Oregondaisy

I spend hours on LBT. I don't always see it as support, but like Green, information, entertainment, and a good place to discuss things with others. I am a believer in giving back, so some of the time on here is spent if I feel someone else is asking for or needing support. LBT has become sort of a life line for me. I do know others in this town who are banded, but I don't talk to them every day. I like to come here and just check in, and track the threads I am interested in, whether they are lap band related or not. I have to admit, I spend a lot less time with emails to other people, since being banded and wanting to spend so much time here.

I love your confidence, Blue Eyed Kitty. I will always wish I had gotten the band a few years ago. I think I look really pretty in the pictures of me when I was 25, but even though I am now thinner, I don't have that kind of confidence. Close friends and family have noticed too that I have more wrinkles now that I am thinner. I will take wrinkles over fat too, but I wish it didn't have to be one or the other.

I definitely think that genes play a huge part in all of this. My daughter weighed 5 lbs at birth. She had gastic bypass surgery 2 years ago this month, age 25 at 325lbs. My son is now almost 24 yrs old. He is 5'10" and weighs 140 lbs. He often will come over to use the computer in the evenings, and will ask if I have anything to eat. I ask him what he has had to eat today, and he says he forgot to eat. I have never ( and neither has my daughter) ever forgotten to eat. I raised both kids the same, by myself, because their dad died when they were 3 and 6 years old. They definitely have different genetics.

I do have restless legs too. The medication for that really helps. Restless leg syndrome is now known to be a lot more common than when I first got it. I thought I was crazy because I couldn't get my legs to sit still.

I do have another friend that does that too. She had her eyebrows tatooed because she has none. I have a tendency to pull out my hair, but I can control it.

I know that I don't have OCD, but I am interested in it since one of my best friends has it and do does her daughter. The medication has helped tremendously, but not completely. I have watched the guy on Deal or No Deal talk about it on many talk shows. He is afraid of germs. He refuses to touch money. Once, he made his wife meet him at a parking garage, because he couldn't leave to pay. He lives in LA, so I would imagine this isn't easy for his wife. He absolutely refuses to ever touch money. I know it's difficult for my friend to get out of bed to check and recheck the burners on her stove. I am glad they came out with medication to at least help somewhat with this.

Did they tell you to stay on liquids for a few days to let everything rest? I would imagine you have some swelling in there too. I think it's a good idea to wait awhile for a fill too. I waited 2 months after being too tight and getting stuck all the time. I really think my tummy needed a rest. I didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain anything either.

Thank you. I feel very lucky that we have you posting on here now. Do you really think that we can keep the band in indefinitely, like a knee replacement or something? I really worry since the band really hasn't been around all that long. I know I am a worrier.

No, you don't have to crush everything. It really depends on how tight your fill is, and how much restriction you have. Most people are tighter in the mornings, so if you have trouble, try taking things later in the day. I have moved some of my meds to taking them with Breakfast, to taking them with lunch or dinner.

Very good questions. WasA. I worry so much about this since the symptoms are basically the same as not having a good fill. I would almost at some point be willing to get the sleeve instead of keeping the band. I worry about how long we can keep bands long term.

That really sucks. Once, I thought I was going to have to go to the ER. I got stuck on some dry fish, and threw up for 2 solid hours. I was really afraid. I got my fill, and I think I am good. I am going to try so hard not to take big bites and not get stuck. I hate it when my puking goes on and on. I did liquids for 2 days after the fill, and today I ate a small amount of chicken breast. I know I am tight, because I could hardly eat the chicken breast. I have to be really careful now. It takes a long time to get used to being banded and learning how to manage all of this. I am saying this because so many new people are getting banded all the time, and it's scary when you get stuck, and can't get unstuck.

As you can see from my signature, I have been banded nearly a year. My dr. doesn't use Fluoro but maybe he should. I know it's a lot more expensive. For the longest time I have wanted to be a 2.75 in my 4cc band. I have been at 3.0 and threw up constantly. I had 2.5 with no restriction. So last time, after all this throwing up, he was supposed to take some out and leave me with 2.75. I have had no restriction which I thought was strange. I called to get a fill and it took nearly 2 months to get in. Today I get my fill and he says I only had 2.0 in there. No wonder I didn't have restriction. He doesn't think I have a leak. The last time this happened was when he filled me to 3.0 because he thought I had a leak. I had a miserable weekend, and he took all of the 3.0 out and said I had no leak. This is crazy. I sure hope it's right this time.

I think I am finally right. Today was the first day since the fill that I actually ate. I was afraid to try yesterday, because I remember what it was like when I was too tight. Today I had to eat out with a friend. I ordered a chicken salad. I ate the chicken and chewed very well, and I couldn't have possibly ate any more. I was happy. I didn't get stuck, but I knew not to try to eat any more. It was great! I hope I can lose the rest of my weight now.

I got a fill yesterday and I am so happy that I felt full all day. That didn't stop me from sampling the chocolate covered pretzels that were on display at Walmart though.

These are all very interesting. I have a friend that has ocd. She counts the burners on her stove constantly. She also numbers her clothes hangers and all the clothes are assigned a certain number. They always have to go back on the correct hanger. She is better since she started taking Effexor.

Thank you so much for posting on our board. Your explanation was fabulous. We are grateful that you take the time to post. Having the band is definitely a learning experience. It's easier to learn when you understand.

I am really not sure how or if OA works. My town is so small, that I am not even sure if there are OA meetings here. I think it does help to talk, and some people on this board have mentioned different books that are good to help us work on our issues.

Yes, thank you very much. Do you recommend that we have tests every so often to make sure everything is okay? My surgeon says no, not unless we are having problems, but the original poster said she had no symptoms.

No, you don't have to wait that long. Just make sure you drink plenty of Water so they are going through the band and not stuck in any way in the esophagus. I take most of them about an hour before bed, and my Ambien I take at least 20 min before going to bed. I used to take my Ambien and jump right in bed. Now I make sure I am sitting up for about 20 min. If you have tight restriction, you can feel the water going through the band. I have laid in bed and all of a sudden felt the water gurgling through the band, maybe 10-15 min after laying down. I will have to read back through this thread to see where this 3 hours is coming from . I always take all my meds with warm water. In the morning I have a lot of pills and supplements I take. Before banding, I could throw 9 pills in my mouth and take a drink. Now I have to take one at a time, and wait a couple of min. before taking another one. You can definitely feel if they get stuck. If that happens, I drink more water and wait.

Take your pills with warm Water. Anything warm will help to open your band. Once you have a good fill, taking pills, capsules or whatever becomes harder. I have had to buy a pill crusher for some of them. I also take my meds earlier than right before bed. I used to take them and jump in bed but a few times of them coming back up cured me of that.

The younger people are so lucky to have the band at a young age. I wish I would have found out about it years ago. Now that I have lost weight, I have a turkey neck and wrinkles showing up all over my face. I hate it. I want a face lift but I heard they cost 25,000.00. I just may get one some day if I inherit any money. That's a lot of money to shell out, but I hate looking in the mirror.

I am searching out overeaters Annon. I have heard they talk about their problems there, and talk about how they don't use food to cover their problems anymore. That's what I need. I have spent years in therapy, and I have two very good friends that are therapists. It's very true that we need to work on our problems now that we are feeling our feelings instead of covering them up by stuffing our faces. By the way, as much as I loved my mom, she always told me I needed to lose weight as she was bringing me huge plates of food.

I have always played with my hair. I used to pull it out. I have all sorts of compulsive habits.

I am definitely addicted to sweets. I don't keep them in the house. I have a friend that bakes all the time, and I tell her for me, going to her house is like an alcoholic going to a bar. I tell myself when she wants me to come and visit that I am not going to give in, but it never fails that I end up eating something just because it's there and I have no willpower when it comes to sweets. How do you think overeaters got to be overweight?

I am sure that eventually you will be more hungry and feel like eating. More people complain about being hungry all the time than complain about never being hungry. Just follow your doctor's instructions.