aliceinthegardenofpearl

Hello My name is Jenny. I had my lapband inserted in August of 2010. I was 23 at the time and the lapband was popular at that time. Plus my mother was a big influence on me choosing the lapband over the gastric bypass at that time. I just recently been feeling a burning sensation where the band is located near the head of the stomach and pain when during my torso. The pain is gone now but lasted for about 2 months now the area is numb. I went to my original surgeon 2 months ago and we scheduled an endoscopy which will be done on December 15th, 2022. When we were talking he brought up that in the 12 years that I've had the lapband that research showed that the lapband was only temporary and leave in time was only 10 years and so is suggestion, whether the endoscopy shows erosion or slippage is to take out the lapband altogether. However, he suggested converting to a gastric bypass. I'm deathly afraid of a gastric bypass and suggested a gastric sleeve (in my mind, it's safer) but he said that with my health (BMI: 36, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, high cholesterol, diabetes type II) that the gastric bypass will give me better results than the sleeve. I did not have any success with the lapband. After my one week checkup post-op, I had gained 7 pounds which was due to swelling and the doctor (same surgeon I'm still seeing today) accused me of eating hamburgers and pizza and drinking soda at night when everyone was asleep. I remember my mother was in the room with me and he turned to her and asked "well let me ask you ma'am? does she have her own room?" and my mother replied "well of course she does?" and he asked her "do you go to sleep before her and she stays up late?" and my mother replied "yeah, she's 23. She goes to sleep a little later than me." and he told her while was in the room "well, there you go. she has no one to monitor her at night. she's eating pizza, burgers, drinking soda." When the reality was I couldn't even get down a medicine 30 mls of liquid post surgery. So I never went back and so my post care suffered since I never sought after care from him or his facility. I don't think he remembers what he said all those years ago though and as I've grown older, I've gotten over it and want to start anew. Thing is I'm for converting to the gastric bypass but I have PCOS and my hormones are all over the place and it's very hard for me to lose weight when I do try. When I change my eating habits, my blood work gets better (H1C decreases, blood pressure decreases, sugar levels normalize) but my weight does not budge. My question is..... Has anyone had the same experience with the lapband and failed with it due to PCOS or any other hormonal imbalance. I've had my thyroid checked 10 times and it always comes back normal. But i've been told I have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and assume I have PCOS. Did those that had gastric bypass have success with weight loss even when they had PCOS. I don't think I can handle another failure especially when i'm willing to go under the knife to have my insides permanently and voluntarily re-arranged.

More afraid of getting it done and then having the same rate of success I had with the lapband. And just afraid of major surgery in general and having stomach rerouted instead of just banded.

Hi, I've just come back on these forums after a long long hiatus. I am like you. I had my lapband inserted when I was 23 years old back in August of 2022. I felt back then that was the safest and least invasive treatment option. I did not have success with the lapband. The most I lost was 12 pounds and then after that I stalled and gained. Today I'm 227 pounds but have a BMI of 36, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. I also didn't have the best relationship with my surgeon when I told him "I don't think it's working" when I told him at my one week post surgery check up because instead of losing I had gained 7 pounds. Long story short, he told me it was my fault because I was sneaking burgers, pizza, and coke when my family was asleep at night, which was farthest from the truth as it took me hours to down 30 ml of liquids and could not get solid food down 7 days post op. I ended upgoing back to him 2 months ago after not seeing him for 12 years due to having pain in my upper left quadrant of my abdomen. I can only describe it has a burning sensation, like burning on the inside, and I felt strange when I would turn my torso, in the that specific area. Now the pain has subsided but now the area is numb. He scheduled me for an endoscopy which I will be having on december 15, 2022 to see if the band has slipped or eroded. However, he told me that since having my lapband put in, they found out it's only a temporary gadget that should be removed in 10 years time. He spoke to me and suggested converting to a gastric bypass but I voiced my preference for the gastric sleeve, if I were to get a conversion. He told me because of my comorbidities and my unsuccessful journey with the band that a gastric bypass would benefit me more. Now I'm scared to get revised due to having my insides removed and rearranged compared to the lapband being reversible and afraid that I will get the bypass and end up failing again. That would be devastating. It's a decision that weighs heavy on my mind. Back when I was 23 I just wanted to be pretty but now that I'm 36 I just want to be healthy. I guess I'll see how the endoscopy goes this week and talk more with him about converting to the bypass.

