Does Lap-Band help with emotional eating?

[Monica S 1]

I have read this thread and it has really opened by eyes to what is happening to me now. I have not had the surgery, but I am going through the procedures and requirements for my insurance. I have noticed that I am eating everything in sight and it doesn't make any difference whether I am hungry or not. I can be stuffed to the brim, but I will still eat. I know this is emotional and it has to do with my attitude with getting the surgery. Somewhere in the very recesses of my mind, I believe I need to eat all I can because I think I won't be able to do so afte I get the band.

Mind you, I do not want to ever eat like I do now, so there's where the band will come in. At least I hope so. So after saying all this, I was wondering, did anyone else have this problem before surgery?

I am trying to figure out how to get the word "NO" in my vocabulary.

Roberta

RDUNN, this is what I call the "last supper phenomenon", where you pig out before surgery in case you're never able to pig out again. It happened to me, and to many others. Try to remember that you still can pig out with the band, at least until you have restriction. It's not like you'll never be able to eat again. That said, it's a common thing.

[RDUNN 0]

Thanks Monica, I am finding this out from reading through the post. It was scaring me thinking I would not be able to follow through after the banding. I feel as if I have absolutely no control. I am vacumn sucking up all the food around me.

Again, thanks Monica

Roberta

[plumptuous 0]

(what's 'peckish'?) :Banane56:

Very good advice, Jacquie! Not being snide here at all... are you a counselor? If not, you should be. I just wish you weren't so far away - I'd love to be your first patient/client!! :clap2:

hugs,

plumptuous

<><

...you have to change from the minute you make the decision to be banded, have a go out and get em attitude, actively make the positive changes.

[plumptuous 0]

Hi Gail,

Don't feel gun shy about speaking your mind... all us pre-op people NEED to hear various opinions and aspects, before we go in for this life-changing surgery. :clap2:

I would like to suggest (and this is coming from someone who struggles daily with heavy-duty depression...) that maybe your outlook needs work. Your cup is half full, hon.

You spent your savings, but it can grow back. Your health (besides Jesus) is the most important thing in your life.

You can still go to counselling. And that band will help you. :bananapartyhat:

Consider sitting there listening or talking to a not-a-clue, thin psychiatrist or counsellor, without the band in you to give you a helping hand... (eeeek!).

Good luck hon, and God bless you,

Nanette (STILL pre-op since Dec 26, 05)! :bananapartyhat:

<><

Hi, I had the lap band done Dec. 2004...I lost 24 pounds over the first year and have put back on 12 of that now....I've had so many fills and unfills, this is what it feels like when you eat something..have you ever swallowed a big piece of ice or anything and it went down really slow and hurt...well thats the way it feels everytime I eat...people look at me and say whats wrong! are you ok....because I'm sure I'm making a terrible face...I try not to because I told no one of the operation except my best friend.....It doesn't help you with the beinges and the cravings.....you will still eat when you are hurt, happy or anything else you do now...everyone is going to hate me for this but I have to say I personally wish I'd gone to a theripist for eating disorders and saved my money or at least spent it on that instead... I decided in 2 days to do this, someone had cancelled and the doctors office told me to make up my mind right away or I wouldn't be able to do it for months...So like another great diet plan I jumped in with two feet and all my savings...I'm still fat, I still have all the issues I had before, only difference I have a piece of plastic wrapped around inside my body and rubbing around my stomach!. The long effects of this is not known...please think very hard and long about what you are about to do......your head needs fixing not your belly......good luck and god bless....Gail

[gonnabethin 10]

Anyone who was preband here care to share your post band feelings on how the band affected your emotional eating?

anyone else plese add-

my emotional eating is boredom- im addressing that.

[Miper70 0]

I will tell you that I went through a MAJOR mourning process because I lost my best friend....FOOD.

After my last fill.....2.5cc in a 10cm/4cc band, I could barely eat what is necessary to survive and didn't really think I could go through with this. I wanted to have a complete unfill and call it a day. Not only that, but I'm a turtle loser too. Then I woke up one day and figured out this was exactly what I needed. It's almost like a big slap in the face telling you to STOP eating and that's what I needed. I swear to you I now eat to live not live to eat. It seems my every thought now is whether I'm getting in enough Protein, not what dessert I'm going to have after dinner. Works for me.

Even with my extra slow weight loss due to hormone problems I'm sure.....I know this is the best thing I have ever done for myself.

