Search the Community

<p>Hello. Everyone. </p> <p>About 5 years ago when I stopped smoking. I gained so much weight. i tried everything. Nothing seemed to work. After gaining over 50 lbs . I had a baby putting on another 21 lbs. Family and friends try and spare my feelings by not telling me how big I've gotten. Well I finally came to the decision about getting banded. No one knows. I will tell my husband after I get it done. Because I know he would freak out the thought of a weight loss surgery. I told him that I'm getting a procedure done. I'm doing this for me. I'm 5"3in 248 lbs that is not cute. I'm only 35 yrs old. </p> <p>I want to enjoy my children, my husband and my friends. I went to a bachalorette party I was so out of breath with just seconds on movements. I went with my daughter on a out door trip with her school I had to keep stopping the walking was killing me. I love having sex but with the weight gain, I'm limited to one position all others tire me out. I want my old back. Give me 9"s and 12"s not 18"s and 20"s. So I will keep my secret until its over. Oh god I hope nothing goes wrong.<img src="http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" smilieid="8" class="inlineimg" /> Sep 6 is my date.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Essence36</p> <p>Long Island , NY<img src="http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/smilies/kiss2.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Kiss2" smilieid="154" class="inlineimg" /></p>

Okay, so I'm getting banded June 6th! Oh I was so excited when I was scheduled! But here's the deal. It's like the closer I get to the surgery date the more scared I am! It's kinda like what I would imagine an alcoholic or drug addict might go through before being admitted to a rehabilitation center. Food has been my comfort now forever!!!! I eat when I'm sad, happy, celebrating, depressed, hungry, bored....the list goes on....I EAT!!! Now I'm scared about my life after surgery. I'm a lower BMI candidate but I'm also 45 and I am definitely headed to more and more weight gain. I'm a RN by trade and I know when people begin to talk about their experiences (i.e., surgeries, child birth etc) the vast majority tend to make them sound more and more horrible. As I'm reading this board I have to say MANY sound tremendously unhappy and miserable with the band and yet when there was a poll over 90% would do it again. SO QUESTION? If I give this my all.....exercising, chewing, chewing, chewing, small and wise portions, never eating in a hurry(barring complications of course....).....are chances being that I will be glad I got this band?

Hello. Everyone. About 5 years ago when I stopped smoking. I gained so much weight. i tried everything. Nothing seemed to work. After gaining over 50 lbs . I had a baby putting on another 21 lbs. Family and friends try and spare my feelings by not telling me how big I've gotten. Well I finally came to the decision about getting banded. No one knows. I will tell my husband after I get it done. Because I know he would freak out the thought of a weight loss surgery. I told him that I'm getting a procedure done. I'm doing this for me. I'm 5"3in 248 lbs that is not cute. I'm only 35 yrs old. I want to enjoy my children, my husband and my friends. I went to a bachalorette party I was so out of breath with just seconds on movements. I went with my daughter on a out door trip with her school I had to keep stopping the walking was killing me. I love having sex but with the weight gain, I'm limited to one position all others tire me out. I want my old back. Give me 9"s and 12"s not 18"s and 20"s. So I will keep my secret until its over. Oh god I hope nothing goes wrong. Sep 6 is my date. Guys its no longer a secret, today I felt really bad about not discussing my surgery with my husband. He said he had and idea I was up to something . He said I had been getting so many eob from the insurance company and he knew I wasnt sick. He was relieved that it was the gastric bypass. Well I took him to meet my doctor. Believe it or not he wasnt angry. He did admit that he was a little hurt that I was planning something and out of all people I couldnt come to him. He said that he would have tried to talk me out of it, however if this surgery was that important to me than he would support it. I told him I was gonna tell him write after the surgery. I just didnt want him to stop me from doing it. He read all of the responses from u guys. Some he thought was funny but he did say he was glad that you didnt support my madness about keeping it a secret. He agreed not to discuss it with anybody. Sincerly Mrs and Mr Essence 36

No. No weight gain after surgery. Thanks!

