ted12345

I know for a fact i dont have cushings, isnt there other caricturistics of cushings other than just excess weight? I had a whole lode of blood tests pre op when i was under the weight management clinic and i was tested for cushings. I can lose weight and have its mainting weight loss iv found hard. I cant seem to shift any weight with this band because i cant keep any solid food down and i am consuming what i can rather than what i should. Its gone too far now i have decided i just want it out full stop its horrendus living like this. Even if i have my band unfilled and have a rest period that would be the second time in 19 months i would have had to do that and as soon as i get restricted again im having the same old problems thats not what i had the band for i had the band to aid weight loss not make me pysically and emotionally ill. No its the end of the Rd with me im afraid even my psyciatrist has said she cannot see my depression lifing while i am living like this this is the reason i am depressed and this needs to be fixed before my depression will begin to lift. She is prepared to do a psyciatric report for me if my surgeon requests it.

Thank you all so much for your support, I have seen my psyciatrist and she had said she cannot see a improvment happening with my depression untill i lose weight. My surgeon had emailed me and said he wants to speak to my psyciatrist as he does not want to make a isolated decison about revison. I think he wants to check i am emotionally stable enough to understand the implications of a revison and to handle more surgery. My psyciatrist said she will fully support the decison to goahead with more surgery to revise this band to another form of WLS DS or RNY i am not sure. Its been a very long time too since i hang out here i felt thurily assaullted last time i expresses my difficulties in fact i think last time i came here was when i had my pnumonia and i was then made to feel like the problems i was hing were down to me "not working with my band" I have 2 1/2 mills in a 9mill swedish band i dont mind a total unfil but this would be the second time in 2 19 months that i would need to do that just to get better surly i cant keep revolving around like this. i dont want to say the band is no good i know people who have done great with the band. But i have had nothing but problems i also know people who experience the same as me and people who do great then 2 or 3 years down the rd there having problems and thats why so many surgeons are stop doing it. Long term the more these bands are being done the more we are seing faliours and reops. A 30% faliour rate is terrable and thats only the people who do go on to have revisonal surgery what about the people who cant afford more surgery or have been totally put off more WLS purly because of there band experiences. I find that bandsters who do great are the worst for understanding its like no matter what you say its my fault and not the band they seem totally unwilling to accept the band can fail or be problematic, And they can leave you feeling really band they offer suggestions to try as if you have not tried and exausted everything before reaching this point of dispare. I have had other bandtsers call me lazy and acused me of sabotage its terable the things that are said its just all been too much. If i could work this i would i am almost 2 years post op why would i sabotage my band if it had worked i could have been at normal BMI by now why would i want to deliberatly not help myself its beyond me just trully how cruel some people can and have been. But for those here thank you for your support it has helped lift my spirits. xx

I trully wish i could enjoy life but i cant seem to be postive ok granted may be my depression has a lot to do with why i seem to down at the mo. But if i could enjoy life i would i cant walk i have cronic back pain my beasts are coverd in blisters and ulsers. I cant get clothes that are nice let alone make you feel or look good this just leaves me not wanting to go out any were when i do venture out im in agony trying to get around as my BMI is 45 it may not seem high but im only 4 ft 11 i am way over double what i should be and carrying the weight is horrendus. Now along with the mobility problems if it was just a case of not loseing or slow loseing i think i could hang in but its not its constant hunger vomiting heart burn. and now feeling like this emotionally like i say its been a very very long jurnery and i have allready decided i want it out i could never ever promote a band and european surgions who have been doing this op for the longest are now actually stopping doing it full stop because it has the highest long term reoperation rate and a very high amount of numbers who fail to lose let alone reach the expected 50 to 60% weight loss.

Can i just add its not been a simple case of having a band for 19 months and not having any sucess. I was on a waiting list and was under a specialist weight managemnt clinic for 2 1/2 years prior to having this band so all in all its been almost 5 years of constant struggle and real effort. I didnt just decide to have WLS chose the band and its not worked i really have tried both pre op and while having my band and believe me giving in has been the hardest decision of all i feel some what grief stricken. But the complications and discomfort and vomiting and everything along with no weight loss just isnt worth it.