Hello. I'm not exactly new here but I keep up with the forum quite of bit. I know it's alot of information down below but PLEASE READ and GIVE ME ANY KIND OF ADVICE OR SUGGESTIONS! SW: 227 CW: 205 GW: 155 First of all, I had my surgery in 2010 and it didn't go as well as I would have liked. Since then I've been struggling to find a diet that would actually work well with my body and my metabolic syndrome and have found that a low carb diet works really well for me. I just found this out in February of this year and have lost 22 pounds so far. The weight loss has been incredibly slow and I've tried my best to remain calm with the fact that I've only been able to lose 22 pounds 9 months but sometimes. But anyways, I've stalled at 205 since July and I haven't been able to get out of that range no matter how hard I try. I tried re-doing the induction phase of the atkins program but that didn't work. I tried exercising more and even started running 1-2 miles 3 times a week and that didn't work. I researched my medications. I'm taking Propranolol for high blood pressure, Metformin for type II diabetes, Simvastatin for cholesterol, and Ortho-Micronor which is a birth control. I initially thought that it was the birth control because it's notorious for causing significant gain but fortunately it helped me lose the 22 pounds (I feel personally that it has helped in that aspect) I looked up side effects of this medication and lots of women complain of weight gain but I was fortunate in that regard. So I researched Propranolol and Metformin and Simvastatin on various websites and askapatient.com and of all the 3 medications people had complaints about gaining weight, the inability to lose weight regardless of a healthy diet and regular exercise regimen. So I tried not taking it for about 3 days which was stupid because I felt dizzy but I checked my blood pressure regularly and it was always in the range of 124/76 which is still high. But in those 3 days I was able to lose 2 pounds but I know it's not smart to stop taking medications especially blood pressure so I put myself back on it and quickly went back up to 205 again. I'm thinking of asking my doctor to change my blood pressure medication but at 80 bucks a visit without insurance is kind of hard to afford for just a prescription and short visit, especially since I just went a month ago and spent 80 dollars already. But I've been thinking that maybe it isn't the Propranolol because I was able to lose 22 pounds with taking all my medications regularly. So I'm asking for any suggestions whether it be suggestions on exercise or eating or anything to help me bust out of this weight plateau that I've been on since July. I do eat around 700-800 calories a day and I exercise for an 1 hour & 30 minutes to 2 hours 5-6 times a week. I try to switch my cardio up every week. But a typical day would be Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (30 minutes), Turbo Fire (either 30, 45, or 55 minutes), then I finish it off with 50-60 minutes of another cardio workout plus the running 3 times a week. I do have a calorie counter watch and according to that I burn around 700 to 1000 calories a day. I believe that my body is in starvation mode even though I'm not starving myself. I read that the metabolism slows as you lose weight and it becomes harder to lose weight for every 10 pounds you lose. I don't know if I should up my calories to 1200 or so but I find it very hard to eat 1200 calories physically because of my band's restriction and not being hungry My Menu Breakfast Carb Zero vanilla shake 1 scoop - 105 calories 2 scrambled eggs/no milk - 140 2 slices of bacon - 80 calories Nature's own double Fiber bread - 50 calories lunch 1 can of tuna - 100 calories 1 wedge of light swiss laughing cow cheese (to mix in the tuna) - 35 calories 1 tsp of brown mustard (to mix in the tuna) - 5 calories 34 Degrees Rosemary Crisp bread crackers - 6 of them, 41 calories Hello. I'm not exactly new here but I keep up with the forum quite of bit. I know it's quite a lot of information down below but I just thought I'd thoroughly explain myself and my situation. PLEASE READ and OFFER ANY ADVICE OR SUGGESTIONS First of all, I had my surgery in 2010 and it didn't go as well as I would have liked. Since then I've been struggling to find a diet that would actually work well with my body and my metabolic syndrome and have found that a low carb diet works really well for me. I just found this out in February of this year and have lost 22 pounds so far with a low carb diet. The weight loss has been incredibly slow and I've tried my best to remain calm with the fact that I've only been able to lose 22 pounds in 9 months. But anyways, I've been stalled at 205 since July and I haven't been able to get out of that range no matter how hard I try. I tried re-doing the induction phase of the atkins program but that didn't work. I tried exercising more and even started running 1-2 miles 3 times a week and that didn't work. I researched my medications. I'm taking Propranolol for high blood pressure, Metformin for type II diabetes, Simvastatin for cholesterol, and Ortho-Micronor which is a birth control. I initially thought that it was the birth control because birth control is notorious for causing significant weight gain for some women, but fortunately it helped me lose the 22 pounds (I feel personally that it has helped in that aspect because I started taking it around the last week of February for cystic acne and a cyst on my ovary and that's when I started doing low carb and losing weight before that was near impossible). So I researched Propranolol and Metformin and Simvastatin on various websites