to me. Give it a few days and see where its at, hopefully the fluid retention will have gone.

I haven’t had surgery yet. I’m just having my surgeon consult in January. I have been taking classes where we have weigh ins as part of my program and I was super upset because my last class ended on 304lbs ...... I warned the nurse I was on my period and I tend to retain water like crazy during that time of the month. Today (a week later) I weighed myself and I was 296lbs.
I am pretty steady when following this class nutrition diet to lose only about one pound a week. That’s a huge different in weight for only a week and you can totally see it was my period (I am hoping to give the dr my new weight when I have the consult in January. The nurse seemed pretty “yeah..... sure you do”

I’m right about where you are! This coming Wednesday will be 6wks. My first period post surgery just ended today. Gained 1.5 the week prior and stalled for 10 days. Pre surgery my period was like clock work spanning 3 days.... this time was 9 days and very heavy flow. But on the upside, was down 4.2 this morning (last weigh in was Wednesday the 23rd). So don’t fret! I bet you’ll have a substantial loss when all is said and done ?

weird hormone things seem to be fairly common in the first few weeks or months after WLS. I didn't deal with it since I was post-menopausal when I had surgery, but we hear about this a lot here on BP. It's supposedly due to excess estrogen - estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it's released when you're experiencing rapid weight loss. It'll normalize when the weight loss slows down.

I started menopause last year.

7 hours ago, Slvdn2020 said:

I’m about 5 and a half weeks post-op, and my period showed up about a week ago. I haven’t seen a period in roughly 3 years (very irregular). The issue is this: sweet/salty cravings have surfaced, I’ve gained 2 lbs during this week that my period has been on. I’ve had horrible pms symptoms, my flow has been super heavy ?. Has anyone else experienced weight gain this early on? Please tell me that I haven’t messed anything up. It’s very discouraging to see the scale go up when I was losing just fine. At 1 month post-op I was down a little over 30 lbs total from my highest weight. I’m just hoping to see the numbers on the scale start to go down again. Especially after my period has gone off; should the weight I’ve gained go away? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Happy New Year ?!!

5 hours ago, Hop_Scotch said:

Sounds like hormonal weight gain (fluid retention) due to pms to me. Give it a few days and see where its at, hopefully the Fluid retention will have gone.

I sure hope that’s what it is. I think I’ll hold off on weighing myself until it has gone off.

4 hours ago, Orinskye said:

I haven’t had surgery yet. I’m just having my surgeon consult in January. I have been taking classes where we have weigh ins as part of my program and I was super upset because my last class ended on 304lbs ...... I warned the nurse I was on my period and I tend to retain Water like crazy during that time of the month. Today (a week later) I weighed myself and I was 296lbs.
I am pretty steady when following this class nutrition diet to lose only about one pound a week. That’s a huge different in weight for only a week and you can totally see it was my period (I am hoping to give the dr my new weight when I have the consult in January. The nurse seemed pretty “yeah..... sure you do”

I’m hoping that’s the case for me. Years ago when my cycle was regular, I know I would gain at least 5 lbs during that time. So I’m hoping once it goes off, the weight gain will follow.
Sending you lots of positive vibes as you navigate your way through the pre-op phase!!

4 hours ago, Ready and waiting said:

I’m right about where you are! This coming Wednesday will be 6wks. My first period post surgery just ended today. Gained 1.5 the week prior and stalled for 10 days. Pre surgery my period was like clock work spanning 3 days.... this time was 9 days and very heavy flow. But on the upside, was down 4.2 this morning (last weigh in was Wednesday the 23rd). So don’t fret! I bet you’ll have a substantial loss when all is said and done ?

Oh yes, we’re right along with each other. This coming Tuesday will make 6 weeks for me. Today makes day 7 for me (2 light days and 5 heavy days and counting ?). Hoping it goes off soon. I usually weigh once a week on Tuesday’s, but if it hasn’t gone off by this Tuesday, I’ll hold off on weighing. I sure hope my loss will be substantial when it goes off. This has certainly put a damper on things.
Did you have any cravings during your period? I’m glad you lost the water weight when your period went off. It does give me hope.

3 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

weird hormone things seem to be fairly common in the first few weeks or months after WLS. I didn't deal with it since I was post-menopausal when I had surgery, but we hear about this a lot here on BP. It's supposedly due to excess estrogen - estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it's released when you're experiencing rapid weight loss. It'll normalize when the weight loss slows down.

Lol...I guess when I was doing my research, I completely missed this information about the estrogen stores. My cycle has been very irregular for several years now. I have not had a true cycle since 2016. It would be no more than light spotting here and there. This has definitely thrown me for a loop. So glad I always keep feminine products on hand just in case. I’m ready for it to slow down so I can see the scale going down instead of up.