claraluz

Can you give us more info? What do you expect to feel with restriction? Can you eat as much as you want of solid foods? It sounds like you must have SOME restriction or else you wouldn't have problems getting bread down. There are many foods - bread among them - that are not band-friendly. Nancy

You don't say how long you've been feeling this way. Have you felt like this ever since being banded? I think your first task is to figure out whether you are feeling this way because of a physical problem or whether it is because of depresssion. No matter why you are depressed, wanting to sleep and not wanting to do daily chores are two symptoms of depression. I think it might be worth discussing this with your regular doctor. There are numerous conditions which can cause fatigue. If the doctor can't find anything wrong, then you might want to see a therapist. There are SO many issues that come up for many bandsters. Two big ones have already been mentioned: Not being able to numb ourselves with food and struggles with self-esteem. I hope you feel better soon. Nancy

WOW! Congratulations! You are another one of my lapband heroines! I will feel like such a success when I get there! Sometimes it takes time for our body-image to catch up to our bodies. Maybe you could just try to become more aware of the little moments in which you mentally call yourself fat (or whatever) and just remind yourself, "Not anymore. I'm thin now." Nancy

Thanks, DeLarla for the update. I'm a huge Donali fan as we all are. Donali, I wish you a speedy recovery, high spirits, and continued weight-loss success. Nancy

It's good advice. I'm sorry you had this experience. I have never tried to eat a french fry since being banded because I'm just sure it wouldn't work. However, once I had a cup of coffee in the morning, got on the bus, and then threw up. I'm not even sure if it was band-related, but I definitely was embarrassed, so I feel your pain. Nancy

DeLarla, I don't think 4 cockatiels is very many at all. I met a guy through an online dating service who had 72 parrots. I'm an animal lover, but all the same, it was a deal breaker. Nancy

I've been a hit and miss board lurker recently, so I just saw in your signature that you have to have your band removed. I'm so sorry. How are you feeling? Nancy

Your feelings of anxiety are completely normal and may get worse as your surgery date approaches. That's normal, too. I second everything Donali said. Of course you can lose weight on your own. You've done it before, you can do it again. But it probably won't stay off because eventually you'll go back to your old ways. I'll be honest. I have a years-long bad habit of eating too much of the wrong foods for the wrong reasons. That's how I got to be morbidly obese. Since being banded, I've lost 50 pounds almost effortlessly. But for the past several months I've been struggling. I've reverted back to some of my bad habits. I've eaten high calorie foods a lot. BUT I have not regained a pound. Why? Because I can't eat very much - even of the wrong foods. So I'm in a holding pattern and while I struggle to regain control, at least I'm not re-gaining weight. That's what I love about the band. After you're banded, you probably will miss overeating. I have. You will have to learn to re-direct those desires to overeat into healthier activities. It won't always be comfortable. But you almost certainly will be more successful than you've been in the past at losing weight and keeping it off. And that's the whole point, isn't it?

What all of this says to me is that we live in a society (as if we didn't know) which causes women to evaluate themselves against an impossible standard and to find themselves lacking whether they are fat, thin, short, tall, have freckles, are too white, too black etc. I've never hated thin people, but I have to admit that I do notice that I look at women and critique their appearance. I'm ashamed of it, but I do it. I hope that one day our society will get healthier, but throughout my lifetime it has only gotten worse. Did you know that a lot of the models in magazines are beyond air brushed? They are actually retouched by computers so that they are literally more perfect than it is possible for any human being to be. No wonder we hate our bodies. Nancy

Jennye, I think it's probably pretty normal that you have been in a holding pattern with all the stress you've been under lately. Glad to hear your mother is doing better. As for Match.com - Oi! The stories I could tell. I've done it on and off. I do it for a while until I get good and discouraged and then I stop again. When I start up again, I'm going to title my profile:Slim/Slender, Toned and Fit, About Average because it seems that is all any of the men want. And I, too, have had the experience of a guy changing his criteria after meeting me. It sucks! But I hope things work out with this new guy. Nancy