and askapatient.com and of all the 3 medications people had complaints about Propranolol causing weight gain and the inability to lose weight regardless of a healthy diet and regular exercise regimen. So I tried not taking it for about 3 days which was stupid because I felt dizzy but I checked my blood pressure regularly during this time and it was always in the range of 124/76 which is still high. But in those 3 days I was able to lose 2 pounds with my regular diet and exercise regimen that I describe below, but I know it's not smart to stop taking medications especially blood pressure so I put myself back on it and quickly went back up to 205 again. I'm thinking of asking my doctor to change my blood pressure medication but at 80 bucks a visit without insurance is kind of hard to afford for just a prescription on a paper and a short visit, especially since I just went 3 weeks ago for my 3 month check up and medication refills and spent 80 dollars already. But I've been thinking that maybe it isn't even the Propranolol because I was able to lose those 22 pounds while on it. Maybe it's just a common plateau? I don't know but I'm very frustrated and I feel like giving up some days and just stopping my exercise all together. But I don't. I can't let myself gain those 22 pounds again. So I'm asking for any suggestions whether it be suggestions on exercise or eating or anything to help me bust out of this weight plateau that I've been in since July. I do eat around 700-860 calories a day and I exercise for an 1 hour & 30 minutes to 2 hours 5-6 times a week. I try to switch my cardio up every week. But a typical day would be Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (30 minutes), Turbo Fire (either 30, 45, or 55 minutes), then I finish it off with 50-60 minutes of another cardio workout plus the running 3 times a week and some of the cardio has weight lifting in there. I do have a calorie counter watch and according to that I burn around 700 to 1000 calories a day. I believe that my body is in starvation mode even though I'm not starving myself. I read that the metabolism slows as you lose weight and it becomes harder to lose weight for every 10 pounds you lose. I don't know if I should up my calories to 1200 or so but I find it very hard to eat 1200 calories physically because of my band's restriction and feeling full. I'm also kind of scared to go up to 1200 calories because I think that it's gonna make me gain weight. My Menu - I do track my food in a journal. It helps me stay on track and I eat anywhere between 20 to 25 or 30 carbs a day. I don't drink sodas whether it be diet or lower calorie, I stay away from drinks that have artificial sweeteners in them as much as possible with the exception of the occasional sugar free mousse I have and the Arizona drink mix I add to my Water. And I drink about 65-70 oz. of water a day. Breakfast Carb Zero Vanilla shake 1 scoop mixed with water - 105 calories 2 scrambled eggs/no milk - 140 or 2 boiled eggs, yolkless - 37 calories 2 slices of bacon - 80 calories Nature's own double fiber bread - 50 calories Lunch 1 can of tuna - 100 calories 1 wedge of light swiss laughing cow cheese (to mix in the tuna) - 35 calories 1 tsp of brown mustard (to mix in the tuna) - 5 calories 34 Degrees Rosemary Crisp bread crackers - 6 of them, 41 calories 6 Armour pepperoni slices - 46 calories dinner Either baked fish, grilled chicken, turkey patty, or salmon patty - Around 140-160 calories 1.5 cup of salad - 30 calories Italian dressing - 1 tbsp, 40 calories Oscar meyer turkey bacon bits - 20 calories That's a typical day. Most of the time I eat boiled eggs for breakfast but do eat scrambled eggs on the weekends sometimes. I don't eat the double fiber bread everyday, and I don't eat a salad for dinner everyday. Sometimes I eat green Beans or mixed vegetables from those steamer bags. Sometimes I eat a sugar free Jello mousse for dessert. I'm not a big snacker either because I feel full after meals and that feeling lasts for good while and I've trained myself to distract myself if I do get the urge to snack on things I shouldn't. If I do get hungry I chew a sugar free gum or I drink lots of water flavored with Arizona mix that is 5 calories. I don't eat after dinner which is around 7 pm or 8 pm. On a more positive note..My A1C has dropped from 12.1 to 5.1 and my doctor lowered my Metformin dose to 500 MG/day

I had the same reaction when I was banded and I was not expecting my reaction to be so dramatic. When I got home the same day as my surgery I started crying like I've never cried before. Crying so hard that I would heave and couldn't breath, making myself hyperventilate. When my family saw me crying and upset they tried to comfort me with hugs but I didn't want anyone to touch me and I would literally back into a corner like an injured, abused, and scared animal and cry when they tried to hug me proclaiming that no one understood what I was feeling and hating everyone that didn't feel my fear or disappointment. I even started calling out to my grandmother who had died a few months before I had the surgery. I scared my entire family with my behavior and I was completely miserable and immediately googled "how long do i have to wait to get my lap band removed" But it does get easier even if you think it never will get better. After you start healing you're able to drink more. I think not being able to get liquids down was what really freaked me out those first few hours home. As you go along you'll be able to eat more. It just takes getting used to. Now there are times when I tell my family, "hey, remember that time after surgery when I went crazy..." and we laugh about it now.

Hello. I'm not exactly new here but I keep up with the forum quite of bit. SW: 227 CW: 205 GW: 155 I know it's quite a lot of information down below but I just thought I'd thoroughly explain myself and my situation. PLEASE READ and OFFER ANY ADVICE OR SUGGESTIONS First of all, I had my surgery in 2010 and it didn't go as well as I would have liked. Since then I've been struggling to find a diet that would actually work well with my body and my metabolic syndrome and have found that a low carb diet works really well for me. I just found this out in February of this year and have lost 22 pounds so far with a low carb diet. The weight loss has been incredibly slow and I've tried my best to remain calm with the fact that I've only been able to lose 22 pounds in 9 months. But anyways, I've been stalled at 205 since July and I haven't been able to get out of that range no matter how hard I try. I tried re-doing the induction phase of the atkins program but that didn't work. I tried exercising more and even started running 1-2 miles 3 times a week and that didn't work. I researched my medications. I'm taking Propranolol for high blood pressure, Metformin for type II diabetes, Simvastatin for cholesterol, and Ortho-Micronor which is a birth control. I initially thought that it was the birth control because birth control is notorious for causing significant weight gain for some women, but fortunately it helped me lose the 22 pounds (I feel personally that it has helped in that aspect because I started taking it around the last week of February for cystic acne and a cyst on my ovary and that's when I started doing low carb and losing weight before that was near impossible). So I researched Propranolol and Metformin and Simvastatin on various websites and askapatient.com and of all the 3 medications people had complaints about Propranolol causing weight gain and the inability to lose weight regardless of a healthy diet and regular exercise regimen. So I tried not taking it for about 3 days which was stupid because I felt dizzy but I checked my blood pressure regularly during this time and it was always in the range of 124/76 which is still high. But in those 3 days I was able to lose 2 pounds with my regular diet and exercise regimen that I describe below, but I know it's not smart to stop taking medications especially blood pressure so I put myself back on it and quickly went back up to 205 again. I'm thinking of asking my doctor to change my blood pressure medication but at 80 bucks a visit without insurance is kind of hard to afford for just a prescription on a paper and a short visit, especially since I just went 3 weeks ago for my 3 month check up and medication refills and spent 80 dollars already. But I've been thinking that maybe it isn't even the Propranolol because I was able to lose those 22 pounds while on it. Maybe it's just a common plateau? I don't know but I'm very frustrated and I feel like giving up some days and just stopping my exercise all together. But I don't. I can't let myself gain those 22 pounds again. So I'm asking for any suggestions whether it be suggestions on exercise or eating or anything to help me bust out of this weight plateau that I've been in since July. I do eat around 700-860 calories a day and I exercise for an 1 hour & 30 minutes to 2 hours 5-6 times a week. I try to switch my cardio up every week. But a typical day would be Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (30 minutes), Turbo Fire (either 30, 45, or 55 minutes), then I finish it off with 50-60 minutes of another cardio workout plus the running 3 times a week and some of the cardio has weight lifting in there. I do have a calorie counter watch and according to that I burn around 700 to 1000 calories a day. I believe that my body is in starvation mode even though I'm not starving myself. I read that the metabolism slows as you lose weight and it becomes harder to lose weight for every 10 pounds you lose. I don't know if I should up my calories to 1200 or so but I find it very hard to eat 1200 calories physically because of my band's restriction and feeling full. I'm also kind of scared to go up to 1200 calories because I think that it's gonna make me gain weight. My Menu - I do track my food in a journal. It helps me stay on track and I eat anywhere between 20 