Telecia

Yep I have known that I had bed cholesterol levels since I was 16 and NOT overwieght (and very active). I was a foster kid durring my teens and at 16 our foster program (private program) Put ALL girls on the pill at 16 if they could. So I found out that my cholesterol was high. So from then on I have been conciously avoiding fatty foods. And It has been FRUSTRATING to say the least because everytime I would go to the dr and they would check cholesterol levels getting scolded when I was already eliminating fatty foods from my diet and it didn't help. So for 20+ years I have had dr's scolding me for something I can't control. It is rather nice now to have one who realizes its heriditary and does't chew out me out every visit. But for other things she sucks so I still have to find a new PCP lol.

I Haven't gotten my band yet and i'm the same I cannot see it saving money in the long run cause I have 2 kids and my BF that still eat. One of the reasons I have a weight problem is that alot of the white carb foods, Pasta, rice, white bread etc. is way cheaper then the more healthy options. I am finding that since adjusting the whole familys diet to healthier options (Still a long way to go though) is costing MORE =/. I think that along with the acess to fast foods in this country has allot to do with why so many people are having weight problems anymore. Its costs less to stretch meals more with things like rice or pasta then to add more fresh vegtables or whole grains.

Theres also a produt called *Magic shave* It's marketed mostly for black males with sensitive skin but I have found it was superb to any other hair removers out there. And does't burn my skin like the others do. I'm kind of lucky in my facial hair is all blonde even though my head has gone to more of a dirty blonde over the years but even with the hair being so light colored it still can be extreemly noticable. And annoying!!

Tamihott, I actually didn't have a hard time adjusting to my CPAP, It took maybe a week, at first I did remove it when I slept but most come with alarms that will tell you your mask is off. The amazing difference I felt waking up rested was enough to make me compliant fast. lol. My best suggestion to anyone starting is don't let your DME just give you whatever mask they feel like. Make sure they give you several to try. With mine I have to go into their local office to try em on. It is WORTH it. And LAY DOWN to try them on. Your face changes from sitting to laying and a mask may fit when sitting up and NOT fit when laying down. When you find one that feels best try it for a week, If you have problems with it there are loads of suggestions on cpaptalk to help you with things like mask leaks etc.. It may take trying several masks till you get one right for you. BE INSISTENT if your DME tries to tell you otherwise. Or tries to have you make due with one that is not right for you. And communicate what problems you are having. My DME always tries pushing Respironics masks for some reason, they don't even have any other brands out in their fitting room. But After explaining my problems to the woman who was fitting me with a new mask she left and came back with another company's and it was soooo much nicer!! This one put NO Pressure at all on the bridge of my nose. As for getting used to the CPAP it's self. Be patient. One thing that helped my brother & Sister in law get used to their machines easier was wearing it while being awake watching tv or something. Getting used to it. A couple hours a day can really help you to be able to wear it while sleeping. And have your doctor write you a perscription for a HEATED HUMIDIFIER, have him/her be exact cause many DME's will try to say your insurance wont pay for a heated. Call your insurance yourself and find out. Most times this isn't true. And if you had issues with the dryness during the sleep test you will for sure have major issues at home.

One of the things that always gets me was finding clothes that were actually long enough. There seems to be a thought in the fashion industry that all fat people are 5'2 or under and that just isnt the case. Being 5'9 and supersized finding clothes is just darn hard. And when I can find them either are way to short in the legs or look like someone raided a factory full of rejected 70's couch fabrics!! I'm the type I like solid colors mostly. I don't care for most prints in fabrics. Ocasionaly I find one that I like but for the most part NO. I don't do pokadots, paiselys, flowers, stripes or plaids. Give me tye dye or something in bright colors without looking like something grandma would wear. Gimme soft silky fabrics that flow and don't feel like plastic. And don't cost a fortune. And that I can wash and dry at home. Thank heavens for the internet as you can find more and more makers of clothing that can actually fit the plus sizes and up but the fashion industry still has a looooooooooooooooooooong way to go.

If you have the reader and softwear you can do some self diagnoses and adapting yourself but that shouldnt be a substitute for treatment with your sleep doc. I suggest calling them to find out why there was no follow up and go from there. If they don't seem to think a followup is needed then by all means find another doc. Cause it can take time to get your machinery set up to best suit you and even after that as you lose or gain weight your pressures will change! So keeping in touch with your sleep doc can be important.

