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I'm 38 years old. My BMI is 35.8. 2 years ago I got a tummy tuck and lipo suction and looked great. The weight went down from 201 lbs to 175 in a year. On the second year after surgery, I gained the weight back. I ate everytime I was stressed. Chocolate calmed down my anxiety, but I also tried medication and the medication caused even more weight gain. I've tried Jenny Craig and spent hundreds in 1 hour-weekly sessions with couselors. I'm miserable and considering lap band. I wonder, is anyone out there dealing with anxiety? are you able to lose the weight despite the psych issues?:scared2:

I was loosing too much weight and got sickly (ER visit where had potassium infusion and fluids) [band was too tight, too] I vowed to eat more. So I've had juices, cheeses, fruits and some Peanut Butter and 2 weight watchers meals. From 125.9 to 129.9 in just two days. My plan is to lay off the juices and go to Water next week but I really need nutrition. I think my body is just in emergency mode and trying to store all my foods for energy. Anyone have this happen- rapid weight gain when eating low sugar/low fat foods? What should I be eating instead of fruits and dairy and Protein?

Having gone for a second opinion and changing doctors because of it, I am a big proponent of getting second opinions. My former doctor was inexperienced especially in follow up care and it showed when I developed problems. You need to feel comfortable with your doctor, have things explained to you and have your questions answered. If you weren't having problems - why did he do an unfill? Were you eating high calorie slider foods that can cause weight gain when you are too tight? Or were you just able to eat too much of regular food without problems of reflux or heartburn or pain? When was your most recent upper GI? Did it show that you were too tight? But as far as dieting - that is something that you will have to do for the rest of your life even with the band at it's proper fill (sweet spot). It just means that smaller amounts of healthy foods will satisfy you and cause you to lose weight. Many with the band continue with weight watchers or some other program. The band is suppose to help you with that by causing satiety with smaller amounts of food. But dieting and exercise is a part of the whole band experience. That being said, I know from my experience that the band will never work like that for me and have accepted that I will just have to calorie count and use willpower and exercise. I am unable to reach my sweet spot and will not tolerate pain, reflux or heartburn. How I think the band will work for me is to keep me from being able to eat the amounts of food I ate before, but as far as causing me to lose weight - well not so much (maybe a pound a month). I was banded in Sept. 08 and have lost 13 pounds from the band but my overall weight loss is 70 pounds (most from my own and all that pre and post op dieting - especially with liquids only). So each of us have to reach a point with the band where we can work on being healthy and feeling good. I hope you find that point. Good luck.

I under stand what you are saying. I never had any periods of being normal weight, gained alot, lost & regained. Just consistently been "obese" ALL my life so have nothing to personally compare it to. I have not been my current weight since age 14 & I am now 40. At my highest weight I was 368 pounds, lost some on my own before band, on surgery day (1/07) was 300.5 & today I am around 225. So have lost like 140 pounds from my all time highest. Still getting used to the "new" me. I would love to have some plastic surgery for my breasts, arms & stomach but I know that it is not financially possible for me so I just have to deal with it. I was never ugly & always dressed well and fashionable but just looking in the mirror and feeling sexy is a problem at times with the sagginess that I see. And sometimes i still see the old me in mirror. During those times i go upstairs and try on some of the old clothes that I kept as reminders. But I try to stay positive because my blood pressure is good, blood sugar is normal, my knees & back feel better. That means more to me. But if I were to ever hit the lottery...

Thanks for the support! Yes, Fanny, I am sensitive to weight gain around my cycle which is due next week. I also started a new BC pill 3 weeks ago and I've been spotting off and on because of it so maybe all that is affecting me. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and maybe I'll just wake up one day and be 199. That would be nice!!

You could very well be in what is caused perimenopause, although that would be early. It goes on for 10 years before actual menopause. Insomnia can start in perimenopuase. Sometimes doctors will prescribe anti depressants for people who can't sleep. some of them cause people to feel drowsy but you have to be careful cause the side effect for a lot of them is weight gain. if he offers you any antidepressant, look it up online.

