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Weight gain after gallbladder surgery



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I'm starting to have a BIG problem. I had my gallbladder taken out about 6 weeks ago and every since then my whole appetite has changed for the worse. Slowly my weight has started to increase, I gained 5 lbs in the past few weeks. I can eat twice the portion of food and I'm hungry 1 hour after my meals and in between my meals. I was never like that before I had my gallbladder taken out. Before I would eat 3 meals a day and not be hungry and it would be losing 2 lbs a week. Now i'm gaining like 1/2 lbs a day. Honestly, lately for the past two weeks, I've been struggle with eatting hungry and not drinking liquids as I was before. I'm just hungry all the time and not thristy. I haven't really been making the right food choice lately either. I did join a gym 2 weeks ago and I go 2-3 times a week.

Does anyone know someone who has Lap Band and had their gallbladder taken out? did they go through this side effect like I am. I can't get another fill because my insurance won't pay for them anymore. I'm 11 months out from having my surgery (surgery date 10/23/07) and I've had 5 fills so far. I'm a 8.5 cc out of 10 cc. The restriction is not there anymore.

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Call your original banding surgeon...he may need to check your band and make sure you didn't lose fill etc. Not having a gall bladder should not change your eating etc....(it won't make you hungry for example!) but it is located near the bottom of the stomach. They fill you with air to remove it (just like they did to APPLY the band) and things could've shifted around a bit. It's fixable....your lap band surgeon can help you.

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Sorry they fill you with GAS, not air...but the point is the same...things probably moved around in there and you need to get refilled a bit.

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i got my gallbladder out july 30th of this year....

I actually had the same surgeon take out my gallbladder who put in my band..

he had also completely unfilled my band.. so ofcourse i was constantly hungry.. i maintain right after surgery and lost some because i was obsessed with not gaining.. funny thing as soon as i started the process of getting refilled.. ive gained about 8lbs... im slowly losing them again but am still not at the right level or "sweet spot"

You definately need a fill adjustment.. i would recommend that you either fight insurance to pay for it or find out how much your surgeon charges for self payers... its usually a lot lower.. and you can go that route.. but i think its better to self pay for the adjustment and contine on your journey than sit here and struggle with it.. i mean we had this surgery to get to our goals and help us..

i mean what the point of having this tool if were not going to maintain it..

i've gone through 10 different adjustment in the past 18mths and am willing to continue.. and trust me there were time where i had to ay out of pocket...

i was 8.7cc before i got unfilled and am currently at 7.7ccs.. so hopefully he can get it at that level next week..

good luck to you

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I'm starting to have a BIG problem. I had my gallbladder taken out about 6 weeks ago and every since then my whole appetite has changed for the worse. Slowly my weight has started to increase, I gained 5 lbs in the past few weeks. I can eat twice the portion of food and I'm hungry 1 hour after my meals and in between my meals. I was never like that before I had my gallbladder taken out. Before I would eat 3 meals a day and not be hungry and it would be losing 2 lbs a week. Now i'm gaining like 1/2 lbs a day. Honestly, lately for the past two weeks, I've been struggle with eatting hungry and not drinking liquids as I was before. I'm just hungry all the time and not thristy. I haven't really been making the right food choice lately either. I did join a gym 2 weeks ago and I go 2-3 times a week.

Does anyone know someone who has Lap Band and had their gallbladder taken out? did they go through this side effect like I am. I can't get another fill because my insurance won't pay for them anymore. I'm 11 months out from having my surgery (surgery date 10/23/07) and I've had 5 fills so far. I'm a 8.5 cc out of 10 cc. The restriction is not there anymore.

I had my gallbladder taken out about a month ago. I have really struggled the past two weeks and have put on about 5 pounds. I too have joined a gym and increased my activity level, but my restriction is gone gone gone. I am scheduled for a fill on the 17th though. My insurance doesn't cover it either (I was self pay) but I knew going into it that fills were out of pocket.

I don't really have an answer to your situation if you are not willing, or can't financially go in for a fill. The band is designed to work with restriction, if yours is gone, you need a fill. Good luck!

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Had my GB out about a year and a half after banding. Was not unfilled, did not notice any change in restriction.

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Ditto with Jeni. I had my gallbladder out on August 5th. I had complications with stones in my bile ducts and had a second surgery on the 7th. I was in the hospital for 5 days and lost 7 pounds in 5 days. Since then I have gained 3 of those 7 pounds back. I too feel hungry, BUT I had to be completely unfilled for my surgeries. I have had one fill since, but I've had to start all over again. He could not fill me back to the same fill level all at once. I was so disappointed. So I went for two weeks with no fill at all, and then got 4 of my original 5.5. So I'm still not where I was. Considering that, I feel fortunate that I only gained back 3 pounds. My blood pressure seems to be my problem. I can't get it to go back down since my surgery. I almost had a stroke in the hospital as well. It makes no sense at all. I was almost down to a completely normal blood pressure and was just about to get completely off blood pressure meds when all this happened. Now it's high again, and I've had to double the meds back to where I was before I was even banded. I'm worried an confused. What does surgery have to do with it???

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My Tummy Tuck surgeon says I don't need unfilled as he won't be near the band but the nurses where I had my surgery say I do need an unfill. What do you think?

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    • LeighaTR

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      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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