How is weight loss for people over 50?

[BJean 16]

Green: Wow I can't believe it's almost September and then before you know it they'll be wheeling you in for surgery! How long is your expected recovery time? I do not have that kind of money lying around right now. Otherwise, I'd like to be roommates. Your doc sounds terrific.

I've often wondered how painful it is. I've seen photos of people who have had a facelift and there's a lot of bruising involved. Personally I wouldn't be too concerned about the bruising as far as scaring the natives, but I'm not all that happy thinking about the pain.

I too have roseacea and my new doc suggests a photofacial procedure that is relatively new. There is some pain involved and you do have to have that topical painkiller stuff applied an hour before the procedure. I don't think it does much for wrinkles and the jowls, but it is more for the color and texture and sun damage to your skin. A full facial is more appealing because of getting so much taken care of at one time.

A friend of mine in Orlando was 82 and she had had 3 facelifts. She told me that I should go ahead and have one and that as far as she was concerned it was the best money she ever spent. She absolutely did not have that deer in the headlights look. She had a great doctor too.

You're too cool using your monetary inheritance to take care of your genetic inheritance! I shoulda put mine in a Christmas Plan - and given me a big, beautiful Christmas gift! I'm thinking of you, grrl! Eh?

[New Life at 63 0]

You bet you can. I am 62 and have lost an average of 3 lbs. a week. Just got my second fill this morning. I have been stuck a little but has started to move again. I'm not quite three months out and am almost half way to goal.

Carlene had my name for our secert sam drawing and yes that is a beautiful picture Miss Carlene.

Sallyjo, This is my first time logging in and I am scheduled for my Lapband on Sept 20th. Your comments are very encouraging to me. I am 63 and have also been concerned about my age and how fast I would lose. I've never been at a "normal" weight, even as a child. Past history leaves me feeling like this may not work either. It seems almost impossible to believe that after dieting without success all my life that I have suddenly found the answr. But your words have calmed my fear.

Thank you, Charlene:)

[Betsyjane 2]

I have rosacea and have the little capillaries lasered every 4-5 years. Works great~!

[green 6]

Yep, I will be getting photo-facial work for the roseacea. I also have truly horrible skin on my upper chest thanks to a couple of bad sunburns I received when I was younger. I am hoping to get that work done at the same time.

My surgery is fairly expensive but I made a point of choosing one of the well-known and very respected guys. I figure that with a face job you really can't afford any mistakes. I sure don't want to be wearing a burqa for the rest of my life! :phanvan

It sure would have been great, BJean, if we were doing this together. And like you, I am absolutely terrified of the pain. :paranoid I do have a prescription for oxycontin and some kind of Tylenol 3 clone. The nurse also suggested that I get some arnica to help with the bruising. I will be staying at the clinic over night and I believe that they will be giving me a farewell shot of morphine in the morning. The downside is that I likely won't be able to read for the first few days and reading is typically what gets me through every difficulty in my life. :think This means that I will be stuck with daytime TV. :tired Ugh! Boredom.

NMSunshine: it looks like the aliens were telling us that a full face lift is the way to go. :ranger: This makes me feel better about my choice.

[DynamoMini 1]

green - you go girl! I'm with you. I have to zap the eating demons first and toss off the extra pounds.

I hear you about the rosecea. I wonder if all overweight people have that? or it is genetic? Anyway I have had the capillaries zapped and it works but I have to redo frequently, and it is expensive. Man, I stay out of the sun as much as possible and always wear a SPF makeup now.

green - I think you have a very good surgeon who isn't sugar coating it. It sounds like he knows his stuff and you will have great results. I wouldn't worry about the healing time, as I for one, know I have wasted a lot of my time anyway. So, enjoy the autumn colors. By winter you'll be a knock out inside and out.

