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I am about to schedule surgery, and admit I have had these fears. I worry not about not having much of a stomach--just the risks of cutting a major organ which absorbs nutrients out of the body. Do the nutrients get absorbed in the small intestine? And, are you still hungry all the time? When you go out or eat with friends, do you just really stick out or can you get part way through an appetizer at least or some soup? How about drinking--I don't drink much at all, but enjoy a glass of wine a few evenings a week and the occasional beer in the summer. One thing which is true--if I had known in my 20s how irreversible the extreme weight gain would ultimately be, I might have prevented it. But, I didn't. Coulda, woulda, shoulda isn't going to get me golden years with my dear husband and a chance to be Gammie to yet unborn grandchildren. Whatever the downsides are, I accept them, but just want to be realistic and very, very careful about what procedure and which surgeon. Thanks everyone. Don't know what I would do without this group.

Lets face it. There isnt one BIG person in the world who doesnt dream about ebing somewhat at a regular weight. I was on that same boat before you. I was a compulsive and addictive eater. Therefor my weight gain was at a fast pace. The lap band however CHANGED MY LIFE. After getting the lapband i realized what real living was. I saw the weight coming off and i got more and more motivated. If you do choose to do it. you will see how your food addiction will turn into a LIFE ADDICTION. you will because addited to the new lifestyle and how GREAT it makes you feel. GOOD LUCK with your decision. J Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

I just had my lap-band surgery on Tuesday, Feb 8th and I feel great, but I have gained 7-8 lbs of Fluid in my stomach. I don't feel bloated or uncomfortable, just my stomach is pretty distended. Anyone else have that occur and hav any suggestions on how to rectify? Thank you, Lori

I felt the same as you right after my surgery. The weight gain is from the iv's that you had. This gain is normal. I could not lay on my left side for several weeks (not sure if that irritated the port or what). However, with each passing day, I felt so much better. Eat your liquids, try to go for short walks to get some exercise, and stay positive. The weight will come off. Best of luck to you...you are just beginning your "new" life.

Normal. Don't worry about your weight at this point, it isn't a true weight gain. Put the scale away until you start eating normally again. Try using a heating pad/taking your pain meds for the discomfort, though that's all part of the post-op recovery fun. Walk as much as you can as well.

I was right dam it!!! My doctor and the program neglected me. . I began to look toward the low carb diets when I found the answer in the Atkins book when I read taking beta-blockers will greatly hinder weight loss. Dr. Yarsbrough failed to even read my records to see I was taking Propranolol, a beta-blocker that is known to cause weight gain. I went to him for help and he destroyed my self esteem, degraded me ( by telling me I don’t know myself), demeaned me ( by laughing at me) and neglected to help me ( never looked at my records to see I was taking a beta blocker). Each question this doctor asked me, he nailed to the wall to fish an answer to why I wasn’t losing weight and how it can be blamed on me. He was very cruel and would like to stop him from doing this to others. If I did give up, I would'nt of found the solution. I am now back on track baby!! Because of the beta-blocker, I am the same weight I was two months ago, I found the answer.

So glad you're doing well! I'm sure the weight gain is just the fluids like you said. Do you mind my asking what your pre op diet was and for how long? I am doing this nine day liquid protein only thing and its killing me. I am having trouble understanding the point.

Well, I attempted to start a blog which turned out to be a bust so I'm gonna type something here real quick cause it hurts my tummy to sit down too long. I am still pretty tired and sore. Most of the gas pain has gone, I walked quite a bit after surgery in the hospital and once I got home. We had a 2 hour drive to get home so I was very sore once we arrived last night. I did take some pain medicine last night hoping it would help me sleep. I slept in short spurts of about 2 hours each. My kids were so excited that I was home that they stayed up past their bed time so that kinda' threw their schedule off. Our 2 y.o. daughter woke up at about 2 am and again at 4 am asking for me so I hobbled to her room - mainly so she could see me. Once she saw I was here, she settled back down. I was more comfortable sitting up on the couch with my feet up on the ottoman than I was in bed and slept like that for a bit also. I'm sipping warm tea with unflavored Unjury protein powder in it. I had a few bites of jell-o and broth yesterday. I was nauseated from the anesthesia which is very common for me so I had a hard time eating anything. I actually got sick in the hospital because I had a dream about food and I woke up vomiting. :/ I had a leak test and everything looked great! I started out at 281 and as of this morning I weighed 283! ugh...I'm attributing the weight gain to all the IV fluids as my hands, feet and arms are pretty swollen still. Haven't thought about food AT ALL which is kind of a small miracle. It takes me about 1 hour to sip about 6 ounces of tea so I'm doing everything very cautiously and slowly. Sorry if this is rambling but I'm still sore, tired and on a bit of pain medication. So happy to be on the other side! genepha lapband replaced and plication performed 2-7-11 Dr. Helmuth Billy Ventura, CA