Nope your not alone. Although I can say I don't have the same views on those with only 75 lbs or so to lose. I wish I had considered WLS when I only had 75 to lose though. But after seeing what some family members went through. I was stubborn and said I would NEVER do any kind of surgery just to lose weight. And I kept thinking that till about a year ago. I was able to get off 250 lbs (down to 400lbs) and keep that off for 4 years but then started creeping up again. Now I realize how nieve I was to say never. Now after finding out insurance will cover me if I can get my PCP to agree (which she wont) So I'm now seeking a new PCP. And with my insurance it takes 2 months to switch doctors :thumbup: Before they will start covering it. Put a screeching halt on getting the band for the moment. But I am fighting it :thumbup: Being supersized has its own problems above and beyond just being overweight. And honestly I hate to see anyone else head towards that. Not if it can be prevented. And while yes I get a bit jealous wishing I only had 75 lbs to lose, I realize that I was the one who let it get so out of control and they are just trying to keep from getting there in the first place.

Well good for you and your mom both!! I had something similar happen when I started telling my family I wanted to have a band my Sister in law is now considering it. And her daughter who had a bypass a few years ago says she had been considering more weight loss surgery cause she can't get any more off. And want's to try a band. Well she has to wait now since she's due in july (her 3rd kid) Good luck on the process and I hope you don't have the pitfalls I had that have kept me from getting mine yet. :thumbup:

So what kind of vitamin/mineral suppliments does everone take. My BF has been taking Nature Made Diabetes Health Pack Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement With Lutein, for a while now and I am not convinced they are doing him much good. They certainly have not heped him with his neuropathy. On a mailing list I belong to one person said their doctor recommended alpha lapoic acid and some acetyl carnitine for neuropathy, which is something I have major issues with. My current PCP ignores any questions about neuropathy (just says keep my #'s good) so far so I am currently seeking out a new PCP. But I'm curious if anyone else has had any experiences with these supliments? I have also heard that some doctors recomend monitoring Vitamin D levels in diabetic patients also.

Ok I know this isnt related to the band in any way but it is related to diabetes. I am curious to know what everyone does about storing their meter/insulin/needles etc. When I got my last meter I was thrilled at how small and compact it and its case is but now I regret it! By the time I add in the control solution bottle, my log book, a few extra lancets and a few of the alchol pad packages the darn thing wont zip!! and of course its way to small to keep a pen too. LOL. Am now looking for a seperate pouch for carrying around my insulin & needles. (pen type would cause me to have to inject twice compared to the needle/vial method) Or just going to like walmart and buying a larger makeup type pouch to put the whole mess in. trouble with that is it would all be a jumbled mess in that kind of pouch..

I bet they want a representative so that they can possibly prevent this from happening in the future. More then likely they will take the defective band back to figure out why it happened. I would think any company would want to do this since a defective product would open them up to future lawsuits. I hope your repair surgery goes well!

I think it would depend most on why his cholesterol is high. If its because of diet yes it will reduce. If its because of genetics it might not. Excersise is the only thing besides medication that will help with genetic high cholesterol according to my doctor. We had a long talk about cholesterol one day because she had to increase my lipitor from 20mg to 40 despite the fact that have been conciously on a low cholesterol diet of sorts for the last 10+ years. I started to get really upset. Cause we do eat very little fatty foods. She said mine must be more due to genetics then diet and that was why she had to increase my dose. But heck losing weight and getting more excersie will help with all of his health matters in some form, so even if it doesn't handle/reduce the cholesterol he still has other good reasons to do somekind of WLS. I can't blame him for not wanting a bypass the fact they cut up and rearrage internal organs turned me off of it too. lol plus everyone I know personally whos had the bypass have nasty side effects or are gaining their weight back!!

Me when I get diarrhea eating a bannana helps. Since your on liquids ask your doctor about possibly pureeing one a blender with some yogurt and milk to make a thin drink. Everytime I take antibiotics I make a banna shake or eat em whole cause I cant stand plain yogurt. Or try one of the yogurt drinks they have for kids now. I debated getting a pack for my kids to try the other day since my daughter is on depo provera now and has to watch her Calcium intake and those drinks were one of the things her dr recomended. I try to avoid OTC meds for diarrhea sinse they seem to make me super gassy.

Not just teenagers that can be mean the younger ones can be also. my daughters 15 now and gets comments about her weight sometimes from others and they can be devistating/ She always has a snappy comeback but then I get to see how she really feels. Makes me mad. She has more comments though on the fact shes small chested. And says those comments bug her worse then weight related one. But at the same time our own kids can be our biggest cheering section too. And good at reminding us to stay foccused. lol. I find that my 13 year old son is awesome for keeping me on track sometimes.

hehe love/hate. I used to resent mine at times but not anymore. The only time now after 13 years of having it that I have any negative feelings toward it is when the power goes out and I can't sleep! LOL Despite living on the edge of the city our apartment complex seems to get allot of power outs and those momentary flickers that are just enough to mess up clocks, turn off computers etc. Since we do go camping or anything to justify the cost of a battery backup for CPAP. Having one for the maybe 2 hours tops we have no power every couple months isn't worth the $$. Oh yea on the strap marks on the face. I found that if you take a reasonbly thick handtowel. Wet it and heat it up in the microwave and do an old fashoined hotsteam face wrap the marks go away MUCH quicker. I recently changed masks too and that helped imensely as now I don't have to wear the new mask near as tightly as the old. FlexiFit HC407 Nasal CPAP Mask I wish I woulda had this mask 13 years ago!! It is so comfy.

