Has anyone else had a pretty major weight gain after having their gall bladder out? I've searched it and it seems pretty common but I'm having a hard time letting myself use this as an excuse.
I quit exercising shortly before my sugergy because of the pain. I also started a sit down desk job the week before my surgery. The office I work in is constantly full of goodies and when nobody brings them in, there is a "treat drawer" that is far too easily accessed.
So, I'm blaming my lazy butt and my sweet tooth mostly but could there be a link to the surgery? Am I going to find it harder to lose now than I have before?
In all reality I'd like to lose 9 pound this month, 10 in Feb, and 5 in both March and April. I plan on losing more in the first month to offset the second because I am pretty sure I'm holding onto lots of water since I quit drinking that when I became lazy and hungry. Is this doable? I know I've been a part of this losing game before and I totally felt confident this could happen until I got caught up in reading about the weight gained by gall bladder removal.
Help me get my confidence back. If I was 150 by my birthday (April 16th) I'd be on cloud 9. I don't want to set myself up for failure though.
You know, I gained weight after my gall bladder surgery, but I had been gaining weight all along. I don't think the removal of my gall bladder had anything to do with it. I simply had bad habits with food and didn't get consistent exercise.
My father had his gall bladder removed, and saw only a few pounds of gain after surgery. But, this was mostly because he was resting more and not moving around as much.
As it is, he's been able to maintain/lose much of his weight simply because he has to watch how much fat he eats due to the lack of a gall bladder.
About your goals: I don't think that they're unreasonable, but I do think that perhaps with the recent major changes you've gone through you may want to reconsider a "lose x by y" time frame, only because your body may have changed significantly following the surgery, and who knows what is reasonable now? Everyone's bodies are different.
Were I you, I'd focus on returning to some activity slowly (and of course asking the doctor for permission), as well as making sure you pack veggie & fruit snacks during the day so the drawer isn't as tempting.
Yes, I had this problem. Of course, I have struggled with my weight most of my life. Before I had it out in 2001, I had lost a lot of weight, I was at 150 pounds. Once I had my gallbladder out, I went back up. I let myself use that as an excuse, and its not an excuse.
Lynsey, keep yourself motivated. Obviously, follow your Doc's advice (I know I was restricted for a few weeks), but you can do some exercise.
I gained after having mine out. I was just so happy to eat and not feel like some alien was trying to crawl out of my stomach. So I ate everything I could get my hands on...starting with a bucket of KFC...and it was downhill from there.
I too gained a lot of weight after the removal of my gallbladder, but like others I don't think it had anything to do with the surgery and everything to do with what I was stuffing down my throat...and if I don't get my act together right now, it will happen again.
Very interesting...
I will most likely have to have mine removed, and I have a consultation with the surgeon this Thursday to talk about it (and after another attack last Friday I can't wait to get it over with)
I hadn't even considered the possibility of weight gain after the surgery.
To all the people that gained: What kind of surgery did you get?
I am hoping to get the laparoscopic one so that I can be up and running soon, but even then I am not sure what the inactivity period is on that..
I am hoping to lose a bit more weight before the surgery and now that I read your posts I will also have to be mindful of what I do AFTER the surgery.
My mother had hers removed, and she's been struggling with her weight ever since. I used to have stones pretty often, with really debilitating pain, but since I started dieting, they haven't been a problem.
I guess some of the digestive enzymes made by your gallbladder are important in maintaining a normal weight, and without them a lot of people have a hard time losing.
however, this isn't really a doom sentence, weight loss and maintenance is still possible. People who are already good at taking care of themselves nutritionally (I'm guessing there's a few of them here, who have had long term success dieting) may not even notice the difference.
Just some physiology here----the gallbladder doesn't make any enzymes; it's basically a storage pouch for bile from the liver. After it is removed, the bile has to go directly from the liver into the small intestine to help digestion, and if a person eats a meal with too much fat in it, they can feel pretty sick for awhile until the bile secretion catches up. (This happened to me once with spare ribs a few months after my surgery.)
However, over time, the bile duct often enlarges so that it kind of takes over the function of storage, and then one doesn't have that problem, or at least not so much of a problem.
hum, this is interesting. I started having gall bladder attacks when i was pregnant with my second child. When she was about 4 months old I ended up in the ER, and was Jaundiced. 2 days later my gall bladder was removed, it was half full of stones and I had 5 in the common bile duct that had to be fished out before surgery. I was trying to lose the baby weight after that and I was struggling to do so but then got pregnant again when she was 10months old. I know that since he has been born, I seem to pack on weight faster than I did before so I dont really know if i can contribute it to the gall bladder removal, or less activity, ate more, dont know. But i don't know that ever since I had it out, I get sick feeling when I get hungry and i didn't do that before and i think my appetite increased afterwards
I had mine out at the tender age of 19 - a zillion years ago, before laproscopic (sp?) surgery was even talked about (and I have the 6 inch {12" while preggers!!!} scar). My recovery time was MUCH longer than when my lil' sister had hers out 5 years ago. I think I was in the hospital a week, and walked bent over for a few weeks after that - not a great time. She was in & out much quicker (I don't remember if it was outpatient surgery, but I am certain it wasn't more that a day or two), and recovery was very fast - back to normal within a week.
As far as weight gain is concerned, that's a tough call - I was in the throes of a deep caffeine/speed addiction at that time in my life (when I saw my weight get down to 115 lbs - not good), and a couple years later, when I got out of that particular "fun" period of my life, is when the weight started creeping back on, slowly. The main weight changes occurred during my pregnancies - at 28, I was 160 - after 1st child, I was at 190, then after #2 (I think I was 34), I was up to 225+.
I don't believe I saw my sister gain all that much after the surgery, either. But then, she had puppies instead of kids, so.....
Had mine removed about 12 years ago and I am lighter now than I was then. In my poor big body it didn't effect weight gain cause all I kept on doing was using the bathroom. Go figure
I lost weight after having my gallbladder removed last July. I was already 1 1/2 years into my new active, healthier lifestlyle, so after the surgery, I was eager to get back to my routine. I started walking four days after the surgery, taking care not to overdo it and not push myself. I was off work for six weeks. During that time, I ate like I used to before the surgery (healthy most of the time) and progressed from walking to jogging again and doing other exercises. It was during this time off that that I hit the 100-pound-loss milestone.
I had the laparoscopic surgery. Practically all the females in my family had this surgery, and some had to have the original, riskier surgery. When I woke up from surgery I felt no pain, no nausea, just tired (the recovery room nurse said I slept for four hours, four times longer than the typical patient). Other than that, I recovered well and quickly.
Gall bladder removal question....
--the gallbladder doesn't make any enzymes; it's basically a storage pouch for bile from the liver. After it is removed, the bile has to go directly from the liver into the small intestine to help digestion, and if a person eats a meal with too much fat in it, they can feel pretty sick for awhile until the bile secretion catches up. (This happened to me once with spare ribs a few months after my surgery.)
), and a couple years later, when I got out of that particular "fun" period of my life, is when the weight started creeping back on, slowly. The main weight changes occurred during my pregnancies - at 28, I was 160 - after 1st child, I was at 190, then after #2 (I think I was 34), I was up to 225+.