[gonnabethin 10]

that is SOOOOO reassuring to hear!!! Im hoping for the best. Thank you

[libra 13]

I'd have to agree with most of the people here. The band doesn't "actually" help with emotional eating. Every day, when I'm stressed or whatever, I have to remind myself that I went through this surgery and I can't screw it up by eating something when I shouldn't.

I'm still a newbie at this but I've noticed that the band, in itself is not going to "fix" everything. You need to work on your inner self and be committed to this life change. Not just your eating habits but how you deal with life and all its pitfalls. Like I said, it's a daily challenge but one I'm ready for.

Good luck to you.

[Carlene 12]

I was banded in Nov of 2004 (almost 2 years now). I have lost 97 pounds and my BMI is 28. I was never a quantity eater. I made poor food choices, including eating in the middle of the night, eating LOTS of carbs, and eating when I wasn't really hungry (emotional eating). With the band, I physically can't eat a lot of the stuff that made me fat in the first place: Pasta, rice, bread, pancakes, potatoes, etc. I can still eat Cheetos (bad) and solid Protein, like very tender meat or fish (good), and I can still eat ice cream (very bad). I just don't eat the "bad" stuff until I have filled up on the "good" stuff. That way, there is way less room for cheating. After a meal, I can eat maybe 1/2 scoop of ice cream.

Works for me, but your mileage may vary.

Good Luck!!!!

[La_madam 20]

For me all I can say is that when i had good restriction my obsession withfood was gone, I could go all day without thinking of food and sometimes have to make myself eat.

[workingonit 0]

I am also scheduled for lap band. I was considering it a couple of years ago and wasn't ready. I didn't think that it would work for me because I didn't eat mainly because I was hungry. I am an emotional eater. Since I have put on an additional 10 pounds, my self esteem has dropped. I was already overweight at about 250, but I can tell the difference this time in the 10 pounds or my age (menopause). When I talked with the psychologist she asked me why I wanted the surgery. I told her for my health. At the time I was only on blood pressure pills. I told her I do everything I want to do anyway, even though I am tired a lot, but I have been tired for years, even before I started putting on more weight. I have realized now that the tireness is mainly from stress (conscious or unconscious). I told her that I didn't have grandchildren or children that I wanted to do anything more with that I felt that I needed to lose weight for, or at least it wasn't a motivation for me. Needless to say, at the time, she didn't feel that I was ready either, and we both thought there were other things I could do. I have done them, and am now back to where I was, gaining weight, losing it, and now gaining it and more back. I am scheduled for Feb 09, and not sure how I am going to handle the emotional eating, since I have yet to learn to not worry about the things I can't control, am not in a position to get rid of all my stresses, and don't know I am stressing sometimes until after I have started to gain weight. I need to work on that reality thing. This site is encouraging, it helps me to be in touch with me.

I'm scheduled to have Lap-Band surgery August 11. I'm very excited but nervous too. After trying every diet on earth, and failing at all of them, I'm hoping this will help me. I need to lose about 60-70 lbs. But there's that little voice saying, "Why do you think this is going to work when nothing else has?"

I'm an emotional eater. I don't have to be hungry to eat. I'll eat when I'm anxious, depressed, stressed, happy, you name it! I would like to know if after getting the Lap-Band, if any of you experienced a decrease in the emotional eating. I hear that you're not hungry but like I said I don't have to be hungry to want to eat. Does the Lap-Band help you to not want food as much?

Hope to get some good responses. Thank you.

SarahinTyler

[plumptuous 0]

... I am scheduled for Feb 09, and not sure how I am going to handle the emotional eating, since I have yet to learn to not worry about the things I can't control, am not in a position to get rid of all my stresses, and don't know I am stressing sometimes until after I have started to gain weight. I need to work on that reality thing. This site is encouraging, it helps me to be in touch with me.

Hi workingonit,

Please go back and read Gail's post. (Gail is a sweetie, btw)

... If I could die and come back as Carlene, I would. But...

:thumbup: I have had all the fills I am going to get - my surgeon is fairly livid with me - so I'm not going back. There is no sweet spot for me, and I easily stretch out my pouch (I think).

But what I do feel after a "meal" is NOT full. I feel as though I am going to puke. I am losing massive amounts of hair, as I can't get enough Protein in me, let alone any veggies. And I am taking those awful chewable vitamins from CVS (chewables cost extra!).

