Hi Julia,
I agree with Patricia that it's not a good time to make such a big decision when you're in crisis mode. I know that you want to make it right as soon as possible, but I fear (and highly suspect) that more lipo will only worsen the situation. You may, for example, need to eat 1,000 calories, rather than 1200, to maintain your weight.
In one study on rats, fat was removed from one area and applied to another - the rats ended up gaining weight in both areas (I believe). I myself tend to hold out more hope for the following:
(1) Increase metabolism through the introduction of brown fat. Brown fat is the good fat that helps the body burn calories. It's possible (although not proven) that we had small amounts of brown fat lipo'd away, and this has contributed to a slower metabolism. I've been following this topic, and it may happen sooner than you think. (It might happen in five years, for example, which is a lot better than the usual 20!)
(2) Add fat back to the areas where it was removed. This fat would not be taken from other areas, but would be grown (outside the body) from just a few of our fat cells. (This is a procedure that has been done with many types of cells in studies.) This would avoid the additional removal of larger amounts of fat which I'm convinced is detrimental.
Before introducing the fat cells into the body, they would be mixed with stem cells. The stem cells help with vascularization which is a problem with fat transplants.
My thinking is that the fat cells in the other parts of the body (e.g. the upper part, in your case) would shrink because the newly-implanted fat cells would now serve as new storage areas. In effect, I'm trying to reverse what was done with the original lipo.
I don't know if this will work, but I'm hoping one day that it can be attempted on animals. I wouldn't try it until it was well tested - I'm sick of doctors using humans as lab animals.
With regard to more lipo, I have read numerous reports of people going back for lipo to fix the weight redistribution problem. People report things like ending up 40 lbs overweight after being 20 lbs overweight from the first lipo. It seemed that just about every single person regretted the second lipo. I guess I'd want to ask why you'd do more of the same procedure that has caused so many ill effects.
You seem like a smart person. Would you consider spending the next few months researching this topic from a scientific perspective? You could review the animal research articles and try to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. You'll get a more unbiased viewpoint from these articles than you would from the doctors performing the procedure.
Good luck to you, Julia. I know it's terribly hard. We don't always post here, but I think many of us continue to struggle with this issue on a daily basis.
Rose
Based on my reading, I surmise that removing fat through any method has these unwanted results. I've read reports of women experiencing weight gain in other parts after breast reduction and tummy tucks. Sexysoulsister, it's true that plastic surgeons should look at body fat %, but it makes wonder why someone with less than 20% fat needs lipo. Actually, I've often thought that the best candidate for this procedure is the too-skinny person who is trying to gain weight:) (I know, we don't know anyone like that.) Regarding the fat injection, I'm just waiting and watching on that one. Like you say, there's the risk that fat from other parts of the body looks and behaves differently when transplanted. In one older study, abdomenal fat was transplanted to a young woman's hand to cover an injured area. Later in life, she gained weight, and the transplanted area on her hand also gained weight while the rest of our hand did not. Makes you wonder how some of these transplanted faces will look! I think I'm now into accepting our imperfect but natural bodies.
There's more bad news today regarding liposuction. This study showed that liposuction resulted in increased visceral fat which has been linked to diabetes and cardiac disease. I think that this gives credence to our experience of gaining weight more easily. I love how the authors of this article make a small attempt to put a positive spin on this (just be sure to exercise more.)
Deep belly fat may increase after liposuction, study says
Updated 10:43 AM May 10, 2012
SAO PAULO - A new study suggests that women who have liposuction to trim their tummies may gain some fat deeper within the abdomen - a type of fat that is particularly unhealthy.
Brazilian researchers found that within months of abdominal liposuction, there may be an increase in the so-called "visceral" fat that surrounds the abdominal organs.
But the good news, they say, is that regular exercise may prevent that deep fat from forming.
Fat is not "inert tissue", said study leader Fabiana Benatti, of the University of Sao Paulo.
"Removing it by surgery may have important consequences such as the compensatory growth of visceral fat, which may be deleterious in the long term," Dr Benatti told Reuters.
Visceral fat is particularly undesirable because it is more closely connected to the risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, versus the superficial abdominal fat just under the skin.
The current study, according to Dr Benatti's team, appears to be the first to give "compelling evidence" that visceral fat builds up after liposuction - at least if you do not exercise.
The findings are based on 36 normal-weight women who had liposuction to take away a small amount of superficial tummy fat. All had been sedentary before the procedure.
Dr Benatti's team randomly assigned half of the women to start an exercise program two months after their liposuction. Those women worked out three times a week, walking on a treadmill and doing light strength training, while the rest stuck with their usual lifestyle.
Four months later, the study found, women who had remained sedentary still had flatter tummies, but were showing a gain in visceral fat - a 10-per-cent increase, on average.
In contrast, women who had been exercising showed no such gain, the researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
It is not really clear why visceral fat increases post-liposuction, according to Dr Benatti.
"But we believe it may be because this particular fat depot is more metabolically active than the other fat depots," she said.