Actually its not caused by obesity but obesity does aggrivate it. Most everone has occasional apneas its just for for most people they don't happen often enough to be of major concern. And many times have no clue that they might have it. Not everyone with apnea snores. It is also possible your not getting enough sleep, our bodies change so what might have worked for you in the past might not work now. I know I sure can't go for long on only 5 hours sleep. As I get older I seem to need more. It could be. But you could also have cronic fatique, thyroid disorder, be missing something in your diet, or any number of other things. Tell your doctor so he/she can do the needed tests. I agree with WestCoastFatGuy: Sleep apnea is a very dangerous disorder. Letting it go untreated not only increases the risks of accidents it also seriously increases your risk of strokes and heart attacks. Sleep deprivation can also cause vicious mood swings, irrationalty, causes memory loss and more. Ok 2 months plus at least 6 weeks till your first fill after surgery and since most people DON'T feel restriction till 4,5,6th fill that could be 32-44 weeks!! Almost a year! BEFORE seeing any major weight loss! If it is sleep apnea and you leave it untreated that long. OMG!! Your better off going to your doctor and find out what it is. My sleep apnea didn't show up till my youngests childs pregnancy. And silly me & my ob/gyn just thought it was being pregnant. (I don't do pregnancy well) This was in 1995 when Sleep Apnea was pretty much unheard of. I suffered through the entire pregnancy not being able to stay awake for more then 15 minutes at a time. And when I had to be transfered 100 miles away for my sons birth(Major complications). And couldn't even stay awake long enough for the doctors to talk over what they had to do to save my sons life. They tested me the same evening my son was born. My sleep test only took 20 minutes before they were waking me up to put a CPAP on. I will forever have major short term memory issues. From 6-9 months of severe oxygen loss to my brain. Cause that is what apnea does. Your blood pressure goes way up, your heart beats harder & faster trying to get more oxygen to your brain. I'm sorry if my post sounds harsh. It scares me that many people seem to take sleep apnea so casually. :thumbup: When it can be just as dangerous and deadly as having a heart attack or stroke. Please get with your doctor and have it checked out.

Yep gotta have the CPAP for sure lol. Nah he has some really off the wall dreams most of the time it seems they aren't good though. He doesn't snore or talk in his sleep I do suspect he might be developing apnea though something I hope he gets tested for soon he isn't having serious symptoms yet. He has a VERY active imagination. We do some table top roleplaying and he is a fantastic GM. I keep trying to get him to put some of his storylines down in print cause I think he could actually sell books but I can't get him to do it. I can't help but wonder if it might be just him remembering dreams more then then people like myself. It's really RARE that I recall dreaming at all. Some nights for him he can remember 2-3 dreams. I know for the most part everyone dreams (As long as they dont have a sleep disorder untreated) that 95% or more of them we don't remember. (So my sleep dr said once). Thats it's a way or our minds taking a break from things. My sleep dr also told me if I really wanted to remember more of them to try relaxation & meditation, and journaling to try and improve what I remembered. But I got enough to worry about at this point my life to do it. Maybe when the kids are all grown. :party:

Well if there not suposed to be any electronics in the bedroom I now know why my BF has really weird dreams! As his computer desk is right beside my bedside table. LOL. Not to mention my CPAP machine, both of our alarm clocks. My BF is like you Kat he has to have it totally Dark, He keeps a t-shirt over the computer case to block the on/off light. Keeps the alarm clock on the dimist setting ALWAYS makes sure all his keyboard lights (caps lock, scroll etc) are off. And till I come to bed tosses one of my pillows on top of my nightstand cause the CPAP has light up buttons. He leaves the computer on at night cause he HAS to have his thunderstom/rain sounds going or he can't sleep!! We tried one of those white noise alarm clocks but the rain/thunderstorm sounded fake. So we just left it in the room for the time. lol. And since we have conflicting routines we typically use all 3 of the alarms. We both tend to stay up all night since he gets home around 11 pm each day. I have to get the kids up at 5am. And I go to bed at 8 am after both are off to school. So one alarm for that on days I *Nap* one alarm for 2-3pm when he gets up for work. then another alarm for the afternoon when I get up when the kids come home. Myself I either dream very rarely or just don't remember them but my poor BF is often having disturbing dreams/nightmares often. I'm seriously considering looking into more pagan/natural/holistic methods of giving him some relief. Which reminds me I'm gonna put a mirror at the head of the bed tonight and see if it helps him any. Poossibly convince him on his next day off to rerange the bedroom. Turning the bed 90 degrees might help too.

