brandyII

If your sister had lost her job and was basically in "the poor house" and you got a raise would you call her every time you bought a new dress to tell her about it. It's kind of similar in a way. I think that you can't change her but in order to keep a good relationship I'd skip the talk about weight loss because it probably bothers her inside, it would me too. I come from a large family so I know how dynamics can work in that area and sometimes you just have to keep it to yourself or share with someone else. brandyII

JillS, sounds like you're in a similar situation to what I had and I still think that there is a physical reason why you're not feeling restriction although seeing the therapist along with this journey is still a good thing and something I do also. Sometimes we need as much support as we can get!!! I still am thinking if your doctor refuses to deal with this situation that you may need a second opinion somehow! Maybe you could discuss this situation with your primary physician, just a thought. I'm having a hard time coming up with the best idea for you and can't imagine my surgeon not believing me when I say I don't feel restriction. Anyway keep us posted, as you can see you've opened up the flood gates to other people experiencing similar problems and that's a GOOD THING! As you're helping others by discussing your problems openly and honestly, keep trying to get the answers you need, brandyII!

Those of you who actually have sleep apnea and have questions about it there is a wonderful forum, although not as wonder as this one and not as well organized called www.cpaptalk.com CPAP and Sleep Apnea Discussion Forum and it helped me with my issues with my cpap machine and my daughters probs with hers, thanks and good luck to all, brandyII

I received a catalog in the mail once that sold items for large size people and one of the things they sold were airline seat belt extenders. I guess they had a couple different ones depending on the plane. I've had stewards (forget the proper name) that actually made me pull up my shirt to make sure my belt was fastened and not just hiding the fact I couldn't belt myself. We have a right to fly and not be humiliated:cursing: brandyII

I had the sleep study ordered because the oxygen level was low in my blood. I didn't know anything about sleep studies then. I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to sleep "on command" especially as you know you're completely wired and attached to the bed and then they wake you if you do fall asleep if something becomes disconnected or if they want to test you sleeping on your back. The camera on me didn't bother me for some reason. I did end up having a lot of "apneas" and now have been sleeping with a CPAP machine since last August. They don't want you to die while your medicated and recovering from surgery so I suppose they're trying to do you a favor. I do sleep better and I don't snore so I'm happy because I was walking around in a daze during the day because I wasn't getting a good quality of sleep. But I know what you mean, the hardest part was washing the glue out of my hair. I was lucky and my husband picked me up because I swear I would have fallen asleep behind the wheel if I had driven myself home. brandyII

JillS, Also it's too soon to give up and wish you weren't banded. Maybe the first fill isn't supposed to feel tight, I'm not sure because mine was under filled in error the first two times. But I also had bad cravings on top of it so I totally blew it in the beginning. It's been seven months for me and I put back all the weight I had lost prior to surgery and I still haven't jumped ship. I've really wanted to though, lol. Things will work out, you've lost 30 pounds and haven't put it on and to me that's a great accomplishment! brandyII

Did you lose the 30 pounds prior to surgery? Have you lost any since surgery? It's still odd to me that your doctor will not fill you. My surgeon or fill person has never asked me if I was hungry. They assumed that if you were still eating and not having that tight feeling that you needed more ccs. I have the 10cc band and only have about 4ccs right now. I've felt the fullness from the band but I've also had cravings a lot for sweets etc... and now am focusing on Protein and am feeling full. I could get a fill in the next two weeks and will try it again. I know weight gain or weight issues in general can have some psychological issues attached to them but it seems that physically you're not feeling it the restriction and I don't understand your doctor's position on this. Therapy is great but the therapist might also help you to get the message across to your doctor that something is not right and he needs to check it out. It's definitely puzzling to me! Good luck, brandyII.

msgigle, your ticker ain't working yet but I'm sure you know that. I wish I could help, I did it once yesterday, decided to change mine and that was a big mistake because I couldn't for the life of me get that thing working! Both daughters tried but my husband figured it out, he's purdy smart:w00t: good luck brandyII

Maybe there are other options for you that your surgeon can discuss with you when you meet with him. I just don't want you to have to go through that kind of H*&^^ any more, regards brandyII.

