Need advice about saggy skin after weight loss
 

Ok, I saw a post on:

soc.support.fat-acceptance

It is titled:

Michael Schiavo DEAD...just desserts!


And the user called post posted a link in his that
post to a woman who had gastric bypass and lost over 200lbs. Now, they
show after photos, and I am telling you, a lot of skin! I have a lot
of weight to lose. I have done pretty well so far, as of this morning,
I have lost 44 lbs.

Anyway... After looking at this last night, I had a hard time
sleeping. I am wondering if you think this woman just had something
wrong with the elastic in her skin that would not allow any of her skin
to go back to normal? Or is this just what happens to people that have
to lose such a large amount of weight?

I may not have quite as much weight to lose as she did, but it is
comparable and I am absolutely shocked and scared that this could be
the case for me too! Anyone else that has lost a lot of weight get so
much skin it looked like this? If my boobs end up looking like that, I
would rather be fat!

Please check that out and tell me what you think. And if I have
offended anyone, I am sorry. I am just really shocked.

I would also like to know if you have any ideas of what a person can do
while they are losing weight to prevent some of that saggy skin? I
know that I will have some and I can deal with that, but man, I don't
want anything like she has. Please tell me of ways to help the skin go
back to normal.

Thanks in advance
Sherry

But, is she the norm for the amount of weight she had to lose? I have
a lot to lose. I have lost about 45 and have over 125 to go. I am
really fat. So, it is close enough to what she lost. But, I am not
doing it with gastric bypass and she did. Would that cause the weight
loss SO fast that the result is so much skin. Was there something
wrong with her skin? Did she not exercise? What can I do to NOT look
like that!

"wsherry72" wrote in message
oups.com...
But, is she the norm for the amount of weight she had to lose? I have
a lot to lose. I have lost about 45 and have over 125 to go. I am
really fat. So, it is close enough to what she lost. But, I am not
doing it with gastric bypass and she did. Would that cause the weight
loss SO fast that the result is so much skin. Was there something
wrong with her skin? Did she not exercise? What can I do to NOT look
like that!

I lost 150 lbs and have saggy skin but nothing like those pictures. The
sagging is a result of many factors but mostly genetics and how long you
were fat. My doctor and plastic surgeon both said that since I was obese
since childhood and my mom had skin problems after pregnancies there was no
weight loss plan (slow or fast) or cream or any other thing that would have
kept me from having the loose skin. All told between torso/legs/arms it was
once estimated that I had close to 20 lbs of skin that could be removed by
surgery. You also need to be at a stable weight for 2 years before you can
consider any lifts or tucks.

--
the volleyballchick

"Ignoramus21027" wrote in message
...
On 2 Apr 2005 14:58:45 -0800, wsherry72 wrote:
But, is she the norm for the amount of weight she had to lose? I have
a lot to lose. I have lost about 45 and have over 125 to go. I am
really fat. So, it is close enough to what she lost. But, I am not
doing it with gastric bypass and she did.

So, you are going relatively slowly, is that correct?

Would that cause the weight loss SO fast that the result is so much
skin.

Gastric bypass is an enforced crash diet, because the stomach is so
small that the person can only eat very little.

That's what I thought too, till I read through part of this girl's WLS
journal just out of curiosity. There she says things like: " but don't
understand how in the world I was able to eat so much only 8 days out from
surgery..." She cheated on her liquid diet a few times WITHIN THE FIRST FEW
DAYS after surgery. From what she says, even after surgery it wasn't easy to
stick to plan. It would appear that many people think that, just by having
the bypass, they'll automatically eat very little without any effort or
willpower on their part. According to this girl's story, that's not the
case.

Was there something wrong with her skin? Did she not exercise?

Exercise wouldn't have done anything to the lose skin, you may develop
muscle mass with exercise but hardly enough to fill that empty 'sack'.

What can I do to NOT look like that!

Plastic surgery! She's had two rounds of it so far...
But then she weighed 360+ to start with...