My mental health problems is only due to these problems i am having with my band i think serious now having the band out will much improve my mental health? I really can't see how the band problems will improve when my mental health problems and depresion is sorted as these problems were present before my depression and i am only depressed as a result of these problems. I just think its hard for other bandsters to hear as the reality of problems means accepting a flaw with the band and too many bandsters are not prepared to acceccpt the band does come with some associated problems.

See this is my horrendus battle!! Yes my mental health is now the prioroty and i do have the appointment tomorrow with the psyciatrist. I am under a 24 hour emargancy home team and my husband is now supervising my medication that has been changed from citilopram to mirtazapine, I had WLS to lose weight not to become emotionally unstable and im only feeling such feelings of self hate because i have been unable to lose weight. So we forget about loseing weight how am i supposed to feel better about myself and still live this restricted lifestyle while trying to deal with the emotional issue that only now a issue because i am failing to lose weight. Its a visious circle!!! I never go out because my mobility is poor i suffer panic attacks and sever anxiety and paranoia. I suffer everything that being over weight can socially throw at you its affecting my lose life with my husband, I cant find clothes that are fashioable and age appropreate the only clothes available for me that are not specialised and expencive are frumpy again adding to my low self esteem. Really i cant cope with this just thinking about living like this even thinking leaves me feeling distressed. and to suggest i forget about loseing weight and improving my quality of life just seems like a cruel punishment.

I have had four fill's and 2 unfill's and i currently have 2 1/2 mills in my 9 mill sweedish band. From day one i have never been able to get the balance right Initally i didn't get restriction then restriction was too much some out a tad more in a bit out and now i have restriction at 2 1/2 mills dispite me not being able to get restritction before with four mill's in. My BMI has come down from 47 to 45 but i haven't lost enough weight for my body to see or feel any of the benfafits and emotionally i am worse then ever before. I now just want it out at least before my band the healthy food was always a option now its not in fact no food is my option it seems to be at the sole discression of will my band have this today or wont it? majority it wont. I don't want to change Surgions because despite the long jurnery the surgeon i do have a surgeon with excellent experience and i am being treated in the UK private sector and my treatment is funded by the NHS if i was to be in a NHS hospital appointments could be upto 11 months apart. its just dissapointing traveling all that way to be weighed and not to have lose anything. I am so mixed up if i have it out i will at least be able to chose a healther diet but the chances of me loseing weight on my own are ziltch, and i had WLS to lose weight in the UK we are funded and its not our choice some surgeons do give surgical choices my origional banding surgion didnt the one i have now does only his hands are tied because he has to prove to the NHS who pay him that we have tried and exausted everything before they will consider paying for more surgery even having it out. So i have reached the end of my tether perhaps before we have tried everything and thats were i am beating myself up. Unless you have actually had difficultes with the band i guess its hard to understand were i am coming from. and people say try this try that and iv tried them and again its not up to me its this band it desides what i can and cant have. I trully hate it now

Hi all i have not been around for ages. I wish i had some good new for you but i dont. I am now 1yr post op still 16.stone 12lb hight 4 ft 11" . I have lost a total of 1 stone with my band and lost nothing since early october 2005. I am in constant agony and the port is a nusance big time it is situated between my boobs but just about a inch below the bra line. I cant bend over at all or reach forward so basically i cant even light my own cooker any more of get things from the litchen cupbored. I cant put socks on or fasten my shoes. Im in constant pain with my band and it keeps self restricting to the point i cant drink. I am awaiting a x ray finally as i was a year post op on the 20th of May. I feel totally deverstated i am still as big as i am. Some say they would love to be 17. stone but they forget i have a tiny tiny frame and its agonising. plus the problems with my port location. I do not know if my band has slipped as i only have 3miils in and its tight. I have the sweedish band and am only satisfied after food when i eat a mushy meal anything solid is agony and comes back up mo matter how well i chew. I just wish i new what was wrong.

