nurse09

Yes that could be what is causing your lost of interest in food. There are many side effects to medications, so i would suggest you talk to your doctor about it and see what they have to say! BTW........Congrats on your weightloss success! :cursing:

Thank you very much for saying that Elisabeth! I noticed you have the sleeve now, but you still take the time to tell others of the cons of it. There are others on here with the sleeve that refuse to or just leave this info out. I would also like to add a few more things to consider about the sleeve. 1.) you can stretch your pouch out if you start eating too much. 2.) People with higher BMI's to start have less success with the sleeve ( and with the lap band as well). 3.) If you start with a higher BMI it is more likely than not that you will have to have another surgery after the sleeve stops working. I guess the point of all this is to let others know that there are pros and cons to both surgeries, but i don't see much of the cons presented about the sleeve. So i only think it is fair that people are informed of these cons if considering the sleeve. Don't get me wrong i am not for the band or the sleeve. I have the band and it is working ok for me. Have I made my goal yet? NO not by along shot, but i will. I know even if i had another surgery that at the end of the day it is still up to me to do the work. Also i noticed the OP compared themselves to someone else. Well it doesn't matter what WLS you have. You should never compare yourself to anyone else's success or failure, because no matter what we will all lose differently. I know people that have had the bypass surgery, made goal, and have now gained back. This is the chance you take with ALL of the surgeries, so please don't try to fool yourself into believing any other way( or let people on here lead you to believe that one is the "miracle cure") because that is just not true. I think ( just my opinion) that we should all just support one another no matter what WLS we have had, because we all started with the same problem Obesity. So good luck to all in their life long weight loss journey!

What i did was i went to the home page of this website and went under the surgeons section. Then i clicked on Texas. I Then clicked on the surgeons in Houston and googled them for their numbers( because their numbers aren't listed) Then i just called around to see who would take me. So you could try the same thing and just let them know your situtation. ( Since your in DFW i would try them ) I hope this helps and Good Luck with your surgery!

hello there! I myself have thought about doing ww because even with the band we still do need to learn how to eat properly, and i just hate trying to figure out how to count this or that. so i usually just eat anything. i have went back and forth with myself about trying ww, because i felt that the band should be enough. Or that i shouldnt need something besides the band. Until the other day when i was talking to my sister about ww. She started ww about a month ago and is doing very well ( she is not banded btw) She suggested that i start ww as well. I said " I don't know because if i do that I feel like i have failed the band" So our conversation went on and she said " well you know it is all just about portion control" Then it hit me. The band is just "our" built in portion control. We actually have the advantage over others that don't have the band. So then i said to her " i wouldn't be cheating on my band or I wouldn't have failed the band" I would just be taking the next step in my life long journey with the band and that is learning how to eat right. So the reason for my long story lol is to say you are right. The band is not the miracle cure. It's just our "tool" to help us get to where we need to be. I just think sometimes a lot of us lose sight of that and just need a reminder once in awhile( i don't mean you i am referring to those that have questioned your choice of ww) So good for all of you that have taken the next step in the long journey and keep up the good work!

you can try looking on the home page and clicking on surgeons in michigan. than call around to see. that is what i did cause i needed to find one in texas. good luck!

I am so sorry to hear about your set back, but i am happy to hear you still haven't given up. Just remember anything worth having isn't easy to get. i too have gain some weight back, but i haven't even made it to goal. so if you can make it once. you surely can do it again. keep the faith and good luck in your weight loss struggle. remember you are not alone!

oh yes one more thing! i don't feel as if i have failed or the band has failed me because i am not at goal already. my doctor told me before having the surgery that it may take longer then 2 years to get to my goal. so i knew all of that going in. i do plan on making it to my goal but if for some reason i do not. i know it is because I did not do everything I could. NOT because of the band.