I'd hate to come on here and say well, I'm unfilled and I havent gained so you can do it too, its patronising and not helpful. But perhaps I can share my take on it and you can take or leave my opinion, but if it helps you at all then I'm glad. I've been unfilled for a couple of months now because I had rectal cancer, and had to have chemo, radiation and a major surgery, which involved creating an ileostomy so I have a bag for now. I'm now having more chemo and will have the ileostomy reversed sometime in the next few months. Chemo hasnt made me the type of sick that means i dont want to eat so my appetite is quite normal. I was so devastated/angry/frustrated/terrified of being unfilled, I'd been so successful with my band. But I had no freaking choice. So I sat myself down and said to myself "you're a grown up and you know you have to face the consequences of your actions". I was also feeling so out of control with the whole disease that is cancer, my life was just taken out of my hands and I had a new schedule for the coming 12 months, my job, our travel plans, even our plans for a new house, I've just had to let them all go, so I was absolutely adamant that it would not take over my weight and self image too! I have continued to exercise like always, I run daily, I do bootcamp, I circuit train with my son - exercise is your prime weapon, it is just so important. Do lots and lots of cardio. I follow what I call my no bullshit diet, but amazingly, the other day I found someone has put it up on the web, lol - google the NOS diet or the no "s" diet. No sweets, no seconds, no Snacks is all it is basically. I eat three meals a day - healthy meals, meals that satisfy - I dont even try to stick to bandster portions, because only bandsters can do that! I've been logging calories, weighing and measuring but I stopped, because I felt that despite not gaining, I was losing all I'd worked so hard for and starting to become obsessed with food and dieting again - so yeah, 3 healthy meals, no snacks. That's only a couple of rules. No agonising over can I eat this, how much Protein does that have, how many calories do I have left for the day. I can eat enjoyable food, but not junk. Its really really worked for me, my weight has stayed pretty stable. Now I've had a slight advantage in that I had a big surgery in there and lost a couple of kilos that I was able to gain back, and unfortunately my 3 healthy meals included LOTS of salad to fill the gaps. Salads and ostomates and chemotherapy dont mix - I've just come home from hospital following a bowel obstruction (painful, you dont want one!) and I am simply going to have to cave in and follow the recommended diet of lots of white bread, potato, rice and not too many fruits and vegies - and especially no skins. It freaks me out - all those white carbs - but I really believe with the no bullshit approach, I still wont gain weight! You are the one in control of this, it is only you and you must make your choices. It is as plain as that. I wish there were a secret but there simply isnt. You're only human and you still might gain weight, statistically most unfilled or de-banded people do. But you dont have to absolutely pile it back on at lightening speed. You need to protect your self esteem, your sense of achievement and if you can contain the weight gain, you'll feel better than if you simply give up. Best of luck to you.

OK, so I have this scale that likes to change its mind depending on which foot I use to step onto the scale. and I was thinking it's probably not that accurate anymore. So I ordered a nice new digital scale that was recommended for its accuracy, and it was just delivered today. Boo hoo! The new scale says I weigh nearly 3 lbs. more than my old scale! So now I am in the unenviable position of having to revise my weight upwards instead of downwards! I am SO bummed. Now let me ask, should I revise my starting weight upwards by the same amount I am increasing my current weight in order to be consistent or just leave the starting weight as-is and suck up the unexpected weight gain as a result of getting a new scale?

I lost 20 pounds before the surgery on the liquid, I just spoke to my nutritionist who informed me that my weight gain was not out of the ordinary. But thanks for your kind words of wisdom. If you read my post I asked those who had a similar situation for their responses. I already knew where I went wrong. But I guess you're perfect.