I do not think that there is anything you can do, besides losing
slowly and making sure that you eat a good diet. It is supposedly
better in younger people. I have not seen any supplements that would
be proven to work. Which is not to say that some magic solution does
not exists, only that I have not seen it. I had a lot less to lose, I
lost only 50 lbs, and I personally do not have saggy skin.

The mechanism of skin elasticity and loss thereof, is that as people
age, sugar bonds with collagen molecules in skin, causing them to
cross-link and become less elastic. So, if a person is old and had
high blood sugar, they would be more likely to have saggy skin.

The girl in the pictures was 33 yrs old when she had the bypass.

We cannot change our age, or what blood sugars we had, so our options
are, naturally, limited.

Since relatively few people lose weight and keep it off, doing studies
on that is maybe more complicated.
--
223/175.2/180

wsherry72 wrote:

But, is she the norm for the amount of weight she had to lose? I have
a lot to lose. I have lost about 45 and have over 125 to go. I am
really fat. So, it is close enough to what she lost. But, I am not
doing it with gastric bypass and she did. Would that cause the weight
loss SO fast that the result is so much skin. Was there something
wrong with her skin? Did she not exercise? What can I do to NOT look
like that!


Why don't you lose weight and worry about your appearance later? You're
all in a tizzy over something that may not even apply to you. If this
woman was your *sister* it still might not happen to you!

I lost nearly 100 pounds and I'm only 5 feet tall. I don't think the
amount of loose skin I have is *that* much more than any average 49 yo
woman. I'd rather be healthy and fit than fret over my skin.

One thing for sure, I would never have GB surgery. My best advice would
be to exercise while losing weight slowly. Btw - I really only walked
while I did.

--
Walking on . . .
Laurie in Maine
207/115
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Gastric bypass is an enforced crash diet, because the stomach is so
small that the person can only eat very little.

That's what I thought too, till I read through part of this girl's WLS
journal just out of curiosity. There she says things like: " but don't
understand how in the world I was able to eat so much only 8 days out
from
surgery..." She cheated on her liquid diet a few times WITHIN THE FIRST
FEW
DAYS after surgery. From what she says, even after surgery it wasn't easy
to
stick to plan. It would appear that many people think that, just by
having
the bypass, they'll automatically eat very little without any effort or
willpower on their part. According to this girl's story, that's not the
case.

I am confused, was she losing weight slowly (which would suggest that
she really ate more food than I thought), or was she losing weight
quickly, while feeling as though she was eating a lot?

Lost weight quickly over the first couple of weeks despite little cheats but
then hit a plateau after 4 wks or so, then lost slowly for a while, 1-2
lbs/wk, which is OK for people of moderate weight losing without surgery but
she was still over 300lbs. She definitely had trouble adjusting to eating
less even after surgery, although there were also times when her stomach
didn't let her eat much.

Was there something wrong with her skin? Did she not exercise?

Exercise wouldn't have done anything to the lose skin, you may develop
muscle mass with exercise but hardly enough to fill that empty 'sack'.

Absolutely.

I do not think that there is anything you can do, besides losing
slowly and making sure that you eat a good diet. It is supposedly
better in younger people. I have not seen any supplements that would
be proven to work. Which is not to say that some magic solution does
not exists, only that I have not seen it. I had a lot less to lose, I
lost only 50 lbs, and I personally do not have saggy skin.

The mechanism of skin elasticity and loss thereof, is that as people
age, sugar bonds with collagen molecules in skin, causing them to
cross-link and become less elastic. So, if a person is old and had
high blood sugar, they would be more likely to have saggy skin.

The girl in the pictures was 33 yrs old when she had the bypass.

Looks like she is one unlucky 33 year old...

It was an eye-opener, I never thought about this 'dark' side of losing
weight. Seeing that is certainly a good motivation for anyone to stop
gaining weight, knowing that even if you manage to lose it you may not look
as good as you'd have expected, unless you have plastic surgery (and big
scars left after it) ;-(

Having once been 320 pounds, I'm very concerned about skin elasticity. So
far, after losing 142 pounds from peak, my skin appears to be returning to
normal with some extra wrinkles. Wrinkles near the elbow, and such, are
common at my age of 49 anyway. I still have some poundage to lose to see
what the result will be.

