bandster_1007

i take hydrocodone and darvacet for my Migraines. i have tried axert but it lost it's effectiveness early on. i was having the numbness and tingling in my extremeties before i began topamax, which was one of the reasons why i quit. i couldn't justify taking a medicine that had a side effect that i was trying to prevent. i did quit the topamax cold turkey, but it more of like i forgot to take it every other day and then every few days and then i just quit. so i pretty much weaned without doing it intentionally. i have a bad habit of quiting things cold turkey.

i have been seeing a neurologist for 2 years. my family doctor put me on cymbalta and trazodone recently to help with the fibro pain and it has helped some with the migraines. i do not sleep at night very well, so i am sure that triggers a lot of my problems. we also switched my birth control because i usually have a migraines for a full 2 weeks surrounding my "time of the month". this is usually when i feel the worse.

when i was younger i had to take a medicine that reduced the swelling in my brain. they discovered whenever i was about 18 that this was not a good medicine and had some significant impact on the brain and "slows it down". i'm guessing it has something to do with the synaptic gaps, although i am not positive. i cannot remember the name of the medicine.

i have thought about going to a different neurologist. i think i will wait until after i get all the surgery stuff sorted out, since that is next week.

i have also been to an allergist and they determined that i am allergic to nothing. my doctor did tell me however, that environmental factors could still be causing my problems.

i hope it is my weight because this is a small office and they pay me pretty decent (not great), but i also have a lot of potential for upward mobility.

after i lose the weight if i am still having this problem, i have pretty much decided that i will need to find another job, unless we get a new building.

i am not the only one in the building who has problems with migraines. i am the only one that has classic migraines with aura. they cannot relate to me when i tell them about my eyes and my limbs and that stuff. however, my two underwriters both have significant migraines and are on daily treatment. 3 out of 13 is kind of higher number for people have "true" migraines. some of the newer employees have developed some of the problems also, although they report not having them before being here. also, everyone in the office sneezes every day. it is actually funny. when i am at home on the weekend, i never sneeze (unless i have a cold). as soon as i walk in the office on monday, i will sneeze 10 times before noon. i have to keep a box of tissue handy. that is the case with everyone here.

another problem with medications is the price. my neurologist knows this. i do not have the best prescription coverage. all of the drugs that we have talked about are $50 - $75 a month. I already spend $100 a month in prescriptions. We are a middle class family with a child in private school. Every little bit helps....not to mention i am a self pay patient for my sugery .

i greatly appreciate your input, and i will ask my doctor about imitrex. my sister takes that and she has had wonderfull effects.

my migraines are very similar to yours. i have the ones that start in my neck, and then in my jaw, and then it encompasses the whole right side of my head (behind my eye, my ear, etc.). sometimes i have migraines with no pain. those are just weird. the room has gotten so dark to me before that i could not make out the people in the room and this usually followed by blind spots in my eyes and numbness. that is scary to have when you drive.

any other advice you have, i appreciate. and if you happen to know any good neuro in arkansas....

(i have done chiropractor too, with little improvement..although when they do accupuncture my Migraine goes away, but that is $50 a pop )

hey brenda, when did you attend the seminar?

I have not tried the imitrex, but i have tried flexeril and zanaflex and soma. They all make me too droggy and after taking them for a month or so, i found little relief. Probably because i was unable to take them 3 times a day like they recommended. i also took topamax for about 8 months with no improvement.

i have had Migraines since i was around 12. i was anorexic but i had also had a head injury that led to bells palsy and my headaches started after that. however, they were better while i was away at college. then about one and a half months after i started working here, i lost part of my vision, my arms went numb, my balance was off....blah blah. after lots of tests they determined that it is just a progessive stage of my migraines. i have fallen before due to my inability to see and walk. no nauseau, but my hands and feet fall asleep a lot.

i don't like taking pain pills twice a day, but it seems to be the cheapest route to go.

I have a lot of pain in my neck similar to that. They just keep my on pain killers. The injections are fast approaching, but hopefully this will stop it.

I have posted a little on this forum and have found support and comfort in the responses. I'll give a little background on myself before i ask the questions: I am 25, I weigh 225 and I am 5'2", my ideal weight is 108. I have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and classic Migraines accompanied by stress migraines due to muscle tension. Whewww, that's a lot!!! All of these "conditions" have been diagnosed within the last 2 years and I have been overweight for approximately 5 years.

I miss work almost once a week for the migraines, and sometimes i just feel horrible. plain horrible. :sick

my employers are very supportive of me having the lap band (although i have used more than my share of vacation and sick time already) because they think it will improve my health overall and lead to better productivity. (i work in a fast paced very stressful mortgage company, processing and document mortgage loans :ranger:)

Is it feasible for me to excpect these results , or am i just dreaming :notagree?

Has anyone had a significant improvement in the "overall" health after losing weight? How long did it take to notice a difference.

I know that i need this surgery and i'm not changing (i'm scheduled for the 18th), but the building i work in leaks and i know it has mold. each time it rains about 10 feet of the carpet gets wet (thru the walls and floor not the ceiling). they "dry" it with little fans and the drying process usually takes a week. not to mention that the building is INFESTED :help: with roaches and rats and they do overload with pesticide every 2 weeks.

i know most people have tendencies to make excuses. i'm trying not to do that, and i'm sure the way i feel is impacted by my health. it's just that all of my "ailments" have occured while working here....along with a 40 lb gain.

let me know what you think!!!!

I'm scheduled to be banded on October the 18th. I have not met with my surgeon yet for my consult, but I have met him. I just started the process toward the end of September (I am a self pay). They were able to schedule my consult and my surgery in the same week due to the limited time available to take off work.

This has all be very fast for me. I had researched it before, but there wasn't much waiting after I decided to go for it!

I do not have to do a pre-op diet because I have a BMI of 41 and my doctor only requires it if your BMI is 45 or above.

I think it may have been better if I had to do one because then I wouldn't be trying to fit in all of these "last time" meals .

i'm in mortgage banking...a loan officer or underwriter in training (long training :confused: )....

thank you for sharing your experiences. if any one else has good long term effects, please share.

it's like i have a whole new "bandster" family, i try to talk to my dh and my mom about the fear that i am having, they don't really understand because they have no way of relating. this is my only source of information. thank you so much.

I will be banded October 18, 2007. :whoo: i know that this is a new procedure, so there aren't a lot of people out there who have had theirs for several years.:faint:

Please respond with how long you have had your band, whether or not you have had any major complication, your rate of success, and whether or not you still have your band.

This site has been so helpful, i have already resolved a lot of my fears, but this one is still lurking. i would love to hear from those of you "seasoned" ;)bandsters.

i have not had the band done yet, but i completely relate. i suffered from anorexia several years ago and i was 5'2" and weighed 80 lbs (i still had some muscle because i was a combo bulemic). my doctors had instructed my mom to begin planning making arrangements as my life span was expected to be less than 6 months. i have no memory as to how i came out of it, but i did. the person that i see in the mirror today is exactly what i saw then, and we are talking about a difference of 145 lbs!!! later in life i got pregnant and i actually loved my body, i loved being pregnant and i enjoyed actually eating food and nourishing my body (i'm suprised my baby made it i didn't know i was pregnant and was slipping back into anorexia very fast). after i had him, i was happy with myself and my body. then i started gaining weight when my son was about 1 or 2... i didn't realize how different i look after 100 lbs until recently. i see pictures and i'm like "no way am i that fat"...

for me, i think the "anorexic image" is a lifetime problem that you have to battle. once you realize that you truly have image problems and tell yourself that what you see is not really there, it does begin to help, but you have to keep working on it.

another thing that someone once told me that helped TREMENDOUSLY, but seems a little juvenile is to talk back to that bad voice in your head and tell it that it cannot win. draw a picture even, and imagine yourself controlling it (this actually works).

another thing is when you look in the mirror do not allow yourself to say negative things. self talk is a powerful tool. focus on one thing that you like and as you smile at yourself tell yourself over and over that you are beautiful and you love yourself.

obviously i do not do these things right now or i probably wouldn't have as much of an issue, but they do work. a lot of women are afraid of vanity, including me, but we deserve self respect and appreciation. we are each beautiful in our own way and we have to learn to love it. who better to give us the respect and admiration that we deserve than us...

after you have been through the battle with weight loss this is the least that you owe to yourself.

