Once An Overeater, Always An Overeater

[newlife35 0]

I have read and reread your post and I will say that I did not find it offensive. I have absolutely had the same issues since being banded nov 20th 07. The difference is that my md did warn of the head not changing...only the amount of food that my stomach could hold. Despite our discussions, AND that my doc required psych eval, I AM STILL STRUGGLING. I am definitely an over eater and addicted to food. I have become quite discouraged over the last two weeks. I have only lost sixteen pounds and I no longer feel restriction. I feel like I can eat almost anything...except beef. I know that it is completely MY FAULT but my addiction to food has not been conquered by my new "tool" just like I was told and knew in my head. Yhe reality of it is alltogether different. I am hoping to get a fill soon but until then, I am struggling day to day not to make bad food choices.

My point here is that I do not see that you were trying to make a generalization or say that because it happened to you that it would happen to others. What I took from the post was that "this happened to me so if you do not prepare it MAY be and obstical for someone else post op." Again, my md did tell me this over and over AND had a psych eval and I am still having the excact same experience. What I am figuring out is that I must make a choice to try and conquer this addiction and have some control. I use the website as a great place to come for support...and that is what it has been for me. I think we all will continue to stuggle with making the right choices, but we have a tool to remind us when we are going too far.

Again, I understand what your your intention was. Possibly because I am experiencing that very thing right now. I just hope that I can be as successful as you were despite my struggles now. By the way, what did you do to get past that feeling and drop 150 lbs???? PLEASE HELP!! I WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL. My pre op wgt was 240 and currently I am 224.

[steph_co 9]

I have read and reread your post and I will say that I did not find it offensive.

Uh...head-scratcher...neither did I. I was not offended.

My point here is that I do not see that you were trying to make a generalization or say that because it happened to you that it would happen to others.

REALLY??

You would think that after going through the trouble and financial expense of having surgery that you would automatically stay away from such foods but unfortunately you will still be an overeater after the surgery and will sometimes want to look for such foods to feed that inner addiction.

I didn't must have missed where it was said, "This happened to ME."

[rebandit 0]

new life

my band worked really well for me once restricted. I , and I only mean I, only lost about 20-25 lbs per fill up until about 85 lbs or so. I had complications with my band ( erosion) and I didnt have it taken care of right away. I didnt know it was eroding , I only knew i could hardly eat anything . then eventually nothing. so the last 65 lbs or so was lost unhealthily. But for ME I had to get a fill about every 25 lbs. Best of luck to you.

[alysedg23 0]

I totally understand, rebandit, where you are coming from. I also went to a doc that is in it for the mula, with very little follow up care.

I did a lot of research before the surgery but there are some things you just cant learn through reading. You must live it to know it, and I think that's what rebandit is talking about.

Also, I doubt that those few required pysch evals will completely change your way of thinking in terms of overeating..actually I'm not even sure why they are required, what is the objective??

In closing, I understand your frustration and you keep posting whatever you like. People who can't handle a little sarcasm need to get over it.

[transformer 1]

Ok so maybe not everyone in here is addicted to food but if you look at many of the other posts here , not everyone is puking their food out and not everyone is nausaus and not everyone is having gurgling in their esophagus, then maybe no one should post anything because it might be presumptuous that everyone is going through those things. maybe the support forum should be closed because each persons problem is not everyones problem.

I'm certain that Wheetsin can quite capably handle a bit of sarcasm--it just isn't necessary in the course of a normal discussion.

I feel badly that you weren't able to take advantage of the information you've learned since being banded prior to having the surgery. It is a shame that not all doctors go out of their way to make sure that each patient is well-prepared both mentally and physically. It's too bad there isn't some sort of universal, standardized pre-op program that every bandster must complete before surgery.

That's why it's important for everyone to be able to share their experiences on a forum like this because it might help someone else become better informed. On the other hand, I also agree with others who have posted that we should be try not to present our own stories as something that is inevitable for all bandsters. We each have to take our own personal journeys...

[LivinNY 0]

This is one of the reasons I have stayed away from these boards... I peek now and then when I am board.. this one caught my eye...

Lapbandit expressed an opionion and she is ponced on... NOT everyone has been susscessful with there band.. if you are an overeater....the chances of continuing to overeat is most likey going to continue.

I really believe that if you could not stay on a diet before the band... you will not be able to after banding!.. and you will need to diet to rid yourself of the excess weight!...we did not get to be obese because we have been able to say no to food!...

Someone brought up smoking and drugs.. well you don't need to smoke or do drugs to survive... you have to EAT!!.. you can't just give up food.< /p>

Can't someone come to these boards and just lay it out there without being beat up on.

NOT everyone is happy about their decision to have this surgery and they are entitled to there opinions!

Okay..here is my opinion...pounce away :nervous

Kathy

[lisah25 3]

Just a bit of information for all the ones preparing for the band. I thought that since the band wouldnt allow me to eat more then the small amount your pouch would hold that my problem of being an overeater would be solved. HOWEVER, there are things that the band will allow to slip right on down. You would think that after going through the trouble and financial expense of having surgery that you would automatically stay away from such foods but unfortunately you will still be an overeater after the surgery and will sometimes want to look for such foods to feed that inner addiction. Well its these things I wish I had known before surgery. I would have still had the surgery but I would have better prepared myself for resistance to these things. There is so much I wish I had known. I am self pay and my dr. didnt require any psych evals and preparations .He just made it all look pretty and said come have it , it will change your life. BE MORE PREPARED!!!!!!!!!!!