Another reason, Dr Benatti said, may be because liposuction destroys the "architecture" of fat cells just below the skin. So fat regain may be redirected to still-intact visceral fat cells. REUTERS
Thank you Natalie and Patricia for your thoughtful responses. I knew I'd get some slack for my comments, and I'm glad there is understanding. I have admitedly become more negative over this ordeal and that comes after experiencing another looks-related issue in my life. It's frustating that the world doesn't seem to believe us, but I'm convinced we're right. I do think we can make the case that this is an important public health issue. It doesn't matter if the procedure is done for vanity or any other reason - if it is known to cause harm or do the opposite of its intended effect (or both) - the patient has a right to know. If it's shown to shorten a person's life, the procedure should be taken off the market. I remember that there was a moratorium on breast implants when there was concern that leaking silicon caused automimmune diseases. With the right process, I'm convinced that the truth will be known. Anytime you have a procedure that's been released to the public and people are making money at it, it's hard to reel it in. But it's not impossible! I also believe that there are medical solutions for this that could alleviate some of the issues. I just think that the powers that be have to believe that damage was done before they'll work on a solution. (I'm 49 and may work part time at some point, and the first thing I'd do in my free time is work on this issue.)
I feel I have to say something about some posts that seem overly positive and can't even fathom that what some of us are saying here could be true. On the web site Make Me Heal, I got the distinct impression that there were fake posts by what they call shills. I have no doubt that some plastic surgeons are doing everything they can to silence people's real experience with liposuction. This includes writing fake posts or encouraging staff to do so. Not surprisingly, a group of plastic surgeons provided an opposing view to the results of the University of Colorado study that showed people experience weight redistribution within a year after liposuction. For anyone considering lipo, please take the glowing reports from strangers with a big grain of salt. All kinds of people post to the Internet, and we really don't know their motivations.
CKCatZ1972: I took offense to your comment that we all have underlying issues. Do you think this because we undertook liposuction in the first place? If so, then you too have "underlying issues" since you underwent liposuction. But I suspect that you mean that the liposuction result is not really our problem - it's that we can't be happy with ourselves, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure plenty of us (myself included) have issues, but this is separate from what we're asserting. The procedure causes weight redistribution, weight gain (I suspect) and likely damages one health and looks. It also is a procedure that went to market without any long-term studies on animals or people. I'm tired of sugar coating it, and I'm angry at greedy people who don't do the right thing. This procedure should go away.
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Deep belly fat may increase after liposuction, study says
Updated 10:43 AM May 10, 2012
SAO PAULO - A new study suggests that women who have liposuction to trim their tummies may gain some fat deeper within the abdomen - a type of fat that is particularly unhealthy.
Brazilian researchers found that within months of abdominal liposuction, there may be an increase in the so-called "visceral" fat that surrounds the abdominal organs.
But the good news, they say, is that regular exercise may prevent that deep fat from forming.
Fat is not "inert tissue", said study leader Fabiana Benatti, of the University of Sao Paulo.
"Removing it by surgery may have important consequences such as the compensatory growth of visceral fat, which may be deleterious in the long term," Dr Benatti told Reuters.
Visceral fat is particularly undesirable because it is more closely connected to the risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, versus the superficial abdominal fat just under the skin.
The current study, according to Dr Benatti's team, appears to be the first to give "compelling evidence" that visceral fat builds up after liposuction - at least if you do not exercise.
The findings are based on 36 normal-weight women who had liposuction to take away a small amount of superficial tummy fat. All had been sedentary before the procedure.
Dr Benatti's team randomly assigned half of the women to start an exercise program two months after their liposuction. Those women worked out three times a week, walking on a treadmill and doing light strength training, while the rest stuck with their usual lifestyle.
Four months later, the study found, women who had remained sedentary still had flatter tummies, but were showing a gain in visceral fat - a 10-per-cent increase, on average.
In contrast, women who had been exercising showed no such gain, the researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
It is not really clear why visceral fat increases post-liposuction, according to Dr Benatti.
"But we believe it may be because this particular fat depot is more metabolically active than the other fat depots," she said.
Another reason, Dr Benatti said, may be because liposuction destroys the "architecture" of fat cells just below the skin. So fat regain may be redirected to still-intact visceral fat cells. REUTERS
Posted to Did you gain weight after liposuction? on 10 May 2012
Posted to Did you gain weight after liposuction? on 9 May 2012
CKCatZ1972: I took offense to your comment that we all have underlying issues. Do you think this because we undertook liposuction in the first place? If so, then you too have "underlying issues" since you underwent liposuction. But I suspect that you mean that the liposuction result is not really our problem - it's that we can't be happy with ourselves, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure plenty of us (myself included) have issues, but this is separate from what we're asserting. The procedure causes weight redistribution, weight gain (I suspect) and likely damages one health and looks. It also is a procedure that went to market without any long-term studies on animals or people. I'm tired of sugar coating it, and I'm angry at greedy people who don't do the right thing. This procedure should go away.