Clothes fit oddly due to loose skin

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silenceinspace
silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Title says it all, really. I've lost 115 pounds so far and I have a noticeable panniculus. I'm currently wearing about size 18 jeans, but can fit in size 14 jeans. Unfortunately, the loose skin gets squished and comes out of the top, giving me a strange tire appearance around my midsection. Spanx, unfortunately, did the same thing (pushed the skin up to under my bra). I suppose there's only so much that can be compressed at once.

I believe I need an abdominoplasty, but there's no way I can afford it at the moment and I'm not done losing weight yet.

I'm very proud of having lost so much weight, but this area is not getting smaller, so I just feel like I look so weird. I'm running out of clothes that fit.

Anyone have any advice?
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Replies

  • RHPSgirl1984
    RHPSgirl1984 Posts: 436 Member
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    What about wearing a little larger shirt when wearing pants that fit?

    I'd also like to say congratulations on your weight loss! Awesome job!!
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    I'm sure there must be more supportive undergarments, I'm thinking weight loss surgery clinics might sell them? And/or, what about dresses instead of pants?

    Congrats on your loss :)
  • meryl135
    meryl135 Posts: 321 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss! I find dresses do a much better job of smoothing out excess skin. Look for well structured dresses with good tailoring, as opposed to super flowy ones. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but having a good sheath dress that you can wear with a blazer or sweater will actually smooth out your silhouette much better than something with lots of fabric that is supposed to hide your natural waist.
  • sorcha1977
    sorcha1977 Posts: 133 Member
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    Have you spoken to your doctor? Some insurance will cover skin surgery if you've lost a certain percentage of your original weight and have kept it off for X amount of time. Your doctor will also need to document how it's affecting you. If you're experiencing pretty bad chafing underneath, they'll document that as well, as it creates a medical need for the surgery.

    Since you're planning to lose more, I'd have your doctor start documenting everything now so that they can present the full case to your insurance once it's time. (I'm not sure if they'll do the surgery before you've hit your goal weight. I haven't researched that far yet.)
  • silenceinspace
    silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
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    RHPS84, tomatoey and meryl135, thanks for your responses! I'll definitely take a look for some of those clothing items--I usually stick to jeans, so a change of pace might be nice!

    sorcha1977, no, I have not. A close family member lost a large amount of weight but couldn't get insurance to cover it, so I'd pretty much given up hope. However, I will definitely talk to them and see what I can do!
  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
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    silenceinspace wrote: »
    A close family member lost a large amount of weight but couldn't get insurance to cover it, so I'd pretty much given up hope. However, I will definitely talk to them and see what I can do!

    Not all insurance plans are the same, so it might be worth a try!
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    silenceinspace wrote: »
    RHPS84, tomatoey and meryl135, thanks for your responses! I'll definitely take a look for some of those clothing items--I usually stick to jeans, so a change of pace might be nice!

    sorcha1977, no, I have not. A close family member lost a large amount of weight but couldn't get insurance to cover it, so I'd pretty much given up hope. However, I will definitely talk to them and see what I can do!

    Every person is different so I can't hurt to ask. I know you didn't mention it, but do you get and sores or skin rashes on the excess skin? Many insurance companies will pay partial to all of the cost if the skin is causing infections. There is also a other route you can try if you'd feel comfortable doing so: many "teaching" hospitals offer reduced pricing for "cosmetic" surgery (sadly that is what the insurance companies consider it) since it would be a resident (overseen by an attending) that would be performing the surgery. You can call around an ask. I ended up doing this for a dermatology issue (a completely scarred back). My insurance wouldnt cover it because it was "cosmetic" even though the scarring caused a lot of psychological damage. I found a dermatologist that worked for a "teaching" hospital and the procedures (there were a few) cost 50% less than normal. I was a bit nervous having a resident do it, but it came out amazing :).

    On a side note- when you were losing weight, did you do anything to try and prevent baggy skin? I ask because I'm 40lbs down with another 105 to go. I hear people talk about how certain things (staying hydrated, toning, lotion etc) can help prevent it, but kind of skeptical.
  • mykaylis
    mykaylis Posts: 320 Member
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    ugh, tell me about it. i'm still obese but good ol' panniculus is the bane of my existence. my hips are roughly 10" smaller than the roll of lard hanging from my belly button.

    i have to choose the cut of jeans carefully. if i get something that fits my (relatively) thin thighs and bum, it accentuates (and muffin tops) my belly roll. i find if i wear control undergarments, it really helps. also, there is a line of jeans called "Riders by Lee" that has a tummy control panel built in, so basically you tuck your flab in and it'll suck it in flatter.

    and elphie, most of the time you can't prevent baggy skin. your skin is held together by collagen and elastin. picture them as elastic bands holding skin together. you can stretch the elastic and it bounces back. if you stretch it to the breaking point (ie, you get a stretch mark) it will never bounce back because it no longer has its elastics to hold it. keeping your skin hydrated will keep your skin most comfortable but will do little to change your final skin condition. as for "toning" that's just a fancy word for either removing more fat, or building more muscle, to get more muscle definition. people who have lost a lot of weight look AWESOME when they build up their major muscle groups.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
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    congrats on your weight loss I have no advice as such but wanted to commend you on getting healthier I hope you can sort the loose skin. I have tons of stretch marks from child birth and my skin has snapped back so stretch marks doesn't necessarily mean it wont it is harder and you need to tighten it all up I didn't have that much to lose around 45lbs and im almost there so that might factor in but stretch marks don't mean you cant tighten skin.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
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    Most surgeons won't remove the panniculus until you're very close to goal weight. You still have 50+ pounds to go, so just keep working at it. There's probably still fat in that roll, so I think it will eventually start to get smaller.

