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Laura - that sucks about your doctor not being more supportive. Too late to find another one? I'm not saying that they need to pander to you but they should give you more than "duh" answers, like "eat vegetables", duh idiot. Oh and that's nice that Russell asked about your weight gain. That just means he's paying attention. Since you're probably sulking about it. Is he the type to help out with it, and do you even want help with it? Like if you're eating something you're not supposed to can he call you out on it?

Morning! Glad to see you back Terry :tongue2:) Violet dreams are the best, I get a kick out of em! I am at 227lbs, so YAAAAAAAY I plateaud with the weight gain and even lost 3lbs. Baby's heart is still strong and all that.. I check it every night. I'm reading the worst drinks list-- "Caffeine abstainers will find little nutritional refuge in Starbucks' hot chocolate concoctions." HRMPH. Well, they provide yummyness in my belly, so.. Luckily the only time I go to Starbucks for their hot chocolate is when I am in Tunica because they have one in the lobby of our hotel. There's no convenient ones in town. We actually only have 1 (weird concept eh?) and it's at a walk up mall that you gotta park a mile away to get to. Not going through all that for a drink. I found my title last night. It ended up in my shirt drawer.. how does that even happen?? Now I don't know where to go, we have DMV with loooong lines, then the DMV satellite but they do specific stuff I'm not sure about, then the courthouse a city away where we got our licenses last year with no wait.. but I don't know if they do titles.. and of course no one has people that answer phones anymore, it's all automated generic info. Holy cow!

Morning V's! We went to some Beatles tribute band last night, was out till 11pm and then we went to Waffle House and talked for a while, so we were home late! It's kicking my butt this morning, I'm sick as it is, my sinuses ache so bad.. my neck hurts. Hah hah I actually didn't get what Terry was saying.. woops. But I second Pam, the best way to get over a man is to get on top of a new one! I don't know that Chantix made me scatter brained, I'm pretty thorough at work and did not notice it slip. The only issue (besides weight gain) was the night terror things. I was waking up all throughout the night freaking out from nightmares. Too scared to get up and turn on the tv or light, I would sit there staring at DH and mad he didn't wake me up (it wasn't logical).

I went for a year or two trying to lose weight and had the 'no weight change' too. I saw a few pounds lose with the band surgery and a little after the first fill. Now on my second fill, the weight seems to slide off. I had a big problem with xmas and chocolates. I had to decide that it was up to me to say No to sweets and food that is bad for weight gain. The band keeps your portions down. When you are restricted you can eat a small amount before you are full and the full feeling lasts. Only then did I realize how much I was eating at a meal before the band. The band gets rid of the hunger pains and that makes a BIG difference. I think you will see weight loss.

Dear PRBrooksie---I was at our support group meeting Monday, and a very wise person said not to compare your loss with anyone else's. I look at these posts, and I know it's true! I've gone through periods of weight gain, no weight loss and weight loss with the band, times when I needed a fill and times when I thought I might need less. Honestly, you'll just make yourself crazy if you try to parallel your weight loss with anyones. It's odd. Until a week ago, I was frustrated without adequate restriction. I was kicking myself for my lack of control and wondering if I wasted my money. Now that I have just the right restriction, the cravings and compulsions for food just stopped. I think they'll come back and I'll be dealing with issues again, but I've decided that all I can do is deal with today. And the first thing I ask myself is if I need a fill, since that worked so well once I got it restricted enough. Then I ask myself if I've planned and cooked my food so I dont' have to impulse eat. Have I rehearsed what to take with me when I travel in the car. Have I thrown out contraband. Have I exercised, gone to support group, etc. But for me, number one is the fill issue. I have been such a total failure at even controlling my eating for a single day in my life. I know I need the band to do it's job or mine just isn't possible to do at this stage. I too ate until I PBed at times because I didn't get that sense of being full...but it doesn't happen with my new restriction. If I let myself, I'd go crazy with envy of Angela, down 33 pounds without a fill. Instead, I'm committed (on my good days) to be happy for others, and then figure out what I need to do. My new motto is "There are no problems that are bigger than me." It's a matter of sticking with the problem solving in this complicated new journey we are on. My heart is with you.