I took a month off and I needed every day of it............I also have a very, very stressful job with lots of running around and driving. It would have been way to much for me to handle. Went back to work on Monday and actually it is the sitting all day that is making my port achy and hurt. Go figure. I guess I do better moving around or laying flat. My port was hurting so band by the time I got home tonight. Elastic pants tomorrow no matter how nerdy I may l look!!! LOL. Everyone is different. Gotta tell you my blood pressure and health was not great before surgery. I had migraines and GERD and (gross) I know but everything I ate made me sick at one end or another................I also had pnemonia really bad last spring and have some scarring on my lungs, I got chest congestion and a yucky cough after surgery. Hurt to much to cough it up(don't tell Liz) so I didn't which didn't help.............add the stess of my job and all the negetive media coverage lately and I was almost ready to go on stress leave forget surgery!!! I needed all that time to heal and get my head back in the right place........... to be honest I am out interviewing for jobs on Friday. Not sure my current job is a good fit for a "healthy" lifestyle. My PCP and Dr. Baggs have talked to me about work stress and how bad it has been affecting me the last year............Dr. Baggs said stress and weight gain go hand in hand...............so honestly I am trying to get into a less stressful/stable position as a long term goal to help with my weight and my mind!!! LOL. That is just my take on things........

Update....had my 5th post op visit this week and couldn't be happier with my weight loss this far. BUT...why is there ALWAYS a but? So for the past 2 weeks I have been having heartburn/reflux. Sometimes with discomfort, sometimes without. Sometimes it's just noise (embarassing noises that permeate from my chest). So of course I had tell my doctor...and of course she immediately went to "you must be to tight" So the battle insued. I knew she was going to want to do an unfill so I came ready. I knew an unfill would mean a set back and maybe even a weight gain, because without the band I have a veracious appetite. So we compromissed and she only took out .15 with the stipulation that we...that I monitor this heartburn/reflux. I must say that even that tiny unfill put me in a full on panic. But I am happy to report that the heartburn/reflux is significantly less AND my portions are still managable. But I get hungrier quicker....We'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted!

I got a book at my nutrition class all about the whole process of bariatric surgery. There is a section in it that has habits of successful habits of WLS patients --a list of Do's & Dont's. Anyway, weighing oneself everyday was promoted as a do. The rationale was that the patient would be awared of small weight gains and get on top of them before they became big gains. Until this past Thursday, I did not have a scale at home, so only ever weighed at doctor's appointments. Now that I have the scale at home I find myself weighing almost everyday. I am hesitant to trust what my at home scale says, until I have a better idea of the variation between it and the doctor's scale. I am trying to wait for my next appt on the 18th. My at home scale said I was down to 200 this morning . But since the only weight that "counts" is the one the doctor's scale registers, I am not touching the ticker yet. I hope there will not be a huge variation between my scale and the doc's. :mad2:

eww!! First off most people would not say that to your face lol...well in jersey they wouldn't because us jersey gals can get rough if you mess with us!! :mad2: Second, all weight gain is a mental issue. I'm sorry--maybe this will not make me popular for saying this--but i believe very few people gain 100lbs because they just love food that much. I gained 150 because i 1) love food and 2) ate when bored and lonely. It was how i would cope with anything. SO if my theory is correct--then WW peps would have the same freaking issue!! I don't tell everyone that I have the band--just those i trust because many are ignorant.

I'm starving corn toasties for breakfast... they work so well everyone has been telling me the weight gain horror stories of lexapro... i lost 3lbs... so i'll take that. i'm still borderline a mess so i can't get into that right now but getting better still starving... and i have a dish of icecream everynight too... but now want nachos!

okay so im going crazy:lol:. after 2 years of debating this im finally going for it. my hubby is in the airforce and we ae currently overseas in germany. i started the first step of making an appointment with my PCM but am terrified of not getting a referral. not to mention even if i do get a referal, so many people are having trouble with tricare. im 22 years old, 247 pounds. 5'8inches tall with severe arthritis and a degenerative hip diesease that can only be fixed by a hip replacement. has any one on here had hip surgeries (i've had 2 so far) and got approved for the band? im worried that it could hurt me instead of helping me with the surgery. they might say the hip diesease caused the weight gain and i know that you cant have any condition that causes the weight gain. you can only have a condition that gets better by less weight. even though ive always been a big girl, i have to admit, i wouldnt be this big if i could exercise more. (my hip has no cartlige in it so its painful to exercise.i still do though, and im sure with less weight on my joints it would be less painful. anyways, thrusday is approaching ever so fast and i have no clue what to do. :ohmy:

