donali

WOW - THREE irish wolfhounds??? That's almost like having three ponies!!

I vote it's time for an endoscopy... You could be slipped, eroded, or something else, but you need to have a professional take some pictures and find out for sure.

Sorry, I thought you'd been living on baby food and ice cream for the past two years... :biggrin1: Here are all the gory details of my erosion - no symptoms to speak of, except what felt like a severe gallbaldder attack ONE day. Had the endoscope shortly after that to rule out the band, and the rest is history, so to speak. http://lapbandtalk.com/showpost.php?p=18974&postcount=9 http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2250 http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2256 As far as your question, most people here are trying to lose weight, but whether you want to lose weight or not, this is a great BAND support group. Don't post about not being able to lose weight, and people won't try to help you with that. I still think you sound too tight, but if you can eat well chewed steak... Welcome! Pull up a chair, and stay awhile!

Oh, and P.S. - living with such a tight retriction could lead to esophageal motility problems. GeezerSue can tell you all about that...

My guess is that you are too tight. Many people who have been living like you are (although not for TWO years!!) have commented that just a very slight unfill had made all the difference, and the weight started coming off.

How was this working for you, Vines? If you consider studies by the NIH and obesity professionals to be rubbish, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. Eating less and exercising more works for most people while they DO it. MOST people are not able to live happy and fulfilling lives while constantly hungry and feeling deprived, and most are unable to muster up the energy for intense physical activity on a reduced calorie diet. Certainly whoever this works for, YAY for them. But in real life, 95% of the people cannot maintain happy lives living in hunger and over-exertion for their calorie levels. Most of the normal weight people I know do not exercise everyday. I asked my normal weight doc if he exercised an hour each day, and went hungry. He said "No." I asked him if he could, on a long term basis, and he sheepishly said "No." Most people can do almost anything for a short amount of time - but longterm very few people can maintain that type of lifestyle - living with deprivation. Has nothing to do with moral Fiber. I'd dig up another study JohnQ posted about starvation, but I wouldn't want to waste your time. :eek:

The lapband shuts off some of the hunger signals, and helps you feel full on less food, so you aren't STARVING every friggin' minute of the day when you're eating less. This statement shows a lack of education and understanding of obesity. Obesity is NOT a moral failing, due to simply to lack of motivation and follow through. For most obese people there are multiple and complex reasons for their disease, and some of them are PHYSICAL, not emotional or mental. Here's some research from a rant post a while ago. http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4750 Morbid Obesity is a DISEASE. It has been recognized as a disease since 1985(!!!!) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ...IN 1991, THE NIH CONCLUDED IN ITS CONSENSUS CONFERENCE THAT DIETS, EXERCISE PROGRAMS, APPETITE SUPPRESSANTS AND BEHAVIOR MODIFCATIONS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE THERAPIES. YES, I am YELLING. And to have this kind of attitude propagated on a weightloss SUPPORT board as acceptable under ANY kind of circumstances is absolutely reprehensible, and a symptom of just how well the prejudice against fat people is accepted. Not only is it tolerated, it is expected as our “just” punishment for being fat. Because after all, we are merely gluttons. The formula is so simple: too many calories in = too much fat. So diet and exercise. Too bad for you that you’re not one of the “normal” people who can regularly consume more calories than they need without getting fat – you are NOT a “normal” person, so you must just go hungry and exercise your butt off. Guess what? The formula is NOT that simple. NO ONE really knows the complete explanation of why some people become MO and some people don’t. But not understanding “why” is NO excuse for discriminating against the MO, or continuing to blame the patient for their disease. I cannot stand by and let anyone forget that we are NOT here because of some moral failing, some character flaw, some personal weakness. We are here because we have a DISEASE. We need treatment, not judgment. If we were not serious about getting better, we would not be here. NO ONE deserves to feel badly about themselves because they have a disease. NO ONE should be made to jump through hoops to prove they want to recover from their disease. MO is NOT A CHARACTER FLAW. This is NOT my opinion – this is medical FACT. It is up to US to know and understand this, and to eradicate the long-held beliefs that we have allowed to shame us for all of our lives. We must NEVER EVER allow anyone to get away with propagating beliefs that MO is anything but a disease that requires medical treatment. *************** www.shapeup.org/profcenter/diabesity/PoriesPres.ppt+is+morbid+obesity+a+disease%3F&hl=e n "The truth is that Morbid obesity is a disease, not a moral failing." “Obesity is a chronic, lifelong, genetically-related, life-threatening disease with highly significant medical, psychological, social, physical, and economic co-morbidities.” Statement on morbid obesity and its treatment. Obesity Surgery 1997 7:40-41 “In 1991, the National Institutes of Health concluded in its Consensus Conference that diets, exercise programs, appetite suppressants and behavior modifications are not effective therapies.” Report of the Consensus Conference on Surgery of Morbid Obesity, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC 1991 ************** http://www.rsapc1.com/morbid_obesity_surgery/ "Morbid obesity is the most common form of malnutrition in the United States and in the world today. It is considered after smoking to be the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States. </ST1:p It is a chronic disease which is very complex and has multiple etiologies." "We lose over 300,000 patients a year to morbid obesity and morbid obesity related medical problems." "There are social, psychosocial and economic consequences of morbid obesity that can be devastating. Unfortunately, the prejudice against the obese is very common in our society." "Conservative management of morbid obesity that includes diet, behavioral modifications, exercise programs and the like have been found to be ineffective over the long term. A person who is morbidly obese who attempts conservative management, as mentioned above, either alone or in any combination, is not expected to be successful more than 5% of the time. Over 95% of patients who are morbidly obese and meet the criteria for morbid obesity will regain their weight and often overshoot their previous weight. Surgery for morbid obesity is the only method that has resulted in long-term maintenance of weight loss and the reduction of the comorbid diseases that are associated with morbid obesity. In particular, hypertension, dibetes mellitus, risks for coronary disease, osteoarthritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease and many others. Morbid obesity is a chronic disease which is defined as a disruption of bodily function that develops slowly and persists for an extended period of time and often for life. It is multifactorial and includes genetic predisposition, environmental factors, social economic factors, cultural influences, hormonal influences and digestive abnormalities. In 1985 morbid obesity was recognized as a disease with associated comorbid diseases by the National Institute of Health. In 1991, surgical weight loss stated to be superior to nonsurgical weight loss methods and that only surgical intervention produced acceptable long-term results. In 1993 the National Institute of Health recognized the vertical banded gastroplasty and the gastric bypass procedure to be effective in significant reduction of excess body weight. The National Institute of Health recognizes morbid obesity as being an epidemic that can only be reduced significantly by surgical intervention for both morbid obesity and its associated comorbid problems." **************** http://www.landauercosmeticsurgery.co.uk/obesity/ "OBESITY: A MEDICAL CONDITION People who suffer from obesity are poorly misunderstood by those of the population who are not obese. There is a common attitude that overweight people are stupid and unable to control themselves. People who are obese are often the brunt of cruel jokes and thoughtless humour, even to the point of suffering abusive comments in public places. We now know that the medical condition of morbid obesity is a complex disorder, and not simply due to over-eating. The vast majority of people living in the Western World eat more calories than they need but it is only a small proportion that relentlessly lay down every excess calorie in their fat stores. Most people have a mechanism, by which their body knows when their stores have been refilled, but there is an unfortunate group of people where this mechanism is defective, and when they eat it can be likened to filling up the bath with the overflow blocked off. There are of course no fat people in starvation areas of the world, but this is because these are regions with chronic malnutrition and nobody there has access to even adequate calories. People who are morbidly obese often find it difficult to believe that their problem is a medical disease and not simply due to overeating. MORBID OBESITY IN FAMILIES The disorder of morbid obesity often runs in families. The chance of having morbid obesity is clearly increased if other people in your family have the condition. Studies of identical twins who were separated at birth and brought up separately show that if one twin becomes obese, then the other one is likely to become obese as well."

I think this is my favorite... lol

Hi Blue! Congrats on your banding! The most likely explanation is that the swelling from your surgery has gone down, and you're healing up like you should be. Be sure to follow your doc's prescribed eating plan (liquids only for x number weeks, mushies only for x number of weeks, etc.) and don't move on to solid food until your doc says it's allowed. You will be HUNGRY, and you most likely won't feel too differently from pre-band until you start getting fills. Don't worry about the weight - you may gain some back in this phase, that's very common. Just follow the rules, don't worry about the scale, and once you start getting fills you will really be on your way. As far as vomitting goes, generally after an episode of vomiting you should do liquids only for 24 hours to allow the stomach irritation to resolve. If you continue to experience pain, or are unable to tolerate liquids make sure to get back in contact with your doc. If you ever feel like things really aren't right, you must call your doc! But if you're not having any pain and can tolerate liquids you're probably a-ok. Take it slow, take it easy, be prepared for feeling like you're not banded for the next few weeks. It all takes time. Have fun on your journey!!