    And I agree with the suggestion of dresses. They are more forgiving and more comfortable. Just don't wear anything too loose/flowy/baggy. They will make you look fatter than you actually are.
  • silenceinspace
    silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
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    elphie754 wrote: »
    Every person is different so I can't hurt to ask. I know you didn't mention it, but do you get and sores or skin rashes on the excess skin? Many insurance companies will pay partial to all of the cost if the skin is causing infections. There is also a other route you can try if you'd feel comfortable doing so: many "teaching" hospitals offer reduced pricing for "cosmetic" surgery (sadly that is what the insurance companies consider it) since it would be a resident (overseen by an attending) that would be performing the surgery. You can call around an ask. I ended up doing this for a dermatology issue (a completely scarred back). My insurance wouldnt cover it because it was "cosmetic" even though the scarring caused a lot of psychological damage. I found a dermatologist that worked for a "teaching" hospital and the procedures (there were a few) cost 50% less than normal. I was a bit nervous having a resident do it, but it came out amazing :).

    On a side note- when you were losing weight, did you do anything to try and prevent baggy skin? I ask because I'm 40lbs down with another 105 to go. I hear people talk about how certain things (staying hydrated, toning, lotion etc) can help prevent it, but kind of skeptical.

    Thanks, elphie! That's really interesting. I will look into that too :)

    I did not do anything in particular. I ate pretty well and was hydrated, but I don't believe anything would have stopped it, to be honest. I have always been very overweight and, as mentioned below, there's no real way to help skin once it reaches that breaking point.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    No help. It seems my loose skin issues get worse every week, even though I have purposely been losing slowly to give my skin time to catch up.

    It's just so gross.

    Special undergarments are not an option during summer here. Sleeves are just way too hot in the summer, so my arms are going to be flopping all over the place nest year.

    You're not alone in your woes. :)
  • silenceinspace
    silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
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    lemon629 wrote: »
    You still have 50+ pounds to go, so just keep working at it.

    I really debated responding to you, but (and I say this politely) I think this is incredibly rude. I said in my post that I had more weight to lose but I never specified how much. And "fatter than I actually am"? Ha!

    Everything else you said is true, so I have no idea why you decided to include conjecture on how much weight I have to lose!
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    silenceinspace wrote: »
    lemon629 wrote: »
    You still have 50+ pounds to go, so just keep working at it.

    I really debated responding to you, but (and I say this politely) I think this is incredibly rude. I said in my post that I had more weight to lose but I never specified how much. And "fatter than I actually am"? Ha!

    Everything else you said is true, so I have no idea why you decided to include conjecture on how much weight I have to lose!

    Your profile says you have 56lbs to go, most likely the person looked and that's how they came about the 50+ to lose.

    In regards to the excess skin, I don't have any ideas. I've lost a ton of weight before, didn't have excess skin. This time around I'm hoping the same.

    I'd say, as others have mentioned, perhaps to look into insurances and if that can be an option once you're near your goal weight. It seems like there is some good advice in this thread.

    Good luck.

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    silenceinspace wrote: »
    lemon629 wrote: »
    You still have 50+ pounds to go, so just keep working at it.

    I really debated responding to you, but (and I say this politely) I think this is incredibly rude. I said in my post that I had more weight to lose but I never specified how much. And "fatter than I actually am"? Ha!

    Everything else you said is true, so I have no idea why you decided to include conjecture on how much weight I have to lose!

    Your weight loss ticker is available to the public via your profile; it was most likely included to support what they said in their post about the surgery.
  • RHPSgirl1984
    RHPSgirl1984 Posts: 436 Member
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    Dresses are great idea too! I know they're not ideal in cool or weather unless you wear tights and boots and the such but when it gets to be warmer I bet it will be nice. =)
  • silenceinspace
    silenceinspace Posts: 142 Member
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    Whoa! I had no idea that my ticker said that. I really apologize to the poster, then, as my goal weight is only 20 pounds away. Must be an error on my part.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    silenceinspace wrote: »
    Whoa! I had no idea that my ticker said that. I really apologize to the poster, then, as my goal weight is only 20 pounds away. Must be an error on my part.
    silenceinspace wrote: »
    Whoa! I had no idea that my ticker said that. I really apologize to the poster, then, as my goal weight is only 20 pounds away. Must be an error on my part.

    It's really easy to update your ticker, and to log additional weight loss so it reflects correctly. Good luck!
  • Turning_Hopes_to_Habits
    Turning_Hopes_to_Habits Posts: 103 Member
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    I just experienced this problem for the very first time last night! I've only lost 60 lbs., but I can fit into a size 14 with a little bit of sucking in of the tummy. The pants are comfortable on, they look GREAT on legs, hips, and butt. Such an ego boost! But then I started in on the shirts.

    Three shirts later, I realized I've never had my body do this. It didn't do it when I was on the way UP in terms of weight about 10 years ago. I've never had those huge muffin top rolls, certainly never to where they poked out of multiple shirts.

    My monthly weigh-in isn't until tomorrow, but I expect I'm around 205. I'm not going to worry about it until I'm closer to 160. I'm hoping it's not all a loose skin issue, but just a weird fat composition issue.

    In the meantime, sucking in did help. It's supposed to be good for your abs and core, at any rate. :disappointed:

    I understand, wish you luck, and think you're fabulous for all that you've accomplished. Good on you!
  • Turning_Hopes_to_Habits
    Turning_Hopes_to_Habits Posts: 103 Member
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    By the way, "poked out of" doesn't mean any skin was showing, it just means the outline of the rolls was visible under the fabric.

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