I have been told to stop drinking the Muscle Milk, as it has too many calories (even the 'lite' version), and as it is a liquid, doesn't stay put long enough in the pouch to make me feel 'full'*.

*They (Doctors or Surgeons) LIE to you when they say you won't feel hungry - this is pure BS. What you will feel like is one of those gannets that Japanese fishermen use to get fish. This sea-going bird on the end of the fisherman's rope would normally swallow those fish, but it has that rope tied around it's neck so IT CAN'T SWALLOW.

If your pouch is full, yes, you feel as though you can't eat more - but that's because otherwise you get the urge to barf. Your pouch is NOT your stomach.

Until your WELL-CHEWED* bites manage to ooze/get pushed through your nickle-sized port opening, your stomach surely will still feel empty.

*If you don't chew your tiny little bites until they are like frothy nasty little sponges, you will then begin to 'SLIME'.

Sliming is another thing they dare not mention. Other than having the ice cube stuck-in-your-throat feeling, sliming is THE WORST. :cursing:

My liver got nicked (Surgeon didn't tell me) - after the initial fluoroscopic fill, which my surgeon didn't have time to do, obviously (surprise!!), I never did get fluoroscopic fills, even though I requested them more than once - and I didn't lose the weight I had so wanted and need to lose.

OK, final rant, I promise.

I don't give a crap what anyone glowingly tells you - if you don't bust ass and exercise, you won't lose jack. I weighed about 272 pounds when I finally had my surgery October of 2007. Guess how much I weight now? I can't eat bread (buns - anything) no rice, no Pasta, no starch of any kind - especially doughy starch. I have been good about this... but sometimes I forget and start to eat a bun with my chicken - that's when trouble starts.

It is difficult for me to exercise with an edema-filled ankle, this extra 150 pounds of fat (mostly on the front of me), and my lower back killing me with excruciating pain after about 100 steps, when I do try to walk.

If you haven't exercised before surgery, on a regular basis, you are in for a rude surprise, and are wasting your time.

I say fix your heart & your head, and if you can, make yourself start exercising.

Good luck

Nanette Ward

Edited December 4, 2008 by plumptuous
misspelled word

[gentylwind 1]

workingonit, it is good you have things you know you need to address before undergoing this surgery. That is very wise of you.

As you know, no surgery is for everyone and there are no guarantees. A few people have had bad results, such as the poster above. I personally know five people in my every day life who have had the band between 2 and 5 years and are doing fantastic, met their weight goals and are maintaining without complications with their band.

Its a hard decision. Do a lot of research and definitely do what you need to do to get your head around the changes you will have to make. Its not easy, but I am hopeful. I wish you best of luck.

[workingonit 0]

The comments have been really helpful. Being an emotional eater, it has stressed me as I realize the major changes that will be taking place and made. I read about some, but real life experiences, where someone can identify - that makes it even more real. I will definitely consider it all and keep on praying. I have to admit that I have been thinking if maybe I can do this myself (and keep it up) after reading some of this. The doctor told me I would have to give up starches. I thought it was just saying it, trying to show me the worst case scenario. When I asked him about even Pasta, he said unless I found some wheat/whole grain. I thought, they make that. Has anyone experienced that you can't even eat wheat/whole grain pasta? I guess you can tell this has me a little frantic. I have stopped eating sweets again, and keep working on it, because that had such a stronghold over me. I was going through some things and needed a breakthrough, and gave up as a sacrifice-sweets, except on special occasions, and then I would eat for that day only. I got the breakthrough, then the sweet tooth came back. Every now and then I will eat something sweet and can go for months, and then for a couple of days, I may eat it once a day. So I am really working on the time it comes back like I never stopped eating it. I am trying to make the sacrifice again to the Lord for the sweets because I need the breakthrough over my appetite. I don't eat red meat, and for seafood, I only eat certain fish and salmon. So when the doctor said, no pasta, I thought, I already don't eat some foods. It probably isn't what I eat, as much as how much. I do love starches, the bread, pasta, which may have increased when I gave up red meat, and now sweets again. My mom said there has to be an equal balance, but my desire isn't to eat red meat again. It wasn't for health reasons I gave it up, it was other things. Well, I saw all that to say, I will give it much thought and prayer, because I do need help. I was doing 1 1/2 miles 2/3 times a week, but I haven't been in a month. I do it in spells. Maybe losing will be the motivation to help me stick with exercising too. I am still thinking......