I, too, am glad she is doing better! Thanks for letting us know. Nancy

Wow. It's really disturbing to think that a doctor who does the Lap-Band procedure would not know better than to treat it just like the band, never mind the plagiary. Great detective work, Donali. What did we ever do in the pre-google age? Nancy

Wow, Shellye, you look fantastic! Great job!!! Nancy

Oh, I see now you post your height. And you ARE tall. Nancy

I agree with everyone else, Alex. The difference is quite impressive! You look great and I'm not just saying so. You must be tall, no? Nancy

Hi, Delarla. I've been off the boards for a few days. Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble! I'm glad you have such a great doctor at the Urgent Care Clinic. Such is not always the case. Maybe it would help if she called your surgeon directly. In my experience, doctors respond much more quickly to a call from another doctor than they do to a patient, unfortunately. And it sounds as though it would be beneficial for them to speak directly anyway. Just a thought. I hope you feel better soon. Nancy

Birdee! Why do you say you should be at goal now? There is no "should." We all lose at different rates and thank God, with the band there is no magic window of time in which we have to get the weight loss accomplished. As for your friend, I would tell her that if she is so sure that she can "do what she is supposed to do" without struggle, she shouldn't have surgery. She should start doing what she is supposed to do right now and the weight will soon be off! Grrrr... I'm pissed for you! Nancy

I've had that happen before, too. I think our bodies just need to be reassured every now and then that we are not in the midst of a famine and it is OK to let go of some fat. Nancy

I have a couple of questions for you: Have you taken your temperature? It is important that you do so. It sounds as though you might have more than the usual low-grade fever to me. Certainly liquid tylenol should help with the fever, but don't take it if you are also taking Vicodin or other pain meds because they most likely have acetaminophen in them already. Also, do you know for sure that you were given blood during your surgery? This would be highly unusual. But I wouldn't really be surprised at any bruising anywhere so soon after surgery. It may be due to positioning during surgery or jostling getting you on and off the operating table. I do hope you feel better soon, though. Nancy

I was unfilled for two weeks due to things getting stuck a lot and some mild heartburn. They suspected it might be a stretched pouch. Had an esophagram today and all was well so now I am re-filled to just .2cc less than what I had. It's liquids and soft foods for a few days and then I am recommitting to following all the Bandster rules. I knew I had been getting too lax and this was just the kick in the pants I needed to make me feel grateful for the band and ready to take care of it. Nancy

Congratulations! To answer your question, I had no gas or any other pains at all. So it is possible! Nancy

I heard several surgeons at the Texas Bandster Bash in April state that in most circumstances a band erosion is not a serious thing. The stomach wall heals over the band so it is not as if the band is actually inside the stomach. They said it usually requires no treatment at all and does not affect the functioning of the band. One of these surgeons was Dr. Rumbaut of Monterrey, Mexico who is a proctor for Inamed. Obviously, it is not something anyone wants to have happen, but maybe it does not automatically mean band removal either. I don't know, I'm just reporting what I heard. Nancy

Yes, I know I certainly felt very nervous. It's an exciting, but anxious time. Hang in there! Nancy

Yea, Sue!! Wishing you a speedy recovery. Nancy

I was absolutely addicted to Diet Coke before the band. I think I drank several per day. I haven't had any since getting banded. I switched to Crystal Light and I was surprised by how easy it was to do so. Now I find I drink more Water than anything else. I think no matter how hard a habit is to break, we can develop new, healthier habits without too much difficulty. I went to the Texas Bandster Bash recently and one of the surgeons stated that there is medical evidence than people who drink carbonated beverages while banded do not lose as much weight as those who don't. It was a simple correlation, didn't say why not. And I didn't write down the citation, sorry. But I could hazard a guess as to why not. I think when we go against doctor's advice on one thing, it's easier to go against it on other things and pretty soon. . . well, you get the idea. Nancy