Linds

Just wanted to congratulate you on your tremendous weight loss so far especially as you haven't yet met your sweet spot!! It is a fabulous journey you are on and it will have it's ups and downs but the ups far out weigh the downs just as long as you remember that the band is there to help you do the hard work....like digging the garden - you try doing it without a spade...the band is your spade!!! Well done and keep us updated with your progress!!

Hi I had my band fitted in August 2003 and the first 12 months went by with a loss of over 160lbs and that was without ever having reached my sweet spot. I dieted hard ans exercised even harder....but depression set in bad and having to continually convince my Surgeon that I needed a fill (only ever had 5 in 5 years) just made me worse and I turned to food for comfort.....chocolate being the main culprit. I have good restriction now (last fill was over 2 years ago) but I am too ashamed to go to my surgeon for help - I have chronic reflux (have to be sick during the night as well as empty my pouch before I go to bed) - you see I have put on about 70lbs and I feel a complete failure. My band hasn't failed, I have and this was my last chance and I blew it. To add further salt to my wounds, my hubby had a gastric bypass in June 2007 and lost all his excess weight within 8 months and has kept it off no problems and is now waiting to go for his tummy tuck. I have started (yet again) my "diet" yesterday as my band is dying to be put to proper use....so I'll just have to see how far I get with it this time. I have about 90lbs to lose to reach goal (not much when you say it fast) and we have just booked our first holiday away together next year (Oct 2009) without kids or grand kids so it give me a bit of an incentive. I knew the journey was never going to be easy, but I just never expected the weight to go back on as easily as it does.....please please keep chocolate away from me at all costs!!!! Wish me luck....and for all of you on this journey I wish you all the luck and love in the world as it can certainly be life changing

Hi there, I was banded 5 years ago with 2 other people who became known as the Nottingham 3 (long story) but we were all diabetic and banding cured 2 of ours and substantially reduced the meds the 3rd patients immediately after surgery then even he was taken off all meds after a few months. My hubby had the gastric bypass last June (2007) and has not taken any meds for his diabetes since the day of his op and his bloods have not been abnormal since whereas before he could not control them. He has lost all his weight (12 stones) in 8 months and is now awaiting plastic surgery for his loose skin. I still have loads of weight to lose and am suffering with reflux....but I have a better life than I had before. If I had had the choice of the bypass at the time I'd have gone for the band....if you asked me now, I'd go for the bypass...this is just my opinion. The band is hard work as you still have to diet as you haven't got the benefit of malabsorption to help you lose the weight. If sustaining a diet was easy for me, I would never have neede the band. The band works great....it is me that has failed it.

Michelle, I am five years out and lost over 150lbs in the first year but have put back over 70 of them. I have suffered with the dreaded reflux for the past 3 years and although I don't think I am overtight, I know I should visit my surgeon for him to assess the situation because sometimes I throw everything up apart from chocolate!!! So why don't I go back - simple I don't want him to see I've been a failure! My band is fine, it is me that has failed. If I really concentrate and put the effort in, and stop feeding myself the crap, the band will work for me...I just need to abide by the rules. But like you I probably do need to take the bull by the horns and see my Doc. Good luck girl....this band isn't our enemy but our friend....we may not always get on, but it will always be there for us. I don't treat mine very well and for that I am sorry but I hope to put that right...need to get my head sorted.

Ah bless you....I still feel the cold (I mean like I'm in the Arctic) and I am over 4 years out. At first I put it down to like going cold turkey from eating all the crap and my body getting de-toxed but as the weight fell so quickly in the first year, I realised that it was due to the fat that had kept my body so nice and warm all these years no longer being there. I found that exercising helped as it made me feel better and the increase in my metabolism seemed to kick-start all sorts of things in my body. But when I let that slip it's back to the layers of clothes, hot Water bottles and plenty of Hot drinks and Soup for this gal. Just be thankful you're losing the weight and you can get some great thermal underwear that will show off your new figure :thumbup:

Well you have a few months to try the conventional way to lose weight (cos you'll still have to diet when you have the band) so see how you get on (plus it will help shrink your liver). Then if you still feel the same, you go for it cos there are thousands of us who wished we'd done it years sooner than we have. Good luck!!

Firstly I sympathize with you suffering gallbladder attacks.....there is no pain on earth like it and I swear I;d rather give birth than go through that again (I had gall stones for 20 years and finally had my gall bladder removed 2 years ago). I know my surgeon wouldn't remove mine during my band op unless it became necessary to revert to open surgery and not key-hole so I had to wait. I know of other surgeons that take it out as a matter of course, especially with the bypass, but again only if done by open surgery so it could be as mentioned in a previous post that the risk of cross infection is too great. I feel for you though as I know the pain you suffer and the annoyance of the insurance companys must make things worse. Good luck to you.

Firstly congratulations on your initial weight loss and for keeping up the exercise regime...it isn't easy. It's a sad fact that we bandsters do in fact have to diet to lose our weight (or as others prefer to put it "make the right food choices") and if we falter on this or our capacity increases due to an unfill then the inevitable happens. Never heard of a body bugg but sounds great advice.....I use fitday.com to monitor what I eat and what I use up and it helps keep me focused once my mind is in the right direction. I would definitely try a small fill and see how it goes, as you seem to be doing everything else right. As for your weight gain....don't worry about it, as the band is there to help you in these times......I lost 150lbs in my 1st year then regained 84 of them very quickly (chocolate has that effect) but have since lost that again and am now striving to lose the rest of what I should have lost by now. We bandsters (most of us) need to diet and exercise I'm afraid, to be a success, so you will get there (you wouldn't like to kick me up the backside to get me to workout 4-5 times a week would you please? lol) Don't be too hard on yourself.....you're doing great!!

I can only say what I have found in my experience and that is that the band does work as long as you work with it. Mine has never let me down.....EVER. But boy oh boy I have let it down a thousand times over which is why over 4 years out I am still trying to get to goal. I did however, lose 150lbs in the first year because my mind was in the right place but then it went awol and then my eating plan went with it and as hard as my band tried it ouldn't stop me eating the wrong foods. So weight went on. I am losing again at the moment, which is the beauty of the band, but I have to ask myself that if I had gone down a different WLS route, I probably would have lost most/all my excess weight and have been nipped/tucked and botoxed by now!!! But I still love my band - it just takes a bit more effort on my part.

I have suffered with this for quite a while but know I am not over restricted from the amount I can eat. I take a strong ant-acid prescribed by my doctor and before I go to bed every night, I empty my pouch by coughing up (not vomiting or wretching) whatever Fluid is in there, and I sleep like a baby. If I don't do this then I gurgle and end up running for the loo as the reflux grips me. It does sound like you may need only a very slight unfill if everything else fails. Good luck

I had mine done on the NHS over 4 years ago now. There are many surgeons that do them on the NHS...in your area it would be Mr Kerrigan. You just need to get a referral from your GP, then get accepted onto the Consultants list and then it's whatever the waiting time is for that surgeon....could be anything from 9 months to 2 years after being accepted onto their list or longer in some area. But don't delay as your circumstances may change in that time and you may be able to self-fund but at least you'll hopefully be on a list. Good luck.

Wendy Rae, what you are going through is completely natural. This is why we got to the state we are in as before we'd have gone to all these places and ate to our hearts content lol. Now you have to go through a stage of "mourning" and say good bye to the large platefulls you once had and a big hello to what will become your new way of life. What got me through it was swimming....I used to go to get the endorphins going which made me feel better and I used to swallow that much water I felt fuller anyway!!!!! Try and fing something to do to take your mind off the food.....walk the dog, read a book, make dinners for others (ouch!!) but you will get through this and look back and laugh. Make yourself some yummy soups so at least the food you're thinking about is yours!!! Good luck.....you will come out the other side....promise!!

Like many of us I lacked confidence and any negative remarks would send me straight to the comfort eating zone. I always watched my weight from a child and struggled with it and the comments it brought but the one that really sent my eating disorder spiralling into space was when I had literally just spent 19 hours in labour with my first baby and the nurse given the job of bathing me whispered in my ear "why have you let yourself go like this? you have a lovely husband and baby and you look like this" I weighed 210lbs then but soon ballooned to over 400lbs thanks partly to my "angel" nurse. Don't get me wrong, I take full responsibility for the food I put in my mouth and the lack of exercise I take but we each and everyone of us should think of the impact that everything we say or write could have on anyone. I have heard people who have successfully lost their weight through WLS say cruel thingsabout big people and all I can say about them is that perhaps they themselves deserved to be big....or am I just being horrible.

I have hears many solutions to this over the years.....have a small defill can help but may cause you to put on weight, stop drinking at 6pm and go to bed with a dry mouth with loads of pillows risking a stiff neck in the morning. I have tried them all and in the end what works for me is I have a prescribed ant-acid from my Doctor (1 a day type thing) and I also clear my pouch before going to sleep which is just coughing up (not vomiting) any liquid that may be there and I sleep like a baby. No choking or gurgling any more and no panic waking up to rush to the loo thinking I am dying!!! I do not wretch so apparently am doing no harm to my band...I just cough it up. It is something a lot of us bandsters will suffer with so we just have to learn the best way for us to deal with it...I hope you find yours.

Firstly congrats on your weight loss so far....and personally I would not have another fill whilst you ae still losing (the general rule of fill providers used to be that don't fill unless you haven't lost for over a month or you've gained even though you're eating the right stuff and exercising) so on that reckoning they shouldn't be giving you any more fill so you have more leverage for the future. Keep up the great work and I didn't PB for the first 2 years of being banded either.

Wow congratulations! keep up the good work!!

Lauren, none of us go into WLS easily and believe me it is not the lazy or easy route as with everyone the journey is different and can bring it's own obstacles. With many it can be a breeze....but work at it and the results are always amazing. I don't know what the state of your health is now, but I can assure you if you carry on without doing something about your weight, that it will deteriorate and you will regret not having done something about it sooner. The band for me saved my life. I was housebound and could hardly walk. I had to have everything done for me including having my backside wiped for me and my work had retired me due to my failing health.....now if I could have had the op years ago to have avoided this I would have done....but at least I am alive and 12 stones lighter with another 5 to go. It hasn't been easy (was in the beginning but my head lets me down) but I am back on track now. It seems to me your family are scared for you as well as maybe a bit jealous. But if you explain to them that in time you will need surgery for something and the anaesthetic will be more dangerous then if you haven't lost the weight - remember these surgeons and anaesthetists are used to dealing with people our size so know what they are doing.....put your faith in them and God and I'm sure you'll be fine. I wish you all the luck and love in the world.

I didn't PB for the first 3 years of being banded then I started suffering with acid reflux and started to PB occasionally.

Wow Lisa you go girl!!! Can you imagine trying to pick something up weighing 75lbs and carrying it around with you??? Keep up the great work!!

My hubby put on loads of weight after I had my surgery 4 years ago. I lost 168lbs then put a load back on but thhen this past june he had RNY and has now lost a incredible 110lbs and is 28lbs from his goal weight whereas I am still 84lbs from mine (que sera!!!) My loss was hard work but his was effortless - not fair is it!!!!!

Justin, as has been said already, only you can make the decision. One of the most valuable bits of advice I was ever given in life was "if in doubt, don't do it" and it has always served me well. Perhaps you should postpone the surgery until you have researched it more as believe me it is not something you should go into lightly as it is a life-changing thing. You have to alter the way you eat and drink and you still have to diet if you want to lose weight and you can still gain weight if you eat the wrong stuff so there is a lot to consider. The band is a tool to help you lose weight, but the majority of the work is down to you....so you need to be in the right frame of mind to want that more than anything....so ask yourself the question? Your insurance will still be there in a couple of months time....so don't rush into anything you are not sure about especially if your health is not compromised at the moment. This is just my opinion for what it's worth....hope you have a great new year.

My band is brilliant.....it is I that is the failure!!! I lose a load of weight then put loads back on....a bit like all my life really. So having seen my hubby (and loads of friends and associates) have RNY and DS (hubby had RNY in June this year and is 28lbs from goal) and have the added attraction of malabsorption, I think maybe that should have been the option for this weak minded girl. But my band is brilliant and works hard as hell for me.

I think it depends on your skin type.....some people are lucky and they have good elasticity in their skin, and some unfortunately look like a deflated old balloon but the upside is that the big smile on their faces make them look like laughter lines and not wrinkles!!!!

Oh those lovely cocktails all with rum in them.....I envy you!! I went to the DR and stayed at a fantastic hotel resort in Sosua last October, and ate and drank (not at the same time) what I wanted and lost weight!! Must say, I couldn't stop swimming as I had to stay cool somehow!! Have a great time...no dietician is gonna blame you if you do put a bit of weight on..at least you had a good excuse. Enjoy and have a banana mama on me

those hormones are a nuisance aren't they? I crave carbs and sugary things for a few days around my period every month. If I give into them, I put on weight (after already having put on for the monthly Water retention). It is hard work to get through this and you'll need to find what is your way. Some it's to exercise like crazy and those endorphins overtake the cravings....for me it's bury your head in a pillow and bite on a hard stick to stop myself eating the wrong stuff!! Good luck...it aint easy being a woman...even harder being a banded one!!!