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Low GI eating has proved itself to the Australian endocrinologists to be the best way of treating PCOS in combination with diet and medication (if med are required) I have suffered from PCOS my whole reproductive life. Periods every 6 months (maybe more at times) and when they did come - woah! I have 6 cycles worth of period and PMS. The charming excess hair, acne, mood swings, trouble losing weight. The whole nine yards. Prior to banding, I ate very starchy foods, and did myself, and my blood sugar no favours. I lost very little on Metformin. It did help to regulate my blood sugar and insulin, and that is fantastic, but I lost very little that I didn't gain right back. My point after all that, lol (I tend to be long winded at times) PCOS can be managed through a combination of diet, exercise, and if required medication. There are no easy answers, I am afraid. It takes a crap load of hard work to lose with PCOS, but can be done.

I was diagnosed at age 15. Lots of excess hair, weight and mood swings. No acne for me luckly. At some point I did not get a period for 2 years! But usually I would get one between 6-8 months. I am on birth control pills as well as Glugophage, and let me tell this last drug makes it nearly impossible to loose weight. But because nearly everyone on both sides of my family is a diabetic I will stay on it until I have lost weight. I haven't been banded yet but am looking forward to see what happens. Hopefully a lot!

I'm about 6mos out and I'd say I have mild- to moderate- hair loss. It's not coming out in chunks like some people, but it's just falling out in strands almost constantly. No bald spots or anything it's just annoying.

OK lemme think on that..... Pro's are easy ---- weight loss, more energy, clothes are fun again, "eat to live instead of live to eat" mentality is great Cons....well it was really hard at first - had to focus to learn to chew chew chew and eat the rights foods that wouldn't get stuck....I find it annoying when people would say "well you had surgery ___ months ago, why haven't you lost more?" as folks think the lapband is like the gastric bypass and you should get skinny in no time....but really, other than the occassional day that I feel ultra tight (which happens due to high humidity, female hormones, being dehydrated...) and I cannot manage to eat much, most of the time everything is great now, as I don't have to focus so much on chewing, etc. It IS different for everyone, though.....no two people are exactly alike....so you have to choose what is best for you. You will need to be diligent in eating the right foods, exercising, and getting your fills in order for it to work for you. Good luck! Kim

I agree... follow the stages your doctor has given you.... don't rush it. Tom, Toronto Banded July 6 06 Wt. Loss: 156 lbs

62 pounds in 3 1/2 months?? Wow! I can't tell from your showing information how far you are from goal (I suggest you add more information like what kind of surgery you had, your goal weight, your height, etc.), but regardless of how close you are to goal, that is a very rapid weight loss for 3 1/2 months. I'm five months out and have lost only about 50 pounds since surgery, with no weight loss in more than two months. Okay, you are aware that you have made some choices this week that aren't in keeping with your overall weight loss goals. All is not lost. Here you are asking for help and support, so there's a pat on the back for that. So, what else is going on in your life that is keeping you from your exercise goals? The carbs one can be remedied by getting them out of your environment so that they are not there to reach for. Perhaps, your body is reacting to such a drastic weight loss? (and maybe so are you?) and wants to put the brakes on for a minute? You are doing so great with your weight loss. You've come a long way in a short time. Enjoy it. Remind yourself of why you opted for surgery and what your overall goals are. And have a few sips of Water before choosing a snack that isn't in keeping with what you had planned. Forgive yourself this moment. Tale a deep breath. And continue. You are doing great!

Go back to basics. Log your food. Stay within your weight loss calories and macros, hydrate and exercise. Join the October weight loss challenge (November challenge) and Doing the head work

I think mine is a 10cc. I don't know how much was put in during the surgery, but on Tuesday I had 2cc put in. According to my Dr., I've done so well on the weight loss that he didn't really think I needed a fill, but did a small one so I would continue to lose and not get discouraged. I'm on liquids/softies for the rest of the week and then back to solids. Yesterday I was starving, strangely, but today, not so much. My question is, do you guys exercise on the days you're on liquids/softies, after a fill?