..just my opinion, i know that i will struggle with this same thing a few months down the road..then i will re-read the posts.

wasabubblebut (love the name by the way) thank you for your detailed and encouraging post. it's nice to hear from someone that had similar eating habits. i have thought that we would save money on the money that i spend at ff alone. i eat a burger 3-4 times a week. although i tend to get the kid's meals, it is still the point.

i'm not turning back, the surgery is scheduled and it is all for the better.

my dh and i have talked about all the different things in our life that will be affected and we know that we have to be prepared to deal with it as a team. we want to have at least one more child. that is actually what prompted this so quickly. i have been wanting another child forever and he hasn't. suddenly he decided, what the hell..let's have more children. unfortunately, i had just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and my Migraines have become excruciating, so in addition to two types of pain medicine, bp medicine, chol. medicine, and bc, they added me on a sleeping pill and cymbalta for pain. I CAN'T HAVE A BABY ON THAT!! that was when i realized how much i had compromised my own life for my love of food and lack of care/respect for my own body. so i asked dh for a year to get my bod back in shape and then i realized it was only going to end up like my previous attacks..so we went this route to sum it up. i hate it that my kids will probably be 11 years apart, but hey...it's worth it in the long run.

hey! now i will hopefully prolong my life to still be active with the future child.

it is a huge step and i am scared, which like you said is normal, but i'm so ready that i almost want to just cry and the fact that one day i will be freed from this prison of self disgust and glutony. one day.......

thank you guys soooooooooo much. i cannot begin to tell you how much you have helped me the last couple of days.

in jacksonville. when are you looking at getting banded?

Hi! i'm 25, live in arkansas, and my name is tabatha.

i just started looking at this site a few days ago and I LOVE IT!!! :speechles

i had thought about the lap band before but dropped it because i am a self pay :think, but now i'm back and have a very supportive dh!! :clap2:called the office last week and i am scheduled for 10/18. i am nervous and excited, and it's all in the bundle. ???

i look forward to getting to know you guys as we go through this process together. :whoo:

i have not been to the seminar or the first appointment. i actually had talked to them some before and then backed out and then started again

i sent them my packet last week and i'm scheduled for my consultation 10/15 and my surgery 10/18. i am going to a seminar Tuesday night.

you are in south central arkansas, where like sheridan?

i live in arkansas and i am scheduled for surgery with Dr. Wellborn Oct 18, i just started this whole thing a week and a half ago...he's done over 900 sugeries and he has a very high success rate. have you attended the seminar yet?

<p>Hey you guys. i am new to this forum and my band date is scheduled for 10/18 with dr. wellborn. so far they have been awesome!! i can call or e-mail at any time with a question and they are right there to answer. Dr. Wellborn was one of the first 50 doctors to begin doing the band in the u.s. if i understand that correctly. i'm a self pay and it will cost $16,275. Dr. Wellborn also has done over 900 lab bands and he has had one death (it was not band related and the percentage for that is like .0011) and he has only had to remove 1 band and that is because the patient was getting their fills with an unauthorized person and it caused her band to erode because they did not know what they were doing and that person kept it too tight. i thought that those stats were kind of frightening until i looked at others. </p> <p> </p> <p>this has been the easiest process that i have ever been thru. </p> <p> </p> <p>i live in pulaski county, but i grew up in prairie county.</p> <p> </p> <p>i look forward to meeting you guys.</p>

thank you all for your posts. it definately makes me feel better. as far as my current eating habits, i have not been eating hardly anything at all the last couple of weeks because of a new medicine, i guess this is kind of helping me prepare for the post op . but NORMALLY, i am a fast food junkie. not too big on sweets, unless it is a little debbie snack, but i love soda's, i usually have sonic for Breakfast, md's/wendy's for lunch, and for dinner we are always really busy so drive thru or hamburger helper with 2 vegies seems to be the answer. my dh doesn't eat fast food a whole lot, but unfortunately after being with me he has begun, too. he also has begun drinking soday which he used to never do. i'm thankful that i'm getting this done now because it will tempt him less.