You make good points. Yes, you can still overeat some foods, and they aren't usually the healthy ones. My Dr. and staff made it very clear that this is nothing more or less then a tool. That there was a lot of hard work still to be done. I do find if I'm adjusted correctly, I really don't have many cravings and my appetite is dimmed.

I've gone almost 7 months were I was struggling and not losing and eating all kinds of crap, after losing 65 pounds. But, and this is a biggie(no pun intended!), I gained back only 15 pounds. Yeah, not a good thing, but in the past I regained all I had lost and usually 10 more for fun. So, I learned that the band can also be a bit of a safety net for when I'm working through emotional issues. For that I am SOOO grateful.

I got a fill last week, and have already lost 8 pounds. So, it was there waiting for me all along.

[Dave01 0]

I must be different because:

I used to smoke and quit cold turkey...No problem

I used to drink and quit the same way

I used to eat a lot and quit that pre-banding and havent gone back to any of my old habits. Like I said, I must be different.

[MamaJava 1]

I have to disagree (rather heavily) as to what the OP has stated also. It is absolutely NOT true that "once an overeater, always an overeater." Many, many folks in this world can tackle an addiction through various means and it doesn't effect them the same way it would effect somebody else (or should those be 'affect'? I always forget).

To say we will all still be over-eaters is a completely rude blanket statement to make. Also, you must realize some people overcome addictions and never become addicted to anything else ever again. Some do become addict-shifters and move on to something else. In those cases, they will need help to conquer those addictions somewhere along the line as well.

So you are having trouble in that aspect means you could have posted as "hey ya'll, here's my issue...who else has this going on?". Instead you chose to state something as though your problem is everybody's problem. I think that can touch nerves if you're not careful to word things much, much differently in the future.

[MamaJava 1]

I totally understand, rebandit, where you are coming from. I also went to a doc that is in it for the mula, with very little follow up care.

I did a lot of research before the surgery but there are some things you just cant learn through reading. You must live it to know it, and I think that's what rebandit is talking about.

Also, I doubt that those few required pysch evals will completely change your way of thinking in terms of overeating..actually I'm not even sure why they are required, what is the objective??

In closing, I understand your frustration and you keep posting whatever you like. People who can't handle a little sarcasm need to get over it.

Just an FYI cuz your question caught my eye...the only objective of the psyche evals are to ensure that you are mentally prepared to follow doctor's orders and to follow your post-surgical plan. They are to check to make sure you are ready. They are not meant to help with food addictions by any means.

[gingerbug 3]

Please dont assume that your experience will, in fact, be truth for everyone.

[Lap_dancer 8]

@ Steph...YER SIGGY IS HYNOTIC (smiles) I am a grammer freak.

....................

Yes, once an overeater always an overeater. I did headwork with a therapist, joined OA and am working the 12 steps. Restriction is using the band is a tool. So is therapy.

[Chrisann 0]

Someone at my job commented to me yesterday, my first day back after the surgery, he said this:

Make sure you don't become addicted to something else. A friend of my wife was a food addict, had a gastric bypass, and is now addicted to alcohol. Turned out she had an addictive personality that was not discovered in her psych profile.

I was stunned, and realized that now, everyone will be full of advice, good, bad or weird, and I have to take it as it comes. As long as you are true to yourself and sticking to your goals, things will change if you want them to.

[LauraD 2]

Methinks that rebandit was actually trying to make a helpful post, not become the whipping gal for blanket statements....

It would be wonderful if all the bariatric docs out there were still doing it because they cared about us as human beings, but I went to one seminar where I felt like I was being pitched a new car. I was given insurance forms to fill out as I walked in the door. When the doc was asked questions about things like complications and her personal stats re: slippages, erosions, how many bands she'd actually placed, she replied that those were things she preferred to discuss during private consultations. Huh? That clinic has a great website and beautiful brochures, but they won't be doing my surgery. So I think it's a mistake these days to assume a poster has been well educated by their doctor; a lot of them have climbed aboard the cash cow.

a poster I know on another message board ends all of her messages with "YMMV". "Your mileage may vary" True for all of us, in more than one way!

[MamaJava 1]

Methinks that rebandit was actually trying to make a helpful post, not become the whipping gal for blanket statements....

It would be wonderful if all the bariatric docs out there were still doing it because they cared about us as human beings, but I went to one seminar where I felt like I was being pitched a new car. I was given insurance forms to fill out as I walked in the door. When the doc was asked questions about things like complications and her personal stats re: slippages, erosions, how many bands she'd actually placed, she replied that those were things she preferred to discuss during private consultations. Huh? That clinic has a great website and beautiful brochures, but they won't be doing my surgery. So I think it's a mistake these days to assume a poster has been well educated by their doctor; a lot of them have climbed aboard the cash cow.

a poster I know on another message board ends all of her messages with "YMMV". "Your mileage may vary" True for all of us, in more than one way!

Actually, LauraD, I think most of us can clearly see that she was not, in fact, educated by her doctor at all. I can see that. Otherwise, she would know that her statements in her original post are only half-truths and half-facts. She claims to know what this journey is like for all of us, and that's what all the opposing posts have been trying to explain to her. I don't see any blanket statements being laid upon her. I'm not sure which statements have done that at all.

I also think more emotion is being read into these responses than what is really there. I see the arguments as being really an attempt to educate someone...not as "whippings" as you describe. I suppose it's all in how one may focus on trying to interperate the emotion of a post rather than the words.