Edwards does have an awesome head o' hair.

Here's my update: I meet w/PCP tonight. Made my appt. w/New beginnings for the 25th of Sept. I will do my lab on Saturday Morning(9/13/08) So, that will leave me with; Pulmonary, sleep study, barium swallow(for hiatal hernia), EKG, and wt. loss records for the last 5yrs. The 5yr. history will be pretty easy, because I only did Bally's, weight watchers, and Curves. So pretty easy to get those records. I'll keep u posted. Dawn

Well IMHO you just need to eat as healthy as you possibly can. Try and remember that the first month of banding is about HEALING, not weight loss. I know its hard not to be frustrated and impatient, but it too will pass. Don't worry if you don't post huge weight loss numbers during your first couple of months, now thats not an excuse to eat everything in sight! Focus on getting your docs recommended protein amount in everyday incorporating exercise into your daily routine (when recommended) take your vitamins drink plenty of fluids start living by the lapband rules!!! You'll probably feel like you are eating too much, try to focus on YOUR body and what its telling you. For instance I have learned my soft stop signal is the roof of my mouth gets tender (I know its weird, but it is what it is). If I keep going I'll start to get pretty violent hiccups. Start listening to your body and get into the habits required to be a successful bander. There are tons of exceptional banders on this site. A lot can be learned from them and what has worked for them!

Hi everyone, I have been reading posts for a little while now, but this is my first post. I am a 40-year old guy, and I live in New Orleans with my partner of 7.5 years. I have battled my weight for entire life. When I was 21 years old, my parents and I went on Phen-Fen together. That was the first time I lost 100 pounds. I have yo-yo'ed ever since, losing 100 pounds another two times in my life, and 30-50 pounds more times than I can count. Last year, I had to travel a lot more than I have had to in the past many years for work. (I am a Delta Diamond if that means anything to any travelers out there.) All of that travel meant eating for convenience and drinking more wine than I would if I were at home. I was already heavy before (370 pounds), but by December 2015, I weighed 397 pounds. My family had been encouraging me to have weight loss surgery for about a year. (My dad had a gastric bypass many years ago; my mom had the sleeve about 3 years ago, and my brother got the lap band about 2 years ago.) After seeing the nearly-400 pounds looking back up at me from the scale, I agreed that it was time to do something about my weight once and for all. And my partner was ready to deal with his weight as well. (He started at 316 pounds, so he wasn't in quite as bad a place as I was then. For the record, he has lost about 70 pounds himself, so I am super proud of him!) I was finally able to get in to see my PCP in February, and had my first of six consecutive monthly appointments with the surgeon's medical staff that is required by my insurance on March 3. I had two weeks of filming work in California right after (something new for my team and full of stresses), so I didn't begin my weight loss journey until March 21. In the past 5 months, I have lost 83 pounds while going to see the surgeon's staff once per month. This morning I weighed 314 pounds. (In case anyone is interested, I have done low carb/high protein/high healthy fat. I keep carbs below 20 per day -- usually below 12 per day. I have reduced my calories from 2000 to 1800 to 1500 to now 1200 for the past many weeks. I have cut alcohol out completely for now to conserve the calories. I walk 5 days a week, involving inclines and such for a majority of these 45 minute sessions. The surgeon's staff did give me a phentermine prescription, so I have been taking that since early April.) Now, I'll get to the point of my post if anyone is still reading... I had my sixth diet visit, and I am waiting on insurance approval now. It's been about a week so far, but they say it can take up to 30 days, so the surgery will likely be sometime in early October. I have been reading everyone's posts about the surgery itself, the pain (or lack of), the changes, etc., etc., etc. Some days, I wonder if I should really go through with it, or just stay the course with what I am doing. But, then reality sets in -- I still need to lose at least 100 more pounds, and really, I'd like to lose more like 125-135 more pounds, so I need to have the surgery. I am worried that since I have lost so much weight on the front end that I will lose weight slower after the surgery and then be disappointed (especially after putting my body through all of that trauma and altering the way I will have to eat and drink for the rest of my life). Can anyone offer any perspective on this? Specifically, can anyone speak to losing a lot of weight pre-op, and how you transitioned to weight loss after the surgery? The surgeon has already said that I do not have to do a liquid diet before the surgery because of all the weight I have lost. I just have to fast the day before. Please forgive the length of this post, and I hope to hear from some of you soon.