Ok Wasabubblebutt i am here now so you can stop leaving me messages private or otherwise! Now i would like to say that what i said about the lap band being the most effective was incorrect and i misspoke on that. i should not have said that it is the most effective, because that is not accurate to say. that is not what i meant to say. what i meant to say is that the band can be successful if used properly. just as with the sleeve or any other WLS. All of the surgeries have risk and complications and all of them have shown people with success and failure. At the end of the day it is up to the person that has the surgery( which ever that one may be) to do the work to maintain any weight they will lose. so i would like to apologize to anyone that has read my post if i lead you to believe that the band is the most effective on the market, because i can't say that for sure. i can only say that i am happy i chose the band and wouldn't go any other way. next i would like to say i am happy you made your goal and hope you are able to maintain it through life. your question to me was what have I lost and where am I at with the band. the answer is in my blog ( as you have read already) but i will tell you once again. I have lost 54lbs ( not 59lbs as you stated in a earlier post) and have gained 7lbs back. i am not proud of this fact, because i had the surgery to lose weight not gain it. But never the less i have gained some back. I have gained some back because I had not been to the doctor in 5 months and did not keep up with my fills as i should have( which anyone who knows about how the band works knows that is a vital key in your success) so no wasabubblebutt i have not followed my doctors instructions entirely, but that is why i came on this forum for SUPPORT. I guess that is why most people do come on here. Not to debate about what surgery they should or should not have. you seem to think i was referring to you in the previous post when i was talking about how to maintain success with the band. i was not talking to you nor was i trying to lecture you on weight loss. i was simply stating facts about how people that are obese or over weight think. i know because not only am i one of those people i know several people who are. now you stated to me that YOU made your goal and that is great, but i am not you. i am 16 months out and i have not made my goal. Everyone is different no matter what weight loss surgery you get. so i really don't know what you were trying to prove or get to by making that statement. i started out at a pretty high weight and that does make a difference on if you succeed with the band or not. people that are morbidly obese ( as i am) may not be as successful with the band. i knew that before having the surgery but decided to do it anyway. the point is we can go back in forth until the cows come home, but it will not make you or i right or wrong either way. you have your opinion and i have mine. you can show studies and i can show studies but at the end of the day thats all they are. what matters is what decison each person makes for themselves and what works best for that person. now i have noticed that you seem to have to be right and if you debate with alot of people on here. You also say you are a nurse and have questioned my professionalism. you were right about one thing as a nurse we should not try and mislead anyone. we should present all the facts and we should show both sides not just the side we want, but yet you are on here trying to convince everyone that the sleeve is the best thing for them. You also told the person that made the original post that they should go with the sleeve over the lap band. well as a nurse you should know better. you would know as a nurse that it is not in our scope of practice to give medical advice( and telling someone or advising them to do something is giving medical advice) it is actually unlawful and if that person takes your advice and something happens. that person can come back and sue you, because you are not a doctor and you should not tell anyone what to do or not do as far as medical things go. you can try to educate them as us nurses do, but never tell them to go one way or the other. so from one nurse to another i would suggest you watch what advice you give, because it could come back to bite you in the butt. BTW if you do not believe i am a nurse then feel free to call the Iowa Board of Nursing and they can confirm it for me. Also i never once told anyone in my post to have the lapband done or not done. i should have just been more clear that it is all just my opinion. oh yes you also posted a website for me to go read about your "research statistics" well i have to laugh because they only compared a few hundred people and if you think that is accurate then i guess that is what you believe. The bottom is that you will believe what you believe and i will believe what i believe. Does it make you right? NO! Does it make me right? NO! It just makes two people with their own opinions. You stated you made goal with the lap band so you know how it works. Well i guess my question to you is if that is true why did you switch to the sleeve? my opinion( and only my opinion) i think you may want to find something else to do with your time that is more productive then to come on a forum and try and debate with the people that do not agree with you. Debating is fine but you try and make people believe what you believe and that is not fine. the guy in the other post is correct in saying if you believe so strongly in the sleeve then you should stay on that site and leave this one alone. You have posted something on almost everyones comment as if you are all knowing and no one is all knowing dear. I think you may want to ask yourself why after losing all your weight you still are not happy. i mean( and just my opinion) someone that is happy surely wouldn't spend so much time on the computer arguing with everyone on it. would they? i would think not, but that is just me. so i guess the bottom line is i am not going to and will continue to go back and forth with you. i came on here to talk to people about their success or failures with the lap band and vice versus. i also came on here for support and hope that i can help someone as well. i did not come on here to argue with anyone. i just believe that is counter productive and will not do it any more. so once again congrats on your success of weight loss and i do wish you the best for the future.