Ok. I went for my 2 week post-op follow-up and weighed in 7 pounds heavier than on my surgery date. Before the "You-failed-your-lapband" folks start in on me, let me say that I know where I failed. I wasn't following my diet and I have not started exercising yet. But I will accept my responsibility. It's time to get serious and start working with my band instead of against it. It has been an uphill battle trying to deal with constant hunger. Has this post-op weight gain happened to anyone else?

We have developed abnormal relationships with food. We eat to cope. We eat when we're bored, happy, sad. Food can be a lover, a friend. The biggest problem with this is that food works really well and really quickly in these situations and we gain weight. If we only ate when we were truly hungry we'd all be thin. We also train ourselves like dogs to be hungry all the time. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger. If we eat in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, what this does is that every time we are in the mini-van, in front of the computer or in our chair in front of the TV, we are HUNGRY. This is not true hunger. This is phantom hunger and we've gotten really good at it. A major help is to only eat at the table so that it is the only thing associated with food. If you go up to a dog and say, "wanna treat?" they will go absolutely bizerk because they associate this with food coming in. There are many terms for phantom hunger - emotional eating, mindless eating, non-hunger eating, etc. This is the hardest thing to solve. The keys are to recognize our triggers and to identify sources of deep-seated psychological pain and address them so the phantom hunger will go away. The best book I've seen on this is called "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. True hunger is a physiological NEED for food. It is patient. Any food will do. There is no associated guilt or shame. Phantom hunger is a DESIRE for food. It is impatient. There is a specific craving. ("If I don't get chocolate right now I will harm somebody" etc.) It is a reaction to a stimulus. It is associated with guilt or shame. The easy test to see if you suffer from phantom hunger is if you can't stop yourself. Phantom hunger is the most complicated aspect of weight gain and therefore the hardest part of successful weight loss. It comes from many different things in each one of us. We all have this. Skinny people have phantom hunger but they control it. A great example in Dr. Gould's book is an overweight woman whose life's dream was to get paid to sing. Unfortunately, in high school, a boyfriend made fun of her singing and this hurt her deeply emotionally. Every time this psychological pain came up, she ate. She struggled to lose weight. When Dr. Gould identified this and encouraged her to sing again, she finally agreed to sing at a friend's wedding and she received many positive accolades after. This led to a job as a music teacher in an elementary school - she was getting paid to sing. Guess what? She lost weight successfully. She solved the source of deep psychological pain and therefore eliminated the source of phantom hunger. Another example is women who were sexually abused as children. Food treats the pain and obesity is an outer protection against abuse. This is very difficult to deal with alone and typically requires the help of a professional to bring this to the surface, deal with it and treat the source of psychological pain and phantom hunger. You see similar situations in unhappy marriages and basically any source of real stress. The secret in all these things is to deal with the source of pain and also find non-food ways to cope with them. All this is easy to say. This is the most difficult aspect of weight loss. Finding a psychology professional that deals specifically with weight loss can be helpful to tipping the scale in your favor. An interesting test in Dr. Gould's book is to ask yourself who you are jealous of and why. He sees many patients who can't pinpoint their source of psychological pain so he asks them who they are jealous of. This is how he identified the source of pain in his singing patient when she told him she was jealous of a friend who was paid to sing. This is a tiny amount of information on a very complex topic. You can do the nutrition and fitness stuff perfectly and still not lose weight if there are issues in the brain stuff category. Ask yourself if you suffer from phantom hunger and if you have difficulty stopping yourself. Consider working with an expert or reading Dr. Gould's book. Positive self-talk is another important topic in this discipline and I go into detail on this and more on YouTube. Search Watkins Weight Loss Class. I hope this is helpful. Weight loss surgery makes all this stuff much easier but it is still important to be smart in the disciplines of Nutrition, Fitness and Brain Stuff. I wish you all the greatest success in your weight loss journey. Remember the importance of buying yourself a really nice present when you reach your goal. Brad Watkins MD

