Liposuction: Forum
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Did you gain weight after liposuction?

By FL Mom1on 24 Aug 2009

Last year I got lipo done on my abdomen (belly) and cankles. I think the fat is all coming back ALREADY!! Did anyone else who's had lipo get this quick weight gain in the treated areas? maybe my body wants to store fat, like it or not, in my ankles and abs. Frustrated in Florida (female, 29, 1 child)

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The Daily Mail (Mail Online) from London has a few online articles called 'The Truth about liposuction'. The articles seem to be far more straightforward than what is published in newspapers in America about the topic. Article number 4483 is particularly good. In this article, the doctor mentions that the limit that they legally remove in England is 3 liters as opposed to the 5 liter limit allowed in most of the US. In this article, the doctor wrote that in America, liposuction has a mortality rate of one in just more than every 5, 000 procedures. And, in my personal experience, death isn't the only horrific outcome of this surgery. You really have to read the article for yourself. It's quite good.
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Okay. Thank you so much for the update.
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I was thinking about it, Natalie, he's in Arizona, so maybe the testing is connected with the Mayo Clinic.
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I found the website of a plastic surgeon online who was talking about the fact that unfavorable results are growing in the field of liposuction. He said, 'compounding the problem, patients who have experienced unsatisfactory results are often too humiliated to come forward with their problems, which could help warn others in hopes of preventing similar, negative outcomes.' But here's the thing.... we ARE all coming forward, but where do we come forward TO? It's so hard to get people to listen, especially doctors who make their living in this field. I read many positive reviews that give the procedure a 'thumbs up', and often as I scroll down through the months or years, they become increasingly unhappy with the 'results', they plan to have another procedure done to 'fix' the first one...
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Can you say the website? And yeah, I see people giving it a 'thumbs up' but usually that is pretty soon after the procedure. I had felt the same way! Unfortunately the docs who do the procedure have a perceived credibility and so if they say that 'complainers' are 'eating like pigs' or being 'lazy', people believe them because they want this procedure to work! I so wish it did work. And the procedure to fix it...is so much more expensive and risky.
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Actually, to answer my own post, it IS humiliating to come forward, but it must be done. I had many positive life plans before surgery, that did not include talking about how my body was maimed by a board certified plastic surgeon.
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Yes. I'll email you the link.
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A scientific update on pluripotent stem cells from liposuction: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130605185929.htm
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I had to make a call today (totally unrelated to what was done to me in surgery), and during our conversation, the man I spoke with told me he had an experimental stem cell procedure done yesterday. He damaged the fat pad (and nerves) on his foot when he was jumping over a wall about a year ago. He said that the procedure cost him $250 and that he's very excited to see if it works! As you know, for me, I was maimed beyond any sort of repair, by a surgeon who suctioned out essential tissues (fat I didn't have to spare) against my consent, but for those of you looking into stem cell therapy, I thought you might be interested to hear about this. As I was speaking with him, I was thinking about you, Juliabars, and wondering how I could get the two of you in touch. I don't want to violate his privacy by giving out his information, and I didn't feel comfortable asking him if I could get you in touch, but we had a very good, long conversation, so maybe I can call him back in few months to see how he's doing?
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Where did he receive the treatment?
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Specifically I don't know where, I only know what state he's in - Arizona - and he said it is an 'experimental' treatment. He only had it done yesterday, so he doesn't know how it will go yet.
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Thank you, everyone, for your kind wishes. I have never delved into the problem with a doctor, and maybe I should. I ran this by my sister who is a doctor (internal medicine), and she shrugged it off as just an age thing. I think it's best not to use your sister for a doctor! Anyway, I'll keep you posted. And if anyone out there seems to have this same problem, I'd love to hear from you. Regards, Rose
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Yes, for some reason family members who are doctors seem to be most dismissive. I thought my dad's attitude was due to the fact that he was an ER doc thus, treating only what he considered "emergencies" but from the sounds of it, you debunked my theory considering your sister in an internal doc and did the same thing. Hope you can find someone who is truly a good and active listener. Vitals dot com seems to be a good place to get dr. reviews.
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I am so sorry Rose.