thanks for the encouraging words my friends. jeeper you know the anti depressants cause weight gain? not on any at this time. i just dont get it. if i could i would get the rny but dang my tummy is so little

Hi guys - as a psychologist I just want to add that not all anti- depressants cause weight gain and if you are taking one that does just talk to your MD about getting onto a different med. anti depressants are really important and too often I hear people going off their meds due to weight gain rather than trying another type which can really compromise their wellbeing. Not saying you would go off them but it's something I hear quite frequently

good morning! The ups and downs of being banded. Well, I am working on getting my weight down again. It is a constant struggle. I am not sure, but I think I would trade my love of food for a decent weight. It just seems wrong for me personally to have spent so much of my life dealing with food and weight. sigh! I find that liquids for a day or so help get my pouch back to size. I have mentally considered a different surgery as well. It is very frustrating! I am not really as negative as this post seems. I still am down from where I was. Even with my recent weight gain of a few pounds, I am still in the same clothes. For me to "catch" myself this early in the weight gain is very good. Maybe I am learning?

well, I was divorced before my lapband, but will say it has given that boost of confidence to meet others.. In fact almost 1 year with my someone special.. I didn't tell him about my LB until August...felt the right time would present itself and it did. he has been supportive of my choice and there for me when I struggle. Have to something about my "holiday" weight gain.. but working on it..with the hrlp of my recent 1cc fill.

I want to say that there isn't a day that goes by that I don't look to this thread for support and encouragement.. Even if I don't post every day, I am always reading and learning from everyone. I am grateful to have found a place of acceptance and encouragement. Thank you to everyone on here for the way that we show respect and friendship... it means soo much!! Fenton- this is for you... (actually all of us) I came across this on the home page and thought it would be a good reflection for all of us as we experience struggles with ourselves at some point or another. Please read and enjoy: Get rid of your Dieter's Mentality MacMadame Published by MacMadame 07-04-2008 Get rid of your Dieter's Mentality How many of us have been "on a diet" for most of our lives? Too many, in my opinion. Not just because it's bad for our health or because diets don't work. It's bad for our mental health too. It leads to something I call "Dieter's Mentality." If you have Dieter's Mentality, you need to cut it out because it's going to sabotage your success. This is true whether or not you have had Weight Loss Surgery, are on your pre-op diet or are doing it the traditional way through diet and exercise. Diet Mentality is evil and it puts you in a bad place! What is Diet Mentality? It has four major components: 1) Putting food into Good and Bad buckets First of all, food is not Bad or Good -- it's just food. Some food is a better choice than others, but even then it's really just all food. If you are getting in enough of the essential nutrients and you account for your calories each day, you are doing good no matter if you have a bite of dessert once in a while or not. All food is bad food if you eat too much of it or only eat one kind. It's just as unhealthy to eat nothing but Protein as it is to eat nothing but birthday cake. A healthy diet is balanced and can even include a certain amount of junk food as long as it's a small amount and it doesn't trigger you into bad behavior. 2) Judging your worth by what you eat Making bad food choices does not make you a bad person. Your self-worth shouldn't be tied up in what you eat. Good people make bad choices all the time. Instead of beating yourself up when you make a bad choice, hating yourself, seeing yourself as a failure and otherwise engaging in destructive behavior, just figure out how to make a better choice next time. It's not easy to be dispassionate about your own behavior, but telling yourself that you made a bad choice and next time you'll make a better one is a good start and much healthier than telling yourself you are a bad person and you'll never lose the weight and you hate yourself. 3) Judging your worth by how much you weigh/how much you've lost this week The scale is just part of the picture. If you get too tied up in the scale, you get a distorted view of the world. Weeks where you lose are good weeks even if someone close to you died. Weeks where you don't lose are bad weeks even if you got a big promotion at work and did everything "right" in terms of diet and exercise. One of the dangers of measuring everything by your weight on the scale is that you can convince yourself that making bad choices is okay because sometimes you can make bad choices and still lose/maintain. You can also convince yourself that making good choices is pointless because some weeks you make all good choices and the scale doesn't move. But clearly making more bad choices than good will lead to weight gain in the long run. Anything thinking that leads you to conclude otherwise is destructive thinking. 4) Waiting until you are thin(ner) to start living Stop waiting until you get to goal to start living or loving yourself. Love yourself now. Live your life now. It's easy to fall into "when I lose 25 pounds, I will start..." type of thinking. It's a fine line between thinking about how you will reward yourself when you meet certain goals and putting your life on hold until you meet certain goals. Many of us have had the experience of thinking we were so fat back when we were in HS or college or a young adult and not being happy. But then we got even fatter and we look at those pictures from back then and we realize that we were actually pretty hot. In fact, we'd give anything to be "that fat" right now. Why not love yourself now while you're living your life instead of waiting until 10 years later to tell yourself how good you had it back then?