1. I don't think they are saying you failed to keep the appts. The wording they choose is off but I think what they are saying is you failed physician-supervised exercise and nutrition program that has regular visits every 2-4 weeks. The reason they put the 2-4 weeks bit in parenthesis is because they are explaining what type of doctor supervised program it is. 2. If you are unable to work because of you illness, have you applied for SSDI? If not, you should. 3. Since the requirement is that you must not gain weight and you did. Your PC should have documented why despite your best efforts you did gain weight. Namely that you tried but the meds caused you to gain. So it seems the key item missing is that there was no justification for your weights gains noted. 4. You can go forward with the appeal, but unless you think your PC will add those justifications in there and advocate for you, it might be worth your while find a new PC. Unfortunately you may need to start this process all over again under the new PC unless you can document how you are in constant pain awaiting this surgery. Even then they may want proof that the surgery will solve the problem.

Hello Everyone ! I was sleeved a year ago after going through gastric band first 6 years ago. I am finding it hard to eat. I have major heartburn so still taking Omeprazol each morning, i am kind of under weight now and still cant get food down easily. At time even liquids are hard to keep down as something is blocking the passage. Anyone has experienced this before ? and will it ever get better ? I hear people talking about weight gain and some people can eat all kinds of things few months after surgery, which makes me wonder why i am suffering this much a year after my surgery? What is your experience and what do you think???

I'm thinking of going the IUD, I'm currently on he Nuvaring, while it's convenient I thinks it's caused my hair to thin, weight gain & a low laws drive .... Hoping for something w/o hormones

Well, I've crossed that bridge a thousand times on previous diets. Struggle very hard to lose some weight, gain it back, over and over. Oh yes, I would get a band again anyday. We all want to lose our weight fast, like yesterday, please, BUT this is THE fastest I have ever lost this amount of weight and I have to say it's been so much easier than dieting without the band. It's still hard some days, but overall better than no band. I was told to expect one to pounds a week, so I believed that and it has been true. Do I expect the last 15 pounds to be slower than that rate? YUP? After you lose 50 to 60 pounds, it will take fewer calories to maintain that new lower weight, so it will take even fewer to continue to lose, so the rate at which we lose will slow down or we have to increase our exercise to compensate. None of that is news to me, so I won't be surprised. I think if we look at our weight loss, from week to week it seems slow, but if you look at your weight loss over the past six months, then it's impressive really. You've lost over 7 pounds every month on average! Keep it up and one day, you'll wake up, get on the scale and be at goal!

So sorry to hear your situation but don't give up. I have Anthem BCBS of Ohio and they are strict but should check for sleep apena. Mine was brought on by my weight gain. I'm at 250, bmi 41 currently and I have mild sleep apena. So just for that, it's important.

Medications do throw a curve into the post sleeve process. HRT does not cause weight gain according to NIH studies but Hypothyroid does so i would start there with a doctor visit and blood test to insure your med levels are correct. after meds the most normal cause of the 2 hr hunger monster is simply sugar spikes caused by sugar or simple carbs like bread. Fat is the Macro that provides satiety (feel full) so make sure you have a healthy fat in your first meal of the day and low carbs.

In most cases, I feel an in person support group is a must have tool, Weight gain after surgery is due to one not following the rules after surgery. If one falls back into their old eating habits it is easy to sabotage progress. It’s always easier to blame the surgery vs. taking responsibility for one’s own actions. For example, we have a member of the support group I belong to that is gaining weight. She needs to start tracking her food consumption before the Nut or the rest of us can help her. However, she claims to not have time to complete a food log. In other words, she is in denial and not much can be done to help her. The surgery is only a tool; one still has to make the mental changes to be successful. It is not easy, but the healths benefits are great, but carry some draw backs that have to be overcome. In most cases weight gain is due to one not following the rules after surgery. If one falls back into their old eating habits it is easy to sabotoge themselves.

