lunasa

Hi Girls, Thank you for your opinions advice & suggestions... I went to the apt, left my house @ 6.30am and returned at 10.30pm... Anyway, I got .5 in, taking small steps to restriction because PB and 'stuckness' really freak me out and send me into the arms of ice cream and chocolate anyway!! The anxiety I feel when I actually can't eat at all freaks me out. Hell, eating less in general freaks me out. I get the sweats everytime I think of "having to be so controlled everyday" Please please GOD grant me the courage to change the things I do to myself that cause me such hurt & unhappiness. JUDY....Thank you in particular for pointing out something I hadn't thought of. A support group, in real life, in person. Finding one will be very difficult because us Irish banders are completely ashamed and mortified to 'come out of the bandit closet' I once tried to initiate a forum on gastric banding on a message board here and my threads were continually locked!! Obviously the cyber society don't want me or my kind socializing on their precious boards! I wonder about Overeaters Anon? I know there's a monthly group near me...anyone any experience with that? Would that be a good idea for me to join? I'm going to seek out other banders / recovering OE's, I think it would be good for me to have the focus & support. Thanks again all xoxoxo:thumbup::sad::thumbup:

Here it is....black & white...the reason I still have waaay too many wobbly bits still 2+ years on... Restriction is suppose to mean "feeling full" but in my experience the term restriction means exactly that, food is literally restricted, it's not that I feel full, it's that I can't eat much, which sucks because instead of feeling satisfied it leaves me with head and eye hunger. I CAN'T eat the food, but I'D still LIKE to...so, while the mechanics work, it doesn't take care of the desire. My mistake is that I wanted the band to act more like a wand and CHANGE me, instead of the reality that it can only be used as a tool to help me change myself. I didn't and don't want to "DIET" anymore...I still have the urge to overeat regardless of what the band is capable of. Hence sabotaging by eating "around" the band, Ice cream and chocolate and alcohol when I can't get the bread & chips into me. My desire to binge is as strong today, 2+ years post band op, as it was the day I paid money in desperation to get this fat monkey off my back The only thing that has grown stronger is my own resistance. I STILL DO NOT WANT to DIET anymore..I'm sick of it, which is why I got the band and is why I misunderstood what the band does. I have given the band more power than it or I posses...It is a Band not a Wand If I didn't eat when I wasn't hungry, I wouldn't have needed the band...so how do you change desire? I have reasons why I want to lose weight and reasons why I don't want to diet...I am conflicted and as a result ambiguous!! I suck!! Only thing I can do now is come to terms with my very obvious emotional need to stuff my face!! P.S....I am going to stick to the apt to dump this on 'those with the needle', and more than likely get poked with said needle also

LOL...me too!!! Thank You Tracy, that's just it...It's all in the mind! Bummer....mind transplant anyone?:blushing:

I know I sound like a right whinger...but there it is in all honesty. There is the reason I am failing in black & white I have given the band a power it does not possess

Hi shoes, Are you in Ireland? What I mean by obstruction is, getting "stuck" on food, having to excuse myself after a bit or two to go and hurl it back up in the loo... My band was obviously too tight. It got to the point that I couldn't even drink fluids, it was pretty bad so I had a complete unfill last sept. Restriction is suppose to mean "feeling full" but in my experience the term restriction means exactly that, food is literally restricted, it's not that I feel full, it's that I can't eat much, which sucks because instead of feeling satisfied it leaves me with head and eye hunger. I CAN'T eat the food, but I'D still LIKE to...so, while the mechanics work, it doesn't take care of the desire. My mistake is that I wanted the band to act more like a wand and CHANGE me, instead of the reality that it can maybe be used as a tool to help me change myself. I didn't and don't want to "DIET" anymore...I still have the urge to overeat regardless of what the band is capable of. Hence sabotaging by eating "around" the band, Ice cream and chocolate and alcohol when I can't get the bread & crisps into me. My desire to binge is as strong today, 2+ years post band op, as it was the day I paid money in desperation to get the fat monkey off my back The only thing that has grown stronger is my own resistance. I DO NOT WANT to DIET anymore..I'm sick of it, which is why I got the band and is why I misunderstood what the band does. If I didn't eat when I wasn't hungry, I wouldn't have needed the band...so how do you change desire? I have reasons why I want to lose weight and reasons why I don't want to diet...I am conflicted and as a result ambiguous!! I suck!! :blushing: Only thing I can do now is come to terms with my obvious emotional need to stuff my face.