I can't remember exactly where I read it but over the years I have read many books on wiccan, feng shui, and other holistic books for having a tranquil living space and some of the things I recall about the bedroom are interesting. One was the bed should placed along the same lines as the home's energy flow. In some homes this is easy to determine especially if you have beams or any other lines visable in the room's ceiling/floor since energy is suposed to flow along the lines of the home/building. And your suposed to place your bed so it does not block or cross the flow. Other tips had to do with north/south and east/west facing. Placing a round mirror over the head of the bed if your having disturbing dreams. Certain herbs etc. for relaxation or to encourage dreaming. How different colors can affect the feel of a room. And not jsut the colors of the walls/furnishings but the colors of the lights are also suposed to have effects too. I do know personally I have in the past had changing the way the bed was facing help with sleep troubles. Exactly why it helped I am not sure. For all I know it could have just been me beliving that the change could help. I wish I hadn't had my my libary of books stolen years ago. So I could read them all again. lol

Ok heres a question for all the quirky sleepers. I find that no matter where in the room the bed is placed I will adjust to sleep facing the door? Like right now I sleep mostly on my right side which faces the bedroom door. But before we moved in to this apartment I slept on my left side which was facing the door. lol. Side of the bed doesn't seem to matter though just which side faces the bedroom door.

I wouldn't risk it. Pools are one of the most notorious places for getting rashes, infections and all sorts of nasty things. And with your incisions healing and the fact that youve recenttly has surgery your more likely to have problems.

Oh lets see. 40 year old mom of 3 kids, 2 boys 13 & 20 and 15 year old girl. Didn't really start having weight problems till I started having kids in 86. Gained 75lbs with my first and it just never came off and stayed off. I left my husband of 13 years in 2000 and have not regretted it in the least. At my higest point I hit 650 lbs suffering from massive depression thanks to my disfunctional marriage and emotional abuse. Once I left him I managed to lose 250 lbs and keep it off for 5 years. Thanks to the help of my loving BF. But then more medical problems crept up and I started have serious issues with mobility and it started crawling upward again. I have sleep apnea, diabetes, high blood pressure and am sick and tired of all the shots, pricking, handsfull of medicines and nothing getting any better health wise. The recent addition of having to see a cardioligist(sp?) and the fact that my PCP refuses to help me deal with my backpain so I can exercise more often, thinks the band is silly etc. So I'm shopping for a new PCP. Anyhow I'm looking at 250-265 lbs to get rid of to get where I want to be. Which might change later on as I get close to it. Will have to see. 250-265 lbs would put me around 165-175 lbs. Hard to imagine after 20+ years of being overweight and 12+yrs of being supersized, What 175 lbs will be like. But I'm ready to get there and see. lol My weight has turned me into somewhat of a hermit. Which is another thing I want to change. I hate it. 2 years ago we chose our apartment complex because it has a weight room, pool and internet center in the complex but the sad part is I am to big for the weight room. =/ I can't make the walk over to the pool and my BF works 6 days a week so I never can get over to the pool. I'm the process of trying to get an electric scooter so I can at least get over to the pool this summer. Again my PCP has refused. I'm also a part time gamer/admin, I run a private game server for my family and close friends, I ADORE doing tons of different crafts, sewing, reading, Right now I'm looking into starting up machine knitting, If I can save up the $$. for the initial starting cost.

call your doctor!! When my appendix went I never had any nausea at all. Just dull constant pain that occasionally got worse for a while then subsided again to the dull pain. After 3 days I went to the Dr who put me in the hospital. A day later I was in surgery to get it removed. The surgeon said If I had of waited one more day it would have ruptured and would have MUCH worse. Better safe then sorry.

a older thread that explains it pretty well http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/how-often-do-you-pb-17176/

After thinking about it I guess I do have a couple more *sleeping quirks* This last year I've had to learn to live with diabetic neurapthy(sp?) So while I like to have my sheet I sleep under tucked in it HAS to be lose since my toes already feel so weird as it is I can't handle heavy or tight covers on them. Also I can't wear pajamas, pants, undies of anytype to bed they get twisted and uncomfortable so I mostly wear long lightweight gowns. I also cannot sleep in the nude lol. I had a rule when my kids were younger of never having a locked/closed bedroom door. My daughter sleepwalked and my youngest (jay now 13) had major issues sleeping alone, so since me and my ex still lived together but slept seperatly for the last few years of our relationship Jay slept with me till we moved out in 2000. It was closed and locked while anything was going on but I always got back up and made sure it was unlocked/cracked open afterwards. And the night gown on and BF decent. Now we just keep doing it because of our cat who will rattle the door all night long if we close it. Or howl. lol