Gaining weight after gallbladder removal

[Xiaoya]

I am so disappointed that while gaining weight (or losing weight for that matter) is such a common problem for people with GB removed, the medical community, however, seems not interested in offering some good answers, as evidenced by endless discussions on this subject on the web.  Of cause you gain weight if your input exceeds what your body can use. But can't the medical community come up with some statistical answers, given the high correlation between weight abnormality and GB surgery. For example, will GB surgery tend to trigger hypothyroid problem? If there are no statistical answers readily available, helping us with some directions for further medical tests, it is time that some studies were initiated.



This discussion is related to Weight Gain after GB surgery.

[Cingirl]

I know that your comment was long ago, but can I have an update on your situation? My gallbladder is barely functioning (no stones) and I have horrible bloating that makes me look prego. I'm 30, 5'4, 110-115 (depending on the bloating), a very stable exerciser, and fear that I need to have this thing yanked out. Both my mom and g'ma had theirs out and they are very overweight. I am so afraid to lose weight. It sounds sad, but I am so scared to gain weight. Being fit and skinny has always been a huge part of my life. I want to have a baby, but I'm so scared that without the GB, I will never lose the weight. I hope your doing better now.

[Amy0131]

I am so for this. Please let me know if I can be of help. I have put on around 10 lbs since my surgery in May '09. I seem to have leveled off, but the frustration have having this extra 10 irremoveable pounds is so depressing. I am a runner that averages 12 mi a week in addition to two days of cross-training per week. I am very diligent about nutrition. While I am not considered overweight, the fact remains that I have gained weight that will not shed. I have experimented with bile salts to no avail. I tried really beefiing up on fiber, but the gas and bloating was rough. I am going to attempt to increase fiber again, and try to combat the bloating with Beano. A typical day's worth of food for me would be:
Breakfast - 1 serving of oatmeal w/ a fresh banana, coffee (black)
Snack - 1 apple
Lunch -  veggie sub sandwich (wheat bread) w/ multi-grain chips & diet drink
Snack - 1 serving grapes or low fat string cheese (not every day)
Dinner - grilled chicken or fish, 1 vegetable, whole grain or brown rice
Water intake, probably 6 8oz glasses/day

Why would someone that eats this way daily and workout for an hour on top of it gain weight. It just doesn't add up.

[weilder]

I know; my doctor says that I must be eating more.  My weight gain has been about 10 pounds in the past 2 months which isn't as bad as some of the posts I have seen, but I have stayed on the pre-surgery diet of soup, no sugar, juice, and the only meats I eat are the lean chicken and turkey.  (Never drank soda much at all so that wasn't an issue.)

Despite the fact that I eat next-to nothing and always spend my day hungry, and I've starting taking the baby (gallstones were pregnancy-related) out with me for exercise; I still am gaining weight with increasing speed.  

Would there be a way for us to form our own research group?  If we could get a good cross-spectrum of people in a survey, I could even try to petition to post the findings in a scientific journal where they might be noticed.  I have a Master's degree in biochemistry and experience in testing, so I have been testing on myself to see what foods fill me up and adding exercises to look for a result.  Especially if there are other gallbladder removal victims who can test nutrition changes, we might be able to gain acceptable evidence.