I am almost at goal! Took a lot longer than I expected but I am loving this new body! Not so much for the extra skin though. I want to start researching plastic surgeons to tighten up my tummy, arms and legs. I only lost about 70 pounds but it's jiggly for sure, not hanging over or anything though - so no way will insurance cover it. Anyone have great results with an affordable surgeon? I don;t mind going to Mexico or Central America to save some money either! Thanks~!

I can hardly believe it, but here I am about 7 1/2 weeks from my surgery on July 13th and I am just about half way to my goal of losing 125 lbs. Overall, it has been a relatively smooth journey, although there have been some difficult moments along the way. Last week, I took my kids on vacation and it was a real challenge to figure out what I could eat and timing it correctly. The trip involved driving about 2000 miles round trip, so eating on the road proved to be a bit of a challenge also. I think the biggest challenge for me has been dealing with the emotional aspects of not eating all the things I want to when I want to. Although I understand intellectually that this is how I ended up here in the first place (duh?), I don't think I had realized how much of a "friend" food had become in my life and how much I would miss it. This has probably been even more true since my wife died and I've had to cope with all of those emotional issues. So, in some ways, giving up my old eating habits has been another loss with which I have had to deal and that has been a little harder to cope with than I expected. The good news is that everyday someone new notices that I've lost weight and tells me that I look great and I feel terrific about that. I need to be better about monitoring my Protein intake and taking my Vitamins, but I am working on that too. If there is someone out there reading this, looking for guidance as to whether or not to have the VSG, I would unequivocally say "Go for it!" Peace, Brian

Hello, I have Meritan insurance through my wife's employer. I believe they are owned by BCBS. We live in AZ. The weight loss center said we have to do a 6 month waiting period working with a dietician and regular weigh ins. I asked the lady in charge of the insurance and billing portion of the weight loss clinic if there is any way around that? She said that you can write a letter to the company but it is usually not successful. My thing is, I am in pretty bad shape as it is. My BMI is 56, I have HBP, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease, chronic fatigue, chronic joint pain. I would like to think they could make an exception. If not, I won't be getting surgery until August at the soonest. Any thoughts? Or suggestions? Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

There was a great debate on another forum about weight loss and hair loss. Some people say it's Protein, some say it's rapid weight loss, some say (like Daisy stated) that's a huge shock to your system. I didn't experience any hair loss with my band surgery. I'm a month out from the sleeve, and haven't noticed any hair loss.

Drinking plain Water, 1 smart water or electrolyte drink a day. Breathing exercises, mild exercise early on. When your taking in such a low caloric amount you have to make sure you take all the nutrients or hair will fall out, your body will be forced into a crisis and self preservation. Guard against that by following your nutritionist. Don't go rouge, 1/2 a pound is still going in the right direction. Some weeks your body is changing. I find areas of my body that were once hard become softer, then all of a sudden scale drops. Hang in there, the weight came on over time, it will come off. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

PCOS = Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome It has all kinds of nasty and anoying symptoms, e.g. hair all over, acne, skin tags, weight problem, no ovulation, irregular or no periods, infertility. Many women with PCOS loose their babies during pregnancy. My son Lucas was born at 20 weeks in November. It took doctors years to diagnose me. I am on Glucophage XR, taking 1,500 mg/day. It helps a little, but weight loss should have major impact on most my problems. I'm one of the lucky PCOS sufferers with no acne, no major facial or body hair issues and I'm looking forward to getting rid of the rest of the issues. Renata

I have been banded for a year and I'm down around 50 lbs. The weight loss for me has been average but it feels slow. Just remember that you can lose 30-50% of your excess weight the first year. That being said, I have seen people lose 100 lbs their first year. It just depends on how much you exercise and how soon you get good restriction. It will take you some time to lose 150 lbs but the wait will be worth it. Good luck.

