Thanks I'm looking forward to hearing if she had to say anything helpful or not, even if she can recommend some kind of prescription cream.

Thanks for sharing about all that. At least I have some hope that it will get somewhat better, but I'm afraid it might get worse before it gets better since I still have a lot of weight to lose.

Congrats on getting to your goal weight :)
Thanks for the advice and the praise.

I sometimes forget that I have lost a lot already because when I see myself in the mirror I still see someone who needs to lose a lot and so it's hard to feel any confidence about that.

Rubystars,

I don't know if this will be of any consolation. But I have started to wear camisoles that are stretchy under my clothes and it really makes me feel a lot more confident. They are almost like the top part of a swimsuit...

That's the tough part, and I feel your pain. I lost about 30 pounds and at that point was more depressed about my situation than when I was heavier. It's the frustration of wondering about when you're really going to see that "light at the end of the tunnel". And you beat yourself up for once being the 'old you', the one that has put you in this situation. It's a very tough place to be, I know. Then add to that the (temporary) skin problem and it's all compounded. So channel this negative energy into something positive; strike back harder in your efforts. Exercise more, whatever. There IS a light waiting for you. :)

Thanks. I think it's only temporary if I can somehow afford $25,000 surgery later which I don't know if I ever will, but at least I'll be at a decent weight one day. I went to a pharmacist and asked if there were any creams or even prescriptions that could tighten up loose skin and she said only surgery could fix that and that even toning exercises won't really do very much for it.

I'm planning on losing the rest of my weight and then waiting 2 years and seeing what I'm left with, it might not be as bad as I think it will be but if it's really bad to the point where I need surgery not to feel ugly that will still be frustrating.


Thanks for the tip frenchhen. Right now my clothes are covering everything but it's good to know there are ways to hide it if it got worse.

I don't know if this would help you or not Ruby but there was a lady at my work who was thinking about having gastric bypass surgery. She is in her mid-late 50's and was very worried about the loose skin. Her doctor told her that if it became a problem that they could medically recommend she have skin removal surgery for her health to avoid chafing and infections and that if medically recommended that her medical insurance would cover it as a necessary surgery instead of refusing as an elective procedure.

I will probably go this route to get a breast reduction when I am done. My gosh, the girls aren't doing very well at defying gravity already. It's gonna be like a tennis ball in a sock until all my weight is gone! :eek:

I wonder if they would do that for someone who didn't go the gastric bypass route though. I guess the only thing I can do is ask around. I might have to doctor shop until I find one who would be willing to recommend the skin-tightening.

I don't think that bariatric surgery like gastric bypass is the right decision for most people. Effectively all gastric bypass does is help people to control portion sizes, in my opinion. You can do that yourself with calorie counting.

It makes people's stomachs smaller, so they can't eat as much, but you can choose not to eat as much with a healthy, normal stomach too.

If someone is severely overweight and needs to lose it quickly for health reasons, that's another matter, but I think for most obese people, calorie counting and portion control is the way to go over re-arranging your insides permanently.

I saw an ad on here one time for a fluid people drink that partially fills their stomach for several hours that is supposed to safely mimic the effects of gastric bypass without the surgery, people on youtube were talking about using it and saying it worked well for them. I don't remember of the name of it but I think something like that would be preferable to mutilation of the digestive tract.

The idea of that kind of internal mutilation just gives me the chills.

My GYN would probably recommend breast reduction for me as her hubby is one of the plastic surgeons in our area ;)

Ruby, my clothes are also "covering" everything. I guess what I am saying is that the camisole that I wear is a bit "huggy" and keeps the "loose skin" a bit more firm, and I feel tons better in the skin that I am in. It's not quite a spanx type firmness on a daily routine, but hmm, maybe a security blanket feel under my clothes. You know like the difference between wearing a regular bra and a sports bra, only on my whole torso? I don't feel like that loose skin is marching to the beat of a different drummer when I walk, etc.

Thanks for the advice and the explanation :) I'll keep that in mind! I think I had forgot things like camisoles even existed because when I tried to find one in a store once, there weren't any in my size, but that was also 90 lbs. ago. lol

I still have a tendency to think of a lot of clothing items as "made for other people".

I hope this link isn't against the rules but I wanted to share it with you. I came across it on pinterest the other night and thought of you immediately..


Exercises To Tighten Your Body After Weight Loss | LIVESTRONG.COM