okay so im going crazy:lol:. after 2 years of debating this im finally going for it. my hubby is in the airforce and we ae currently overseas in germany. i started the first step of making an appointment with my PCM but am terrified of not getting a referral. not to mention even if i do get a referal, so many people are having trouble with tricare. im 22 years old, 247 pounds. 5'8inches tall with severe arthritis and a degenerative hip diesease that can only be fixed by a hip replacement. has any one on here had hip surgeries (i've had 2 so far) and got approved for the band? im worried that it could hurt me instead of helping me with the surgery. they might say the hip diesease caused the weight gain and i know that you cant have any condition that causes the weight gain. you can only have a condition that gets better by less weight. even though ive always been a big girl, i have to admit, i wouldnt be this big if i could exercise more. (my hip has no cartlige in it so its painful to exercise.i still do though, and im sure with less weight on my joints it would be less painful. anyways, thrusday is approaching ever so fast and i have no clue what to do.

Hey Guys, I'm feelin really bummed today :thumbup:. I decided to get the lapband, I went to the orientation here in Fayetteville, NC and completed all the required paperwork. My doctor was even in my corner, she completed all documents needed and wrote a letter of recommendation stating that my BP is elevating due to weight gain, it's not quite high yet, but due to the weight gain it is elevating. On the paperwork it has that my BMI is a 40 for approx 4 out of the 5 years, but based on the surgeons office that I was going to go to the insurance person for that office said it wasn't good enough, and that my insurance co wouldn't approve it because based on their scales my bmi is only 39.8. That really sucks, I did everything they asked and she wouldn't even give me an appt to see the surgeon.:frown: Now, I'm sort of scared to try another surgeon as I may get turned down again. I am scheduled to go to Duke for the orientation. Anybody had any experience as such that can give me a litte advice. Thanks

Thing is... we all have food issues or we wouldn't have gotten fat. So while it is true that some target groups will try harder and put forth more effort, I don't think anyone goes into this thinking that they aren't going to put some effort into it. Most people I have seen fail any WLS type goes into this determined to change their eating habits and food choices just to discover that maybe they can't do it afterall. The band or sleeve or any other WLS type doesn't do a thing to fix your head. It seems so easy on some levels, get surgery and darn well just change head stuff. It doesn't work that way. You really don't discover just how many food issues you have until AFTER surgery and then you also discover the severity of these food issues. Before my surgery I kinda didn't believe it was going to work. I knew I was going to try very hard to do it but I really didn't think I could change my food choices and habits. I shocked myself when I did it. Today I prefer healthy foods and getting back to basics. I won't eat a burger from Mickey D's, you couldn't pay me to do it. I never thought I could give up fast food but I did. I'm lucky, a lot of people try their best and have the best of intentions and they discover they just can't do it. So you can't really take just those that are able to change food habits and use that as a target group for average bandsters because they aren't average, they are above average. The average bandster will lose about 55% of their excess weight (considering loss and the well known regain for all procedures) by 5 years time. That includes people like me that really seriously changed diets, added exercise, etc. AND it includes those that just can't hack it. Then there are issues of another nature. One problem with banding is that each time you have a complication the fill is removed and you are put on liquids for a time and then solids but with no fill. Esophageal dilation, pouch dilation, slip, etc., it's an unfill. That puts a dead stop to weight loss and actually turns into weight gain for most. Then the problem is resolved and you are back to getting fills again and finding a sweet spot. This is one reason banded folks have slower weight loss on average. Then you have mechanical failure. Leaks in the tubing, port, or band itself. You lose restriction and quite frankly if we could do this without restriction we wouldn't have had surgery to begin with. Without restriction weight gain happens again until surgical repair. I guess my point is that you can't just take successful bandsters and use that target group as the average WLS person. They aren't average, not in the least. We all make all sorts of plans and promises to ourselves that we will do this or that but the true test is when it's time to do it. Then we discover it wasn't as easy as we thought. My guess is 100%. Nobody is perfect with food issues all the time. Some do a better job than others. LOL! You are in for a big surprise. Banded and sleeved people make cheap dates too. ;o) It's also a matter of less food in your body to slow down absorption of alcohol.

