I tried HCG injections in late 2021, about two years into what I was still pretending was “just a plateau” after my gastric bypass in 2017. By that point I’d regained about 40 lbs from my low of 168, was frustrated, and a clinic near me was running an HCG weight loss protocol. I want to share what actually happened because most of what I found online at the time described side effects for people without surgical history. The standard side effect list - headaches, mood changes, fatigue - all showed up for me, but the timing and intensity were harder to read because a lot of that overlaps with just being post-op in general. What nobody mentioned anywhere was how the 500 calorie daily limit interacted with my bypass anatomy. Even years out, my pouch and absorption patterns aren’t the same as a non-surgical person’s. The extreme restriction triggered what felt like dumping episodes even on foods I normally tolerate. Not classic dumping with the sweating and racing heart, but the washed-out, foggy, shaky version that’s harder to name. I also had hair shedding that started around week four, which I initially blamed on the protocol. Looking back, I think it was the caloric deficit on top of already compromised absorption - my iron and ferritin were probably already borderline. I stopped after six weeks. The weight I lost came back within two months, which isn’t the protocol’s fault exactly, but the experience clarified something: I wasn’t dealing with a willpower problem or a calorie problem. Something about how my appetite and satiety signaling worked had shifted post-op in a way that restriction alone wasn’t fixing. That’s ultimately what led me toward GLP-1s when they became more accessible. The HCG side effects weren’t catastrophic, but for anyone post-bariatric considering it - I’d ask your surgeon first, specifically about the caloric floor and how your anatomy might respond differently.