The short answer to your question is you can run a Protein deficit for six weeks or so without major heath consequences. They body adapts but usually with lots of hair falling out ;-(. But that's not where you want to be. So keep trying shake mixes, or get some genpro and mix it in with yogurt and your puree. Tasteless and it dissolves well.

1. Dr. Michael Michel, he is a Major in the USAF, and stationed at and operates out of Eglin AFB. I've sent 2 of my close friends to him within the last month (he just returned from 7.5 month long deployment) and an "ex" friend of mine had her surgery performed by Dr. M last September. My secondary surgeon Dr. Riley, out of the same military facility, is amazing as well. Dr. R took over my care when Dr. M deployed. He's performed surgery on 2 of my friends within the last 4 months. 2. Insurance company first, PCP next, supporting letter from PCP and any other specialty physicians you may see. 3. I would imagine natural childbirth would be worse. I had a c-section (was awake for it), and the VSG was nowhere near as painful. I had a completely different recovery, and I'm not the norm therefore I can't comment on this one. I was a revision patient. Had the band first, then VSG. 4. Same as above 5. I've dropped 155lbs as of today in around a year. I started at 270 today I'm weighing in around 118lbs. My skin is wrinkly, but not sagging or flapping over. It's recovering nicely. Saw my surgeon last week, he looked at my skin, and said " considering how much you've lost, your age, and how fast you've dropped it, your skin looks amazing, I've had patients lose less, that are younger that have to have plastics. Don't do any other surgery for a minimum of 12-18 months". I moisturize like crazy. I exfoliate with a homemade sugar/salt scrub, I massage my skin. I do not wear shapers, girdles, or anything of the sort. I live in Florida, it's 99% humidity, and wearing spandex under clothes is self-induced torture. 6. Take Biotin or another hair/nail/skin supplement now, and continue taking it once you're released for meds/supplements post-op. It'll help with the regrowth. Nothing stops the shedding. I'm vain, I lost half of my hair, I chopped it off, and it's grown 4 inches in length since January. We measured the other day to find out how much growth I was actually seeing. I have new growth that is about 7" long that started coming in before the shedding stopped. For me, it last 3.5 months. It's temporary, it'll grow back. I used Folicure shampoo every other day when I started losing, and never took Biotin or other supplements on a regular basis. Interesting article: Telogen Effluvium: eMedicine Dermatology 7. I was released for alcohol at 3.5 months out. Was told to avoid wine. My surgeon doesn't forbid soda. He doesn't believe it causes sleeve stretching. It is empty calories/carbs, and if it's caffeinated, it doesn't count as a clear Fluid. I drink soda. No harm, no foul, no regain,no sleeve stretching. I'm not a beer drinker, but I drink rum/cokes and various shots on a fairly social basis. 8. Perfectly normal. Today, my 12 yr old son and I shared an order of beef fajitas with black Beans and rice at Chili's. Sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, 8-10 tortilla chips, 3oz of fajita skirt steak cooked medium, and a huge amount of sauteed onions. I ate about 6 small bites of the rice, I skipped the beans, they put stupid pico de gallo in them, no flour tortillas. I ate about 2ounces of shredded cheese mixed with the beef, sour cream and salsa. I drank strawberry lemonade before my meal. We were in and out of the restaurant within 1 hour. We talked, laughed, and just hung out. I waited about 15 minutes after eating to take a few swigs of my lemonade because Mexican food tends to be salty. I needed to wet my whistle. I felt normal, and have for months. 9. Only puked a couple times and that was super early out. Nauseated only happened when on heavy antibiotics. Slightly dehydrated only once, but didn't require hospitalization/iv fluids. 10. Stick to your surgeon/nutritionist's post-op diet, don't reinvent the wheel, don't cheat, it's just not worth it regardless of other people's experiences, if you absolutely need to progress your diet call the medical professional that you trusted to staple off and excise 80% of your stomach and ask if there is a safe option that may get you through a horrible day, don't be negative nelly, your body needs you to be positive and encouraging it will have just took a major blow for you, be nice to it. Realize that some days might suck, you might be sore, you might not feel like doing much of anything, but the good ends up outweighing the bad 100 fold. Remember they operate on our stomachs not our heads. Our minds will beat us up if we allow it. Emotions will run high, you might be mad, angry, or feel like you're on a permanent PMS trip from hell, prepare your husband/family for this, it does get better, but it doesn't make it suck any less. Other than that, know that you are embarking on an amazing journey. You'll experience so much that it's hard to really wrap your head around all of it. Look for support when you need it, and know that whatever hurdle you may find in your path, there is probably someone else out here that's gone through or going through the same thing, don't be afraid to ask questions, have faith in yourself, your surgeon. Sorry for the ramble, run on and fragment sentences. Best wishes and keep us updated.

