desertmom

hi Thanks for replying.Yes the thing is I had huge problems from the day after the operation.I had pain for almost a year and the dr could never identify it.I had heartburn and reflux from the day after the operation that 40mg Nexium couldnt stop.The band is very high on my stomach and well,who knows why it wasnt working,it just wasnt.I had so many fills and unfills it is difficult to count.I have a 9cc band and even after losing 40kg's low carbing and exercising like a maniac every day the max I could have in the band was about 6cc's and then the very bad reflux would start again. Trust me,I really tried to make this band work even with all the things that went on.I didnt want to admit faluire and I didnt want to give up. Have started over quite a few times but it isnt working.It never worked.When I read of other people's journey with this band it still makes me sad and jealous as it was never the same.I felt pain in my upper abdominal area from the day I got the band.I suffered to lose weight (with the pain)even now,when I eat any fruit or vegetables I have severe heartburn,rubbish however is ok.I still have to take nexium even though I dont have any Fluid in the band...and before the band I didnt even know what heartburn was.Never experienced it. I could go on and on but what is the point?My life has a much better quality fat than with even a few cc's in this band.The pain is constant and I cannot function like that.The fact that the dr cannot tell why it is like that doesnt make it not so. ok,enough.Will drink my diet pill and see what happens.Even if I have heartburn with the sleeve,well I have it now.and I dont believe I will neccessarily have it. Please dont disapear after a few years.It would be good to know how many people are still doing well with there bands 4 to 5 years on.Most people I can still find are now on other sites and have problems and revisions(lots of band to sleeves and well,GBP as well.Not something people want to hear or want to admit to. Good luck and keep up the good work with your bands. Desertmom

Hope you are ok Irena.I still have my band but it is useless.I have had it unfilled for 2 years or so.Try to have little fills and then have to unfill again. So good luck for your journey.If you want some info or just need someone to talk to about diet or band you can contact me anytime...I am dieting again as I have gain 30kgs but will keep at this one way or another. Good luck

hi Ive had my band for 3 years and I have had huge amounts of trouble with it.It is completely empty...have been for so long I cant remember how long exactly.I still have daily pain and discomfort but nothing else.... What I'm trying to say is I know how it feels to be totally at a loss for what to do next. However....after gaining 70 pounds I have found the ANSWER. It is actually a way of eating that allows me 2000 calories per day and it is not low carbing.It does cut all the white stuff but it is not really restrictive at all.The food is so tasty.It is different from anything I have done before and I have been on it now for 3 weeks and have lost 15 pounds which is fabulous...I AM ACTUALLY EATING 5 TIMES A DAY.I am enjoying eating and love not starving,counting,worrying.I FEEL FREE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE.It is as if being desperate enough now made me go normal...Eating like this have caused quite a lot of anxiety for the first 2 weeks but now I am at peace.I WILL GET THIN NOW... PM me if you want the books name.I dont know if I am allowed to name a book here.I know I am raving but I feel as if my life has been saved. There is life after the band.I now still have to have my band out and am also selfpay.Could have bought clothes if I found this eating plan years ago.Anyhow,no more money spend on diets or operation.Just sensible enough food and some nice stuff too if I want it...

hi Can I join you low carbing....it is the only thing that works for me.Thing is my band is quite tight and stuff like tuna,chicken and meat gets stuck.Oh and eggs are also off limits at the moment.So I eat and BP.When I liquidize it I just dont stay full.I am really trying. What is the balance.I have lost 10 pounds in 10 days (of a regain of nearly 50 I might add)We dont have a wallmart here so no fancy products. What sauce can I use with the proteins that is low carb? Thanks for your input.

hi I regain and diet and regain and diet...like I always did before.Now the only problem is I constantly worry about what am I going to do when I get older...I am considering the sleeve (first part of DS) You are much lighter to start with so I think the band might have a different effect...I have noticed that it does seem to work a lot better for lowe BMI patients than for high BMI patients. Good luck

I am fat because I can never get enough food.I can litterally eat and eat and eat and eat.I mostly ate at night.....The band didnt change any of this because it is too tight in the morning and no restriction at night.