Since all weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more than eating), the key to all successful weight loss is to create a calorie deficit. There are many great tools to help track this and most of them are free. My favorites are the iPhone app, "LoseIt"; www.FitDay.com and www.Livestrong.com go to Calorie Tracker and myPlate and create an account. These programs track your deficit and help point out areas of improvement. In general, you should get about a third of your calories from each of the main food groups: Proteins, fats, carbs. If you see higher percentages of fats or carbs, replace those calories with Protein calories and it will really help you eat smarter instead of just less. Over the past 20 years we are eating many more calories and burning far fewer calories. The secret to weight loss is to work toward a calorie deficit whatever it takes. Most people losing weight successfully are eating about 1200 calories per day (women) and 1400 calories per day for men. Below this, your body tends to start freaking out and hanging on to everything you eat. It is also important to drink at least 64 ounces of Water per day. Our bodies store environmental toxins in the fat and when you lose weight, all this stuff is coming out and your kidneys will really appreciate it if you drink plenty of water. This helps battle constipation as well. Also, take a multi-Vitamin every day. The Calcium and B-Vitamins really help with weight loss not to mention the other minerals. Nutritional psychology is a hot new topic. Bad nutrition causes depression and low energy which makes us want to eat more to feel better and we snowball into bad weight gain. Better nutrition is required for successful weight loss and we feel better. Also, we eat way too much sugar and this raises our insulin levels which takes all that blood sugar and turns it into fat which drops the blood sugar which makes us hungry and we eat more sugar and this snowballs into weight gain. We eat way too much processed food and we have to get back to healthy foods. Brilliant food chemistry has not helped us. Cheap food sweetener (HFCS - high fructose corn syrup) is in everything now (sugary drinks, Pasta sauce, ketchup) and our bodies don't know what to do with this stuff so we store it as fat. We consume massive quantities of this stuff and it doesn't help us lose weight. High tech fats such as trans fats and hydrogenated oils allow foods to have a much longer shelf-life because bacteria can't break it down but the problem is that we can't break it down either and we just store it as fat. A great rule of thumb is that if it doesn't spoil we shouldn't eat it. The classic example is an oatmeal pie that our kids drop in the mini-van and we find it a year later and it still looks good. We shouldn't be eating brilliant food chemistry. The more we preare our own meals and take our lunch instead of getting most of our meals at restaurants, the easier it is to lose weight successfully. Proteins - we should get about 45gms of protein a day (women) and about 60 grams per day for men. A 20gm protein portion (meat, chicken, fish, etc) is about the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of cards. Protein keeps us full longer because it doesn't mess with insulin and we need protein while we're losing weight so that we lose fat and not muscle. Fats - are the highest caloric density food. Each gram of fat has twice the number of calories as proteins and carbs. Believe it or not there are actually "good" fats (unsaturated). You want to avoid saturated (bad) fats. Saturated fats raise our cholesterol and clog our arteries. Unsaturated fats actually lower our cholesterol. To lose weight, you should limit fat grams to 20 gms per day and keep saturated fats below 10gms per day. Trans fats and hydrogenated oils should be zero. All this is easier these days with nutrition labels. Examples of good (unsaturated) fats include avocados, peanuts, soybeans, olives and oils such as olive, canola, peanut, corn, safflower, sunflower. French fries from peanut or safflower oil are actually healthier than those fried in saturated oils - ask your restaurant which they use. Fats actually release a gut hormone called CCK (cholecystokinin) which causes the gallbladder to contract and it is a powerful natural appetite suppressant. If you give CCK to rat they won't eat. Therefore, if you snack on a handful of almonds or dip vegetable sticks in olive oil, you manage your hunger and it is healthier. Bison (buffalo) has a great beef flavor and it has much less saturated fat than cow beef. Bison burgers and steaks are a much healthier way to enjoy beef than the cows that predominate our diet. Carbs - when eaten shoot up the insulin levels which turn blood sugar into fat and this drops our blood sugar level which makes us hungry. If you want to lose weight you have to manage carbs (sugar, bread, potato, rice - "white foods"). I see a lot of patients who go all day without eating and then eat a huge pasta dinner before going to bed. This is a perfect way not to lose weight. Carbs are best eaten earlier in the day when you have a chance to burn off all that energy. Eating three meals per day will keep us out of intense hunger and we eat fewer calories overall. I don't like Atkins type diets simply because they are hard to sustain. Better to manage carbs - keep them below 33% of total calories and eat them earlier in the day. Ice cream is enemy number one for weight loss. A great substitute is to make your own fruit smoothies at home. It is a sweet dessert but it is fruit instead of sugar and fat. Many stores have smoothie blends so you just toss it in the blender with diet apple juice or plain yogurt and it's easy. Be careful and avoid sugar added smoothie blends. Just get plain frozen fruit or make your own from fresh fruit. Great way to spoil yourself and eat healthier. I will post topics on Fitness and Brain Stuff (I don't like terms like behavior modification) which are the other two main disciplines of successful weight loss. I put this info and much more on YouTube if you search Watkins Weight Loss Class. Weight loss surgery simply makes all this stuff much easier but knowledge plus change is where you will find success. I hope this helps. Brad Watkins MD

