Jack

re: " Should I tell them?? I kinda feel like it's nobody's business." In my own opinion, this is an example of the New Personal Power we Bandsters come to know in ways our previous experience as members of the 'Tribe of the Morbidly Obese' did not understand. I don't think it's lying at all. Eventually the likelihood is you will change your list of 'who YOU tell' in your own time frame. Be prepared as some who have a delayed discover may have initial response of anger or hostility. In fact, neither has 'the Right' to know until YOU decide when/where/whether to tell them. Without realizing it, perhaps, their own behavior will shift in subtle ways, that will add further dimensions to a complex issue. When you feel confident and strong enough in your own convictions, there will be no doubt who you will tell. Until then, such information IS 'private'. Cheers in your journey.

I too am one that has had to learn how to adapt, improvise and overcome. The incredible ongoing "Mystery of PBing" for myself was really, when I got down to rational evaluation of cause/effect, the results of my own self-induced 'errors of eating'. Perhaps 75% of my own PB episodes really are from the well described eating too fast/too much/too often/etc. The other 25% was during times the Band was 'too tight' and I didn't recognize the cause of my misery. Having made considerable headway toward your goal, it would be counter productive to abandon what has been successful in getting you so far along the trail. Seek small solutions to the small issues and your comfort level will return. Stay focused on your goal and the path you need to follow will become evident. Please keep us posted on your progress. Cheers on your journey.

For me it's not a 'food addiction'. It's an "eating addiction". An "overeating" addiction. "Sport eating" if you will. Whatever the beast is that inhabits your imagination, there is no reason to fear it once you understand a few basics. Your own issue may well be 'food addiction" and my comments don't particularly apply in your case. I manage my weight far better when using the tools of behavioral modification. Soon I will be going for a slight fill, as the Band is the most effective tool I've found for my own issue. Cheers on your journey.

re: "I'm old school. I was fat because I ate too much, now I'm slim and fit because I do not eat nearly as much....." after over 40 years of weight issues, and a host of reading both on a graduate level and professional educational upgrades, and with a veritable Library of Alexandria collection of tidbits collected over the years, THIS quote is as close to the Truth as I have ever come....not that I am fit, etc. Add in most of my existence of eating too much has been coupled with exercising too little. Double whammy super size. At one point in my grad school classes on nutrition, the assignment was to attempt to create a spreadsheet of what we individually had eaten over the past year. Through massive application of recent memory and typical meals/snacks/ingestion of any caloric substance, the answer surprised everyone. Given I was x-overweight representing XXXX-calorie surplus, I found between the meals I could perhaps account for over the previous 15 years by themselves, would have left me at NORMO weight.....while factoring in the beer habit over the same time frame, by themselves, also would have left me at NORMO weight. The conclusion was, I could have eaten what I did OR drank what I did and remained NORMO size. Add the 2 and the correlation with the xx, (OK, XXXX-amount) of extra pounds of fat, is what made me "Morbidly Obese". Decades later absent the liquid calories I still am confronted daily by the errors of an over consumption youth. [back to our regularly scheduled thread, sorry for the hi-jack]

Have you checked with your surgeon? There is potential for this to be a related vagus nerve irritation following surgery. The neurology of the area is complex and would require clinical evaluation to confirm. While likely being of temporary issue, it is beyond the forum capacity to make statements of certainty in such matters. Please keep us posted.

re: "I’m fairly picky about my friends, it’s true. I hold my friends to a high standard" good point The post I read was all about HER, not you. Keep out of her life. Develop your own friends based on what is important to you. Your former friend has either separation anxiety or some kind of control-freak disorder. Stop reading her stuff.

LeCroix sparkling mineral Water has a non-sugar variety of flavors. I prefer the lemon-flavor. At times I've added a splash of grapefruit juice to a glass of it for a little treat. YMMV

of course the biggest distraction is "what FOOD" rather than "how MUCH" and "how OFTEN" did I consume it in my Days of Endless Marathon Sport Eating.... I attribute <some> of my eating peculiarities to my Own Mother, who taught that I should "never eat on an empty stomach"....

An amazing story and fortuitous opportunity to reinvent yourself! Other than the obvious errors of nutrition in the sugar-Water routine you mention, I simply can not fathom the compulsion many have to alter the basic marvel of "coffee" with anything that turns it into a confectionery treat rather than the role played by the Nobel Gift of caffeine. The only thing that improves 'coffee' to my own palette is whiskey and I had to give that up decades ago. It sounds like your Rational Brain is kicking into gear. I continue to be astounded when I once again bump into how marvelously effective the simple approach of "eat hard Protein first" serves to quell any errant notions of appetite madness. The physical sensuality of eating our way to morbid obesity is a subject rarely discussed, yet I am convinced that pleasure is one of the triggers of constant sport eating absent any sense of 'hunger'. My Old Bad Habit of serial snacking is a continual struggle despite my notions of 'hunger' or 'satiety'. Given there are precious few Fluid types I actually consume, at least I don't have to battle the empty liquid-calorie mania. Still there's plenty of other facets to the syndrome of Habitual Overeating. Cheers on your journey.

re: "I think her band may have slipped. She gets sick multiple times a week. Do you think I'm this could be true?" the ONLY way to tell for SURE is to go see her doctor. 'Being sick' multiple times a week is not very concise information on which to base ANY kind of recommendation. The Bandsters will be happy to help if possible, but get some basic MEDICAL FACTS first, and let us know what the status really is.

congratulations....and yes with practice all the various postOp disciplines become easier. cheers on the next part of your journey

No desire for alcohol what so ever. No rant here, but I'm sure it was part of the constellation of compulsive consumption of all things caloric that lead to my morbid obesity.

great idea to add this kind of information on a problem that has plagued many preBandsters I was one of those who used a variety of prescription medications in my weight battle ranging from the early 60s to the mid 70s. Don't have a list of what the Rx was, yet they all had one thing in common: big promises and big failure to produce. Although the ones that kept me up at 3am and led to the arrest of my then-physician in 1965 for a variety of FDA violations, had some side benefits, I feel basically fortunate to have survived the ordeal. I haven't kept up on the various products available over the past 10 years. Reading the eventually discovered side effects of the previous generation of such medications was startling enough. Hope we can find that magic answer to our problem. I'll be reading the posts here to upgrade my awareness of current pharmaceuticals.

"how will I know how much to eat?" along with all the measurements, anxiety and unknown elements we all face at some point in our journey, the one that helped me the most was the sudden realization that the sensation of "hunger" vs "NOT hunger" was the basic sensation I had never experienced. Measured volumes are a tool to help give the awareness we somehow missed along the way. I was actually in graduate school before I ever came across the concept of "SATIETY"....as I had never experienced it. Like many Bandsters I had been raised with the notion of 'eat till you're full' or 'eat till it's gone' or 'eat so I won't have this little bit left' etc. You have the moment approaching in your postOp experience, of learning that most important concept. For me that became the question: " If you aren't hungry why are you eating". Measured volumes are a tool just as the Band is as well. It gives the Rational Brain a chance to wrestle Eating Behavior away from the influence our erroneous habits. Good luck and cheers on your journey.

sorry to hear of your stress mounting up so much we all seem to have triggering events that somehow the Stomach Beasts thrive upon and to some extent we all start over every day, in that each opportunity to make a good eating choice vs a bad eating choice, really IS what the actually point ~I~ have to focus upon. Why caloric drinks at all? Can't be for mere taste, as non-caloric drinks are available. Can't be for nutritional needs, as your regular meal plan and considerably now-elevated educational process can demonstrate. So we have Bad Habits and Old Unfinished Issues that lead us into such irrational eating behavior. There are a few easy steps in changing what you drink away from the caloric stuff to something better suited for your purpose. Each day take just ONE step back in the direction of your own lost goals, as now you have fewer distractions from achieving what you want. 12 years ago I was headed to 400 #, and didn't make it. At surgery my goal was 225. I haven't made that either. Success or fail? I have no time to stress over wouldda/couldda/shouldda. I have only what I choose to put in my mouth. Yes, sometimes that is a stress. The JOY is, each time I bend my elbow in a way I ~AM~ "starting over". You know what lead to your weight loss before. Now is the moment to take that step toward that goal once again. You can do it.

sorry to hear of your turmoil.....some of the symptoms you mention are very like when I spent 8 months being too tight a fill myself. Your doc is the place to carefully review all this. You know 'insanity' really IS inherited.....you get it from your kids...HAR!!! Certainly plenty to discuss with your surgeon, yet it amazing the odd ball symptoms that can and do arise from being too tight. I once was in turmoil for nearly a year before all the tests etc proved I had no 'disease process' and once they took a little bit out, all my symptoms vanished. Hope all goes well with your exam too. Cheers on your journey.

I'm one of those that aspartame gives a headache, plus other more subtle symptoms. I use stevia both liquid and powder when my diabetes insists I need a touch of sweet.

Don't mean to be a buzz kill, but what others have done to sabotage themselves really isn't where preOp Bandster needs to be focusing, IMHO. We all need discipline. It has to start somewhere, some time. If we don't develop a healthy respect for the practice a modicum of preOp discipline NOW, just when will the opportunity be any better? Good luck and cheers on your journey. I had to work hard on developing my "won't power" as my "will power" proved unreliable.

GREAT news! LOL!

Haven't heard of "just stopped working". I've heard of leaks and slips, granted fairly infrequently. I've heard of (don't ask how) the Gentle Bandster somehow falling off the healthy routine for far longer than they realize (insert blushing face here) and a host of 'errors of commission in Bad Eating habits slipping back. Perhaps a more extensive careful check by your doc will locate some Band issue. Certainly I'd be interested in hearing what you discover.

hang in there toomuchrose, each day 'should' be better & better..... I too developed a rash from the tape adhesive enough so they won't use in on such as fill-stick puncture sites. I was 59 at surgery but didn't feel like you describe. Certainly I would make my Doc PERSONALLY know how I felt & would come sit on his desk until satisfied he had examined & explained WHAT is going on. Good luck & cheers in your journey.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. It is uplifting to share in the determination to succeed and your courage helps us all. Cheers in your journey. Would appreciate observations comparing your 'old small band' with your 'new big band'. I have an antique 4cc model. While only the hint of a few minor issues, the area of 1.6 or 1.7cc is a huge amount and easily I become too tight at 1.8. Still plugging along myself, glad to see you still ready to fight through obstacles to your goal.

Being prepared with your own "MRE" 'medically required exception' survival food packet is most helpful should the worst combination occur. I packed along my own kit for much of the first 6 or 8 months, including a jar or 2 of Gerbers just in case. It's great practice to retain control of KNOWING what you can/should/WILL eat at such events. Sometimes I took along some form of fruit or a mysterious mix of my own little tupperware container. Really had very few bother to quiz me. And almost always there's Soup or salad that fits. Often traveling I would take a waitress aside and quietly explain I was in postOp recovery and needed something special....poached egg, sometimes a little corned beef hash, they always were willing to help if you spoke quietly and off to the side....at the restaurant. At dreary conference group meals I lucked out in that most were either buffet style or pick from a menu. Stick to what you know is right for your phase, it does pay off. Cheers on your journey.

I don't know the statistics on that question. For myself, preOp I was on insulin shots twice a day, total about 200 units of some horrid blend of 2 types that had considerabole side effects. PostOp after 10 months I dropped all insulin completely. For about 6 1/2 years I was only on oral meds. My A1c kept rising though and 2 years ago I had to return to insulin shots along with oral meds. Lantus once/day at about 28 units is keeping my blood work looking nearly perfect. Of course insulin IS a growth hormone and makes it hard to actually lose weight....yet I remain "only 28#" up from my lowest weight. I didn't do the Band for insulin control, had multiple issues.

I've read this for years and thought the address should be available for those interested. http://mendosa.com/diabetes_update_191.htm He sends a monthly newsletter to your email. I've never found any downside from it, no advertising etc as far as I can tell. Never met the man but am very pleased with his ongoing updates.