I'm really going between having the surgery and not having the surgery. I mean, is it really going to benefit me? Do I want to go this route, or do I want to do it the way I always could before? I don't know. I have no clue what I really want to do. Do I need the surgery? No, I don't NEED it. I'm tired of the anxiety that this is creating - not the problems - that's not bothering me, just the anxiety that the thought of having this surgery is giving me. I don't know that its right for me, I really don't. If it bothers me to even tell my husband about it, can it really be right? I know that eventually, I will get my energy back. I know I'll be able to work very very hard and get the weight off. But do I want to wait for that? My big concern is that I don't want my family to see me like I am now. I'm embarrassed of what has happened to me. No, its not all my fault - but yeah, some of it is. I'm tired of the looks and stares - like when I go get a very very healthy smoothie - people look at me like "what's the fat lady doing getting something healthy???" - Someone actually said something once to the person they were with - and I retorted with "I'm sure it probably does make you feel better to pick on someone who's fatter than you, but how does it make you feel to pick on someone that has a dehabilitating disease that is treated with medications that make it nearly impossible to get out of bed because of the painful side effects and the enormous amount of weight gain caused by it - not to mention the chemo-like IV treatments - yeah. Are you on your way to the cancer ward now to laugh at the bald kids?" I thought the person was going to start to cry - GOOD - maybe next time they'll think twice.

I'm really going between having the surgery and not having the surgery. I mean, is it really going to benefit me? Do I want to go this route, or do I want to do it the way I always could before? I don't know. I have no clue what I really want to do. Do I need the surgery? No, I don't NEED it. I'm tired of the anxiety that this is creating - not the problems - that's not bothering me, just the anxiety that the thought of having this surgery is giving me. I don't know that its right for me, I really don't. If it bothers me to even tell my husband about it, can it really be right? I know that eventually, I will get my energy back. I know I'll be able to work very very hard and get the weight off. But do I want to wait for that? My big concern is that I don't want my family to see me like I am now. I'm embarrassed of what has happened to me. No, its not all my fault - but yeah, some of it is. I'm tired of the looks and stares - like when I go get a very very healthy smoothie - people look at me like "what's the fat lady doing getting something healthy???" - Someone actually said something once to the person they were with - and I retorted with "I'm sure it probably does make you feel better to pick on someone who's fatter than you, but how does it make you feel to pick on someone that has a dehabilitating disease that is treated with medications that make it nearly impossible to get out of bed because of the painful side effects and the enormous amount of weight gain caused by it - not to mention the chemo-like IV treatments - yeah. Are you on your way to the cancer ward now to laugh at the bald kids?" I thought the person was going to start to cry - GOOD - maybe next time they'll think twice.

Beautiful before, stunning afterwards photo. Thank you for reminding everyone that the hunger can come back. I get hungry now too, much to my dismay. Making bad choices can cause back weight gain. Hugs - and keep rocking your sleeve.

Actually there is something called starvation mode. I actually had my two week post op today and met with my surgeon and nutritionist and they brought up starvation mode when I complained about my stop in weight loss. When you workout you gain muscle so that causes the stall and possible weight gain of a couple pounds before you actually start losing weight. Don't add to or take away from your diet with consulting your team first. Trust me that's what I did and I am medical for over 15yrs. Just keep following your diet and you will get past this no problem. By the way 15lbs is awesome congrats. Remember the small victories and don't be discouraged

Being too tight will often lead people to eat more high calorie slider foods which is what is responsible for weight gains. It is often the high calorie foods that slip past a tight band.. and if u are too restricted u are hungry and often desperate to get some form of food inside you ... Plenty of threads on the forum about people unable to eat protein but can eat pizza and burgers and all the other junk food

At some point she probably gained 10 lbs and that's the basis of her claim of having overcome being fat. Susan Powter used the photo of herself when she was pregnant. And some of the Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem people have done the same thing. We ALL had to lose weight after pregnancies. That's not the same thing as fighting obesity. Except of course for Jaffa. Doubt if pregnancy played a roll for you. Man, you're going to be so glad you got the revision! It's the best thing I've ever done for my health and my appearance. At this point I haven't had it very long and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that this elation I feel, lasts. I agree with SarahD on that. I've been through so many ups and downs doing every diet imaginable and struggling after every re-weight gain following the strict dieting. No wonder we don't want to share our surgery with everyone. We have a hard time believing this is going to work long term ourselves so why should anyone else think it will? We've been through so much disappointment ourselves, we don't need to see it reflected in our friends eyes. I imagine my friends wonder what I've done because I've lost so quickly. And when they ask and I tell them I have another 30 lbs to lose, they say "Oh that's too much!" But of course 30 lbs will only put me at the same relative weight that they are right now. Slim people are clueless about what obese people go through.

