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:

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:

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:

OK Laura here are some names for you to ponder over... I'll give you the proper spelling and then the phenetic (ph) (why is that word so hard to spell?) Girls First... Maebh, also spelled Maeve..(ph) May-ev...She was the queen of the fairies Roisin....... (ph) Roe-sheen.... Means little rose Grainne.....(ph) Graw-nya.... Means Grace, also a famous pirate Queen! Orlaigh, also spelled Orla... (Ph) R-la.... Queen of Gold Clodagh... (ph) Clo-Da....Deriv of Claddagh Sibeal....(ph) Shh-bale.... Meaning little Fairy Aoileann....(ph) E-lan or A-lean.... Deriv of Eileen or Evelyn Niamh... (ph) Nee-ev.... Queen of Tir na Nog (land of youth) Deirdre... (ph) Dear-dra...Irish Legend heroine Boys... Oisin..(ph) Ush-een...Also From Tir na Nog (land of youth) Fionn (ph) fee-un... Big & Strong Eibhin (ph) Ay-veen...He was legendary harpist (in Folklore) Creative Seamus (ph) Shay-mus....Irish for James/ Jimmy Cian (ph) kee-an........Son in law of High King of Ireland Brian Boru Bebhinn....(ph) Bev-in.... Melodious / sweet voiced I guess I could go on & on so there's a short list of names I've always liked. I grew up knowing kids with every one of those names, so they're genuine traditionally used names here. Not unique in Ireland, but very much so outside of the country I think. I've always loved American names funny enough.. I don't feel the need to name my child real Irish name as I will raise them to speak the language & have an appreciation of the heritage to give them a sense of thier Irish Identity. My fav boy name is Preston.. Very rare here.. If I ever have a son he will be Preston Thomas :thumbup:

By the way ladies, you're all looking FAB!! Laura..you're in the family way!! Lovely, congratulations!! Lemme know if you'd like any help with Irish names...there's some pretty cool names ya know, not just the commonly known names..and prob unique for where you live too!! (Ireland is famous for it's fairy names, I know you've a thing for fairies)

Lol.. hiya tracy!!! Hi everyone, Just popping by to say a quick hello. As you can see from my ticker I'm loosing the weight again TG!! I'm currently awaiting an unfill, have had a tough time of late with tightness/heartburn. I got an unfill back in June, after the march fill I got ended up too tight after 10 weeks?! It gradually sneaked up on me & one day I realised I just couldn't eat at all..even fluids were a problem. That unfil seemed to put me right & now again 8-10 weeks later I'm too tight again! Strange? Terri, I gather you've just lost your mother..my condolences xx

I had a fill in March and felt restriction for the first time since surgery. It seemed Ideal & my weight started to move right away. I was eating ok, small portions, no bread etc, then it gradually got tighter and I kinda just let it go. I then found myself not being able to "eat' hardly at all & was basically surviving on chocolate, Meal Replacement shakes, Milk, Milky coffee's, Ice cream etc. It then got to the point where I was obviously in bad need for an unfill. So in June I had the unfill. At first I was worried as I seemed to be quite loose, But I was relieved to be able to eat again, I wasn't able to eat fish & Veg etc and now I was enjoying being back to a decent restriction. Bread was still a nono.. It has "gradually" happened again..I have become so tight that I am now going for days without food, sometimes even throwing up fluids!! I'm booked for another unfill next week.. I have lost 10lbs in the last 3 weeks as a result...yey great but I'm not eating. It seems strange that I have gotten tighter over a period of 6ish weeks these last 2 trips. I hope my surgeon can explain it when we meet.. It must be just very individual, at least I know it happens to others... Which is why I'm posting my experience also :thumbup:

Hi Terri.. I'm so glad you have this thread on here. I'm in DIRE straits here with my band. It is wayyyy too tight!! The first week or so it seemed perfect, just about tight enough and hen I don;t know what happened but first Breakfast became a problem, and I'm only talkin smoothies or oatmeal here.. but they were becoming impossible, so Breakfast urned into Teas & coffee or slimfast drinks. That, I could handle, Then lunch became a problem, and all I was having was Soups or some light seafood..I managed on just soups and was ok as i was usually having Pasta & sauce or something light for dinner. But when lunch became liquid and then dinner became soup I started to wonder what the hell is happening here? I haven't eaten Bread or Meat/chicken since my last fill, and now as you pointed out terri, I am not able for fish veg even Water hurts now... Sometimes my own saliva causes me to be very worried... thank God My symptoms are matching the descriptions on this thread as I know now that it's just tightness I'm dealing with. I thought I was ruptured or something seeing as this tightness was progressive!! I have an unfill scheduled now for the 3rd June, which is a long weekend away from now and I just hope to God I can at least get by on fluids until then..and please please let this unfill be just enough to hit my sweet spot and not open me enough to hinder my efforts. to end on a high note.. my much longed for and awaited Goldendoodle Pup "TED" will be arriving to me on June 9th..I can't wait!!! My walking companion & new friend...Ah!!!!:biggrin::w00t:

oh BTW.. I KICKED THE SMOKING ALSO!!! I AM NOW 3 WEEKS SMOKE FREE!! YEY ME!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::eek::thumbup: