BeacheeGirl

Hi, I decided to add to my last thread Water. Still I have only dropped 15 lbs now (just gained back 5 despite everything I'm doing right) since surgery on June 26th. My question to any of you in the know is: What anti-anxiety, depression meds will NOT cause weight gain? What meds that treat mania / manic episodes, will NOT cause weight gain? Please do not write to me and tell me 'as long as your mentally healthy, who cares if weight loss is slow?' Being fat makes you depressed and triggerse depression and mania as well - so, even if I'm not having mild swings, I am totally down and hate myself because I'm fat. I want to treat both diseases - obesity AND bi-polar. I've been recommended Abilify, what else is out there that anyone here has tried?

Hello, Before anyone directs me to another thread link, I already know this has been done before. I have researched old threads and can navigate this site well. I would like the most recent information pertaining to this subject please. :help: I was banded in June in Mexico and had the 10 cc VG band done by Dr. Joya. Great surgery, no complications. My problem now is that the only weight loss I had was in the first 3 weeks after surgery, none since then and I am gaining that weight loss back at an alarming rate. My after care doctor in my town is Dr. Helmuth Billy. He is a great, competent Dr. My only concern is that I don't think he has treated many patients with this larger band and he is very conservative with fills. He wants to make sure there are no slips or errosion by doing agressive fills. Wonderful. Unfortunately, I have had no restriction since the first few weeks of being banded. My research on the board show that those with this band need A LOT more in their fills to reach the sweet spot. I want to take as much data as possible supporting this to my next appointment with him (on Thursday). I need to get a good fill this time. I am in a very deep depression because of my weight issues after spending thousands of dollars on this procedure. I need a jump start to get me going again and give me a shot in the arm. I don't think I'll be able to take a nother small fill and wait another few months to get to a point where I feel any restricion. I hope you help and support me as this is tearing my psyche apart. Thanks to all of you for your help.:eek:

Hi everyone, it's been a while. I was banded in Mexico in June of 2006 by Dr. Joya. Everything was great and then I stopped losing weight about 6 mo's ago. I get my fill's done by Dr. Billy. I have had 2 fills and nothing, I still have a bit of restriction but BARELY. I keep telling him no restriction and he said that is because I am under 200 lb mark and the band won't do anything for me anymore. He mentioned that they should do an Endoscopy but no one ever called me to do it, they probably just got busy and he forgot to tell the nurses - fast forward a few months. I started to have lower back pain like a burning sensation a few months ago. I thought maybe it was because I sat at a desk all day long and have for years and it was just catching up with me. Now over the last few weeks that pain has moved up my spine and I have HORRIBLE lower back pain and upper back pain too. YES, I HAVE HAD MY GALL BLADDER REMOVED Yes, it does get worse when I eat. I also have started to feel a tightness in my chest like I can't breath all the way right. I can't get a full breath and it almost feels like I am going to start wheezing. I contacted Dr. Billy in Ventura, CA and they scheduled an Endoscopy for Tuesday next week. I also contacted my Primary Care physician and he thought it might be an infection or something and scheduled a Chest Xray. The Endoscopy is first though. The pain is so bad I wake up with it, I go to bed with it, if I eat it is worse and now I am starting to have nausea as well. When I breat I get sharp stabbing pains in my back. Please let me know if anyone has been through this, I am slowl deteriorating worse each day.

Dr. thinks I was probably too tight. 7.5 in 10 cc band. He drew out all fluid and bank pain and breathing much better within a few hours. Willl still do Enco Upper GI on Tues to make sure. Will let everyone know.

I will let everyone know tomorrow. Has anyone ever gone through similar symptoms??????????????

Thank you for your input. Yes, I called Dr. Billy and he is getting me in today. The pain is sooo bad. I am really scared. I am at work and I am just gritting my teeth because pain is so bad. Sometimes it is a burning pain that is there but I can deal with, other times it is stabbing me and I feel I can't bear it.

I did see my PC but all he did was listen to my heart, chest, temperature and he said everything seemed normal. Prescribed antibiotics and told me to get a chest x-ray if not better

Hi it's Beachee Girl, I shredded all my old Before Pics so I don't have them anymore but here are some recent after pics, I'm down to about a size 12 but I REALLY miss my butt!!! LOL

It's been a long time since I posted. I wanted to update my info I've lost about 51 lbs and still have a lot to go but here are some recent pics!

Hi All, Well update to previous posts - I finally weaned myself off of the Effexor and the weight started dropping off. I am losing now and that is great. Problem is that now my mind is going crazy I am having panic attacks, I am extremely manic, up & down and am driving my husband, boss and family crazy. I have an appointment with a Psychiatrist tomorrow to get back on meds but I am scared to death about stalling my weight loss again. Because as some of you know, after the surgery for about 6 mo's because of the meds I was losing almost no weight at all. It has taken me 7 mo's to lose 30 lbs. and I don't want to gain ANY back or seriously, that will make me even crazier and harder to be with. I am anxious a lot and am looking for anyone that is successful on meds that are not making them gain weight or stopping them from losing AFTER SURGERY only please reply. I have been on Effexor, Lithium, Depakote, Prozac, Paxil, and all helped bring me from 135 lbs in my 20's to 240 lbs pre-surgery in my early 30's. Please tell me types of meds and dosages if you will. Thanks for your help.

I really don't know why I am sabotaging my body. I know better, I really do. I was a drug addict before many years ago and was clean for a long time. However, over the last few months I have sniffed a few lines here and there and also have taken ectasy. I took FOUR ecstasy pills yesterday. I love the feeling of "feeling" different. I used to use food as my drug and now it seems I am getting cravings for other things too. I also have an OTC sleeping pill addition to. I sometimes have to take 4 tylenol pm's or equivelant to go to sleep at night. This overwhelming feeling of wanting to change my reality over boredom is REALLY, REALLY horrible. I pray for hours on end for forgiveness. I don't want to die. I have everything to live for, a great job, a WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL son & daughter. I love God. I know it is going against him to defile my body, but somehow, that is not enough. I have no self-control or will power, I will cave in a minute. The crazy thing about this is I have been exercising like a mad woman to "help my body". Just want to be a normal 34 year old woman. Why do I feel like I am still a 19 year old living in a 34 year old body? My son recently moved to live with my parents because he wants to finish high school in the town we are from. My daughter is in Pittsburgh with her biological mother (I am her step-mother) and I have nothing stopping me or helping me in my will power. No, it's not an every day thing, it is an every few weeks thing. But I DID do lines 2 weeks post op and I was so worried about hurting my band, but did that stop me? NO! I am such a mess. This took a lot to write this down and strip myself naked but I can't keep living a lie.

Hi, I'll join! It has taken me a long time to lose the weight and I just had another fill and the weight is coming off again. I found that also getting off the anti-depressents is really helping the metabolism pick up again. I need to eat around 800 calories a day to see a 1 - 2 lb a week weight loss. I also work out 4 times a week with cardio and weight training. I take Omega 3 Vitamins, pre-natal vitamins (im not pregnant) Co Enzyme Q-10, Selenium w/ Vit C & Bioflavonoids and also Extra Vit C. I really want to work on my Water intake. Here's a before of me (on the left) , hubby and best friend Here's me about a week ago w/ hubby and friends (not much of a difference yet *sigh*)

I was BMI 35 - weight loss has been slowwwww - 20 lbs in 6 mo.s - exercise is key - you still have to diet, band is just a tool

Lap band after almost 6 mo's has only helped me lose 20 lbs. I did the 1 lb a week thing when i was dieting - spent $8000 for nothing - eating right, exercising, keeping food diary. Guess i'm jsut the unlucky one :- (

