LakeLover32064

I'm glad girl. You keep it up. Good luck! Lisa

Hi, I also have bipolar II and I have a really bad problem tolerating anesthesia. Took me a long time to make the decision to have surgery due to the fact that anesthesia messes with my bipolar. It usually tends to send me into a bad depression. But most of the time I had not been medicated when going under. I was this time and I haven't experienced the depression. HOWEVER... I am not experiencing hypomanic episodes. I feel great but the moods are a bit all over but mainly along the manic lines, not depression at all. I will say that my Protein intake is really horrible and I need to increase it really bad. I feel fantastic and I feel like I look good finally. However, this newly acquired hypomania is taking a toll on my marriage. My marriage is falling apart and I don't know why. Long story and extremely confusing. I wonder if the release of all the estrogen into my body is turning my hormones into a raging storm? My sex drive is TROUGH THE ROOF. That's fine if your husband is not mad at you all of the time. LOL. Otherwise you're just miserable. LOL I highly suggest you go see your psych Dr immediately and tell him/her everything that is going on with you. Keep a daily mood journal along with tracking your food (protein intake, etc). You may be able to see a pattern of moods with nutrition intake. Being bipolar is a very difficult thing to go through. I know, I've been battling it for years. I too, didn't emotional eat. I gained weight from all of the psych meds I was put on over the years, especially lithium. That one was really bad for weight loss. I too have been so well managed no one would know I had bipolar. But my dear I urge you to see your doctor. In 2001 I had severe uterine bleeding for months (daily) and was in bad shape. Took a brand new FULL-TIME job, planned a marriage and got married. Immediately upon return from honeymoon had to have emergency D&C under general anesthesia. Job went in the toilet, son was expelled from school and I started getting depressed from the anesthesia. All the extra stress made the depression so bad that I had to be hospitalized 3 times in 4 months, husband and I almost split which made the depression WAY worse. It was an awful experience that took me til NOW to feel like myself. One med after another didn't work. GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR. Don't delay. Trust me, you don't want to wind up suffering for years with an intense treatment-resistent depression. Not fun at all. If you still don't get relief keep going until you do. Try anything and everything you can to get out of that bed. MAKE YOURSELF. I know exactly what you are going through. You feel like you are trying to tread Water in thick mud all of the time. Nothing gives you pleasure. Nothing will make your mind tell you to do anything you know you need to do. Please feel free to contact me off list if you would like. Good luck girl. Lisa

Hi everyone, I am new to the site. I was banded on 1/30/08 by Dr. Givens at the SC Obesity Surgery Center. I have gone to their support group but they have a good many bypass patients there. They are starting to get more lap-band patients there though. It is informative. They meet at Lexington Medical Center Auditorium on first Wed of each month from 6p-8p. If you are out this way, come by. I have to say I love this Lap-Band. It is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I had no problems whatsoever and I definitely feel restricted. I have not had a fill yet. Scheduled for one toward end of March. I have to admit that I haven't completely stuck with the diet that I'm supposed to do. Yes, I eat the right foods but I had to move forward a tiny bit and each some little more solid foods, like soft stuff. Haven't really had meat in a while. I'm hardly ever hungry and find myself having to make sure to eat. I personally like having the empty feeling in my stomach instead of that bloated feeling of too much food. It is so amazing how much better I feel after losing almost 30 pounds! I wasn't able to breathe well and I couldn't do ANYTHING physical. I had to sit down just to scoop my cats' litter boxes. Found myself having to sit in a rolling chair to cook. Couldn't walk far at all. Hated just going anywhere that I was going to have to do any walking. My husband was very patient with me and never complained. I was terrified of anesthesia. I have bipolar disorder and the anesthesia very often messes that up. So it really took alot to make me finally make up my mind to get home help with my health. I feel great! I am able to do things I haven't been able to do in years. Just with 30 pounds off! People who aren't morbidly obese don't understand the pain, both mental and physical, that we suffer. I had always been a very active, outgoing, happy, BUSY person. After all the weight, I became so restricted because any bit of exertion caused me to not be able to breathe. Just bending over to tie by shoes was almost impossible. I stopped wearing sneakers. At one point I couldn't paint my own toes and my loving husband would do it for me. I just got so sick of being so dependent on other people when I had always, my whole life, been so independent and a real go-getter. I longed to have that back so bad. I wanted to have some sense of quality of life. Just this first little bit of lost weight has given me back so much of that independence that I thank God every day I did this surgery. May everyone have much success on their journey. I would love to talk to anyone who would like to. Please e-mail me anytime. Lisa

Hi, my name is Lisa and I was banded in Columbia on 1/30/2008 by Dr. James Givens at Lexington Medical Center. He is with Riverside Surgical (SC Obesity Surgery Center). LMC is a center of excellence. I have done GREAT! My highest weight in my life was 342. When I went for my first consult appt I was at 326. I have Humana Gold Choice Medicare Advantage plan as I am on disability for bipolar disorder and I was approved. It took a while because Humana dropped the ball. They had my paperwork for months and didn't know it. During those months I was back and forth as to whether I really wanted to do this or not. Finally, I just decided I had had enough being fat and miserable and decided to go for it. I was very concerned about my bipolar disorder and this trek so I have to keep a close eye on things. When on the pre-op diet for 30 days before surgery, I lost 12 pounds. Yesterday at my post-op appointment to remove my staples I weighed and had lost another 14! I have no one here to talk to about the journey who understands the things I am going through so this forum is great for me. Please feel free to e-mail anytime!!! Lisa:thumbup:

Hi, I live in South Carolina. I was banded a week ago today and I'm SO glad that I did this!!! Yesterday I was able to go up and down steps easily like normal people, not take one step at a time like an old person. I haven't done that in years! I do have the desire for solid food and I have to say I've cheated just a tiny tiny tad (thank goodness no ill effects). What is killing me the most is the staples. I'm getting them out on Friday. Thank goodness because they are killing me! I would love to talk to anyone who has been banded also. I have no one to really ask things here so please feel free to contact me anytime. Lisa