Does anyone know of a natural herbal supplement that you can take to give your skin more elasticity?

There is no such thing.

Please check this out: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36040

It should answer ALL your questions and then some.

Wow! That is every question I ever could have thought of- answered!

Thanks for posting that link chica!

What about flaxseed oil? Two people have told me to take that for my skin...

Flaxseed oil is really healthful oil but it won't do anything to firm up your skin.

One thing I would really advise is don't get discouraged during the first year from any loose skin that develops. I know it is easy to say but when I first started losing weight, I got really discouraged by the loose skin and it was part of the reason I stopped losing weight for a while. After a year though it started to firm up a bit and its a lot better. I won't say that my loose skin is great but I don't feel ashamed being naked.

Lift weights to help give your body some definition, lotion it up to help make it feel smooth and supple and pray that the loose skin firms up is about all you can do.

I have read some scary stuff about SLS and parabens that prompted me to change all my products and use only those that don't contain them.

Years out and one baby later, my excess skin has nearly disappeared. I'm REALLY glad I didn't have a tummy tuck. I think the weight loss from Roux y Y gastric bypass is so, so rapid that it takes the skin a while to catch up. I also think exercising helped tremendously, although I didn't start exercising until the rapid weight loss slowed down. I had lost most of my excess weight within 9 months, especially once I started running!

I was in my late twenties. My mom (also post op) was in her 50s and she actually has no loose skin at all. We both started out close to 300 and I was at a little under 150 when I became pregnant. After pregnancy, I settled around 150 again until this year. My mom is about 135 lbs.

I am happy that I had gastric bypass and not the band, but am glad that the band is working for you.

Just thought I would chime in as a post-post op. Good luck to all of you!

I don't agree that the skin flaps left by weight lose are just a cosmetic issue. Our insurance did not cover what they called "tummy tucks" post weightloss until this past year. They started allowing it for GBS/lapband surgery but are now approving it even for nonsurgical weigh loss.

I think that even insurance companies are coming around to recognizing that 10 pounds of hanging flopping skin flap is a medical problem especially for diabetics.

I am optimistic that my arms and thighs will shrink up OK, but I if not I will need to pay for that as it will be cosmetic. But my gut is huge and my physician plans to refer me to have my abdomen done at ~200 pounds based on how floppy my gut is after losing only 28 pounds. I am told that I can expect too lose 8+ pounds of skin!

I have lost over 150 pounds and I have quite a bit of loose skin. I am not that worried about it at the moment because I am still losing weight (i have about 30 pounds to go). I am hoping to have some cosmetic surgery done in a couple years if it has not firmed up. I am 37 years old, so I really don't know how it will be in a couple years .

I have a lot of loose skin also. After losing 100+ pounds more than once, you can imagine what a toll it took on my skin. I work out, but the skin still sags around my muscles. There isn't a lot of elasticity left. I did some research on the internet about removing excess skin. The suggestion was to wait for a year or two after reaching your goal and see if the skin shrinks on its own without surgery. I will wait and see what happens.

Try MSM. Google "msm+skin" for more info.