I have had a few posts over the last few months in regards to my SLOW weight loss. I was perplexed how I could be eating almost perfectly, working out, etc. and simply NOT losing weight. Well, the reason really was my Effexor. After tons of research I found out that A LOT of women like myself who gained weight while on Bi-Polar, Depression/Anxiety meds - simply cannot lose it while on the meds. I got off about 2 weeks ago and now the scale is moving again. Not one Dr. can explain why this drug makes it impossible to lose weight while doign everything right - but its a fact. I was on the meds for years and now that I'm off - I feel terrific! I am seeing a holistic dr as well and we are tring to treat the symptoms of bi-polar naturally. Also found out that I am pre-diabetic which can cause you to get fat too and so we are working on that as well. Just thought I would give everyone an update. Here are some recent pics: I'm on the left - me and son below

I was on the XR, not all people have a hard time, but many, many, many unfortunately do. Do a search of Effexor and weight loss and you will find many, many posts of people who blew up on Effexor and can't lose. Yes, I talked with my Dr. about weaning myself off and unfortunately, my Dr. was not well informed of the withdrawal effects. First time off I tried to go cold turkey from 150 mg a day. Bad idea! I was sick, brain tremors, headaches and got a severe cold. Best way to do it is to slowly over weeks ween yourself. I went from 150 to 75, did 75 mg for a few weeks then went town to 37.5. Then from 37.5 cut pill in half (they are now generic so you can get in pill form) to 18 mg. Them for a few weeks took 18 mg then every other day took it to nothing at all. The first few days after completely stopping the 18 mg I was very dizzy but bearable. A month later I am still dizzy and have brain zaps and dizziness but not enough to make me go back. Every day I feel better and I could not be more pleased. I will absolutely try new meds if I am too crazy at any time. I am researching the combination of Wellbutrin and Topamax because they are considered "weight neutral" drugs. I tried Topamax at a high dosage once but I felt totally dumbed down and my cognitive skills were very bad. If I did it again I would do at a much lower dose. For now I am in therapy twice a week and have really worked on getting very good nutrition in as a way to do better. I also take lots of Vitamins like coq10, Omega 3's, B12, Selennium, and multi-vitamins in addition.

Yup, I get all my protein in and then some. My doctor's cannot figure it out. I had to get off the Effexor to start losing again. I work out a lot too!

EXACTLY! Dr's and my peeps didn't believe it, but it is true - you CANNOT lose weight when on Psych drugs! Yuck!

Yup, I'm a Levert fan..I loved Private Line from the 90's...

Here's mine: http://www.myspace.com/luxuryfinds

I started at 235 at 5"7 - Size 16 - Self pay since I didn't qualify for insurance to pay. Weight loss has been very SLOW - part of it was because I was on Effexor and it was stopping me from losing. I eat about 900 - 1200 cal a day and work out 4 + days a week cardio and weights and only average about 1lb a week now...Good news as I am now down to a 14 :- )

Me, Me, Me! I love to read, read about a book a week when I have time. Lately, I've been hitting the gym a lot so haven't had as much time. But I love the books at www.blackexpressions.com

I'm a vegetarian too! Lacto/Ovo Vegetarian, been a veg for over 25 years. The overdoing it of carbs and cheese got me fat along with the bi-polar meds i was on. You will find it easier once you are properly filled to avoid carbs a lot more.

Hi, yes, sometimes I feel NO hunger and can barely get anything down after I work out. Happened lasnt night to me again after I went to gym.

Checking back in - I have been following this plan religously - except I can work out once a day only since I am up and out by 5 am daily. I do cardio kick boxing, weight training, stairmaster, walks on beaches, have been extremely active and have ate like a superstar. No white flour, only healthy carbs - no drinks or any food products with high fructose corn syrup. I've been eating to live and notice a difference in my food cravings - however, I am still only at 220 lbs. The scale sometimes dips to 219 - then back up. I am losing a few inches but by no means am I losing still...I have been to the Endocronologist, General Physician, Nutritionist and now seeing a Holistic Dr. to find out why not losing....