susansilver

Lately I have been having a number of lows - usually once a day. My challenge right now is that my band is very tight because I recently had dental surgery and cannot chew very well. I had started to gain weight eating stuff like mashed potatoes and ice cream so I had my band tightened. I have been doing very well with it tight with the exception of when I have lows. Because I can't chew well, glucose tablets are a bit difficult and being so tight, even juice takes a while to get down. At work just now, I took 3 packets of sugar in hot water because I don't usually keep juice since I never really drink it. So what do you guys do?

Hi everyone, I am really excited because I just made the decision to go ahead with the surgery. I am just waiting to get a date but most likely it will be in the summer. I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you. Susan

I was informed of some distressing news at work yesterday and it has been on my mind alot. Since then, I have hardly been able to eat. Last night had about 1/2 c of salad and then PBed my Pasta (which I normally don;t have trouble eating). This morning could not eat at all and even Water was gurgling going down. I tried a couple of nuts that keep in my desk and could only manage 2-3. I am now having some Soup for sustenance and it is gurgling as well. I have heard that stress can cause the band to tighten. Has anyone experienced this and will it loosen again? Thanks

You know when people talk about NSVs (non-scale victories), they often mention fitting into a smaller size or doing something like swimming that they were uncomfortable doing before - well being diabetic and for so many years (26 years to be exact). My NSV is that in the last 3 weeks, I have reduced my Levemir (my 1x daily basal insulin) from 50 units to 36 units! I have NEVER done that before!!! Also, where I was often taking 20 units of Novorapid at meals, I now take 3-6 units. My blood sugars are really good, stable and I feel absolutely fabulous! :smile2: It is so ironic, because one of the reasons that I fell off the wagon for a number of months was because I felt like a failure - all around me (on this forum) people were redusing the meds and going off insulin and I WAS NOT! I was so frustrated! But look!!!! I am doing it now!!!! (Can you tell I'm a little excited)????

Just a quick update - as I continue to lose, I am now down to 30 units of Levemir and many days do not require any Novorapid even with meals! I am starting to metabolize some of my excess blood sugar! This is most amazing to me. So to those who have not yet reduced their meds, or are worried they won't - be patient. Do your work with the band and you will definitely see results.

I was just sitting in my clinic's waiting room, because I needed a small defill. There were three four other women there, one who was dominating the conversation. They were talking about vomiting and being too tight. The one one had been talking nonstop said that she had struggled with eating disorders. They were saying that the clinic should have an eating disorder psychologist etc... blah blah blah. Then she said that she can only eat 1 or 2 bites of food and she vomits etc. When I suggested she neeed a defill, she said "maybe, but one out of every 10 days I can eat what I like. Yesterday I ate 21 ice cream bars". I nearly fell off my chair! Who the %&*# told her to eat 21 icce cream bars!!! I told her that this clinic was to give you a tool for your weight loss and maintenance and not to fix your head! I told her I am in therapy to do with the non physical issues around my weight. She said she has been seeing an eating disorder specialist for years!!! (Obviously not the right one). She also said that she was afraid she would starve if she did not eat those 21 ice cream bars, because she had not been able to eat the other nine days. Hello????? What about Protein, fruits & vegetables? I do not "diet", but I am not a moron and know that 21 ice cream bars is not healthy!!! Does that woman have no common sense??!!! Fortunately, the nurse called me in at that point because I was ready to go over there and smack her!!! Thanks goodness for this rant and raves area. Had to get that off my chest. Just goes to show you there is no minimun IQ required for this surgery.:smile2:

This forum is pretty quiet. So it hought I would just ask if anyone wants to check in and share how they are doing! I am feeling good, losing weight and continue to lower my insulin. What more can I say?!:smile2:

Like I said above - it took over a year for it to start happening for me, and just when I had resigned myself to it never happening. The thing is the health benefits of losing weight, regardless if your diabetes can be controlled without meds or not, are still way better than living obese. I don't look at being on insulin the same way as many people do - maybe because when I was first diagnoes 25 years ago, I started on insulin, switched to oral meds after I had lost weight and then back on insulin when I was trying to get pregnant. I find that being on insulin helps me control my blood sugars way better than any oral meds. Y ou can make small adjustments to fit your lifestyle and any food or exercise out of the norm. Good luck - keep a realistic attitude and all will be good.

Hi Marie. Congrats on making a great decision on your life and health. Pre-op I was taking 50 units of Levemir (a long lasting insulin as well) and between 20-30 units of novorapid (short acting) with meals - the variation was I adjusted to the amount of carbs I would eat at that meal. Now I am down to 32 units of levemir and betwwen 2-6 units of novorapid. I will teel you that this did not happen for me right away as many others will tell you. It was about 1 year after my surgery and 40 lbs down that I started to see these results. We must remember that we are all different and our endocrine systems react differently to the band and our food intake etc. Good luck and keep us up to date. Susan

That is one of the most horrible and saddest stories about fills that I have heard! My goodness what an experience! No wonder it took time to talk about it. Who can blame you??? It's over now and you are safe, so good for you.

I got 1/2 cc for a total of 7 right now. It is amazing how much difference 1 1/2 cc makes!

The best thing to do is to talk with your endocrinologist of PHCP (whoever is managing your diabetes) BEFORE the surgery. It really depends on the meds you are taking, what dosage etc. It would be foolish for any of us to try and give you advice. What I can tell you is that for me, I tested my bs about 5-6 times/day and because I was on insulin was able to adjust down very easily. When I was getting low, I would sip on a little juice until it was back to normal. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

I just had a fill with Nancy today and she told me she just got back from holidays, to I think you are good to go!

Went for a fill today because I was getting too loose. I am expecially proud of myself because I did not wait too long before having one and binging in the meantime!

Hey Marivan, That may just work, but not because it is so restrictive, but because you would change up your habits. One of the best things you can do to break a plateau is make some changes. Try some different foods, eat at different times if you can and - please don't jump all over me for this guys - cut down your exercise from 5 - 3x/week for just a couple of weeks. I bet you will see a nice drop! Once you are losing again, go back to your regular routine if you like. Good luck and let us know, Susan

I almost can't believe it, I just went under 220 today and now I am ready to join this thread. The last time I was in Onderland was about 16 years ago! For the first time in a long time that special place is in sight. I love my band! :grouphug:

Good to hear from you Mandi. Sounds like a career change is a great idea and fun! Take care

I would NOT have survived without my coffee! Luckily, I drink it black so I had it the day after surgery.

well put.

When I was using online dating I also used the term BBW. For me, as it was for Gloucester it was a way of describing my body size without using the word fat. Fat has such a negative connotation that I felt like it would imply I was a negative person. I also would not want any potential date to feel that I was deceptive by using words to describe myself that were not true. Many years ago I worked worked for a company where I was ono the telephone with suppliers quite a bit. I had always been told that I have a "sexy" voice and there was one man in particular that was very keen to meet me. I told him many times that I was not the fantasy girl that he was envisioning (this was before PCs and digital photography) but he was very insistent. I finally gave him my home phone number and we had a number of very long telephone conversations whcih we both really enjoyed. We also discovered that we had a lot in common. Well, one day he announced that he was coming to the city one business where I was living at the time. He asked me out to dinner and I said yes. When he came to pick me up ....well if it wasn't so sad and so devastating to me - it would have been comical to see the way his face fell when he saw me! Needless to say it was a horrible, horrible evening. He barely spoke, answered my questions with as afew words as possible and belittled some of the subjects we had previously talked about. As soon as dinner was over he said he had to go somewhere else and left me to make my way home by myself. It was such a humiliating experience. Now, I look back and recognize him to be rude, ill mannered and a complete jerk, but then I just blamed myself and hated myself. It took me years to even date again and I actually conciously worked on raising the pitch of my voice! Soo back to 5 years ago. As I said, I described myself in my online ad just as I was. I started dating a wonderful man who told me that he was attracted to the words in my ad describing my personality and my interests. 5 years later, we are living happily together and he is very supportive of me. When I had doubts about losing the weight he told me "I fell in love with you when you were bigger than you are now and I will love you no matter your size". So, for me, honesty was the best way to go and using BBW was a gentle but honest description of myself.

Hi, I can't tell you anything about your insurance carrier - I am from Canada and we are almost all self pay here. But I would like to make a couple of comments on your post. Firstly, Can you be "cured"? No - once you have Diabetes you are in it for life, BUT - it can be managed with just diet and exercise. Don't expect miracles though, it can take time. I was banded last year and initially lost 40 lbs with no change at all in my meds. I was very disaapointed at first then came to terms with it. I had gained some weight so I went to get a fill and have started losing again. All of a sudden, I had to reduce my insulin usage. I went from 50 units of Levemir (similar to Lantus) to 36 units. For my Novorapid, I was often using 20-30 units per meal down to 2-6 units. I have also started to reduce my blood pressure meds. The other thing I would like to ask is if your sugars are in the 200s in the morning or after fasting - why is your endocronologist not adjusting your insulin? One of the advantages of being on insulin is being able to achieve perfect or near perfect blood sugars! I would definitely question him/her and empower yourself to make these changes yourself. I hope this all works out for you! I wish you the best of luck.

I don't think there is any doubt that I will need at least a tummy tuck. I also have noticed that because I have always had many chins (or a least one big extra one) that as I am losing, that is sagging as well. I wonder if I would need a whole face lift or just some sort of lift.

I weigh myself every morning and evening as well. Contrary to making me upset if I see a gain, I find that it keeps me on track. However I only change my ticker to reflect monday morning's weight.

Same here. Every one at work has been commenting. I also cut my hair recently. It is quite short but very feminine and I always wanted my heair to cover my face before. Now I am showing it off. I love this feeling and I feel so proud! Girlie girls unite!

Tolernance, my dear. We are all different. I too did my research before hand but there we still some unexpected moments or terms that popped up.