what kind of interest did you guys get on your financing? mine is 10% and it was going to range from 9.99% thru 25%. i considered a bank loan or a home equity line, but i work in mortgaging and the way the market is right now in our area, an equity loan would probably get me in trouble (we've only owned our home for 3 years).

it's funny this whole pre-banding stage. i went from being extremely excited to being a little nervous, to now it's like i'm trying to talk myself out of it. there are so many what if's..what if i need plastic surgery, what if the cost is actually too much, what if something goes wrong and we have to finance something else, what if it doesn't work, what if.....

but then i remember some of the other posts that i have read, and these are the things i look forward too:

1. lower cholesterol and blood pressure

2. less Migraines due to muscle tension brought on by weight

3. more energy to play with my 6 year old

4. confidence to be myself in public and not feel like people are criticizing me for being heavy

5. being able to go swimming without hiding in the Water the whole time

6. being able to sit on either side of the boat

7. feeling like i have the confidence to move up in my position at work instead of feeling like my weight will hinder me (with customers only)

8. not being able to "prop" lavern and shirley up on the table

9. more ease of exercising

10. feeling proud when i am introduced to someone new instead of embarrased

i could go on and on, but you guys already know all of this.

needless to say the benefits definately outweigh the risk of a little skin and the extra small risk of a severe complication.

i'm ready, i just pray that this whole thing does not affect my family in any way, financially or emotionally...unless of course the latter is for the better.

this is the best site that i have ever been apart of, i have literally been addicted to this site for several days.

thank you all so much.

Wow if i am reading your ticker right, you have lost more than 50% of your needed weight in only 4 months!!! That is incredible.

thanks. you are very encouraging. i've noticed these weight goals for most people. does your doctor set those or are they personal? my ideal weight is 115. i weight 225 now. i'd kind of like to get down to 105 or 108. (i'm 5'2" and small framed)

that is a lot of what we eat now (as a family) i do keep the fruit and veggies around as my dh and son are both healthy, and love fruits and veggies but i always tend to opt for the bad stuff or nothing at all. i need to buy organic fruit because i cannot stand the taste of pesticide on my apples..yuck!! i wash them really well and i swear i can still tast it.

i've ready that a LOT of people cannot tolerate beef very well, and that will suck if that is the case for me, because that is what we eat the most. my dh is definately and steak and potatoes man (and as fit as he can be)

i hope to save money on prescriptions and i was recently diagnosed with chronic pain. also, i tend to miss work once a week for being ill (migraines, pains, etc), hopefully weight loss will help with that problem

So would both of you go through it and do it again? It was worth the cost?

another thing :rose: ..i do not know what Protein Drinks that we "have" to have yet, but Curves sells their own Protein Drink and it tastes awesome, especially the chocolate.< /p>

one more thing, why did you have to have a port revision?

So for you the surgery has actually been more costly. We are going to have to follow a tight budget which we haven't really done before. they didn't tell you that you would have to pay the anesthesia bill? Actually, my doctor didn't tell me either. I better check on that.

My cost is $16,275 which include pre op consult and one year of fills and post op care. they are normally outpatient but i may be staying the night in the hospital due to a late procedure and that is not supposed to cost extra.

Hi everyone! I just joined this forum a couple of days ago and it has been extremely helpful.

I work in finance and i know that a lot of people consider their financial situation very personal. i am younger and i don't really feel that way, but i am learning.

My problem is this, my insurance has a written exclusion and i am a self pay. For those of you who were a self pay did you notice a decrease in the amount of food purchased and the amount of medical problems to "pad" the monthly payment?

We haven't been married very long and we have a child in private school due to horrible public schools in arkansas. it's scary taking on such a big financial obligation for something that is just for one person in the household.

Was it worth what it cost and would you do it again?

Your opinions will really help and I am having a lot of anxiety about all of it. :rose:

i have had one child, but i lost all of my weight and the skin after pregnancy. i was still a little heavy, but i was happy with myself, i was "curvy" now i'm "rolly". i nursed for 2 years and that helped with the weight for a long time, i also played tennis, then i stopped everything at once, had gallbladder surgery, started birth control, and started a horrible marriage in the same 2 weeks. my body went crazy and i have never been able to get it back. i'm ready now though.