I have never thought of my self as "european" lol I know for sure i have the Sweedish ajustable gastric band but i have no idea what it was filled with. I had my first fill at 18weels (september) just 3 1/2 mills but had no restriction what so ever. 4 weeks later (october) i had another fill of 2 mills the fills were done blind and i had restriction that week i lost my whole stone my entire total weight loss since having my band fitted, then all of a sudden my band tightened to the pont i couldnt breath i know its not lung related but the pain was so bad i had to shallow breath just to cope. I begged for a unfill but i didnt get one i then developed a chest infection i contrated the infection just weeks after the second fill and i had it from november to february. In january i was finally given a unfill 3 mills was taken out but i am still very tight if i am sat next to some one they can hear my throght gurgle. I asked back then for a x ray but was refused one. But as soon as i saw the new surgion in February this year he said streght away i need it x raying but i have had to weight for my health authority to agree to pay for it as the new surgion is based in a private hospital Finally this week the new surgion recived confermation he can go ahead and x ray my band and do a band ajustment if nessersary under x ray. I can feel my band inside me its constant pain if i take a deep breath in it feels like its stabbing me. The port itself is not sore if i touch it but the pain seems futher back in my body kinda behind the port if that makes sence. When i had the consultaion with the surgion i didnt really ask many questions i was aww struck as he has a reputation for being the best (UK wise) and i felt very humble to be in front of him But when i go to see him for my x ray as i know he wants to be there i am going to ask about the ports location. I guess ill soon find out if the band is correctly positiond then the appointment should be within the next 2 weeks i should think seeing as i am being treated in the private sector.

Hiya I am now seeing a UK surgion after my origional surgion vertually abandoned me (and others) But the thing is i have had to wait for appointments and funding i did offer to pay private for my much needed x ray but was not allowed as my band was NHS funded. I have coped purly by eating sloppys and feeling very ill and tired hair falling out and skin irriations i did suffer a visisous chest infection from november to feruary. I had to have a unfill in january so i could take meds for the infection but my band is still very tight. Everything is now sorted and the New surgion has fiannaly recived written agreement for funding. So should be getting a x ray any day now. I just want to know whats going on im sure all is not weel.

Hi all I had my band fitted 71/2 months ago, I made a speedy recovery initially post op. I was finding it extremely difficult to get a fill and when at 10weeks post op regained the 12lb lost on my pre op diet. And I expressed my concern to my surgeon that I couldn’t get a fill he told me if I could find a service better elsewhere I was welcome to go. So I held in for a few more weeks and at 16weeks post op I had had enough so I found a new fill provider. I had my first fill of 31/2 mill’s at 18 weeks and a second fill 0f 2mill’s 22weeks. That’s were my problem started I have been vomiting daily several times a day restriction is so tight I can barely drink I have lost 2 stone but it has been so difficult and I am eating anything that will stay down. My diet is not balanced as I cannot eat any meat or fruit pasta rice or bread. Anything that’s dry or solid will just reflux back up leaving me in agony. I have been like this since October I cant even reduce my food intake because I reflux all solid food even my initial small intake there is no 3 or 4 spoons of food for me because it just comes back up first bit. Like I say I have suffer this since October 3rd 05 in November I contracted a chest I have had one course of antibiotics I will admit I no longer feel poorly but I do have the phlegm and the cough still very bad the phlegm is so bad I cannot drink I have to have a bit of a fizzy drink to clear my throat before I can eat or drink. My problem is I have no consultant now because I left the surgeon who fitted my band I am sure he will turn me away if I seek help and the other consultant is merely a fill provider and cannot touch my band. Its all begging to get me down if I was losing weight I suppose I would endure the side affects but the weight loss is very slow I will not lose anything for weeks on end and then within a matter of days drop a few lb and I re gain and then lose its so frustrating for me. I am concerned now that maybe with all the vomiting and pain I am in plus the coughing that my band may have moved. I did request a x ray but have been told no. I now don’t know what to do I feel there is only so much more I can take this has left me feeling so very depressed. All advice would be welcome Muggle

This morning here in the UK there was a lady on TV raving about her Band there was also a consultant surgeon on there. This lady has done fantastically well lost over 10 stone with her band and has had a lot of reconstructive surgery to fix saggy skin problems in total its about £20.000:eek: I am not sure of the exchange rate but I think that’s about $40.000 a lot of money. The consultant is quoted to have said that the Band has no complications what so ever:mad: . I have some issues with this let me out line my issues. While I endorse a procedure that does work I feel that if doing non direct advertising on the TV the truth should be told. Here in the UK we have the NHS WLS is available on the NHS it can take a while to get the procedure but it is available. This surgeon was representing a Private hospital were the band cost £8000 this can buy you a very nice car brand new. If I was in a position to be able to self fund a surgery such as WLS I would be so angry if I paid my £8000 having been told I was 100% guaranteed I would lose weight and had a 100% guarantee there would be no complications. The band does have the highest failure rate with UK statistics being a 20% chance of failure. And a 1 in 5 chance of further surgery being needed due to slippage or erosion. So if I have re-mortgaged my home and gone into a fancy private clinic and paid this £8000 believing the consultant. Were do I stand if I get a port infection or my band slips. Who will pay for this to be fixed will I have to pay or will I receive treatment on the NHS? If I can’t pay and the NHS won’t pay were the hell do I stand we don’t have insurance over here like the USA what position am I left in because I made a decision on the basis of what I was told. And I am under the impression that ANY surgery carried out has a potential danger more so if you suffer obesity? There are so many other issues I have with this type of private surgery I like the facilities but when you pay so much money and put your hope and dreams into a cure I feel consultants have a obligation to tell the truth. If I went for IVF I would be told there is a failure rate my hope would not be raised while I know it’s a business I believe we should be told the truth and it is as simple as that. I had my band on the NHS I have had nothing but problems and I am lucky my PCT (health Authority) have agreed to fund any medical need I may have. But my sympathies go out to those who have self funded and there left in a state because they are experiencing problems they were not told about. On the flip side of the coin many people tend to go ahead with WLS believing it won’t happen to them like a smoker does every time they light up. But had they have been warned they would have been able to make an informed decisions. Does a consultant hold any responsibility or is it the patents responsibility to do the research?? Do you think I am nuts and on my high horse do you agree? Have you suffered complications due to the band according to the surgeon this morning there are no band complications can you prove him wrong if you had to. I think the band is a great tool for WLS some master it some don’t but it’s a complex argument I just feel information is key. any way sorry to have bored you all i will jump off my soap box :faint:

Tuff Enogh i was quoting UK statistics the USA is much bigger than the UK we are a mere spot compared to your country. In the UK we dont have insurance like you we have a NHS National Health Service free health care for everyone. We do have a private sector but its expencive. Sometimes if we go private say for the opp the after care can be moved to the NHS but it does not always work like that. The NHS is megga busy because the surgions who work in the private sector may only work for the NHS a few days a week so waiting lists are long can be years long. It just disgusts me that simply to promote a n out service such as the band they falsyfy the statistics. its about £8000 to have a band fitted here with fills costing between £150 and £270 that depends if there done blind or by x ray then u have the cost of consultation on top and travel so to get a amercan doller convert roughly double the uk currency £270 is about a weeks wages here its just such a lot of money if u go private and then like u say to cover costs of complications it can be desaterus.

last week there was a show on called dieing to be thin it showed all surery typs and was US and UK film'd We saw how in America adverts go out on tv screaming 123456- bypass lawywers who specilise in negligence claims after a bypass. I am not saying the band is not good but i do beleive the facts should be told. when i say it was indirect advertising i meant it was a interview for day time TV but the surgion was named and interviewd and were the surgory was avilable to be that is a form of advertising because some people as a result of seeing the interview will track him down and the private hospital and sell there granny to fullfill the dream of being slim. Unfortunatly my granny died so i had nothing to sell but had she stuck around yep she would be up for sale quick time.

Well things have moved on here in the UK my health authority have phoned me and told me to go and see a specialist in Leeds for a full assesment and they will pay for what ever help i need. I had a 2 mill unfill on monday all seemed fine untill last yesterday i have begun to throw up everything i eat again it is painfull and almost projectile and again feels as if my restriction is very tight my chest it very sore not just when i cough but all day i feel i have a fist pushing me me. So i cant wait to see this specialst. I feel so dizzy when i stand up it unreal PS, justine you should be able to find the sight if you google WLSinfo let me how u get on hun xx

Hi Justine it was awfull i so wanted a fill and when i found my provider i was delighted it wasnt his fault i was over filled these things happen but i desperatly did try and ajust to my band and the new restriction. I am in Birmingham so dont know any scottish fill providers have u visted WLSinfoforums.org they have lost of member north of the border you will surly get a some advice more locally there. best of luck

What a relief, I have had a 2 mill unfill and I feel so much better. My fill provider has said if my infection is still present in 1 – 2 weeks he is going to do a barium swallow and x-ray my band. He is concerned now about my protein intake because I have not been able to eat any form of meat for 3 months. Plus I look horrible he saw my dry scalp and thinning hair. He just wants me to focus on getting my antibiotics in and upping my protein intake and we will review in 2 weeks. I have just had a slice of toast and some spaghetti hoops do you have spaghetti hoops in the US?? Gosh I sound so ignorant but we call so many different things don’t we. Well anyway I chewed well and it was delicious I felt satisfied on a relatively small amount. And it was wonderful just to eat a solid meal and not be in agony. Ill let you all know how I get on its 7.15 pm hear and Eastenders will be on soon so I am off to have a cup of tea and watch telly. Muggle

I was banded 8 months ago have had nothing but problems since my second fill in October I am having a unfill on Monday because I have developed an infection and I have been told it is highly unlucky to be band related!!!. Well I have only lost a stone in weight since op but almost 2 stone since my pre op diet and measurements, I am now 3 inches bigger around the waist and 2 inches bigger around my tummy I am very sore and tender it hurts just to breath.

Hi every one well I have my unfil booked for Monday It can’t come fast enough I am feeling worse by the day restriction is very tight. I am so hungry and dehydrated and feeling incredibly weak and dizzy when I stand up. I daren’t take a deep breath my chest is so sore now and I know I have a chest infection and have been told it is not band related but my “band area” is very sore not just to touch but like I say when I am breathing it feel’s like I do have something in there. Yeah I know I have a band but up until now I couldn’t feel anything especially no pain or sore ness. My husband is coming with me to see the surgeon so hopefully he will push for some answers. I am almost a year post op and only a stone down 4 months with no fill so no restriction and 3 months over restricted so basically eating anything that I can rather than anything I should. Ill let you know how I get on I am feeling really fed up at the mo I am just sick of problem after problem. I am in ketosis and I stink and that is just making me feel worse so now I am a moaning myrtle. Moan moan moan I moan so much these day’s I cant stand to hear myself so I pity my poor family who not only here mw moan but have to hear me be sick and cough all day and night were all exhausted now. Muggle

My fill provider is going to book me in for a unfill and my GP has put me back on antibiotics so hopefully i should be feeling better soon thanks for the advice muggle x

I have now emailed my fill provider explaining about my problems again and asking about a unfill. I shall keep you informed

I am in the UK I waited 2years for my operation on the NHS as I just could not afford the surgery. I did email my fill provider and told them of my experiences and the surgeon’s wife replied to my email. She said chest infections cannot be removed surgically. She was clearly being sarcastic because I stated in my email that I was on antibiotics and that I was wondering if I needed an unfill and I simply asked could the infection be linked to all my vomiting problems I had been suffering unto that point. I know if bandsters over eat we will vomit but I can only eat sloppy’s and fluids so I cannot over eat because I cannot eat any solids how am to stop eating when I feel full when I cannot get any solid food down me.I am at a point that the band is dictating what I can and cant swallow? She did later reply apologising for her sarcasm and that she was tired having just retuned from a holiday but it has left me feeling humiliated to say the least. The surgeon who fitted my band while an excellent surgeon has a long list of very unhappy and desperate patients who like me feel abandoned post op with little or no advice while he provides a dietician she has no knowledge of the band its totally messed up. I will not name him hear as it is disrespectful but my fill provider has a excellent reputation and I know his wife’s email would have been one that was totally out of personality. But I now feel frightened I know it sounds incredibly silly but I feel I am making a fool of myself and surly if I had anything serious wrong it would be picked up. But then how can it be picked up if I am not seeing anyone?? I feel like I am contradicting myself but I have asked for help and I have been made the butt of a joke or I have been left to feel I am some what a difficult patient. I do have a appointment with my GP on Wednesday so may be he will put me on a different course of antibiotics but this does not sort out the problems of the over restriction