Good morning from blizzardy Denver! I am on my DD's computer and wanted to check in and say hi. All is well here other than I am snowed in, was to go home today but probably not now, I don't want her to get stuck in the snow and start labor or something. She's doing well, off all restrictions. Dr said baby can come any time not but probably won't for about a week. Her gall bladder is bothering her real bad now so they may consider inducing her next week so she can then get that taken care of. I've been reading on my Droid phone so am sortta up to date, just can't figure out responding on the thing. So a few of the things I remember to comment on: Arlene, that must have been quite the stuck episode, never heard of it lasting like that. When I get stuck I usually just have to excuse myself, cough or burp once or twice and get rid of the offender and then usually can go back and finish my meal. Normally it's because I wasn't paying attention to bit size or chewing, almost always happens when I am distracted, talking etc. rarely when I am alone and being a good mindful bander. Have never had to do liquids or anything after, so I feel for you and sorry you had such a horrible episode. Laura, I got your humor about the purse. Heck get 2! LOL Sounds like you really have things figured out though and it makes sense that a weight gain can tighten it if a weight loss can loosen it. I too am one that doesn't have good boundaries right now and over commit, hence the Boundaries book I am reading is helping me in that regard as well. Meredith, take it from an old lady, if you can start saving no now and setting up good boundaries for your time you will save yourself a lifetime of grief. Good for you for realizing it at your young age. When do you start your pouch test? Linda, hope you are feeling better. Eva and Apples, have a great road trip, don't be too much like Thelma and Louise, don't they drive over a cliff or something in the end? Joyce, sounds like maybe the 5 day pouch test might be a good idea for you too to figure out what's what with your band? When you are getting stuck are you eating too fast, too big of bites, etc? Did your DH support the band going into it or has he been against it all along and just wants you to be done with it? It's gotta be tough if you don't have the support at home. Well I hear DD up, upstairs, today we are going to set up the nursery. We went baby shopping yesterday and finished getting all the baby stuff she needed that she didn't get at her showers. It's so cute. It will be a day stuck indoors in this snow storm. I know I won't be seeing my folks today if they didn't want to go out yesterday to see me in the almost 60 degree weather because it was too cold and too far, I know they won't go out today. DS was real hurt as we were to meet him at his Walmart and then go to lunch, he hasn't seen Grandma and Grandpa since they got to town, and DD was looking forward to showing them the nursery. Oh well their (my folks) loss. But when I did see my sisters and folks the visit went pretty well. I stood up for myself when needed, mom got a little ticked but I left feeling guilt free!

Hello Sizzling Sept. Sleevers; Wonderful reading about everyone's victories, challenges and determination. Amazing women (and men) here on VST. I am almost at my personal goal less than 5 months out. Followed my doctors/NUT guidelines and watched how others on VST & how they mixed things up to beat a stall. Slow and steady loss the last several weeks. So excited about how I feel - emotionally and physically. Sleeve has given me the chance to win the ugly weight gain cycle of lose a few, gain more back. Soon to join maintenance group. I say this with full faith - I have no regrets even as a self pay in US. A lot of money spent but I saved myself from medical issues, poor eating choices, lack of energy, self loathing and more. This forum gave me courage to step out and make sleeve work. Encourage you to keep sharing, newbies and "old timers" like me pour over your posts. Thanks!

