dlucia

I am 12 pounds away from my goal, it is amazing to me to even say that after being a size 28 just 16 months ago I am now in a size 10, but anyway here is my question...... Once you have reached your goal, how do you maintain your weight and not continue to lose? I mean really... for over a year now I have stayed away from white flour products, candy, cakes, carbs (except for whole wheat), taken smaller bites and smaller portions, you all know what I am talking about, that is how we lose our weight, but once you have lost the weight and reached your goal weight how do you just maintain? I mean I still have the band so I will not be able to eat like non lap band people do. I will continue to have to stay away from the white flour products and such (I hate getting stuck), continue to take small bites and smaller portions, so how do I do all of this and maintain and not continue to lose? Do people get there band removed, the fills taken out? My band is my security blanket to me and it scares me to think of it not being there or not filled. Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatful on how you do it. Thanks, Donna

I have had hypothyroidism for 19 years now. Before my weight loss journey started I was on 200 mcg now 6 months later or so I just had it checked again 1 month ago and my docotr has kept me on 200 mcg so for me my weight loss has not made any difference in the strength of my medicine.

I found it at Wal-Mart and Safeway/Vons

Thanks for the information everyone. As for my stomach growling. When I first got banded it did nothing but make noises all the time. Now I do not hear my stomach growl at al, no noises ever. I have wondered if I chew my food up real good what makes it stay in the pouch area. I thought the whole point of having the band was to have the food sit in the pouch area and that is what is suppose to make you feel full/satisfied/content with what you are eating. I am just so confused. You would think this should be an easy call... Do I get a fill or don't I? I still have no clue. Ugggggg

I was banded on 4-28-11 and have had two fills so far. I am in the same situation. I am not sure if I need a fill or not. The onIy difference I can notice after the 2nd fill is that I now have to chew my food up real good or it will get stuck. But...... after I eat (usually about 1 cup or less depending upon what I am eating - chicken vs Tuna Sald) - I am still hungry. I take the alloted time of at least 20 minutes to eat, do not drink 30 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after a meal. And I still do not even get satisfied. I am always hungry. I am getting my protien but I do supplement the total amount a day with protien shots and/or proten shakes. I was suppose to get a fill today but I canceled it after reading the above questions to ask yourslef. I am tired of this thing they call will power. If I had this much will power I would have never needed to get the band. I know it is a tool and I have been using it as a tool and I have been losing weight. But I know myself and my will power is starting to fade. I had two choc chip Cookies last week and felt terrible about eating them (afterwards of course). I have never had a satisfied or full feeling since I have been banded. Now you know my life story on the band..... My questions are ...... Since I do get restriction when I eat as far as having to chew my food, just nothing satisfies me or ever have that full feeling, should I get a fill? And if I get a fill and they tighten the band, is that going to make the band too tight so I can not get Water down? I had no idea that getting a fill or not getting a fill was going to be so hard to determine. Any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. .

That could be it. Thanks for the reply.

Hi all, Just thought I would check to see if anyone else experiences nausea for no reason. I am just a little over 6 weeks post op - I got my first fill just over a week ago. But I have noticed since my fill I am nauseated all the time. It takes me 30 minutes to get a protien shake down in the morning but while drinking it I feel nauseated. Later in the morning just sipping Water makes me nauseated. Even though I got a fill I do not feel any restriction (well it was only my first fill so I did not expect that sweet spot yet) lol - I eat slow, chew real good just in case just not sure what this nauseated feeling is all about. Has anyone else experienced this? And to answer the big question No Iam not pregnant and I am not sick (well not physically anyway) lol Any thoughts you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Donna

Thank you so much for researching that! I truly appreciate it. I will look into right away.

I was not on any pre-op diet either before surgery. I ate regular all the way till the day of my surgery (I had a l ot of last meals the couple weeks before my surgery). My doctor did say that the day before surgery I could eat a big lunch but to keep dinner light and nothing to eat or drink after 10:00 pm But if your doctor has you on a pre-op diet. I would say you really should stick to your diet. Each doctor is different and your doctor is only thinking what is best for you. Good luck

There are no Endo doctors where I live. I think the closest one is probably by the costco miles and miles away. My primary doctor will and has prescribed Armour but I just can not get the pharmacies in my area to fill the prescription for it. They all say they can not longer get it and I was told the manufactuer stoped making it. I will have to look into further.

I am so suprised to hear that you are still able to get Armour. The closest Cotco is about 80 miles away. I have checked Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS and Sams Club pharmacies. I even asked my grocery store's pharmacy (Safeway/Vons) and all say they can no longer get it. Maybe I need to move just to be closer to a costco. LOL I will talk to my doctor next time I go in about it. Thanks

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I do beleive she has decided to go with the band instead of the sleeve. She is suppose to get her surgery date next week. Thanks for everyones input.

I was diagnosed with Graves Disease 19 years ago. Instead of having the surgery to remove my gland I had the radioactive iodine treatment. It did not work the first time so I had to go through a second time but with a higher dose. So now I have my gland but it is a dead. When I first went on thyroid medicine they gave me synthroid. It just was not controlling my thyroid levels. Then they switched me to Armour Thyroid which was great. I did so well everything even'd out. But now for the last couple years I can no longer get Armour. They say that the manufacture no longer produces it. So I am back on synthroid trying to get my thryroid level under control but they are still really high. I was told that due to my hypo thyroidism that if I lost 1 pound a week that was doing really good. I was banded on 4-28-11. So far so good but they tell me that it is probably alot of Water weight. Well I will take all the water weight loss I can get. We all know this process is really hard but the people that do not have a thyroid problem have no idea how much harder it is for us folks with a thyroid problem. So good luck to all of the other hypo thyroid bandsters. We will get there just may takes us twice as long.

I have failed every diet and diet program miserbly. I want this to work so bad as well. I have pretty much followed my doctors advise. My problem is that I am so afraid of eating too much or making the wrong food choices I just do without. Which I keep being told it not good either. I eat once a day sometimes twice a day plus 1 protien shake. I do not get nearly enough protien like my doctor wants. But I too would rather be hungry and deal with the hunger then let myself and everyone around me down. This is my last ditch effort to lose weight. If I do not succeed on this, then I have no idea what I would do. I know this summer is too late to look like a "hottie". But I would love to be able to go to the river next summer and be able to get in and out of the boat without looking like a whale is trying to get on board! I wish everyone great success in their journey!

If you had a chance to do it all over again, would you choose the band again or would you try the gastric sleeve? I have the band but my friend is debating between the band and the sleeve. She thinks the sleeve might be better? Would love to hear what you think and why.