I am sorry but once again i disagree. If you look up the research you will see that the band is the most effective and safest over long term. If you see the studies where they compare the gastric to the band you will see the band is equal to the gastric over a 5 year span. No you may not lose the weight as fast, but you keep it off longer. The band was designed as a tool to "help" you lose the weight slowly and more naturally. It has it's problems like anything else, but over all is the safest. Do you think it is safer to cut into vital organs and re-route intestines verses putting something around one? You are correct it was the right choice for me and i am not trying to talk anyone into it one way or the other. I am just trying to set the record straight. others have tried to talk her into the sleeve which has proven to be non-effective. so bottom line is that whatever choice you make YOU are the one that has to still do the work. YOU must still work hard on your weightloss. NONE of them will remain effective or safe if YOU don't comply with the doctor's instructions. Remember the more you are cut into the higher your risk becomes. Alot of the problem still remains that the people want to blame the product instead of taking responsibility for what THEY have done wrong. They truly don't get that THEY are the ones that are still responsible for their own weightloss. As i said before and will say again there is an EXCEPTION to every rule, so the band isn't going to be effective 100% of the time, but it is over all the most effective and safest product as far as WLS goes. I bet if you survey the people that are not happy with it. You would find out that most of them did not truly understand how the band works and they are the ones that did not have success, because they did not comply with the doctor's orders. I talk to people all the time that have had different types of WLS and i can tell they still don't get it. People that are obese (as we all are) tend to think that they can have surgery and all the fat magically disappears. Well that is not realalistic to think or believe. We did not put it on over night and we will not take it off in the same fashion. So no matter what CHOICE a person makes about weightloss whether it be WLS or the old fashion route. They need to understand that ultimately THEY are the ones that will have to do and maintain the hard work.

I am sorry to hear about your problems with the band, but what was said was Most of the time not All of the time. There is always an exception to every rule. What people need to look at is how many actually slip over all. Out of the thousands that have been applied how many of them that have slipped. We can't just look at one example out of thousands to get an accuarated estimate. There are risks with the band just like any surgery you have and your surgeon should have told you of them before the procedure, but overall the band is the most effective and safest thing on the market. There are many things that may cause band slippage ie..improper placement, constant vomiting,defective band( prior to surgery)non-compliance with the band and so on. So again i am sorry about your misfortune, but over all the band is the best way to go.

You are right education is a good thing so maybe you should research a little bit more. With the sleeve the cut into and shrink your stomach, but with the lapband the just simply put the band around it. The lapband is the safest and most effective bariatric surgery on the market today. If you RESEARCH all of the surgeries you will see that. Also you will see that NONE of the surgeries are guarnteed. At the end of the day it is up to whom ever gets the which ever surgery to lose the weight and keep it off themselves. Bottomline the with any of the surgeries you can gain your weight back or not lose what you wanted to at all, so if i were to choose i would go with the lapband because atleast you can reverse that one and not have as many complcations with it.( oh oops i did go with the lapband lol)

To start off with the band is a very good "Tool" but that is all it is. It is not a quick fix. It is a "Tool" designed to aide in weight loss. i think the problem with the people that are not happy with it. are the people that DID NOT listen and understand what their surgeon tried to tell them BEFORE they had the surgery. There are complication with some of the people that have had the lapband, but alot of the times it is their own doing. THEY didn't follow the instructions of the surgeon, because as with most obese people we seem to want to try and "get around" what we really are suppose to do to lose weight. We don't want to be FAT but yet we still EAT what are not suppose to. all i know is my surgeon explained all of the risks before i was cut into and i UNDERSTOOD the risk and was willing to take them. I personally have not had any complications with the band, but i have followed doctors orders. i do not eat or drink the things my doc has warned me not to. Now as far as selfpay and the surgery and complications. Do you not think you may have some with the sleeve or they gastric bypass? YES you could and i can tell you now that it would cost you a heck of alot more to CORRECT that mistake. My surgeon won't even let his patients do selfpay with the gastric because they said if there are complications it could run you into the 100's of 1000's of dollars but he will do the band on selfpay. So what does that tell you? My surgeon is probley one of the best out there. his success rate is out of this world. So i think i would tend to believe him. Plus everything he has told me has been right on as of this point. So BOTTOM LINE if you do or do not get it that is obviously up to you, but if you do decide to go through with it. know that it WILL NOT be a QUICK FIX and you will have to GIVE UP somethings and most importantly you will have to WORK VERY HARD to get to the goal you want to be at. Either way i wish you the best of luck!