Hallo I have had my band since May 2005 and if you could have read some threats from way back when..you would see that the pain and back pain (middle where bra strap is..front where bra sits right between boobs,pain when breathing)nearly drove me insane for about 15 months post-op.Nexium for reflux did make it a little better but the "hot esophagus"feeling persisted and nothing helped.Before the band I never had reflux and didnt even know what heartburn felt like. I never could get a fill to restriction level before the reflux killed me.. I dieted for almost 2 years lost a lot of weight and then promptly regained 50 pounds when I couldnt keep up the kind of discipline I had before...I gave up for a while...feeling so sorry for my banding failure. After a year I now had a fill (couldnt even swallow my saliva...wanted to cry..)then an unfill.I have hot esophgus again but I HAVE RESTRICTION... and I can handle the discomfort. One thing I can recommend to you is to NEVER EAT TO MUCH.If your dr says half a cup of food then stick to it.Deal with your head issues and do not ever stretch your band.It is so easy to eat to much...WHEN WE HAVE RESTRICTION WE CAN EAT AS MUCH AS A BABY BOTTLE OF PURITY FOOD or half a cup.If you have to do that every 2 or 3 hours do it,but dont eat to much at a time. My theory is that some people swells up very easily.It takes very little to irritate my esophagus and even the tiniest Bp (meaning Water coming back into my mouth without effort on my side) still makes me swell up for days. sleeping with anything in my esophagus (even water) irritates me and causes reflux.Stop drinking and eating at least 2 hours before bed...3 if you can...dont drink anything during the night..not even a sip of water. Stay on mushies as long as you can and give your band a few months to settle as you lose weight....it will become loser as you lose weight. As for the weightloss,you have restriction.Use it just as it is for as long as possible before you have a fill.Make a huge effort to lose some weight,it will really help the band to settle. I never did get answers for my band issues and I still have them all the time.I always feel the band.I never knew what proper restriction was until this week..almost 3 years after getting the band. Be ultra nice to yourself.You now have the band and if nothing is wrong (according to the dr's that is,not what you feel) you will have a long time to work with it to lose weight.Just let it settle for as long as it needs to. I really hope you are going to feel much better and that you will lose loads of weight. This is not to say your band will keep giving you grief....this is just my experience and how to handle the symptoms. Good luck

My band is placed exactly the same and my surgeon didnt want to fix it.One of the side effects for me is severe reflux.I dont have a pouch.The way I eat is slow and I feel every bite go through the band.It does however stop me from eating exactly the same amount as before the band but I have never lost a single pound in 2 years without having to be on a strict calorie restricted diet.(and carb restricted) Over weekends sometimes I just dont want to diet and I can gain 5 pounds easily without bingeing.Just eating with everyone else makes me gain weight. As I see it (not experienced it though) other people with the band gets full (actually feels full or cant eat to much)I can eat a huge amount if I just allow the food to go through the band one bite at a time. If you have the option and you feel up to another operation I would certainly consider a second opion....the point is a band that is too high doesnt work like it is suppose to.Long term your esophagus loses motility and it is very bad to store food in the esophagus (which will happen if you get even a slight dilatation) Good luck and do keep us updated as to what happens...me myself,I have come to terms with the way things are and my surgeon absconded anyway...so I will just wait and see if I can diet off another 15kg and then have the band removed..or not...depending on weather it is giving me hassles or not...

hi I'm lurking on this post as I have stepped away from the beach lol (have been so sick with throat infection).Lots of oats,mushy vegetables.... What is Quickslim30? Have a good day on the beach.

hi thing about south beach....what does portion size for Protein look like?Fish for instance?Salad?How many deviled eggs per day/week?I've been on Atkins forever and I am now so carb sensitive I gain weight looking at carbs...want to change but is scared of eating too much (with Atkins I can eat quite a lot..) O,I must mention my band doesnt restrict me (long story..its not working really but I still need to lose about 40 pounds)I can eat quite large portions... Any input from the beach?

Go for therapy..I havent and my issues just havent changed.I am daily battling this and my band cannot be tight or I just eat to much and purge...and I gain weight from that all the time....Binging now is something different alltogether because I can eat so little.But I still binge,more often than before and the obsessiveness is worse.... Think carefully about this.If you really have this disorder being banded might just make it worse especially mentally. Good luck.

Terrilen and all else concerned I really use to feel exactly like you do until I started low carbing.It is horribly limiting and I low fat and low carb so no nice high fat treats and foods....but when I cut my carbs way back I just somehow have control over my appetite.Cannot explain it but it really really works. It is not easy but it is a heck of a lot easier than being as unhappy about myself the way I use to be before.Healthy,unhealthy??Good for one,bad for you?Who knows but it really works...Maybe you can try cutting carbs and up the Protein to .6 grams per pound bodyweight and a 2 to 3 cups of green or white veggies per day (including tomato,bell peppers ect) Anything is better than just having to give in to one's uncontrolled eating..the way we bingers do. Good luck and when someone finally manages to really overcome this,please let me in on the secret of how.

I am a compulsive binger (had bulemia at weight 350...and everyone thought it was impossible)it occupied my life full time,bingeing and purging. I still have massive blowouts and funny enough it is just when I manage to lose some weight...I just have to sabotage myself all the time... What irks me is a blow out now is a fraction of what I use to be able to eat,yet I still gain weight faster than anyone I know. anyway,little bit more self control every day and cut the carbs.they make the bingeing so much worse I find... keep going,decide daily...what options do we have but to persist until we succeed?That thing about if not at first you succeed try,try again...its all one can do...baby steps.

hi Debbie No,no curves....sorry.Most of the hotels have excellent gyms (if you're staying in one) or some of the compounds have big gyms that you can use (the one here is about 25dhs a day in the week and 35 over weekends which is thursday,friday and saturday at present) Dr Tabarra at the American hospital does the gastric banding (I know there is another surgeon but dont know him) Dr Basha at Emirates does the banding and dr Wahleed at Belhoul hospital....I dont know the german surgeon.At which hospital is he?I googled his name and came up with nothing.....I know that in Sharjah there's a dr.Gert Lepsen or something like that that apparantly also does the band. I'm also bouncing 5kg's at the moment and it is frustrating.Im sure that a fill will be possible..only,Emirates does not have the facility to do fills with fluroscope or x-ray.....I dont know about american h. Dr Basha at Emirates havent missed my port once in about the last year.even though some complained about his earlier lack of experience with fills,I've not had problems with that.He is a sweet man.I put emla on the port site and then I dont feel a thing. ok,hope this helps. Alta

Hi Belhoul Hopsital (I think it is dr Wahleed)and American Hospital does it as well as some other places..it is not widely advertised as Emirates hospital. No,no support group.I actually get the idea that the band is also quite popular with the locals and of course Emirates does quite a few people that just fly in and back home afterwards...only met one expat lady that also said she has the support of her psycologist (didnt even know they existed here) and that she doesnt want anyone else to know she has the band. I still have problems with the band ALL THE TIME.My weight is stuck at about 210 pounds and I pb all the time...I've had 2 unfills in the past 2 months and am at about 5mls in the band now.....reflux at night,but not to bad and cannot eat healthy stuff.....junk seems to still be fine.....(I never use to get why people would eat junk and complain about not losing weight...I know now....it is just sometimes easier than battling the band) I have been for scopes.Band is on the esophagus not stomach but it doesnt seem to be damaging the esophagus itself.....dr's however tell me the band cannot be doing what it is suppose to be doing in this position....my surgeon says that is where they put the band.... I will have the band removed but as I've said in my mail only when I get to my goal weight....and I will get there.Sometimes I just take a little hihatus and then I go again.... Anyway,I'll mail you about your visit....

Hi Debbie I'm not quite a former bandster....still have the band.....stil 210 pounds and still struggling. There is a lot of hospitals in the UAE that now do the band so yes,there must be a lot of bandsters.... Thing is people seem to really want to protect there identity and dont really admit to having the band... I have only know 2 other people that had the band and one now lives in Japan and the other girl's also moved back home... This place dont really believe in support groups of any kind and people seem to just get on with it.... Hope someone responds.

Donna, thats why my dr recons plastics are a good idea.....cut away some of those little beggars that've almost ruined my life....

Hi I am desperately sorry that you are struggling so much.That is why I hate this band because it is just a temp thing and it sets us up thinking it is the answer when it is just not that.... I believe if you keep your exercise up and your calories not to high for an extended period of time your body will speed up your metabolism and the insulin resistance will become less...but this is long term... Ok,I have to believe that as I am going to have to do that myself somewhere in the neat future....just after goal weight.... That is why I am even insanely jealous of my cousin who had the crazy small intestine bypass operation that no one knows anything about as it is illigal in the states.. Anyway,the point is you have to win this battle...dont give up...JUST ONE DAY AT A TIME and, 10 down of the regain is not another 10 up ( as would have happened pre-band, pre-weightloss yes?)I know all this might sound patronizing from someone who still have their band but I gain 20 with a fill......and easily at that.....I always have to diet,always...carbs less than 20.....nothing to drink but black tea and Water.....this is a huge struggle for me....but somehow I believe still having the band makes the battle easier...however you were almost at goal,where I would just love to be.... My mom told me today that she's finally made peace with herself but that she wishes she could have gotten that feeling about herself when she was young.....it makes us unhappy all this issues with our fat and for what? Hope you can get to a place where you really can get some peace about this (I am also talking to myself,I think more than to you!!!) and where your weight will stabilize (after another 10 off) and stay like that for as long as you need it to. Love

In South Africa there is a dr that just bypasses a huge amount of the small intestine (then you have a short 30cm common channel.)They do go to the toilet a lot if they eat fat and carbs but they do lose weight.. It is almost simular than the Jujeno-ileal bypass that they use to do in the 80's and well,it is now not alltogether leagal in the US unless they call it something else..... Rather hope it was the DS they did on your friend...

Me,me... We are leaving on our anual leave for a month in South Africa....so I am petrified of picking up a lot of weight.... Accepting this challenge might help me lose instead of gain.... I'm in..

hi After having had all the issues I've had with the band I still wouldnt let anyone touch it unless I am very certain it cannot stay in any longer.... Please go see another surgeon.....get on the WLSInfo Forum and find someone near you...... If you feel more restriction, you have more restriction..... Good luck.....(There might be nothing wrong at all,try not to worry to much...)

I have a 9cc band and have 6,75 in it.....and have ok restriction,a tad to little...but 7cc's and I have severe reflux......have been here twice and well catch 22 really....I have great restriction at 7cc but heartburn reflux and food sits on the band...I cannot BP and it seems my esophagus gets lazy at 7...so 6.75 is where I will stay.....

I think you first of all need an unfill.Any band surgeon can do that....Then you need to investigate more into the cause of all this. I've had lots of pain,backpain,reflux ect ect since been banded.....I've had scopes and all kinds of things and there is no real reason for it....I just can feel the band...thats it.... When I have lost all my weight I will remove the band...cant think of anything else to do.. Anyway,now you are on your way to be below a 100kg's and that is wonderful. Do go for an unfill.It is not worth living like that for such a long time... My band wasnt tight enough for about 7 months because of the symptoms and I didnt lose much at all in that time....now,tighter and I feel all that again...am going for another unfill in 2 days.... So,dont let him blow you off....go to another dr.You might even have slipped your band.....you have to get it looked at. Good luck

Hi Sometimes while lowcarbing I have felt like that...not dehydrated I drink a lot ... I think some days I just take in to little calories and then I react to it....those days I am sure I am losing weight but low and behold nothing... I've had a terrible day getting back on low carbing because I miss the soup.....actually kept offering my kids soup today... Anyway,I suppose we all do what we have to,to lose the weight...not neccessarily what we want.... Good luck and hope your liquid phase passes quickly..

Hi Just to say...I stopped this diet today...I am officiallyup 2.8 pounds since I started 6 days ago and mentally I cannot deal with this....(sounds so ....silly..) I am back on low carbing....hate to be the only person to gain with this diet as I have some soup left and I really love the soup.... So good luck.I will be watching to see results from everyone on this....