Well, this the longest I have gone without any weight loss. In fact I'm up a pound. I am trying to up my calories a bit for awhile and then bring them back down, just to fool my body. This is so frustrating....I was losing 2 or more lbs a week for a long time, and now in the last 10 days, I have gained 1lb. I'm tighter then the past, so, I'm going to use a little hot water to help in the morning. I am thinking about just changing my food routines as much as possible to get things going. I'm going to pretend like the 1lb gain is muscle this week. There now I feel much better.:biggrin:

Shelly - I know what u mean by being an emotional eater I am the same!! I have put on 8 stone in last 5 years! I agree it's time to do something for u. My husband is very supportive and I have been very supportive to him over the last 7 years through some tough times which has contributed to my weight gain. He is of the same opinion, it's my time now so here I am, all banded and on my journey! I agree the forum is addictive!! I don't always get on as often as I'd like as hubby works away and we have a 9m old baby so he take a lot of my time and I doubt it gets any less time consuming as they get older!!

So sorry also, but I'm sooo not surprised. I'm kind of in a remote area and I have no doubt that the group leader at my local WW group would be the same way. But the good thing about WW is you don't have to go to a meeting group just to follow and count points. There are so many programs out there these days that will do the same thing. I had a program for my Palm that tracked points and now on the iphone there's numerous. But you can get that reaction from many non-WW people. I haven't been banded yet (June 1), but my daughter has, but I've stopped telling some people I know because of their reaction. Even my previous primary care phy's reaction was "just count calories." DUH!! Silly me for not ever having tried that approach. So not to worry. Some of my greatest successes have been on WW, and also my biggest weight gains after I stopped following WW. Trisha

Our normal monthly lap band support group meeting in New Haven was a good one this month...two new people who were looking for information, one lady who was newly post-op (about 2 weeks out from her surgery), one lady who is scheduled for surgery within the next 2 weeks, plus our session leader and myself. We stayed past the regular 8 pm stop time, we were having so much fun talking. :cursing: It's really cool to meet new people who haven't yet been banded and help them through their journey. The band is so individual and everyone's experience is a bit different, but having that support is so valuable. I really like sharing the ups and downs (mostly ups) with others...I learn something every time I go to the support group. I've told everyone who I meet there about LBT - hoping that they too will find their way here and get additional information that will help them on their banded journey. Some wonderful NSV's have been happening for me lately...I'm a fan of Lane Bryant's clothing, and my sizes keep dropping. I'm sitting here right now wearing a pair of Right Fit Jeans (taking advantage of Casual Friday) in a size Red 2. When I started my weight loss journey, I was wearing size Yellow 5's. That means not only am I down three clothing sizes, my body is reshaping and my waistline is gaining definition. Beyond the obvious aesthetic benefit, it also means that one of the determining factors in heart disease - carrying excess weight in the midsection - is going away for me. I've read articles that say the "apple" shaped body is one that has a higher potential for heart disease because the excess fat surrounds your vital organs and can affect your heart and lungs more than when you carry your weight in your hips and thighs. It is mostly men who carry their weight in the "apple" shape - more women are shaped like "pears" - at least that's the theory. I have noticed over the years that I am seeing more and more women with apple-shaped bodies rather than pear-shaped bodies and it scares me. I did not want to become a statistic, hence my becoming banded. Losing weight in my waist also means that I can experiment with belts more...I just bought a dress at Lane Bryant (on sale - I try never to pay retail!) that has an elastic belt that goes along with it. In the past (my pre-banded life) I would have just snipped off the belt loops and worn the dress without a belt - they never looked good on me.:thumbdown: Now that I've lost 37 pounds, however, and because I am active and working out, I can wear that dress with the belt and it looks good -at least that's what my hubby has said! I'm thrilled that I think I look good in the dress as well - we are always harder on ourselves than anyone else in our lives. I'm just finishing up my lunch - one half of a turkey sandwich on wheat, with lettuce, tomatoes and provolone cheese. In my pre-banded life, I would have scarfed down that sandwich and been looking for seconds. It was an exercise in patience to finish half of the sandwich. I'm so happy I could just scream! :cursing: I am looking forward to summer for the first time in a LOT of years - because I know I'll be in better physical shape and be able to enjoy it more. I'm looking forward to traveling and having fun this summer without food being the major emphasis. It's funny in a way - I referred to my relationship with food in the past as an obsessive (and abusive) love affair. No matter how badly the food I ate treated me, I kept going back for more - I couldn't stand for someone else to get more of it than I did. I equated food with love - that started in my early teens, and funnily enough, so did my weight gain. Now that I must truly make choices with food that allow me to "eat to live, not live to eat", I am making better choices. I do sometimes mourn the comfort I used to be able to find in food - now I have to find it within myself. I am looking forward to finding out more about ME - all the things I wouldn't allow myself to experience because I was afraid I might stand out too much because of my weight and size...how much life have I missed? I can't get that lost time back, but I can commit to never hiding from life again! For those of you on this banded journey, take time to reflect on who you are becoming...your interactions with others, the "inner voice" you use to talk to yourself, and what you truly see when you look in the mirror. If you're not yet banded, I encourage you to keep up your search for information, but realize there will never be a perfect time to be banded - LIFE will always get in the way. Don't wait so long that your options are limited - do something for YOU, for your health NOW. As always, email me if you have questions, or just want to talk...I'm here for ya!