Hi Violets!!! As usual, forgive my absence.. I need advice, I hope you can help me. I am completely SUCKING at this lap band bizniz. I am currently at 235...I was 220 Back in Feb..Have been P'ing against the wind since falling off the wagon AGAIN!! I have booked a fill for tomorrow. I have to travel from Ireland to London for my fill..It will cost me €230-250 ($300 give r take) to make this trip/get this fill. (I only want min fill as last year I was completely unfilled after band almost cut off my air supply!!) My dilemma is...Since my experience with the band when filled good is more obstruction than restriction, AND seeing that I'm obviously sabotaging no matter what is in band, am I wasting my time getting fill? I am TOTALLY caught in a cycle of emotional eating... I HAVE to deal with this comfort eating OR should I get the fill AS WELL as getting to grips with comfort eating? Maybe fill will put the brakes on even more weight gain? Please please please lend me your valued opinions girlies! Oh, and congrats Laura on your beautiful baby!!! :blushing: PLEASE HELP!!! thank you in advance xx:confused:

Scrap That!!! Just had a gander to find out that it's a shake/bar programme...NO THANKS!!!

OMG did I write that? I'm the exact same. Banded April 07 and have yoyo'd between 15-35lbs weight loss...currently on the wrong side of the yoyo AGAIN....I'm really not doing this band thing well. I about to go for a fill tomorrow...ALL the way to LONDON to pay a fortune...and all to just get 1ml in!!!! I'm not getting any more because last year it was so tight it nearly cut my air supply off!!! I dunno...starting to think I shouldn't bother going over now.. I'm afraid it'll get tight again. I'm gonna have a look at that lighter life thing. Because I'm just paralysed in a cycle of emotional eating. there's no 2 ways about it, whatever the F**K is going on with me is so psychological, even when restricted I sabotage!! Band for me has sucked..It's not so much restriction as obstruction!! Anyone else?

OMG did I write that? I'm the exact same. Banded April 07 and have yoyo'd between 15-35lbs weight loss...currently on the wrong side of the yoyo AGAIN....I'm really not doing this band thing well. I about to go for a fill tomorrow...ALL the way to LONDON to pay a fortune...and all to just get 1ml in!!!! I'm not getting any more because last year it was so tight it nearly cut my air supply off!!! I dunno...starting to think I shouldn't bother going over now.. I'm afraid it'll get tight again. Band for me has sucked..It's not so much restriction as obstruction!! Anyone else?

Hello Ladies, Thought I'd jump in here as I have just been unfilled completely also. I have been banded over a year now & thought I was a band failure up until March of this year because I was geting nowhere. The problem was that I was not paying attn to my fills/restriction. I had no restriction until March & then I finally scurried back to my clinic thinking I was a failure & was relieved to have been re-assured that without restriction the band is useless. So I got a decent fill in March, and it was good & tight & my weight loss began immediatly..gradually it became tighter & for some reason (denial?) I kept putting it down to a tight day here & there etc until one day I couldn't even drink a cup of tea or Water or anything!! So in June back I went & got a slight unfil.. brilliant, worked a treat, for a while & the exact same thing happened.. By Sept I was literally living on ice cubes & dying of heartburn so this visit ended in a complete unfill... For whatever reason I have been feeling like I'm to blame for this until I came accross this thread & see you ladies with similiar complaints.. So it does just happen like that! The band CAN gradually increase restriction weeks after being adjusted... what the bleep? My aftercare package has run out & I'm wondering whether to purchase another years worth of aftercare or pay as I go... I live in Ireland & my surgeon is in the UK.. so I have flights & exchange rates to consider also! Thanks for listening xx

Uh oh, so I flew to the UK to see the nurse about the awful tightness & after some questioning the surgeon advised her to unfill my band completely!! Well, strangely I have noticed my normal stomach has Obviously Shrunk in the past whatever months as when I eat I am uncomfortably STUFFED after not so much. In saying that I am VERY scared coz I have indulged in bread, and being able to eat un restrictedly again feels very very bold... I missed my weight watchers weigh in last week & again this week and now I find myself in the oh my god I bet I've gained 10lbs state of mind!! I'm scared for sure. Apparently He unfilled the band to give my stomach a chance to recover from being so tight, the heartburn & not being able to even hold down fluids. I was Vomiting daily. Has anyone here every had a complete unfill? He says I can fly back over & get filled again in a couple of weeks.. Do you think he's testing me? I'm paranoid that if I gain before I go back to him he'll tell me I obviously not trying & that I'm expecting too much from the band & pushing it? PURPLE PARANOIA!!!:tt2::eek:

smsmithart... I would wait another couple of weeks if you can.. you may tighten up again? That would be relative to my situation. When I unfilled a bit in une I felt quite loose for a while & was worried I would abuse it, but turns out now that I'm going for another unfill 10 weeks later again!!

Hi Girls, I REALLY would appreciate your feedback / experienced input here. I'm just trying to figure out why my band has progressively gotten tighter in the 8-10 weeks since my last clinic visit. I had perfect restriction to begin with & gradually it tightened to the point where I can't even drink a cup of tea! HERE'S MY QUERY FOR YOU.. in your opinion, would being de-hydrated tighten the band? PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE / PERSONAL EXPERIENCE / THEORIES :shades_smile:

Can't Eat.. and have been trying all morning to drink a cup of tea.. sucks... roll on next wed for my unfill!! I miss food! Does anyone know why I would have gotten progressively tighter since my last unfill in Jun that has me totally closed up these last few days? HELP!!! PLEASE!!:thumbup: