Aurora sky

Besides the obvious calorie / carbohydrate count, is there anything wrong with having food or drinks with sugar? I am asking this because I can not consume artificial sweeteners, especially Aspartame. I have used Splenda before and dont seem to have a noticeable problem with it but I am even getting leery of that. I have a doctor appointment next month to talk about getting a LapBand.

Sorry about the font change on that last paragraph, dont know how I did that.

Good, at least I could have sugar with the LapBand, and it is more of the calorie issue. I limit my sugar intake as it is now. If I do have a soda its regular not diet. I have changed to Water from the diet drinks. I was drinking the ones with Splenda, but they ‘new and not improved’ them and now they taste bitter/bad to me. So, just as well, I am drinking water, got me off the sodas. Not good for their pocketbooks but better for mine. My hernia surgeon was asking me questions about my weight and he asked me if I was a diabetic. I told him I was boarder line and had family history of diabetes. That is when he suggested gastic by-pass. I asked about the LapBand. I think I will definitely stay away from the gartic by-pass. I did not know they removed/disconnected part of the intestine. Since I had the urinary by-pass when I was 47, (just a young thing according to them) I may have to have it redone at some time. That means they need to take more intestine for the conduit. I would not want to take any chances of not having enough intestines that they could use. I lost 30 lbs last year basically due to taking Cymbalta, an anti depressant, given to me for my firbomyalgia ( I have a number of health problems). Problem was I did not have the weight loss until after I stopped taking it. I stopped it because of other side effects. I have tied taking it again on an on / off basis to try and get the weight loss effect without the problem (for me) side effects, but have not been able to get the same results. It changed my desire for food; too bad it wasn’t a permanent change. I also feel it changed my metabolism because I did not get weak from the decreased food intake. Weight loss is a noted side effect of Cymbalta.

I have Interstitial Cystitis, it primarily effects the bladder, it also effects the surrounding pelvic area. A very painful condition. Aspartame is one of the 'foods' will cause my IC to flare up. I have more problems with medications then I did food. Aspirin is the only anti-inflammatory medication I can take. Even cortisone shots will cause a flare. I had a urostomy (urinary by-pass) done in 2000. I can now have pain in the by-pass conduit and my back. The conduit is tied into a blood supply in my back. Foods are not as bad now since the urine does not lay in the conduit like the bladder but the cortisone shot was bad because I just had to wait it out until it got out of my system. I try to avoid anything I know will cause the IC to flare because over time the pain and irritation could cause other problems. I now have a hernia and surgery is scheduled for May. Basically due to the surgery on my abdominal area for the urostomy and my weight. The doctor doing the surgery for the hernia also set me up with an appointment with the gastro doctors. So, I am reading up on the Lap Band surgery.

Good Evening, During my doctor appointment this past Monday, which lead to setting up surgery for a hernia, my doctor also set me up with an appointment with another doctor to talk about Lap Band surgery. He first mention the Gastric by-pass surgery, but I told him I did not really want to do something that could not be reversed. At least the Lap Band could be removed. At least this is my understanding at this time. The reason I now have the hernia, is due to having a urstomy (urinary by pass) over 7 years ago. I dont want to have another surgery, to 'fix' one problem that just creates another one down the road. Reducing my weight would help the hernia surgery to be more successful and to keep it from occurring again. Plus help with the other pesky health problems I have. I came to the forums to read and learn about the Lap Band surgery. Good health to us all.

Thank you. I will be looking around the site. My appointment is next month and I want to learn about the lap band so I can have some questions ready for the doctor.