J, You biked an extreme amount of miles this weekend. You would NOT of been able to do that without fueling your body. Your body is going to burn fat, but you have to have an input of energy too. My thought is that your muscles are still in recovery mode right now, holding onto water to repair. A day or two and you will have lost that 2 pounds plus some. Also, what about the other factors? Did you eat something with more sodium than usual, you did say you detoured for lunch, was is restaurant food, which has lots of sodium????? Is it PMS pounds???? I really think that your body holds onto all the water you can drink when you are biking like that. You are sweating sooo much and I think your body doesn't want to let it go, it needs it to repair. J, you are sooooo awesome and have done sooo damn good. 74 pounds!!!!!!! WHAT? DID I SAY 74 POUNDS??????? That is freakin awesome!!!! How many times have you lost 74 pounds and knew in your heart that it was really the LAST time you would ever see those 74 pounds?????? You rock sistah!!!! About the pictures, I tried to post some pictures and it said they were too big. Maybe I will try to paste some, but I wish I knew how people were putting up their before and afters with no problems. Maybe I will do a search on that..... HP, thank you for the compliment. Also, I would think that canoeing would be an extreme amount of calories burned!!!!! Google calories burned by canoeing and see what you come up with. I bet it is A LOT!!!! We went to the lake both Sat and Sun and I really really really wanted to get into the water from the boat but, once again the fat fear monster wouldn't let me. We don't have a ladder or platform on the back of the boat, so you have to get helped in. I was scared if I jumped off, my poor DH who weighs in at 169...the jerk....would NOT be able to help me get back in the boat. So, once again, I did not get to have as much fun as if I was thin and boating. I keep saying next year, next year. But, you know what??? I am TIRED of thinking next year. I want to live my life now!!!!! I am sooooooo tired of waiting....shit, I feel better now...thanks all for listening... Oh, BTW, I go to the fill appt. today. I will ask the EP what he thinks about the weight gain after biking so much this weekend. Maybe he can give some insight to it.

I'm hearing crickets in here! So.... fasting today... Gained over thanksgiving weekend, but feeling good fasting today. REALLY trying to do it right on fast days. I killed myself with the leftovers.... lucky there was no pie in the house! Shoping today for some good veggies and supplies for healthy meals. Drinking a ton of Water, as i think some of the weight gain is water from all the salty stuff and carbs. Fingers crossed on that! Anyway ladies, chin up... write it all down, if you blew off your fast day today, there is always tomorrow! Lets not let this holiday bet us up! You can do it.

My surgeon feels that my band slipped during my pregnancy. I'm having it fixed 6/15. I do have a lot of symptoms but most discouraging is no weight loss since November, 2009. But at least no weight gain either. I'm still 100% sold on the Lap Band, but it's a journey and you need to be ready for anything.