Hugs all,

Michelle

[crabcake 0]

My facelife, which is the full Monty, is going to cost me 24,000+ in Canadian bucks. He is going to be doing some lifting and hauling and repositioning of my face as well as filling in various lines, some of these are fine, some not so fine. I also have a little bit of roseacea on my cheeks which he will be treating. He will be filling in the lines which run between the nose and the mouth and plumping up my lips. He will be doing some eye work. He works on each section of the face independently and so I won't be ending up with the Hollywood caught in a windtunnel look.

At my pre-op appt they took a bunch of photos. Looking at these certainly smashed all of my illusions about myself. Arghhhh! :omg:

@ Betseyjane: I know my surgeon wouldn't be able to give anyone quotes over the phone.

He really needs to see your face in order to assess the work and the cost. The thing which bumped up the price of my work was the very thing which has kept me looking younger than my age - my cute little apple cheeks. :phanvan These cheek pads are too big for him to reposition easily and that is why the invasive approach. This is costing me many thousands more. Oh, that damn gene pool, eh! Anyhow, the lapband and plastic surgery are what I am spending my inheritance on, fixing up what I inherited. Seems kind of appropriate, it seems to me. :heh:

Crabcake: Thanks for the suggestion about Chantix. I tried to get my doctor to give me a prescription but she refused. I am on Wellbutrin (Zyban) for depression along with a bunch of other meds for depression, osteopenia, asthma/bronchitis, acid reflux, and cholesterol. She refuses to give me Chantix. :cry To tell you the truth, I take so many meds that everyone at my local drugstore knows me by my name. I still haven't decided whether this is embarassing or cosy. :straight

I take Wellbutrin as well. I was also taking a truck load of others, but since my sugery, I've dropped 3 of my high bp meds and cut back on the Wellbutrin (well, we're giving that a go...the vote's still out). I also dropped my acid reflux meds and my high cholesterol meds too. Even if I don't lose the weight (oh please, oh please, oh please!) it'll have been worth it just to get of all these meds! I know what you mean about everyone at the pharmacy knowing your name. I too was torn whether to feel flattered or embarrassed!

I'm sorry your doc won't swing for you taking it. I don't know what the interactions to the other drugs would be, but I would think getting you to stop smoking would be a huge incentive! But I'm sure she has her reasons.

[NM Sunshine 1]

Crab Cake

I checked out that medicine that helps you stop smoking and it blocks the dopamine (pleasure) recepters. Wellbutrin and other antidepressents may work on increasing dopamine. They would be working against each other. Not sure on any of this, just suposing.

[crabcake 0]

Crab Cake

I checked out that medicine that helps you stop smoking and it blocks the dopamine (pleasure) recepters. Wellbutrin and other antidepressents may work on increasing dopamine. They would be working against each other. Not sure on any of this, just suposing.

Could be. When Wellbutrin first came out I remember hearing something about it being used as a stop-smoking aid. Maybe the two combined would be too much? But neither my shrink or my pcp had a problem w/ me taking both, so maybe the Chantix interacts w/ something else Green's taking...but then, the AMA asked me to stop practicing medicine unless I got that little piece of paper saying I could do so! So who knows?

[IndioGirl55 32]

Could be. When Wellbutrin first came out I remember hearing something about it being used as a stop-smoking aid. Maybe the two combined would be too much? But neither my shrink or my pcp had a problem w/ me taking both, so maybe the Chantix interacts w/ something else Green's taking...but then, the AMA asked me to stop practicing medicine unless I got that little piece of paper saying I could do so! So who knows?

CRABCAKE - you have me CRACKING UP on the AMA - you sound like me Dr. Janet

GREEN - Congrats on the face lift - 9/24 is my Dad's Bday... It's a good day in my book (if you can't tell I was a Daddy's Girl) Good luck on the smoking - I hear you on that one

Hi to the newbies - Welcome

Hi to all the regulars - I was just cking in - gotta get back to work - i am off the rest of the week and gotta get my desk cleaned up - talk to you all later..

xoxoxo

Janet

[phyllser 3]

Sallyjo, This is my first time logging in and I am scheduled for my Lapband on Sept 20th. Your comments are very encouraging to me. I am 63 and have also been concerned about my age and how fast I would lose. I've never been at a "normal" weight, even as a child. Past history leaves me feeling like this may not work either. It seems almost impossible to believe that after dieting without success all my life that I have suddenly found the answr. But your words have calmed my fear.