Our normal monthly lap band support group meeting in New Haven was a good one this month...two new people who were looking for information, one lady who was newly post-op (about 2 weeks out from her surgery), one lady who is scheduled for surgery within the next 2 weeks, plus our session leader and myself. We stayed past the regular 8 pm stop time, we were having so much fun talking. :cool2: It's really cool to meet new people who haven't yet been banded and help them through their journey. The band is so individual and everyone's experience is a bit different, but having that support is so valuable. I really like sharing the ups and downs (mostly ups) with others...I learn something every time I go to the support group. I've told everyone who I meet there about LBT - hoping that they too will find their way here and get additional information that will help them on their banded journey. Some wonderful NSV's have been happening for me lately...I'm a fan of Lane Bryant's clothing, and my sizes keep dropping. I'm sitting here right now wearing a pair of Right Fit Jeans (taking advantage of Casual Friday) in a size Red 2. When I started my weight loss journey, I was wearing size Yellow 5's. That means not only am I down three clothing sizes, my body is reshaping and my waistline is gaining definition. Beyond the obvious aesthetic benefit, it also means that one of the determining factors in heart disease - carrying excess weight in the midsection - is going away for me. I've read articles that say the "apple" shaped body is one that has a higher potential for heart disease because the excess fat surrounds your vital organs and can affect your heart and lungs more than when you carry your weight in your hips and thighs. It is mostly men who carry their weight in the "apple" shape - more women are shaped like "pears" - at least that's the theory. I have noticed over the years that I am seeing more and more women with apple-shaped bodies rather than pear-shaped bodies and it scares me. I did not want to become a statistic, hence my becoming banded. Losing weight in my waist also means that I can experiment with belts more...I just bought a dress at Lane Bryant (on sale - I try never to pay retail!) that has an elastic belt that goes along with it. In the past (my pre-banded life) I would have just snipped off the belt loops and worn the dress without a belt - they never looked good on me.:crying: Now that I've lost 37 pounds, however, and because I am active and working out, I can wear that dress with the belt and it looks good -at least that's what my hubby has said! I'm thrilled that I think I look good in the dress as well - we are always harder on ourselves than anyone else in our lives. I'm just finishing up my lunch - one half of a turkey sandwich on wheat, with lettuce, tomatoes and provolone cheese. In my pre-banded life, I would have scarfed down that sandwich and been looking for seconds. It was an exercise in patience to finish half of the sandwich. I'm so happy I could just scream! :w00t: I am looking forward to summer for the first time in a LOT of years - because I know I'll be in better physical shape and be able to enjoy it more. I'm looking forward to traveling and having fun this summer without food being the major emphasis. It's funny in a way - I referred to my relationship with food in the past as an obsessive (and abusive) love affair. No matter how badly the food I ate treated me, I kept going back for more - I couldn't stand for someone else to get more of it than I did. I equated food with love - that started in my early teens, and funnily enough, so did my weight gain. Now that I must truly make choices with food that allow me to "eat to live, not live to eat", I am making better choices. I do sometimes mourn the comfort I used to be able to find in food - now I have to find it within myself. I am looking forward to finding out more about ME - all the things I wouldn't allow myself to experience because I was afraid I might stand out too much because of my weight and size...how much life have I missed? I can't get that lost time back, but I can commit to never hiding from life again! For those of you on this banded journey, take time to reflect on who you are becoming...your interactions with others, the "inner voice" you use to talk to yourself, and what you truly see when you look in the mirror. If you're not yet banded, I encourage you to keep up your search for information, but realize there will never be a perfect time to be banded - LIFE will always get in the way. Don't wait so long that your options are limited - do something for YOU, for your health NOW. As always, email me if you have questions, or just want to talk...I'm here for ya! :biggrin:

my insurance took the weight gain as a sign that i wasn't able to do a regular diet. so they approved me.

I do log my food intake and I am sure it doesnt help that I take diabetes medicine that clearly states it causes weight gain. It is just frustrating that when you fix one thing another pops up. I cant possibly eat anymore than I already do. Thanks for letting me vent:tt2:

I cheated but then my surgery was cancelled anyway as there were cancer patients that required surgery - I was a backup and if they didnt have beds I would have got surgery and when they took me in to get changed and stuff I almost crapped myself because I had cheated - Thankfully they didn't do the surgery but it was then rescheduled for another 2 weeks after which meant I had to stay on the preop - which I didn't I ate as soon as I left the hospital and then the next day but went straight back on the shakes. Didn't cheat at all and then I rang the hospital to see what time I needed to be there the next time and I wasn't even on the list - So I ate dinner that night which I think I had every right to lol. Now my surgery is scheduled for the 12th (next tuesday) and they rang me on the 1st so I didn't start the diet until the 3rd, I've definitely cheated, I had a piece of bread with ham and cheese and then a cracker with vegemite and cheese and also an egg, I don't feel guilty at all because doctors are to blame for the cancellations and my weight gain and they've even admitted that. My surgeon's nurse also rang and basically I'll be having surgery on the 12th no matter what (thank god.) I know it's hard for people to keep on track but I don't see how doctors can expect you to be perfect when the shakes/preop diet they assign you is dishgusting, I've heard of a woman whose preop she could have fish and salad with dressing - I'm not allowed that but if I was it would have been way easier to stay on track

Hi good friends, You are all SO right about the weight gain. One of my biggest goals in life is to enjoy the truly memorable, rare moments. Being pregnant and getting to eat lotsa yummy food or justifying a bowl of Cereal every night before bed is one of those fun parts and I will not give that up. So I'm resigned to the fact that I may hit about 30 lbs before this over...that allows me to gain slightly more than a pound a week, very fair. Besides, there are weeks where I don't each much and don't gain at all, so hopefully it'll even out. I was like Heather and gained very little the first 4 months, so I figured it would continue that way. I wanted to say thanks for your remarks about my surgical scars. They bother me, but I'm more confident every day that it shouldn't be a big issue to keep them under wraps. I just have loved ones that won't understand, won't respect my decision, etc. As far as updates go, it's been kinda a crazy week. I had my work baby shower last Friday, it was a blast and we got tons of cute stuff! I will have one with friends and family next month. Also Friday, I had to rush to the OBGYN's office because I had gone 2 days without feeling the baby move and a blood test showed elevated levels of B12, which can put the baby in duress. Everything was fine, but it was a scary ride to the doctor's office! I've felt him daily since then, but the doc was great and basically said I could drive to the clinic every day if I wanted to hear the heartbeat and they wouldn't mind. Weekend was nice and pleasant, got a maternity swimsuit for those weekends at the pool that me and my girlfriends love so much, went out to lunch and shopping with a girlfriend. Late Sunday afternoon my hubby got in a bad car accident. He is completely fine, but he totaled his car. This actually works in our favor. We had 4 or 5 yrs left of payments on it, it was starting to have expensive repairs issues (it's an Audi), and he missed his Jeep days, so now that the insurance co has declared it a total loss and paid off his car loan, we get to find him a better car, more baby-friendly and less expensive to maintain. So it looks like we're both getting new cars soon, because my trusty old Ford Focus, while an amazing and perfect car for the past 10 yrs isn't the most baby-friendly either. I'm actually a bit sentimental and sad to see it go! Cherry, I am so excited to start post-baby weight loss support! I know we will do great. Fairy, how is life as a mom? I'm a first-timer like you.