My best guess as to why my skin appears to be recovering, is that I get lots
of saturated fat and cholesterol. The body needs the basic building
materials to re-engineer itself. I suspect that horrible skin results may
be a symptom of low fat diets.

Cubit
311/178/165


"wsherry72" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, I saw a post on:

soc.support.fat-acceptance

It is titled:

Michael Schiavo DEAD...just desserts!


And the user called post posted a link in his that
post to a woman who had gastric bypass and lost over 200lbs. Now, they
show after photos, and I am telling you, a lot of skin! I have a lot
of weight to lose. I have done pretty well so far, as of this morning,
I have lost 44 lbs.

Anyway... After looking at this last night, I had a hard time
sleeping. I am wondering if you think this woman just had something
wrong with the elastic in her skin that would not allow any of her skin
to go back to normal? Or is this just what happens to people that have
to lose such a large amount of weight?

I may not have quite as much weight to lose as she did, but it is
comparable and I am absolutely shocked and scared that this could be
the case for me too! Anyone else that has lost a lot of weight get so
much skin it looked like this? If my boobs end up looking like that, I
would rather be fat!

Please check that out and tell me what you think. And if I have
offended anyone, I am sorry. I am just really shocked.

I would also like to know if you have any ideas of what a person can do
while they are losing weight to prevent some of that saggy skin? I
know that I will have some and I can deal with that, but man, I don't
want anything like she has. Please tell me of ways to help the skin go
back to normal.

Thanks in advance
Sherry

Cubit wrote:
Having once been 320 pounds, I'm very concerned about skin
elasticity. So
far, after losing 142 pounds from peak, my skin appears to be
returning to
normal with some extra wrinkles. Wrinkles near the elbow, and such,
are
common at my age of 49 anyway. I still have some poundage to lose to
see
what the result will be.

My best guess as to why my skin appears to be recovering, is that I
get lots
of saturated fat and cholesterol. The body needs the basic building
materials to re-engineer itself. I suspect that horrible skin
results may
be a symptom of low fat diets.

Cubit
311/178/165

There are many reasons for the loss of elasticity in the skin.
Menopause is probably the biggest for women. Healthy fats are a great
source for help in the prevention of sagging skin. Here's just one of
many articles that can be found with a search on "skin elasticity fat".
I couldn't find any that specfically suggested saturated fat; most
mentioned fat from fish, avacado, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to
find many of the foods I normally eat. At age 62 I'm still blessed
very little sagging skin.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...2/ai_n12885932


Beverly

Anyone else that has lost a lot of weight get so
much skin it looked like this? If my boobs end up looking like that
....

I've lost more than 150 pounds, and if you are referring to the
Discovery Channel program I think you are, then yes, I look like that.
My breasts look like deflated footballs; I have to clean and jerk them
into a bra every morning. There are rolls of excess skin on my abdomen
and thighs; my upper arms make a flapping noise during aerobics. I look
like a shar-pei, but less cute.

I
would rather be fat!

I wouldn't. I started this WOL to improve my health and quality of
life. I figured my middle-aged skin would not "go back to normal"
after 20+ years of morbid obesity. Being able to walk without fatigue
and pain, having energy to live an active life, and controlling my
diabetes and sleep apnea are well worth the unpleasant appearance,
which can only be seen when I'm nekkid. I look quite presentable
clothed:

http://photos.yahoo.com/kasey0613 (click on Kasey ASD album)

I have an consult scheduled with a plastic surgeon in June, so I hope
to have some of the redundant skin removed. But even if I can't, I
value my health far more than my physical appearance.

As always, YMMV.

Kasey
365/213/190

Holy cow, Kasey, you look AMAZING in that blue suit. Way to go, girl -
what an accomplishment! You must be thrilled with the new you!

Mary G.