For me, I don't think my antidepressant (was Luvox, now Lexapro) contributed to weight gain. If anything, it helped, since I was/am an emotional eater. Back when we were trying to find a med that worked well for me, I loved Wellbutrin for the energy boost I got (works on your dopamine levels, which regular SSRIs do not). Unfortunately it did nothing for my depression, so I just cried more energetically. Weight loss has done nothing for my depression, which really does seem chemical rather than situational or related to some past trauma. I had kind of hoped that I'd be able to get off meds once I reached goal; that maybe in some miraculous way, losing weight would adjust whatever chemical imbalance is occuring, in a similar way to how my hormones are starting to balance out with the weight loss. Granted, I'm still quite a ways off from goal, but just the fact that I will probably need to up my dosage at my next re-prescription time rather than decrease it tells me this is pretty much permanent for me. In the early days, I tried several times to wean off them, but always ended up deeply mired in depression again and had to go back on. My doc pretty much told me to forget ever going off of them, that I'd likely be on them for life. It's been 12 years now. And yes, I've tried therapy. :redface: Therapy was helpful for dealing with some of my issues, but not for the depression. :grouphug: BTW, I had a friend who went on Paxil and she did have issues with weight gain. She ended up bulimic as well as obsessive about exercise. :biggrin: I think some meds do cause weight gain, or interfere with losing. Or maybe it's a combination of the med and how certain people respond to it?

NATALIE forgive yourself honey your doing great and when it my time of month i eat all the wrong stuff my skin gets spotty and i blame hormones rather than my increase of chocolate........i bet weight gain not too bad you probably feeling 10lb of guilt...lol BRANDI you sound like life alot of fun at the moment !!!dont worry about knowing how to cope with the attention just go with the flow you will soon know if there is just one you want to be with all the time then concentrate on seeing where that goes ...dont pressure yourself youve taken an amazing journey and this just part of the trip so relax ...enjoy and take control ..it suits you to be confident ..you rock girl ,il be popping in for updates. well im fine now just odd nausea ..not many pains still feel a little gassy but feeling lighter and better...i cant tell though as my son soaked my scales and im praying they dry out and work again .

I went today for my pre admission testing at the hospital... I have never been happy about a surgury before. I just can't wait to get on with things. My dr never even asked me to do a pre surgical weight loss, I have been doing a pre surgical weight gain. I called today to see if I missed him saying that, and they said no.. see you on Wednesday! I am glad everyone is going well. Keep it up! Misty

I only lost 1/2 pound this past week but am not unhappy as I'm down 16.5 pounds in 5 weeks since surgery. Like the "other" Tom's doctor, my doctor doesn't expect extreme weight loss with the band. His expectations are about 1 pound per week which is a MUCH healthier way to lose than dropping drastic amounts at one time. I too am diabetic but since surgery have maintained healthy blood sugars without any medicines at all. A couple of the meds I was on for diabetes caused weight gain but they want you to lose weight to control the diabetes. That was one of the reasons I opted for the band. I knew losing weight would help control the diabetes and I could get off, or at least reduce, the number of drugs I have to take. I get filled next Monday. Now, if I could get the doctor's office to get the disability paperwork correct, life would be good. As it is, my employer paid me for hours that have now been denied so my check at the end of the month is going to have those hours removed which means I won't get squat. HAPPY NEW YEAR! At least I don't eat as much so the grocery bill isn't as high. <G> Tom