to 25 or 30 carbs a day. I don't drink sodas whether it be diet or lower calorie, I stay away from drinks that have artificial sweeteners in them as much as possible with the exception of the occasional sugar free mousse I have and the Arizona drink mix I add to my Water. And I drink about 65-70 oz. of water a day. Breakfast Carb Zero vanilla shake 1 scoop mixed with water - 105 calories 2 scrambled eggs/no milk - 140 or 2 boiled eggs, yolkless - 37 calories 2 slices of bacon - 80 calories Nature's own double Fiber bread - 50 calories lunch 1 can of tuna - 100 calories 1 wedge of light swiss laughing cow cheese (to mix in the tuna) - 35 calories 1 tsp of brown mustard (to mix in the tuna) - 5 calories 34 Degrees Rosemary Crisp bread crackers - 6 of them, 41 calories 6 Armour pepperoni slices - 46 calories dinner Either baked fish, grilled chicken, turkey patty, or salmon patty - Around 140-160 calories 1.5 cup of salad - 30 calories Italian dressing - 1 tbsp, 40 calories Oscar meyer turkey bacon bits - 20 calories That's a typical day. Most of the time I eat boiled eggs for breakfast but do eat scrambled eggs on the weekends sometimes. I don't eat the double fiber bread everyday, and I don't eat a salad for dinner everyday. Sometimes I eat green Beans or mixed vegetables from those steamer bags. Sometimes I eat a sugar free Jello mousse for dessert. I'm not a big snacker either because I feel full after meals and that feeling lasts for good while and I've trained myself to distract myself if I do get the urge to snack on things I shouldn't. If I do get hungry I chew a sugar free gum or I drink lots of water flavored with Arizona mix that is 5 calories. I don't eat after dinner which is around 7 pm or 8 pm. On a more positive note..My A1C has dropped from 12.1 to 5.1 and my doctor lowered my Metformin dose to 500 MG/day

I don't understand it myself and it's very frustrating to put so much effort and work into it and not see any results. It makes me break down and cry sometimes but I keep going. But I will tell you that I stick to 700-860-some calories a day. Sometimes I'll make it to 900. I write EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth in a food journal and I mean EVERYTHING. Ever since I stalled back in July I have become extremely strict with my diet and sometimes have to force myself to work out as much as I do but I get it in.You have a right to be suspicious if what I'm saying is true but let me tell you that I'm being completely honest with you and completely honest with myself. Even in the liquid phase and mushy phase of my first few months with lap band I was unable to lose weight. Back then I was eating nothing but chicken broth, cream of chicken Soup, sugar free Jello, then moved on too mushy foods such as re-fried Beans, mashed potatoes, etc and was still unable to lose a pound with that kind of diet. I kept my portions to half a cup and 1 cup. I have had my thyroid checked because my grandmother had hypothyroid as well as two of my aunts on my mother's side. My thyroid workup always comes back normal. The only thing that the doctor has told me is that I have metabolic syndrome. But a funny thing did happen one time at my doctor's office. My doctor divides his time between his private practice and the hospitals around my city and he had hired a nurse practitioner. I went one day and he wasn't there so I saw this nurse practitioner and based what I told her about not being able to lose weight she prescribed thyroid medication and I picked it up at the pharmacy and I was happy that I finally had the answer to all my weight problems, but 2 weeks later while on that medication, my doctor called all of his patients that the nurse practitioner saw during that time and asked them to come in to re-evaluate her work and he told me I wasn't even hypo thyroid according to any of my blood workups. I asked him about the nurse practitioner and he told me he had to fire her because in his absence she was diagnosing people with illnesses and conditions that they didn't even have and prescribing medications they didn't even need that could also be harmful to them. So he took me off the thyroid medication and explained my numbers to me and told me I had no thyroid problems. But maybe I should see a specialist such as an endocrinologist just in case.