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News Piece on Treating Lipodystrophy. Two pharmaceutical companies are working on treating lipodystrophy. I thought this article (link at the end) was interesting because it's mentioned that lipodystrophic people gain weight in other areas including muscle. I feel like that's what happened to my thighs. They are tender all the time, and the obvious explanation is that fat has multiplied and settled into muscle. (It's not the same as just gaining weight which doesn't generally hurt.) The article also mentions that the fat loss causes a deficit in the hormone leptin which affects metabolism. I often feel that we have the same symptoms as people who are lacking in subcutaneous fat. Rose http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130604-705656.html
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Hi Rose. Do I understand that your thighs are tender all of the time since your surgery?
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Yes, that's correct - all the time. They also seem to have more vascularity - it's as though more blood supply was needed to "grow" the fat cells. I have corresponded with one other person online who underwent liposuction and had what seemed to be the same problem. She was told she had "lipema" (also called Dercum's Disease), and it was likely caused by the lipo. (Or perhaps she and I had a tendency toward this, and the lipo triggered the problem.) She would go for "manual lymphatic drainage" two times a week to alleviate symptoms. It's such a bummer!
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Is there a way we can get blood work done on our leptin levels? If so, I'm making an appointment today.
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And thanks for the info, Rose. This seems to be important. Please keep us updated on your health, and if this is the true case with you. Have you been to the doctor about it yet? I.e. had blood work?
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Yes. I think the pain should definitely be talked about. I'm sorry, Rose.
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That is awful! Did you have lipo on your thighs that could have been done incorrectly? Or is that just where the weight seemed to redistribute? I can say for sure that I am nearly seven months out from lipo to my abs, and have no soreness /pain anywhere related to lipo or redistribution. How awful! (I am such a baby about any kind of discomfort...)
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Hi New Self, I had nothing done to my thighs - I only had fat removal from abdomen/one breast. I believe the problem occurred due to weight redistribution. I will eventually have it checked out, although I think it's hard for doctors to understand the issues given that a small percentage of the population is affected and there is very little on this subject in the literature.
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By the way, just an update on adipose stem cell research: I coincidentally met a man at a retreat I went to last week, who was (God send) a scientific researcher of stem cells on dairy cows, specifically to study the increase of adipose cells and TZD-like effects. So. I sat down with him and told him that a friend of mine at lipodystrophy (a congenital disorder where people are born without subcutaneous fat), which I don't, mind you, I just wasn't about to tell a stranger my entire life story about liposuction and metabolic probs, esp. considering there is still stigma - you get it - anyway, and I told him that I was helping her research new scientific approaches in order to help her condition, utilizing the best, specifically stem cell research, and then proceeded to drill him about what I've learned thus far. Turns out after showing me in vitro pics from his own labs (and mind you he is a prof at a major university as well) that so far adipose stem cells are still at it's beginning stages. In comparison to other major stem cells in the body, adipose stem cells do not multiply when re-injected into the body, they simply act like other regular fat cells. But don't lose hope - I'll be in contact with him regularly from now on, and he will be sending me new information and updates in order to help "my friend". He'll be sending me his opinion on stem cell clinics that I'm checking out, to see if they are legit or not. I'll be keeping you guys updated as usual :-)
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Liposuction is not a safe or sane procedure. It's not natural to suction out essential fat. Skin that was loose to begin with will be looser, but areas of skin under where the weight redistributed will ultimately be tighter, and it's not because of slovenly habits, but because of having the body unnaturally, invasively altered. I'm so sorry this happened to all of you. I would like to see laws changed and save other people from this.
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Thank you for your support. I agree that the laws should be eventually changed. It's a long road ahead to do this, I suspect. Many of us would like to work on some sort of fix, but I feel like we're still trying to make the case that this procedure is harmful. For doctors to put the fat back, I would think that they'd have to be convinced that that the original procedure was harmful. I would like to see a liposuction registry so that we can track long term outcomes. I have no idea how this happens, but it's something I'd like to focus on in my retirement. "Prophylactic mastectomies" were in the news this week, and in one article, it was mentioned that the "American Society of Breast Surgeons has established a nipple-sparing mastectomy registry to track patient outcomes". In this case, the medical group was able to do the responsible thing because they don't have a financial incentive to do just this one type of procedure. I don't see plastic surgeons kicking off a liposuction registry - I think a group with less conflict-of-interest needs to start it. Rose
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