Hi Everyone! So it has definitely been a while since the last time I shared. I am 26 days out... 4 weeks to be exact on Monday. A week prior to surgery I weighed 245 lbs., the day of surgery I weighed 234 lbs and as of last Monday I weighed 219 lbs. I am 15 lbs. lighter since surgery and wildly confused about my latest eating experiences. For the first two weeks, I was basically on all fluids, Soups, Protein shakes, sf popsicles and Water was not well tolerated at all. After my two week follow-up appmt with the surgeon and the NUT I was cleared to eat "pureed" foods. I was given the green light on lots of different types of food, except rice, bread, Pasta, and other "carbs" that my NUT didn't think would help my supposed "high protein diet" that included Beans, oatmeal, Cereal, cooked carrots, corn and potatoes. Also, she said no to creamed soups, because they have too many preservatives or additives. I tried to be good and so far I've been cooking almost every night pretty healthy meals including baked skinless chicken with veggies including carrots and corn (lol), baked salmon with veggies, ground beef with red, green peppers, small pieces of potatoes, onions, sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese, parmesan crusted- pan seared salmon fillet and veggies and soups including creamed soups. For fluids, I am still having the "stuck" feeling with water and yet sf popsicles are super easy to eat and my personal favorite drink green tea with unsweetened lemonade and two splendas goes down super easy as well. Plus, since I commute to New York City for work Monday through Friday, I walk about 30 minutes at day at a fast pace (in other words, that is my exercise)...Lol Soooo, for the most part I stay on track not eating those "no no foods" however, lately it seems like I've been more relaxed with the rules and I've eaten everything from popcorn (at the movie theatres), to an 8oz slurpee, and a few Oreos (without the cream). I've taken bites of some junk food here and there, though I steer clear of bread, rice and pasta no matter how much I want to chomp down on them....and finding accompaniments for meat and fish has become a creative process. Lol. Sort to say. So with all this said, I am pretty worried, because many times I have been able to eat everything that I wanted at pretty high portions like 6oz of meat or fish and 3 or 4 oz of veggies even though it takes me a few hours to finish, but I get it down. Lately I've been asking myself if I'm even sleeved?? Geez! I'm almost sure I am. Lol, but I am so scared to gain weight, I have gone through the weight loss/ weight gain thing wayy too many times and I should be sure that since I'm sleeved I will go down, but I am not 100% confident. Is it possible to dialate my tummy already???... Our sleeve is a tool, I just hope I'm using it the right way. I'm sure that I don't even get half of the liquids that I am supposed to be drinking, TMI ALERT: my pee is way dark and definitely no enough at all times due to my lack of liquid in take, but I'm sure eating. My goal is to be 160-165 lbs. much sooner than later. I hope it happens. Good luck to all of you out there, reading your posts helps me immensely. I wish all of you that are having serious complications and financial issues blessings and that all gets better soon. I'm having financial issues too. But it will get better! ...and to all of you that are doing good/great keep it up! =)

I'm glad that you are feeling a bit better about the whole band process. I've gotten pretty down about it myself at times. I lost 55 lbs from July of 04 to August of 05, and then nothing until last month. Eesh. It gets so frustrating at times!! I don't like that doctors are 'fine' with 60%, and tell their patients not to expect any more than that. That 60% is an AVERAGE, which includes lots of people who lost 100% of their weight, and any people who haven't lost any weight, and everyone in between. I do think that as we get closer to goal, it will be harder to lose, but easier to maintain our weight with the help of the band, if that makes any sense. I'm sure that no one will have much of a problem for you to join the slow losers club. Well, to find out what's going on, I think we need more info! Are you tracking your calories n' stuff? Have you started exersizing (I know, it's horrible)? How much are you eating, and what are you eating? What does your doctor say? *hugs* Also, if you are working very hard, and not losing, go to your doctor and start demanding answers. Find posts on this site by Vinesqueen. She has worked her band as hard as it can be worked, and has lost I think 15 lbs total since being banded (she was down to 30, but gained 15 on a ONE THOUSAND CALORIE DIET!!!). She has been diagnosed with cushings disease and is being run through a gamut of tests, to try and find out what she can do to take the pounds off. Well, feeling better and having your blood suger be in control is good, right? What kinds of stuff are you eating? How many calories are you eating? And what does your doctor say? Like I said above, if you are following all the rules, your calorie levels are good, and you are exersizing, there has to be another part of the equation that isn't being addressed. Another thing to thing about is medications. Are you taking any medications that cause weight gain or anything? Is there an alternate medication you could be on? There are so many factors to weight loss sometimes, and it doesn't ALWAYS come down to calories in/calories out.