Here's my list for choosing VSG over RNY for my revision: I could have had RNY very easily, but I fought for VSG. 1) Malabsorption of fat/calories only last 18-24 months (after that the villi in the intestine regrow), but the malabsorption of nutrients/vitamins are for the rest of your life. Not a fair trade off if you ask me. 2) Blind stomach left behind that is difficult to scope, but can still get ulcers and cancer. 3) The whole pouch/stoma thing is not natural. I had a pouch/stoma thing with the band, and it sucked. I loved the fact that I would have a normal stomach with my pyloric valve intact. 4) Regain stats with RNY are downright scary 5) Long term complications related to pouch dilation, vitamin/nutrient deficiencies and the number of patients seeking RNY revision to either DS or ERNY were just too high for me 6) Dumping syndrome only happens to about 30% of RNY patients. For me, if I can't keep my hand out of the cookie jar without some form of sick self-punishment of puking, nausea, and fatigue then do I really need to have WLS? I knew I had to change my relationship with food regardless of which WLS I chose. 7) I like my NSAIDS. With RNY, they are a complete NO NO. Also, in the future, if I were to need to take steroids, I didn't want to worry about them eating my pouch. 8) I have a lot (like 10) friends in real life that all struggle tremendously with RNY especially those that are 5-8 years out. I have one that just had her 4th surgery related to her 7yr old RNY. My other dear friend is now on Iron infusions every 4 weeks because she can't eat iron rich foods, and iron pills irritate her pouch so badly. 7 out of 10 have regained at least 40 pounds, and only 4 of them experience dumping, but it's not as severe as it was for them when early out. 9) That no hunger thing is awesome with the sleeve. The fundus being cut away and removed from the body, removes the main source of Ghrelin production in our bodies. At 15 months out, I'm still never physically hungry. I love food, I eat, but I'm not hungry. I was always hungry with my band. I would eat, be satisfied with the small portion in my pouch. Then food would pass through, and I'd be starving again. It was a miserable cycle. The stats with VSG and RNY on weight loss are neck and neck. The studies out there for gastrectomies (partial or full removal of the stomach) for cancer and ulcer patients gave me peace of mind that for my long term health, VSG was the answer to my weight loss surgery needs. Best wishes on your research. I have tons of links and information in my blog on here if you'd like to read some of the stats. I'll add you to my contact list so you can access my blog if you'd like. Look for the blog post called "Just to bookmark this" it's lapband information, but at the bottom of that post, there are lots of links for VSG.

Checking in at 338! That is a 31 pound loss since the day I picked up the phone to schedule a consultation! Pre-op is getting easier (especially since I'm not approved to have one "real" meal a day now Lol. On day 9 of 14, the last days will be a breeze.

Had my son's first birthday party this week and that made things a bit tough with all the leftover cake and ice cream. I was also sick with the crud for a few days which caused me to miss a few gym classes. All in all, I was still able to post a decent loss, beat my Valentines Day challenge, and get back on track! Last Week: 188 This Week: 185 Change: Minus 3 Have a good week everyone! Brad