Worth the read

[Amanda1982 142]

Wow...I think this should be required reading before you get the bad. I had it all wrong I thought is was about restricting the amount of food that you could it. I makes sense to me. But is it true????

[ElfiePoo 109]

Yes, doctors and literature are all over the map and I think that none of them are really thinking about how the band actually works.

Betsy, you've said a number of times that when you eat, at some point you get a sense of "enough" and you're content for awhile (unless I completely misunderstood your posts). That sounds very much like what that article was saying.

Cleo, don't depend too much on 'scientific evidence'. Those who have used lavender oil on burns know that the pain stops almost immediately and prevents blistering if you put it on right away and even some of the most serious burns are healed within a fraction of a time as burns using more traditional methods. Yet you won't find any scientific evidence showing that and the medical community is still using less than adequate means in comparison.

Sure, you can get your band so tight that you can only eat a couple tablespoons of food and you're constantly urping and sliming (not directing this towards Cleo or Betsy btw), and if that's what it takes to make someone put down the fork, then so be it...but I want to eat like a normal person and know it's time to put down the fork before I have to open the top button of my pants. I can't just not eat when I'm not hungry because I'm *never* hungry. I eat because I'm never satisifed or content. To be honest I can feel that way even when I've stuffed myself.

I know the band can give me that feeling of 'enough' because I've been there in the past. It just never stays. What I realize now is that when I lose that feeling, my band just needs to be 'tweaked' a tiny bit.

I know the band won't stop me from pigging out. Even when I was overfilled, I could eat large volumes of food. I just couldn't eat certain foods. So I'm looking for the band to tell me 'enough'.

Again, we each need to find the way to make the band work for our particular needs. There is no right or wrong way...unless you're doing something that will cause you physical harm over time...such as being so tight you're getting stuck everytime you eat.

.

[ready4change10 0]

This was very interesting. I'm glad that I read it. I am newly banded and have been struggeling with what I should be eating and how much. Lately it has been hard for me to want to eat, I have been eating two meals a day. I don't measure but I stop eating when it is gone and nothing else or until I feel like I don't need anymore. I haven't really been eating a consistant three meals a day because usually I don't feel very hungry or if I do, food just doesn't seem too appealing to me. I haven't had my first fill yet but I go for it on monday. I think that I need to start measuring what I am eating because I have been eating more than recommended but not over eating, I never eat till I feel full or uncomfortable. For example, for breakfeast I will eat 2 eggs as an omlet with 1/3 cup shredded cheese and maybe one piece of bacon. Does that seem reasonable, or too much? I always feel satisfied after this most times I won't be hungry again till dinner.< /p>

[Cleo's Mom 257]

I still want a scientific or medical reason why food staying in the pouch for only a few minutes provides a lasting sense of fullness. I need to know the biology behind this statement.

Also, why the "no liquids before or after eating" then?

This is from Bariatric.US

• Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), also known as gastric banding or lapband surgery, is a type of bariatric surgery that promotes weight loss by restricting the amount of food that can enter the stomach at any one time. By slowing digestion, it also helps to control feelings of hunger and increase the feeling of fullness after eating a meal. Gastric banding offers obese individuals a bariatric treatment that is less invasive and safer than gastric bypass surgery.
  

Edited October 21, 2010 by Cleo's Mom

[extraonme 4]

That article isn't band Bible, it is just the author's view point from her experience. I hear all the time from everyone that each of us are different and each journey is specific to each of us. So don't put too much emphasis on one article, do what is right for you and what your Dr advises. I have made myself crazy reading a millions posts and articles of the past 5 years and now being banded I realize my body is doing what it wants no matter what was published!:wink2:

[Phranp 46]

That article isn't band Bible, it is just the author's view point from her experience. I hear all the time from everyone that each of us are different and each journey is specific to each of us. So don't put too much emphasis on one article, do what is right for you and what your Dr advises. I have made myself crazy reading a millions posts and articles of the past 5 years and now being banded I realize my body is doing what it wants no matter what was published!:wink2:

OMG! I thought this article was written by the doctor shown on this page! Taking a closer look I do not see an author at all. Hmmmmm

My understanding of the band is that which is explained in Cleo's Mom's post. It also makes sense to me. Mostly because being hungry was never the reason I overate, so having a band without restriction wasn't going to change my appetite per se; although by the time I got to my sweet spot I had changed my diet to the extent that the foods that I eat satisfies the physiological needs of my body AND I see a therapist which helps with the emotional eating. So restriction, eating healthier and therapy have been the keys to my success.

Hey, if you are someone that loses without restriction, I am thrilled for you. That just has never been the answer for me.

Good luck to all.

[ISING2 0]

Thanks very much for the article. Everyone has posted good thoughts and valuable insight.

I don't know if this doctor is 100% correct, but he sure did give me pause on how I've been viewing the band. I probably fall somewhere in the middle -- I want some restriction, but I also recognize that it's only a tool and a lot of this is up to me.

I'm pretty sure my portions have not been following the guidelines I was given, but I also never expected to be as hungry as I am. As I've said before, not "head" hungry, but real stomach-growling noisy rumblings. I hope I can get myself use to smaller portions, or this is going to be miserable.

Staying focused on my goal - working out, and planning my food. I'll add Portion Control to the list and try to incorporate it.