Hey, Vines - I am so GLAD for you that now you have something to target that should actually have an effect! Three cheers for not dropping this, and for getting to the bottom of it so it can be fixed. HarleyNana - The article you posted sounds as though they're focusing on increasing the T-3 cells - this is what the Wilsons Thyroid Syndrome treatment focuses on, but by actually supplementing with T-3. I wish there was a doc nearby that charged reasonable prices for me to try this therapy... It really makes sense to me. Alas... lol

Yes, I have heard of someone having to go to the doc and have an offending piece of something that wouldn't go through retrieved from their pouch. I don't recall for sure, but I think it was a piece of meat. This was a friend of someone in the SD support group. So, it IS possible to have something stuck that needs to be removed by a doc, and it IS possible for the doc to get it removed. It's also possible that an unfill may create enough space for the thing to pass. Hope this helps!

I believe that's the "smiley" version of "beating a dead horse"... Had absolutely nothing to do with your post, but when I was looking for loving smilelies I saw it, and had to put it somewhere!! lol xxoo

Just had to add this... lol :deadhorse:

(((Bright))) - So glad you're going to let someone help you sort all this out. Soon you'll be good as new!! We miss you!! We need you!!! We love you!!!!!!!! :kiss2: :star: :star: :love: And just because these were too funny to pass up!! lol :lalala: :deadhorse:

There is a Yahoo! group for eroded bandsters. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ErodedBandsters/ Esther, the list owner, has been banded twice and eroded twice. A couple of others on there have been rebanded and no further problems so far. Hope this helps!

If you have a satiety disorder (excess hunger not related to emotions, but physical, excess hunger) which I suspect most of us do to some degree or other, then of course you will gain the weight back when the balloon is removed, because the hunger will return... It is unreasonable to expect a physically hungry person to be able to ignore that EAT signal indefinitely. The band really helps to turn that EAT signal waaay down. As long as you are able to keep the band and the level of restriction you need, your hunger will be managed and the weight will come off.

!!!This is NOT a lapband statistic - it is an RNY statistic.!!! Lapband patients do not necessarily lose faster in the first few months - usually it is not until we get the proper restriction that the weight starts to come off a little faster, which usually takes at least a couple of fills.

Hey Crystal - Congrats!! You may want to look into a non-bulking fibre agent, like Benefiber to help you with the constipation problem. I also found that prune juice worked wonders.

For those of you who want to stop checking in when the news here isn't as good as you hope, why not start your OWN thread about the good things for you about the band????? Why not start your OWN thread about how happy the band made you today? DON'T stop coming here! Starting posts about how the band has made a postive impact on your life helps EVERYONE, including yourself. It helps make the board more balanced. It gives people something to look forward to. It reminds you of how good it is to be banded. It is NOT a slap in the face to those who are having problems. I challenge all you happy lurkers out there to start your OWN posts about how happy you are with the band today. Come on, you can do it!! If you want to read happy news, post happy news - it doesn't have to be a major happening! :clap2:

MHO follows: If you post on a message board, you are automatically soliciting advice. If I had something I felt might be unpopular to say to a person, but thought they might find it helpful, I might be moved to send them a respectful PM/email pointing them to more research opportunities, IF they had a PM/email available. IF they had a PM/email available, I would assume that my on topic/respectful PM/email would be accepted. I would be devastated/embarassed if my good faith message was received in any manner other than I had intended it. I would have either sent an apology message or an apology post, whichever I felt was the most appropriate, and then I would drop the whole thing - at least with that person specifically. If I still felt as though I needed to make a point, I might make a generic post about my understanding of good message board etiquette. I would not post private conversations, or cross-post those private conversations to another board. I probably would most definitely seek out valued opinions about whether or not what I sent the person was "out of line". The post on this thread about how the receiver viewed the message is a valuable reminder - it's not what I intended that's important here, but how the RECIPIENT felt. If the recipient was offended, then I am terribly sorry, and would say so, even if I still felt like the info I had to offer was important, valid, and NOT inflammatory or alarmist. As a side note, I would like to say that it IS very difficult in some groups to post anything but the rosiest of support posts. Continued posts from people with severe problems are almost always discouraged. :lalala: Even here the serious problem posts invariably spawn "Where are the HAPPY bandsters??" threads, or even a thread that says "I come here for support, and all I find are problems." Even in this very thread, those here who have eroded have been challenged with the question about whether or not they were "model" bandsters. The smallest nudge that possibly our erosions weren't REALLY a risk of "just" being banded that can't be controlled, but something that we must have brought onto ourselves by our less than "model" behaviour. Some people just cannot accept that the risks are genuine. :lalala:Even if they may be small or low incident, having them posted makes them seem higher incident, because NO ONE can pretend that the complications just don't really occur - at least not to anyone that YOU know. And once people have made up their minds, and/or have actually gone through the procedure, they have a hard time accepting that there MAY be some very real negative consequences. They don't want to think about it, :lalala: they don't want to be reminded of it. :lalala: And until something major happens to YOU, you probably would just as soon pretend that complications aren't really THAT possible. However, once YOU are the one with a major complication, those infinitessimal percentages don't seem quite so small, or quite so impossible to collide with. This is human nature. It is what it is. Another reason why this board is so rare - we have real people who have had just about the worst that can happen to us happen (believe me, erosion is NOT the worst thing that could have happened to us), and we have NOT been chased off this board, and allowing us to stay has NOT sent this board crashing. The reasons for this are, I think, two-fold: 1. We have some very level-headed people here who are able to remind the masses that these severe complications are NOT the norm, without having to dismiss/belittle/blame those of us who have experienced them. 2. The people who have experienced these problems have not condemned the band, and are not actively discouraging people from getting banded. Thanks again to those strong-voiced, level-headed people who are able to put these complications into perspective without dismissing the fact that the complications occur, and thanks to my fellow eroded bandsters for their level-headed dealings with this devastating reality, and sharing their information without having to condemn this tool which is such a wonderful saviour to so many. May LBT always be able to share the reality of being banded without losing perspective one way or the other.

When you get to a tighter restriction level, the little things will start "showing up" as being problematic. Many people with a good restriction level cannot drink cold beverages first thing in the morning. You had ice tea. Many people with a good restriction level have problems with potatos and eggs - potatos, for some reason, seem to recombine and clog things up. I still have problems with potatos occasionally, after being unbanded for a year. Over-easy egg was my first PB. You may want to avoid some of these known problematic items and see if that helps. Hot liquids in the morning, avoid potatos and breads and eggs until you are more certain of your restriction level.

Hey, Vines - How are the thyroid meds working for you?? Hoping you're seeing some progress. xxoo

!!!BRIGHT!!!! So good to "see" you again!! :kiss2:

Vines, check out this other very interesting site: http://www.wilsonsthyroidsyndrome.com/

I thought this article was very interesting. Perhaps the synthroid isn't working properly because your T3 levels aren't being addressed? http://www.worldwidehealthcenter.net/articles-159.html I took my temp this morning before getting out of bed as instructed, and it was 97.6. He says a good indicator of low thyroid is that first morning temp, and if it's below 97.8 it's likely your thyroid is low... Per the article, some of the most common symptoms caused by hypothyroidism include poor concentration, mental confusion, memory disturbances, cold hands and feet, overweight, difficult weight loss, menstrual problems, dry skin, thin hair, and low energy levels. Other symptoms include migraine headaches, hypertension, depression, hypoglycemia, atherosclerosis, diabetes, infertility, and even acne. In his book, Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness, Dr. Barnes described over 47 symptoms that may be related to poor thyroid function. I have a lot of the symptoms mentioned above, like dry/rough skin, fatigue, poor concentration, mental confusion, memory disturbances, overweight, difficult weight loss, thin hair, low energy levels, depression, hypoglycemia... I think I'm going to try some thyroid med myself. My blood tests have always come out "normal" - I have no idea if that was low normal, and I'm sure they didn't do any of the more extensive testing.