Good luck to you bandfan1, it's definately a high when you lose all your weight for first time and become thin. I've had some struggles with the band but it maybe due to other things. Most people on the site seem to be doing very well and you should too. I also sleep with a CPAP and am so used to it I don't know if I could sleep with out it, but it sure looks attractive! Good luck, brandyII

FurEllie, Good luck to you with your case, that shouldn't have happened, brandyII.

kamicola, I just realized you haven't been banded yet so good luck to you, it was a breeze for me to go through the surgery and recover so I wish the best to you during yours also and I'll let you know when I find out from the endo doc what's up, brandyII.

Thanks, I wrote those numbers down on the front of my diabetes log book so I'll have it with me when I see the dr. Thanks again, brandyII.

It's hard to get those bad messages out of your head and you're a true survivor who should be very proud of herself. You do deserve a happy life, good luck to you brandyII!

I don't think there is a test that says "yes you have pcos" is there? I mean I have all the signs but fertility was never an issue for me because most of the signs happened after I was done having children. It seems that's the main concern with pcos is infertility but my focus is with all the other problems. I have an HMO which allows me to pick my doctor from their list and so I do have to go by that. I'm going to schedule an appt. tomorrow and hopefully get in soon because I'm pretty sure I should still be on metformin. I'm always willing to hear homeopathic advice. I don't care as long as something works! Thanks, brandyII

If you had such a bad complication that no one would want even if it's not the band's fault why would you want another one?:regular_smile: I was vomiting every 20 minutes my own saliva for 10 hours after an over fill and a surgeon on call met me at the office and took out 2 ccs of fill and told me never wait more than two hours if you're vomiting. I haven't been filled since then and now wonder if something could have happened during that 10 hour period. I hope you're doing better and the best of luck to you brandyII.

JillS, Did you ever feel restriction, I don't know if I've read your threads before or if it was someone else who had a similar problem. I still think there is something weird going on if you can eat as much as you want and the doctor is looking at you like there's something wrong with you! Physically if you eating Proteins etc... and not "slider" foods you would be vomiting by now. I know just after surgery in August I was swollen even though there was nothing in my 10cc band so it was difficult to get anything down but a month later I got my first fill and I think in my "head" I thought I should feel restriction but actually they put less than a cc in because they thought I had the 4 cc band. Second fill same thing, thought I had the smaller band so less than a cc again so for the first three months after surgery I had no restriction and finally saw the surgeon and told him I could eat normally and he found out by withdrawing all the ccs that I had very little in and then he zapped me with 3.5 and I finally felt restriction. Now, I'm not a prize student for many reasons, one being that I've put back all the weight I had lost during the Medifast phase prior to surgery but I'm still trying to figure out what the problems are. Could be I'm not taking my diabetes meds. I still need more fills and have had a couple more, one was an over-fill which I've gotten into previously on other threads but now I'm waiting to get filled again in two weeks. I know some people seem to get filled and lose weight and it's a breeze, well seems that way anyway but if you don't feel the fill physically there's got to be something wrong, second opinion maybe? What else can you do? Good luck brandyII

Banded08, Thanks for the fyi, it was very helpful to me, brandyII.