Well anyway - I love Mexico. I like to go on vacation in Mexico, have opted for surgery in Mexico, and oh how I wish I had some of the corn on the cob with red pepper that they sell on the street in Mexico. I once saw a man pick up an orange, cut it in half, and fill up an 8 oz. glass with juice from that one orange in Mexico. It was delicious. I have never been mistreated, harmed during surgery, nor have I ever been afraid of my surroundings. The doctors and nurses that I encountered in Mexico were very informative, professional, and they did their jobs. I was a chunky girl most of my life. Lose weight, gain it back. That was the story. I chose Mexico because I couldn't qualify under my insurance at the time and I didn't have the outrageous amount of money they wanted if I just paid outright. I got exactly what I asked for in Mexico and they charged me a price I could pay. I love those guys. This time tomorrow I will be 49 years old. I will walk out my door in the morning and not look like a larda**. And that is thanks to my Dr in Mexico.

Hmm Candra..... they told me the same thing about the Effexor took. Effexor is actually a stimulant but somehow it works. I have a friend on well butrin that is gaining weight. I think maybe it is less chance of a weight gain but it is still an anti depressant............. With me it I just felt bloated and slept to much after 3 years on them. I had to do something different but once the 50 pounds was on, it was on. I thought it would fall off once I stopped but it didn't!! LOL. So two years later............lap band.

My dr told me that irregular periods are due to weight gain/loss. Throws the female system & hormones out of whack tremendously! When I was at my highest weight (about 325) I had 2 periods per year and they lasted about 6 weeks each!! Talk about horrible. It will all eventually work out as time goes by and we reach ideal body weights...or at least that is what I am hoping :confused:

Sleeved February 22, 2011 Weight Loss - 136 lbs Consistently losing - I've had no weight gain at all I weigh myself once a week just to see if there is any difference - had a few plateaus and didn't lose any but no gains.....yeah!!

I kInow my weight gain after surgery was due to fluids... It came right off once they took me off of the IV that delivered fluids to me. I was able to take in my clear liquids pretty good and with the IV delivering fluids as well I gained 7 pounds.... But that didn't las long....

Wow it's been so long since I've been back. Yesterday I celebrated my 5 YEAR Sleeve anniversary!!!! I started this post and I'm back to say I'm 27 lbs. over my normal BMI goal. And a total 33 lbs. over my lowest weight. I will tell you it's easy to do. My sleevie has been a HUGE blessing. I would totally have gained all my weight back by now. Like my surgeon told me, we can help you with this tool, however we can't fix your mindset. That would require some type of brain surgery which they haven't discovered for weight loss as of yet (well not that I'm aware of). I will tell you it's an AMAZING TOOL, but NOT A FIX!!! or MIRACLE. My problem is I'm a huge snacker at work. I tell myself I don't finish my meals or eat that much at all...and it's true. However when I sit and think about every item I put in mouth during the day IT ALL ADDS UP. For some reason, for me at least, my sleevie wonder loves and tolerates Snacks VERY WELL lol. I'm a huge lover of the weight watcher program especially TRACKING. I know what I need to do, and I will DO IT! I also stopped weighing myself thinking I would feel it in my clothes...I did and ignored it. I listened to others who said stop weighing. I don't blame them at all. I did this allllll by myself. I will admit I was a little crazy weighing all day lol. You have to find what works for you and stick to it. So here's what I know I must do: -Weigh daily or once a week (I will start tomorrow SUPER SATURDAY WEIGH in here I come ) -and TRACK MY food FOO -stop blaming my age/hormones for the weight gain LOL almost 48, no excuses try and continue to get my 10,000 steps in a day (love my fitbit charger)- Hope these tips help. I know they are going to help me get back to where I need to be . I'm pretty content, but would like to lose 17 lbs and maintain there. I can do it. I've done it before. 90 lbs. to be exact. I'm so thankful to my sleeve sisters who did random acts of kindness yesterday to Celebrate my anniversary. I also received a beautiful plant at home. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful sleeve family through this journey. We can't do this alone. Happiness and Love to All! I wish you all Best wishes during your journey