I agree with Tiffykins. Jillian's tactics are barbaric, and her "knowledge" of the emotional aspects of weight gain/loss are pop psychology, at best. She is just the latest in a long line of pseudo-saviors that have figured out a way to make a lot of money offering hope to those that they considered hopeless. And, while we're on the subject of The Biggest Loser, do you all really think that NBC has kept this show on the air out of the goodness of their corporate hearts to inspire and help the millions of people who watch it every week? No, they keep it on the air because advertisers pay for the freakshow effect; the majority of people who watch The Biggest Loser aren't watching it to get fitness or diet tips. Like most of you have said, who among us has 6-8 hours a day to exercise? Most of the people who watch TBL watch it to see the fat girl fall of the treadmill, or see the fat guy cry because he is so hungry. They watch it to make themselves feel better; "At least I'm not as bad as those freaks." It's humiliating and degrading to all people, no matter their size. Okay, my rant is over...for now.

Hi, I agree John Goodman looks great and it really doesn't matter how he did what matters is that he did. I have been on a strenuous exercise routine for 30 years now I walk 2 hours a day 5 days a week with 7 serious hills) I think if you added up all the days I missed in those years they would not even make five years and before surgery all that walking did was to slow down weight gain to a crawl. I also spent most of that time on a diet! Surgery was a last option for me and I don't regret it nor do I believe it was the easy route. I am not a fan of Jullian nor of the show. I remember there was once a challenge for a group that had been out to get back in. They had then do steps for five minutes and the one who did the most got the spot. Thing was there was one man whose knees were shot and one woman who had asthma! It certainly did not seem like a fair contest. Also the contestents are not all the same size I would guess BMIs probably range from 35 to 60 and while they go by percentage of what is lost someone who is 400lbs at 5'3" will lose a bigger percenbtage then someone who weighs 250 at 5'3" doing the exact same thing. Nancy

I just went to my obgyn on Monday and she put me back on NuvaRing. Didn't want to do an IUD because I haven't had children and didn't want to do Depo because of weight gain. I have taken NuvaRing before and she thought that was the best option for me post surgery. HW 344, DOS 320, Surgery Date 2/20/13, CW 279.8 Sent from my iPad using RNYTalk

You can also click my picture and go to my website and find my first fill on video. Its day 27. So, you just had your first fill. Not so bad, right? For the remainder of the day on your “fill days,” you should stick to just liquids: clear and full liquids. The band around your stomach is a little tighter so it may take a day or two for your body to adjust, so taking in only liquids for the day can prevent the possibility of anything getting “stuck” at the band site. Everybody’s fill volume is going to be different. And the amount of fills you get will vary from person to person. So, don’t compare yourself to others, thinking “why does she have only 5cc’s and I’m at 7cc, etc etc?” It can take a while until we reach the sweet spot of filling your band with just the right amount, to where you can still eat but feel comfortable and satisfied after a small amount of food, and continue to lose weight. Which brings us to the rules of how you should be eating. It’s not just “what” you eat, but also the way you consume your foods and liquids. For the most of us, we’ve been raised in the Clean Plate Club of America, with membership only granted to fast eaters. That behavior has got to change. Remember: SLOW, SMALL, and CHEW THOROUGHLY. When consuming foods and drinking liquids, take your time and slow down. Where’s the fire? When we eat too fast, we often end up eating too much. And when we finally feel full, we’re grossly stuffed. Sound familiar? Being so full, we have to excuse ourselves, unbutton our pants just so we can breathe. If you eat too much, over time, you may stretch your pouch. And stretching your pouch leads to a larger stomach that can hold more food. More food = more calories = weight GAIN. It takes about 20 minutes for our brains to register satiety. Once you train yourself to slow down, put the fork down between bites, and savor the food, you may find yourself being comfortably satisfied with less food than usual. Try it. After a couple bites of food, ask yourself: Do you feel full and satisfied with the amount you just ate? If so, this is a good stopping point and it’s time to step away from the table. For solid foods and liquids, make sure they are in small amounts. No more pelican mouth. If you eat too large of a bite, chances are that you probably won’t chew it well enough. This increases your chance of food getting lodged at the band site. The next thing you should do would be to locate the nearest sink/toilet/trashcan/whatever receptacle because what just went down will most likely want to come back up. Think of a funnel. Only small pieces can pass. Too large of anything: food, liquid, pills can clog up your pipe. With each bite of food, chew thoroughly. Now that you’re reminding yourself to slow down and take small bites, don’t forget to chew your food up quite well. Your stomach shouldn’t have to do much digesting. The food should be broken down well enough prior to entering the stomach. By chewing your food thoroughly, you decrease the likelihood of food getting stuck and increase the ability to tolerate more foods like beef, chicken, bread, etc. And also, chewing your food thoroughly will help you slow down the pace. All of this will come naturally, it just takes some practice. Keep reminding yourself and you’ll realize why it is so important to modify our eating behaviors. Lin Lin Shao, RD LD Bariatric Dietitian