I have type II diabetes but my primary thought prior to surgery he wouldn't renew my script for metformin because he assumed I wouldn't need it any longer. Unfortunately I've gained back the weight I lost prior to surgery and haven't lost on the band yet so maybe it has something to do with my diabetes but I'm not sure. Trying to find a new endocrinologist next week, brandyII.:regular_smile:

Thanks for the info, I got the impression it was something people were having done in the office, I'd have to go to the hospital for that procedure. I just had one incident where I had a too tight of a fill and I couldn't help but throw up that much, and it was just saliva but two ccs were removed and I still have four cc's in out of a 10 cc band. I see the surgeon in two weeks so I'll ask him about getting things checked out. I'm better at chewing my food now and haven't vomited in a while but still not losing weight! Thanks brandyII

Hi, I'm curious as to what the signs are of slippage, it's probably been listed in a thread somewhere but I haven't seen it. The reason I'm worried is because I had an episode a couple weeks ago where I was vomiting my own saliva for 10 hours every 20 minutes because it was too tight, too much fill. Is it possible to slip if it's too tight? Also how do they tell, I've read about the "flouros" but don't know what it is and don't know if my surgeon has one in his office.:confused2: Just read about the person who had to have part of their stomach removed during an emergency band removal because of slippage so a bit paranoid. Thanks brandyII.

Wow that's pretty scary, I hope you're doing well!!!!brandyII

kamicola, thanks for all the info, you sound like you know what you're talking about. I was originally sent to an endocrinologist when my gen practitioner thought I had pcos and also was found to have high blood sugar at that time but she said my thyroid was "normal" and put me on metformin and said "don't think that you're going to lose weight on this drug". I was like well I didn't but okay???? She had a really bad bedside manner and I had this feeling she hated fat people, I don't remember why I got this impression because it was a few years ago but I remember the feeling. Anyway I ended up losing about 20 pounds after that because I went on a diet drug that I don't remember anymore. Went back to her and she didn't change anything but they did take a blood test every time I went in and that was a big twice! My gen pract. had then written the Rxs for metformin. Then, probably about 5 years later I decided to have lap band surgery and my surgeon was pretty thorough and he sent me through all sorts of testing. It was the blood test that I had done through them that caught the thyroid issue. I've heard there's a thyroid test that is very expensive and many don't have that test done, maybe that's what the one that caught the problem. I did a follow up with their endocrinologist and she's the one that put me on synthroid and I told her how I had been on metformin but my gen pract. took me off and didn't renew my prescription because I had lap band surgery (still hadn't gained it back yet) and she's the one that thought that was weird and I also told her how I never tested my blood sugar because no one told me to or how and was never given a kit. Anyway she whips one out and shows me how to use it and tested it right there so now I have one. Unfortunately she never wanted me to follow up with her but did order some tests so I made an appointment anyway. Probably because I went there for pre-op to lap band and she possibly thought I'd see another endo or something, I have no idea but my script from her for synthroid runs out in a couple months so I'll have to find another doctor because she moved to another office much further than I want to travel. Sorry for making this so long and I hope I'm making sense and not just rambling. OKay, I had surgery the end of last August and have put back all the weight I had previously lost on Medifast prior to surgery. I don't know why I totally screwed this up but you've said and so have others that I need to see the endocrinologist. I understand that I should take this into my own hands and find a new one, which by the way, there aren't that many endos here for some reason, but do you think this could be related to my weight gain? I can get on the scale one day and be five pounds heavier, it's awful. I tested my blood sugar yesterday and fasting was 125 but I kept it down most of the day with just one spike in the 250s and that was 2 hours after lunch which was mostly Protein. I don't drink any sugar drinks and rarely alcohol. Anyway hate to lay this all on you but you seemed to know a lot about this and God knows when I'll get an appt. with a new endo. Thanks for listening, brandyII.:regular_smile:

Chickie, I just started to write and lost it somewhere, so either you got it or you didn't and it took me a couple weeks to realize your avatar was from Little Britain, one of my faves, but I love Ann and the Scottish Inn Keeper the best, it's hard to choose. Anyway that has nothing to do with my question. I see that you've been very successful in your weight loss etc... and was wondering after going to another forum about WLS and some people who supposedly were "banded" said that they could not tolerate eating ice cream. Is that possible on the band if it's tight enough. I know it's kind of a weird question but it's one of my down falls and I know I just have to be more careful but still I wanted to ask your opinion on typical "slider" foods. Thanks, brandyII. And please "don't give me your evils"!