Oh yes lisa one more thing lol 4.5 ml may be your sweet spot. just because you have a 10ml band doesnt mean you need 10ml or close to that to be at your sweet spot. everyone is different. just remember to be honest with your doctor and tell them exactly what you are eating. they are there to help you. so if you let them know they can suggest things as well. you don't want to be too tight because you start throwing up too much it can cause damage to the band. if this happens they will have to go in and remove it and you will have to WAIT to get a new one replaced. So i know it is frustrating but try to keep in mind if you damage your band how much longer you will have to wait. also liquids for a week would only be a "quick fix" you may lose a lot of weight but once you started eating again you would gain it right back. so try to keep that in mind as well.

Lisa, Please don't feel as if you are alone because you are not. We all got banded for the same reason, but we all will go through different experiences with it. With that said i am further out then you and have had less progress. I had my band in march of 2008( 16months ago) and have lost 54lbs but gainded 8 lb back, but i have now lost 3 of those 8lbs again. I have now came back out of my fog and i am trying to do the right thing again. So please know you are not alone! I agree with the others when they say make a plan when you start thinking about food to do something else. Like take a walk, read a book, brush your teeth, call a friend. there are lots of things you can do. i know it sounds silly, but the more you do these other things the less you will want to eat and it will become easier not to eat as well. We trained our minds to think food is the way or "comfort" for us and we can untrain our minds as well. Now as far as the fills go i doubt your doctor will give you 4.5 ml in your band. If he/she does they are not a very good doctor. You must do it slowly just as you did in the beginning. That is the only way you will ever succeed. I know you want fast results we all do, but remember we didnt put it on over night and it won't come off over night. Remember your goal is to get and stay at a healthy weight for life. So slow is good and 51lbs is excellent compared to not losing at all or to what you were prior to surgery. I would suggest to try and eat your meats, vegs, and fruit first. They will make you feel full much longer. I hope all my babble helped lol take care and keep up the fight girl you are worth it!

Well thanks for the welcome! I don't really know how to use this stuff yet, but i am sure i will get the hang of it. So how long has it been for you post op? Or have you had the surgery yet? I had mine on 3-11-08 and i am doing ok. i have kind of fell off the wagon, but i am ready to get back on and do what i wanted to do when i had the surgery. That is to get to a healthy weight and stay there. So let me know all about your experiences and i will do the same. hope to hear from you soon.

Well this is my second day on this site and so far i have enjoyed the feedback i have recieved. i found this site through google, because i am at the point that i know i need support of others. i have always tried to just face things alone, but i now know it takes a village to raise a child. so i went looking for others like myself that have had the lapband surgery and i hope we all can help one another in this lifelong battle. Feel free to leave me messages or add me to your friends list. You can never have too much support and i welcome all of you to join me in my battle as i will yours. thanks in advance for your support!

Yes, because in the mornings you may tend to have some swelling so it is harder to get things down. Not everyone has this problem, but i would suggest getting chewable vitamins. i have always taken chewable vitamins since the surgery. also i take petite calicum pills to help them to go down better. my suggestion in the mornings is to just drink a protein shake instead of trying to eat anything. i hope this helps you!

No the reason for not drinking while eating is because the fluid will help to push the food through your band faster and that defeats the purpose. you should wait at least 40 minutes after you eat to drink. it is really not that bad once you get used to it. its all comes with the change. if you try to find ways AROUND the lapband then you are defeating yourself and the purpose of the band.

As with any surgery there are risks including death. i am sorry to hear about your friend, but don't let that scare you away from the lap band procedure. my advice is to make sure to research your surgeon BEFORE you allow them to cut into you. you should make sure they have performed several surgeries prior to you. never pick one that has only done a few. also check out the surgeons success to failure ratio. if your surgeon has alot of deaths then it may be best to find another one. last bit of advice. make sure your surgeon has a lifetime program with all the support you will need. some doctors just cut you open and leave you to fend for yourself. so make sure your surgeon really believes in YOUR success not his/her own. Good Luck!

Well this is my second day on this site and so far i have enjoyed the feedback i have recieved. i found this site through google, because i am at the point that i know i need support of others. i have always tried to just face things alone, but i now know it takes a village to raise a child. so i went looking for others like myself that have had the lapband surgery and i hope we all can help one another in this lifelong battle. Feel free to leave me messages or add me to your friends list. You can never have too much support and i welcome all of you to join me in my battle as i will yours. thanks in advance for your support!