Cindy, First I want to say DONT GIVE UP! Loosing 55lbs without a good fill is excellent! Everyone here have given you great ideas! PLEASE get some blood work to check your thyroid function, hormone levels and your blood sugar and have them check for insulin resistance. If they find an inbalance it could be easily fixed with medication and you'll be on your way to loosing again! DId you know that one of the side effects of birth control pills is weight gain? This could be hindering your efforts. I know the pills are important for you to have but maybe you need a different kind of pill. I also think you need a good fill. Making better choices is much easier when you can only fit a little food in your pouch! I was making bad choices too before I was restricted. Sometimes we have a little tinkering to do with our band before it works well! Hang in there. Please let us know how you're doing. Marsha, RN

I can only share with you my experience. My husband hates me tiny. He hates it with everything in his being. Literally, he loves that I am gaining weight in the pregnancy. He jumped up and down when the scale showed a 15lb weight gain. He has always preferred "thick" girls, all of his exes were bigger girls, I was just the biggest he'd ever dated. He admits that my personality/character traits/behaviors have not changed with my weight, but he doesn't like me below 150lbs. Well, he just learned to deal with it because I got down to 125lbs and a size 2. He likes me best around a size 7/9. He has a preference, and I no longer fit into that preference. However, I told him that I had a preference of taller, dark-haired, hairy chested, older men, and then I met, fell in love and married his scrawny 6ft tall, 6 years my junior, 165lbs framed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, bare chested offerings, and he needed to realize that he fell in love with me, not my size just as I had fallen in love with him, not his physical attributes. It's been a tough 2 years with me dropping weight, and sizes changing. The big, round, soft women he "knew" doesn't exist anymore, but he still loves me, still thinks I'm beautiful, and loves everything about me. Lots of communication has been the key to use navigating through the changes.

I think you summed it up right there. For me, I don't have a lot of the poor health conditions that come along with being over weight. My blood pressure is 95 over 59, I have a resting heart rate of 58 and a cholesterol of 139. I am healthy as can be. That is of course, until you look at the size of my ass-- it could replace Texas if need be! LOL. My little glitch is my thyroid, and it has reached levels of organ failure and cardiac arrest. The rapid weight gain associated with this prevents me from working out (causing blisters, joint pain, etc) and I am actually one of those weirdos thta LOVES working out. Throw on a recent pregnancy and it has been a recipe for failure. My doctor said that at my highest weight (227.5 at 5'5" and 28 yrs old) I would have a 75% chance of staying the same way or gaining more if I did not have the surgery. I have hypothroidism, and it is virtually a non-functioning thyroid. My endocrinologist has been workign hard at getting my numbers back in line and if all goes well, I should be back to normal in 3 weeks. Woo hoo! That being said, I was sick and tired of having my weight explode every single time my thyroid decided to change. I had the surgery on Thrusday 4/9 in an effort to couterbalance the thyroid issue. Part of it is also my own fault, I eat way too fast. The band helps with that. Most of all, I am a new mom and I have spent way too much time battling my weight. I have my whole life ahead of me and do not plan on wasting a single second. Being at this size and weight is a waste of my time and my life. By having the band, I am able to eat way less than the average person while getting a boost in the weight loss department. Thereby, beign able to work out sooner once I get to a slightly less painful weight for my frame. In this sense, the band is a tool, nothing more. I think you summed it up quite well yourself though--- You've "been miserable for far too long".... Life is short. I for one know I could not do this without the band. Best of luck to you!