:wink2:

[Cleo's Mom 257]

The band was promoted as helping to reduce appetite/hunger. Period. It has never done that for me and from the many posts I've been reading, it hasn't worked that way for a lot of others. Sure you can be so tight that you are unable to eat much but if that doesn't translate into reducing your appetite and take away your hunger, what is the point? All of us could eat less and be hungry before the band on every diet we were on.

[WrenBird 11]

Thats my problem. My appetite isn't supressed. I was on appetite suppressants before the band was put in and it was successful - the band has only succeeded in making me eat mushy foods.

[ElfiePoo 109]

Cleo,

Is it possible you passed your sweet spot and went from not enough to too much?

In hindsight, I've had suppression of appetite in the sense that I no longer desired to eat but it didn't last long. Now I think perhaps I might have just needed a tweak.

.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Cleo,

Is it possible you passed your sweet spot and went from not enough to too much?

In hindsight, I've had suppression of appetite in the sense that I no longer desired to eat but it didn't last long. Now I think perhaps I might have just needed a tweak.

.

That's possible because my idiot former surgeon filled me wrong for a 4cc band (he told me I had a 10cc band - I don't) - he did 2cc's and then 1cc (too tight) and then 1cc unfill. With a 4cc band the fills are much smaller and refined.

But keep in mind that I am not looking for weight loss at this point. Just a feeling of satiety/fullness/lack of hunger. I am not interested in the terminology. If I get that, I will take care of the rest because I eat healthy food and exercise every day.

Something else to discuss at my doctor appt.

[AngryBaby 2]

For me, it used to be about restriction. "I can eat too much...I need a fill". However (now that I'm at my sweet spot) It is more about not getting hungry. I don't crave food. In fact just thinking about the foods I used to love to eat makes me nausious. (Greasy cheeseburgers, onion rings with a giant Dr. Pepper, blah blah blah...) It's weird how much things can change with just one last fill.

[2beskinny 4]

This actually is not consistent with the peer-reviewed medical research associated with the band.

This is VERY different than they way the band was explained to me. My surgeon is one of the top bariatric doctors in the country...

That's not to say that there is not value in the information...different approaches work with different people. I do like his message of eating a specified amount and walking away. That is good advice no matter how you believe the band works. This guy seems to have a helluva marketing department...

[Melissannde 41]

I suspected that this article would be controversial, but also thought it might be helpful to some.

I work on the principal if a technique works for you re: weight loss, ride it till the wheels fall off. If it's not working for you.. re-evaluate and make a change somewhere.

I agree that the food not staying long in the upper stomach (or pouch) and the prohibition against drinking after eating seems contradictory.

I know someone who is a patient of Dr. Simpson and she said she would try to remember to ask him about this next week when she sees him.

To clear up some confusion, Jessie Ahroni didn't write the article .. Dr. Simpson did. Or at least it is posted on the site that bears his name, so I would think that he at least approved the article.

Many thanks for the thoughtful and insightful posts on this subject. I'm somewhat tender-hearted and really hesitated to post this as I don't deal with confrontation very well at all. Sometimes I can't even open this thread.. I'm so afraid of negativity. :w00t: Thanks for being gentle with me.

[Phranp 46]

I suspected that this article would be controversial, but also thought it might be helpful to some.

I work on the principal if a technique works for you re: weight loss, ride it till the wheels fall off. If it's not working for you.. re-evaluate and make a change somewhere.

I agree that the food not staying long in the upper stomach (or pouch) and the prohibition against drinking after eating seems contradictory.

I know someone who is a patient of Dr. Simpson and she said she would try to remember to ask him about this next week when she sees him.

To clear up some confusion, Jessie Ahroni didn't write the article .. Dr. Simpson did. Or at least it is posted on the site that bears his name, so I would think that he at least approved the article.

Many thanks for the thoughtful and insightful posts on this subject. I'm somewhat tender-hearted and really hesitated to post this as I don't deal with confrontation very well at all. Sometimes I can't even open this thread.. I'm so afraid of negativity. :w00t: Thanks for being gentle with me.

Mellisande,

After being beat about the head and shoulders for being frank - which sometimes includes not using tact - many on this forum have become more PC in their responses to posts. And, I have to admit, this does have its merit. As obese/formerly obese/soon-to-be formerly obese people we have had our share of ill treatment; so I can definitely see the value in asking that we treat each other in a civil/kind manner even when we disagree. The unfortunate part is that sometimes we lose the people that would give the "let's be real" answer in the process. But, oh well, such is the way of the world these days. All in all, I know what you mean about not wanting to check the responses because you are non-confrontational, I am sure you are not alone. No one wants to be beat up for expressing an opinion. Glad it turned out well for you.

I am sure that many a newbie will be checking with his/her doc to find out the validity of the article. Personally, I have been banded long enough to actually know how it works for me; so if I read an article that said the band would explode if I ate ice cream for two days in a row, I would know this not to be true. Yes, in the early days I am sure I had ice cream two days in a row -- shame on me. LOL This article just confirms for me that everyone should do their homework thoroughly and check several sources for answers.

The question that just won't go away is: If restriction is not an important component of having the band, why not just have a band without a the saline balloon? Just asking (Dr. Simpson, not you Mellisande).

All the best to you on your journey.

~Fran

Edited October 22, 2010 by Phranp
used the wrong terminology - pouch instead of balloon