I didn't really mean to create a blog just to post. I have been banded since August 2009 and have had a lot of trouble since near the start, it always seemed to be hard to do a fill as I was sensitive and a small fill would result in pain and taking some out again and being hungry again so it's been very up and down and never arrived at a comfortable place where I could just lose weight without drama. Today I saw a new doctor who said you have most likely been over filled for ages and the pouch has stretched and that's why you feel hungry. It was a light bulb moment like why did no one ever say that before, they just kept adding more then taking some out. This doctor said it looks like I skipped past the right spot and have been overfilled ever since, feeling miserable like a failure because I either couldn't eat anything or i ate ice cream just to eat something. I have been told, you aren't having enough water, not chewing enough and I know I did it right. Today I had 2 mls taken out and will wait 6 weeks for things to settle doctor said I might have to fight the hunger and weight gain but have to go back a few steps. Anyone else had these issues, would love to hear from you. This is a bit of a rant but been so frustrating and now I hope this is the answer

Wow! Quick fly-by. Laura and Arlene, hugs on the pb's. Weight gain is usually responsible for the difficulties. I know Kashi would make me pb. I can't do grains. I'm surprised after the very strong post on carbs that I didn't get any pms. Of course, I'm not sure I'd get notified or be able to find them. LOL. I have this thread listed as my favorite and go right to this and nothing else on LBT. Some people just take themselves too seriously and are too sanctimonious. They need to get a life then maybe they'd have something to post about. Gotta go to choir. CBL Cheri

Laura - Tell me who the F gave you a hard time about the coach purse comment !!! I will go kick their freaking butt !!! We know you were just kidding - Hell your DH is a doc & you are PA - so WTF - I got your back gf... I never had reflux prior to banding and hardly any heart burn - but now I get it from drinking Water sometimes- My doc's suggestion is to take pecide daily - I agree w/you that the weight gain is what has made your band tighter.. Yep you do live a very active life - but you gotta find 1 hr for you.. You gotta make healthier food choices. I think you have gotten complacement at where you are at.. If you are happy there that's fine - but I think and know you can do better - Hint Hint - Push Push.. Linda - Making our thread personal I don't think it's doable and l then how would newbies find us - but WTH none of them stay around too long anyway - I know our thread has lots of veiw - and lately with the new site enhanchments - pple are just posting all over the place I agree w/you 100% is they can't post here and join the group - don't send a flaming pm to someone... Charlene - Hugs on the pbing - I have never ever pb or slimed that long - once it comes up and can be anywhere from 1 - 3 throwups - it's done and over with and then band is usually wide ope.. Well I gotta get back to work - No this isn't a furlough friday - I am taking 1/2 day off - Eve/Karen should be here around 2 p.m. on Friday... I think

Hi I am new to this website. I was banded 11/15/10, I love it! I always had a weight problem but if I put my mind to it and followed a diet and exercised I was able to lose weight. Right before I got married I was doing just that watching what I ate and exercising like crazy and not gaining weight but not losing at all. I went for a physical and found out I have hypothyroid. For eight years I had gradual weight gain, surprisingly was able to lose pregnancy weight twice (I attribute that to breastfeeding) but after losing that the gradual weight gain continued. So in complete frustration I talked to my PCP about weight loss and he said his wife who is in practice with him has been working with a bariatric surgeon and he recommended I see them about lapband. He is a pretty conservative guy so for him to reccomend that I took it pretty seriously. I started seeing the surgeon in July 2010 since then I have lost almost 60 lbs, 20 lbs pre-surgury and the rest since. I had my first fill a week ago (2/1/11) and I remembered how being on liquids was like torture, hungry all the time. Back on regular diet now and doing ok. The holidays were difficult because I discovered there wasn't much I couldn't eat. I am having a difficult time getting back to the diet I was doing so well before the holidays but I have started exercising. My hardest times are the weekends when we socialize with others, I need to figure out something to help me eat what and how much I am supposed to. My biggest concern is not causing my band to slip. I realize when I do eat a lot it is nowhere near what I used to eat without the band but still I have the moments. I am looking forward to checking out chat areas on here and learning more and getting and giving support when possible.