Thank you, Charlene:)

I'm 63 also, 64 in Nov, and had my surgery 5 1/2 wks ago, July 20. I lost 20 lb pre-op and another 10+ since. My first fill is next week. It's never too late for a new start. I've been waging this battle since about age 8!!

Best wishes to you!! You can do it!!

:whoo::whoo::whoo::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

[green 6]

green - you go girl! I'm with you. I have to zap the eating demons first and toss off the extra pounds.

I hear you about the rosecea. I wonder if all overweight people have that? or it is genetic? Anyway I have had the capillaries zapped and it works but I have to redo frequently, and it is expensive. Man, I stay out of the sun as much as possible and always wear a SPF makeup now.

green - I think you have a very good surgeon who isn't sugar coating it. It sounds like he knows his stuff and you will have great results. I wouldn't worry about the healing time, as I for one, know I have wasted a lot of my time anyway. So, enjoy the autumn colors. By winter you'll be a knock out inside and out.

Hugs all,

Michelle

Thanks for your good wishes, grrl. As for the roseacea, I dunno.... I have always been inclined to think that the kind of blondie who has a roses&cream/sun sensitive skin is liable to be attacked by roseacea. My upper chest looks like a farmer's work boot!!!:eek:And yet most of my skin is oh so whitey white! :phanvan Go figure....:tired

IndioG, tell your daddy to keep his fingers and toes crossed for me while eating his birthday cake, eh. My pop's birthday was 11/24, anutha 24 man! (And up here in Canada this is what we call a large case of beer, a two four.:biggrin1:)

[LadyHR 0]

Hi, everyone -

I have enjoyed reading about all the surgical procedures. I saw an infomercial recently on that Lifestyle Lift and I was ready to sign up! But I'm always a sucker for those late night infomercials!!

Green, good luck and I hope you'll keep us all posted throughout your adventure. You'll have to post some before/after pix for us.

Welcome to the new posters and let us know how your banding procedures go.

I'm scheduled for my 2nd fill next week - hoping to get just the right amount of restriction again. The first one was great until a few days ago and I started being able to eat more and I get hungry quicker now. I guess I've lost enough that the band has loosened up so that's a good thing.

Everyone have a great week!

[bonniep 0]

I'm 54 years old and have decided to get banded. I've been to an information session at Lahey Clinic in MA and to one support group (2 are required). I'm scheduled for the 4 required nutrition consults as well. Because I'm self-pay, I don't have to worry about insurance approval. I do have to lose between 12-15lbs before they'll schedule my surgery.

I'm particularly concerned about losing the 12-15lbs I need to lose before getting banded. If I could lose weight, I wouldn't need the lap band! How did you all lose the weight you needed to lose in order to get the surgery?

I'm hoping that I'm not a 1/2 lb a week loser -- that would discourage me no end. Once I get into excercise, I can really go at it and if my eating is clean, I should lose. A few years ago I got really sick and was unable to eat much of anything at all for a month and I only lost 2 lbs per week -- and that was with eating no food at all. I'm convinced that my metabolism no longer exists!

Well, this is my introduction to this group, I guess.

Thanks for taking the time to read my introl.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Welcome! I don't have any advice on how to lose before you get banded. I wasn't required to lose anything. I did the opposite. I have quite a few

"last suppers"

[NM Sunshine 1]

bonniep:welcome2:

I am yet to be banded. My banding will be on Sept. 11, not long now. From my point of view is that the band is to help us lose the weight we need to lose but most important the band is to help us keep it off. Many of us have dieted down to a goal weight (I have over and over again). But once we start eating again we gain all the weight back, usually even more weight.