I am 4 years out of the laparoscopic roux-en-y and I have maintained my weight from a year out until 6 months or so ago and suddenly I've gained over 30 pounds. The quantity or quality of food hasn't changed or anything so I'm not sure why. My weight slowly keeps escalating more and more, I'm walking 1.3 miles a day and I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this... Please comment or message me and let me know if any of you have experienced this as well. Thank you for taking your time to read this. 

I started gaining around 3-4 years out, only about 20 lbs, and I was liking the first 15 of them.   I gained another 5 the year after that.  My life completely changed through the loss of a job and start of a business and I dropped 15 lbs without even thinking about it.  It's basically just time to start really paying attention to what you eat .  I'm well aware that I'm not the model eater and that's okay.  I find my balance and so will you.  You say that nothing has changed at all.  Perhaps now is the time to change things up. 

I went from working nearly every day for close to a year to not working at all so I'm sure that's played a huge role. Recently I had exploratory surgery and a hiatal hernia repair and they found in my labs that all of my vitamins are really low including my iron so I've been tired a lot but we're working on getting all of my vitamin levels back up then maybe I'll join the gym cause I'm gonna have to put forth more efforts to getting my weight where I want and maintaining it to remain healthier...

I never heard of the Duodenal switch, what exactly is that?

The body is smart.  It sees its rapid weight loss as a famine and as being starved.  It works on ways to overcome the starvation.  The cilia inside the intestines are hairlike appendages that grab food and hold it into contact with the inside of the intestines.  That allows the calories to be absorbed. During the third year after surgery, your intestines produce more cilia and stronger cilia.

Those stronger cilia allow more calories to be absorbed and weight increases.  It really is nothing that you did wrong. It is part of the healing process.  I tell people not to be satisfied with maintaining at their goal or slightly above their goal after their weight stablilizes at about one year out. 

It is important to realize that the bounce-back weight gain is part of the healing process.  Even though you might look way too skinny during the second year, continuing to lose down to 10, 20 or even 30 pounds under your goal is a smart thing to do. 

You can lose the bounceback weight.  It takes a lot of exercise, a lot of calorie cutting and a lot of awareness.  Your body has become more efficient at holding on the weight and will fight you hard.  One hint that helps me is to weight myself daily.  I don't shrug off any gains and say it is jus****er weight.  I don't tell myself that it is muscle gain.  I have a goal weight and if the scale goes up, my food intake goes down and my movement goes up.

I went through the bounceback weight gain starting at 30 months.  It took me over a year to get it back in line and back under control.

cillia are in your respiratory system, villi are in your digestive system.

Where are you getting this data?

Weight loss surgery has been around for about 40 years.  It is pretty well known that the pou*****reases in size, that the malabsorption goes away and that bounceback weight gain occurs.  It is also known that the villi regenerate fairly quickly.

I meant, where did you get this very specific information? "During the third year after surgery, your intestines produce more cilia and stronger cilia."    I have not read a single study that supports your statement regarding villi.  Yes, people regain, yet many do not.  And the reason for the regain is almost always a return to eating more carbs. 

You are right that regrowth of villi must start much sooner.  It just seems that malabsorption ends sometime in the third year and regain happens to almost everyone then.  People feel guilty when it happens but I believe that it is part of the entire process. 

After 18 mouths the malabsorption stops so it is all on you to keep the weight off. Some people who have had long-term post-op have found doing the 5 day pouch test helps them.
http://www.5daypouchtest.com/index.html

Thank you and I'm definitely going to do this 5 day pouch test

If the quality/quantity of food you eat has stayed the same, I'd recommend increasing the amount exercise you get. Walking 1.3 miles isn't enough to achieve the target heart rate needed to burn calories, although it may have been enough when you were heavier.

I gained about 10 lbs. five years after my surgery, and genuinely thought that my eating habits hadn't changed. Once I started journaling my food regularly, I was surprised. You'd be amazed how portion size can creep up without you even noticing it. Try measuring/weighing your food and see what you come up with.

Those pounds came off brilliantly once I took careful inventory of my intake and added some weight training to my daily cardio regimen.

Good luck--you can do it!

I'm limited to the 1.3 mile walk cause I have my 7-year-old with me 24/7 with school being out and even though we wait till it cools off, it's 100-106 degrees. Hopefully as soon as he starts back to school I can join the gym cause I definitely need more physical activity. For now I'll do the walk, watch what I eat and primarily fill up on the protein shakes throughout the day... Thank you for sharing your insight

Yup I found I could gain at exactly 4 years also, so that means now you have to cut back calories and/or get more exercise.  You have to nip it in the bud now before the gain gets out of control, losing 30lbs isn't going to be easy but it can be done.  I diet every single day to stay at 140lbs just like every other normal 47 year old womyn I know.  Welcome to the real world.  Sorry.

Ok.....this is a scary post that makes me face my greatest fear.....REGAIN!
I am 4.5 yrs out and so far I haven't experienced a re-gain problem.  I am actually terrified of re-gaining my weight. 
I weigh every day and I keep a log of everything I eat....the good and bad.
I don't exercise like I should but I do have a physically active job so that probably helps.

I am anxious to read everyone's responses.

Best of luck to you!!!!!

Leslie

 I'm almost 4 years out & gained about 20 over the past year.  I just had to take a look at what I was eating, increase protein, decrease carbs and I started an app on my phone called couch to 5k and jogging every other night. It is actually pretty enjoying. I have lost all my excess weight that I had gained & I'm toning muscles too!

Good Luck
Dot

Increase your exercise. Walking 1.3 miles is good for your heart, but does little for weight loss or your metabolism. Strength training can increase your metabolism. I'd also recommend running or using an elliptical machine. Also track your food. The further we get out, the more we can eat. "Bounceback" is not a given. We can maintain our weight loss.