IPhone 4S Backed Up, Lost Everything?

I was trying to fix and issue with my iPhone, and was told by an Apple representative to restore my phone, then "Restore Backup". I did this to try and fix the problem, and not only is the problem unresolved but all of my contacts, messages, photos, etc have been deleted. I do not have iCloud, and the photos are not stored on my computer. I'm not too upset about the messages, but is there at least any way I can recover the approximately 1000 photos that were lost, and any of the other information if that is possible?

Added (1). I backed up my iPhone after restoring. That's what the Apple representative told me to do. I'm starting to think I wasn't supposed to do that… Regardless, is there any way I can recover what I lost?

Did you back up before restoring?