giveyouthemoon

So I read this thread two days ago and literally dashed out of my house to go buy some. My bf had quite the puzzled look on his face!

I am in desperate need of help! I gained over the holidays and have been in a self induced stall for six months anyway. I want the last 35 lbs OFF and to hit goal.

So I've been taking this for two days and I don't know if it's the CLA or just the mental suggestion...but it seems to have helped with hunger and cravings. I have been able for two days now to eat "right" and way lower calories than in a long time without being lightheaded.

So far so good. I wonder how long the effects will last. I need some help for several months...not just a few days, you know?

Anyhow, thanks to pricilla!!

I don't drink Coke but I do love old fashioned Root Beer. So what I do is pour it into a glass, no ice or anything and put it in the fridge for several hours or even sometimes a couple days until it goes nice and flat. Then I drink it SLOOOOW, when I feel pressure in the pouch, I stop. This is usually a couple sips only then back in the fridge it goes.

I do this only rarely and I notice that over time, my cravings for sugar have reduced a lot. Haven't done the flatted root been in about six or eight months now.....

You know, I have always wanted to ask my surgeon his opinion on which is worse...having something stuck and irritating the esophagus or PB'ing.

I haven't asked becuase his reply would likely be a snarky "don't do either".

But I really have been curious about it.

it "grips" the Water surface, but still manages to sink, forming something kind of like a nicely colored slide from the top of the bowl to the bottom.

OMG!! Yes. Sometimes to me it looks like those rock formations in Utah....or like a little tornado.

These, the things I ponder while bent over in a PB. :rolleyes

I agree with everyone else who replied.

Patience grasshopper.

You can NOT have an 11lb week every week. My goodness!!

Let me tell you....if I lost 2lbs this week I'd be OVER THE MOON!

You didn't put it on in a day, you won't take it off in a day.

Just know you are doing all the right things to get you there on your journey.

Hey, I'm an oldbie, got my band in June 2005. I too have lost 100lbs then stalled out. I spent the last six months FREAKING OUT over being just under 200lbs and it caused some bad behaviors. I also started seeing someone and we eat out a lot and that hasn't helped. I haven't gained anything, but I'm not losing either. I have about 40lbs to go and REALLY want goal.

So I too am back on the bandwagon and trying to exercise again and eat right. It's tough.

I guess I know now what I have to do to maintain....but I HAVE to get back on the losing end of things.

So I'm here to support you!

You said that you just barely had the surgery (two weeks?). So here's the deal..when they place the port, they either cut the muscle or they use a muscle Fiber separator. Either way, your muscle wall has been compromised.

For me, I had AGONY around my port for about two months. It decreased over time. Does it help to put your hand on it and push in? I looked like an old man with a hernia walking around holding my hand to my stomach to hold it in. I finally got one of those tube girdle dealies that goes around your middle. I only wore it at night to give me support, but after I got that, things started healing up fast.

I suspect that is what is going on, but suggest you see your band dr anyway just to be sure. In the early days after getting a band you have to be on TOTAL high alert for infection at the port.

Luck!

It's never bothered me. I had started doing this well before banding as it helps a lot with digestion and keeping my tum from being upset. If you chew enough and don't gulp down your food, you'll find you don't need liquids. And you'll stay fuller longer.

I've done it both ways, I've had sips of drink during a meal and invariably I'll end up eating more, packing my pouch (bad!) and then being hungry soon after.

All not good. Just my .02...your mileage may vary.

One thing you need to know about me is I'm a complete wimp about pain. My pain tolerance is VERY VERY LOW. In fact many family members and a few drs have mocked me.

And I can tell you from my experience...a fill does not hurt. It's more of a tugging I think. Like Jack, my dr doesn't fill under floro. He feels about, gets the needle in place, it's a weird feeling when he sinks the needle into the covering on the port. He draws all the Fluid out, then either puts back in a smaller amount or puts back in more depending (I've had both fills and unfills). It feels WEIRD cuz you can feel that Fluid going in there.

But hurt? Nah. Easy peasy.

Yep. Self pay here and needed a psych eval. I have a therp I've seen for years and she wrote up the letter.

I think with an elective surgery like this they sort of require it to be sure you are prepared for the life changing event it is.

I've heard from others on here it's a one hour quick talk with a therapist. No worries!

I wish that this was the case for me. I still binge! The only difference that the band has made is that I get much sicker than I did before.

You can still eat the levels you could before? How? Shoot, I can't. I used to eat a Big Mac, a Quarter pounder and two super size fries along with a jumbo coke then purge it all up.

Can't get even a small percentage of that down now.

Or I could eat an entire box of Cookies. Can't even get close to that.

Maybe I should restate...you can binge..but the amout of food is so much lower. At least it is for me.

Your mileage may vary.

Been banded a year and a half and had ZERO reflux for about a year and four months. Been struggling with mild reflux the past few months.

I attribute it more to how I'm eating than anything. Been a real bad girl...esp over the holidays.

The past two days I've been eating better and eating Soups and it's all but gone.

Just have to echo everything here.

Here's the tough love portion of our show:

Do you HONESTLY think that it is ok to NOT BE ABLE TO EAT for weeks at a time?!?!?!?!?!

C'mon, I know losing weight is fun, but death isn't. Go see your doctor and please come back and let us know what the good doctor says.

end of my tough love...I say it cuz I care

Besides, I saw what a broken home did to my stepkids. As much as divorce is okay nowadays, I don't want my daughter to go through what my stepkids went through.

I'm a child of parents who stayed married "for the kids".

They never hit each other. My dad was rude and verbally abusive. He said terrible things to my mother. He would tirade at her or yes, ignore her outright.

When I was twelve I pleaded with my mother to divorce him.

They didn't. They were married 45 years before he passed.

My brother, sister and I are decent people but to a person, we have psychological issues that run deep. Being the youngest I got it the worst.

I have OCD, bulimia, low self esteem, and can't make a relationship with a man work (until recently. I'm 37 and have about 15 years of therapy under my belt).

Being upset about people pointing this out to you is a pretty classic symptom. If everything at home was ok, you could just go "bah, that's ridiculous" and blow it off. That it bugs you is something to take a look at.

Look, no one here can tell you how to run your life. You can stay in it and raise your child as you please.

But you brought this topic here for a reason. And whether it feels like it or not...we care a whole lot about you.

Just my .02

Has anyone on this board told their Dr. about being Bulimic before being banded?

Yes, me. I have been working with a therapist for about 12 years but only really stopped the bulimia about three years ago.

Part of the reason I'd gained so much is I stopped purging but couldn't stop binging. When you put down 3000-4000 cals at a time it adds up...fast.

So when I decided to get the band, I had the demon better under control. Personally, it's my belief that it never goes away...it can go quiet for a while but it's still there inside. And we have to manage it day over day.

Yes, you doctor (surgeon) needs to know. You need to tell EVERYTHING. You own medical health isn't someting to be coy or secret about. My surgeon asked me some questions and determined this was an ok choice.

You must FIRST talk to your therapist about it. If your therapist understands the nature of the band and says they are ok with it, then you use your therapist to write your letter of psychological approval. Mine did and she stated in there that she worked with me on the bulimia and that she felt this operation was a good next step.

Now....let's talk about some really important stuff.

First...the band is WONDERFUL for helping control bulimia because you physically can't binge anymore. It has been amazing in that regard. Even if I want to binge, I can't.

but....and this is vitally important

My therapist told me before surgery that it is her opinion from her very long practice that an addictive person doesn't just stop being addictive. She told me to find an alternate addiction, a healthy one (like knitting, sewing, something that involves my hands) because even though you have thwarted the addiction in one way...it WILL find a way to manifest itself.

I didn't listen to her and it's caused me some troubles that I'm working on now.

You can find A LOT of articles out there about how RNY patients who have lost weight become alcoholics. That is to me the perfect example of trading one addiction for another. We can have surgery to fix our bodies but our brains still need work. (for the record, alcoholism isn't my new demon of choice, but I can easily see how this can work. I mean, hey, alcohol goes through the band quite easily)

I actually recommend ANYONE getting weight loss surgery get a good therapist because even a non addictive person will need to deal with a LOT of issues surrounding this.

Also, I realized one day after I'd pb'd several times that day and the days prior that bascially I was exhibiting the same behavior. Instead of putting a finger down my throat, I was overeating, courting the PB. And when I realized I got the same euphoria from the PB, I knew I was in trouble and had to go back to my therapist and admit it.

Those demons are tough, but they are managable.

If you are still actively purging, you need to think about the band. Because too much purging and you will slip and lose the band and that's just money out the window.

Again, if you and your therapist agree the time is right, then by all means.

Best of luck!!!

LBT has been a huge help to me because in my dr's own support groups there are very few banded people and the people who have other surgeries are rather rude to me anyway.

The advice and guidance I got here pre-surgery was amazing. I would have not known ANYTHING and gone into this blind because the info from my dr's wasn't robust enough. They gave me all the technical information, sure, and a very strict eating plan, but I heard so much here about what goes on in real life, what a PB actually feels like, what to expect in the days after surgery, etc.

LBT has been a bit less helpful as I'm later out in the process. There are some veterans here, and it's great to talk to them, but most folks who have been banded a while drift off for all the reasons we've already talked about in other threads.

So for a newbie, I think it's incredible. For an oldbie, it's still very useful.

Sorry dude, English IS the language of the U.S., official or not. Read the street signs, read government documents, attend public schools.

Funny....I read the street signs where my friend lives in El Paso, TX....a part of the US, and the streets signs are in Spanish.

I went to my local Chinatown and the street signs were in Chinese.

There is a large part of Kansas City where the signs are in Vietnamese.

So that's that for reading street signs.

Now...

Last time I voted (a government document), it was presented in english, spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Korean.

I can take my driver's license test in the same languages.

And....

Public schools? In my own elementary school in the early 70's I was taught Spanish. Every high school and most colleges have a foreign language requirement. Many teachers are multilingual (including my best friend who teaches high school) because to them where the student came from doesn't matter, what matters to her is teaching young minds.

I understand where you are coming from (whether or not I choose to agree). Just think we need to discuss facts.

Have you been doing sit ups in all this booty kicking at the gym? I suspect it's not your band you are feeling, it's the port that is sewn into the muscle. You are less than a year out, you might have pulled at it a little bit. I doubt you have a slip because you don't report bad reflux or lots and lots of PB'ing or a total loss of restriction.

Also...why would you get the band taken out? You seem to be doing so well now and it seems like if you don't like it you can have your fill taken out without having another surgery so soon after the first.

Just curious.

I'd be thinking maybe a slip? With bad reflux and trouble keeping food down...just a thought. I'm no dr so best to get it checked out.

Also, my dr says that you get that forceful push out of liquid only if you are too tight. If you are at good restriction it doesn't all pop out like that. My dr has to pull up on the plunger to get the Fluid out when I get a fill (he takes it all out then puts it back in plus some).

Your baby may adore her daddy but does she adore watching mommy getting emotionally abused by daddy? And we are telling your precious angel that it is ok for men to treat her that way. Children model their same sex parent, so think of the lessons that are being taught here.

Oh honey, you've got a whole lot of stuff on your plate...sounds like it's taken years to develop and won't be easy to overcome but it CAN be overcome. But it takes work on both sides.

You two have gotta talk about this. Openly. Honestly. Ignoring it won't make it go away...honest, I have my own story to tell...it doesn't go away.

also, the diff too according to my doc, not only the size of organs but how much fatty tissue is on the stomach. My surgeon told me he had to use the 10cm with 4cc because of all the fat on my stomach.

Currently have 1.5 cc in my 10cm band.

Yes, you can have an MRI and esp if it is on your head because your whole body doesn't go into the tube. I wonder tho at not telling the tech? They should know all possibilities of problems and interference. Just my humble opine...do with it what you choose.

It took me a week to even feel human again...and another few days to feel strong enough to work (I picked the 10 days option on the poll). I have a desk job. I also know I have a low tolerance for pain. Plus, I didn't want to be at work while still on painkillers.

Have had both MRIs and have traveled quite a bit and haven't had any trouble whatsoever.

Want my surgeon's theory on this?

He says it's his opinion only that what happens is that you have all this Fluid in your body...you know how your feet and ankles are more swollen end of the day? He says he thinks that being up and around, the Fluid in your tissues migrates downward due to gravity, making the tissue around the band less full of fluid, thus smaller, thus a loose band.

Laying down and sleeping then redistributes the fluid evenly throughout the body, thus filling the tissues near the band, thus making it tighter.

Don't know if he's wrong or right, but I experience the same problems everyone describes here. My ankles swell during the day but go down overnight, so to me it makes sense what he says.

For those who come home from work and eat too much...the one thing that helps me is to have a snack late in the day, like 4 or 4:30 or sometimes even at 5 as I'm out the door. That one little snack (a cheese stick or some cashews) REALLY makes a difference in the monsta as I come in the door to home and dinner.