ok, ok. It seems my attempt at humor regarding the "coach bag vs. barium swallow to check band" joke was lost in the translation! My apologies. I received SEVERAL concerned and 1 pissed off comment about it, so let me say something for the record. 1) I have had reflux off and on for 10+ years and been on PPIs (prilosec) for 10+ years. 2) Studies prior to banding, during surgery and after have shown no hiatal hernia. 3. Lap banders with a previous history of reflux (almost but not always, usually) have reflux after banding (worst if you are "tight" or "too tight" or even at "sweet spot") 4. I would never ever EVER sacrifice my health for a stupid purse! (yes, someone, who is a "watcher" of our post but has never posted, accused me of putting my health in jeopardy for the vanity of designer THINGS.) DEEP SIGH. We are taking ourselves wayyyyy too seriously guys. They said I need to be careful of what I posted b/c there are LB patients who will take my statement as truth and will jeopardize their health and ignore serious symptoms. That being said, let me clarify things a bit. Yes, 3 months ago after an un-needed fill (which many of you thought I didn't need), I quickly had to go get an unfill. Although I have "maintained" my weight for the last 6+ months, I have in no way, shape or form been very healthy about it. Although I lead an active lifestyle (keeping up with a 6 year old, swimming, shopping, living) I have not been doing much purposeful exercise. The result of which is- I stayed the same weight, but lost muscle and tone. I have actually gone down in "size" but have felt an increase in abdominal fat. Now- over the last 2-3 months have seen a 8-10 pound gain. (hovering around 225 today) Although this seems a small amount (in the grand scheme of things), I truly think it was enough to effect my band. Our stomachs can lose and gain weight too. We have fat around and on our stomachs. Weight gain alone can cause our bands to get tight. If you add peri menopausal Fluid fluctuations in the mix, it can cause havoc on our bands. I truly think that the need for 3 unfills is more to do with the lack of exercise and gaining of 10 lbs, than it has to do with something serious. Other than the occasional reflux which got worse the last couple days, i have had NO PBs, no vomiting, no pain, and no increased ability to eat food- nor the inability to eat food. I have had the same restriction more or less since reaching my sweet spot- after a cup of solid food I am full. Both nights that I had severe reflux I ate too close to bed AND I had dairy (frozen yogurt) after eating solids food for dinner. The dairy then sits on top of the food and loves to cause havoc on my esophagus once it relaxes when I fall asleep. Is this clear as mud now? I am going to go make a Protein shake and take a shower. I walked 3 miles for the second day in a row and my legs are hurting..LOL. I will cbl...peasout..Laura PS. I will write more to everyone later.

I was banded on January 17, 2008 and did exceptionaly well for about 1.5 years. Then I had a major mental breakdown (bipolar disorder) which required higher doses of some medication that has the awful side effect of weight gain and insatiable cravings. I tried to control it, but the weight began piling back on. After I became stable, my RX doctor tried to cut down the dosage to help with these side-effects...I went manic AGAIN. It looks like I will be on this medication for the rest of my life. Here we are another year or so later and I have gained ALL of my weight back, plus some. A few months ago I decided to get a complete un-fil because the medicine was causing INTENSE cravings that caused me to get stuck all of the time. Needless to say, as soon as I got an unfil the weight came on even faster. I have never weighed this much in my life! Actually before I was diagnosed as bipolar, I had a normal body weight. After starting medications I gained over 100lbs in a year (This was when I was about 16 years old, I'm 27 now.) I really need someone to help motivate me to get filled again, and to try and fight these horrible cravings! I was only 20 pounds away from my goal weight and I feel that with more motivation I can get back there. If anybody out there is listening, I would really appreciate some help working through this. Thank you all for listening

Stress definitely effects my weight, and fat deposits. Everyone knows we've been trying to conceive. As much as I say I'm not stressing about it, how can I not be stressing, right? Anyways, one thing I have noticed is that my fat has been returning to my stomach area. I have a muffin top in a size 2? ?? How can that be, right? Plus, my husband's job is changing and very demanding which in turn puts more stress on the baby-making, I'm just a hot mess. I am a firm believer in the cortisol causing belly fat, and weight gain or stalls. It's a hormone and throw that in with all the other hormone stuff going on, it's the perfect storm. Find a massage school, and go rubbed down once a week ! ! !

Hi Mellisa, I also have bipolar and am pre-op. I was diagnosed in July and put on depakote and gained 10 lbs in 2 months because of it! After informing my psychiatrist of my decision to get the band and my strong feelings that the depakote was making me gain weight AND worsen my anxiety (I was worrying about gaining weight lol), she changed my medication to trileptyl. My suggestion is to inform your psychiatrist of your plans to get the band. Mine had many patients that had it done actually and she started changing my medication right away. I haven't had any weight gain on this medication and had enough time pre-surgery to get my body adjusted to the new meds. I know changing can be a pain in the butt, but when the medication is counteracting what you're trying to do with the surgery, it's going to make it much more frustrating and stressful. I hope that helped! Good luck to you!