Done

269!!!

I haven't weighed in the 260's since 2006!

I'm using my BODYBUGG now. I almost achieved my target deficit of 1600 calories, I reached 1356 . My goal is to lose 3 lbs a week so that I can be at my goal weight by the end of this year.

Yes you are right. It was never for me. My body started developing scar tissue trying to protect itself from the foreign body. I am so much happier with the band out. If you read my post (the link above) you will know my experience with the band.

I have contined to loose weight since my band removal and am feeling great. I can eat salads and fruit. Which is also FABULOUS!

In any event, I joined the post for support, being made an "example" of was not my plan, and my inbox has been jammed with negative emails from several people. I have made it such that the emails I receive from this site go to my junk folder, but for some reason, it did not take.

I am hapy to share my experience with anyone who wants to hear it and am happy to answer any questions. But I kindly ask you to refrain from judging me or being nasty.

Oh, and by the way, thank you for your concern. My surgery went very well and I recovered in 1 day.

OMG, I am so sorry to hear that you are being bombarded with hate mail! I would report them to the site admin. What a bunch of knobs.

Congratulations on doing so well post-band and congrats for standing up for yourself in getting it removed. For some people it doesn't work. Thank god the band is reversible, unlike some other surgeries...

Here is what I did - heating pad, patted my chest, walked around, raised arms up and down like I was flapping...used peppermint tea.... those all helped immensely. But the #1 thing to do when I had gas pain was to sit up and walk.

HTH

Sorry Aikira, I don't have any suggestions for you. I hope it gets better!

Seajules, wow how did you get off Paxil? I have been taking it for 12 years and can't get off of it bec of the side effects! I would love to know your secret. I hope you dont mind sharing.

It has helped me but I originally started taking it bec of panic attacks eleven days after I gave birth and my mom was staying with me and died in front of me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi Scruffy,

I am a 'seasoned' antidepressant user. :-(

I went through the horrendous withdrawal from Paxil. What I can suggest to you is to have some Omega 3-6-9 supplements, and sloooooooooooooowly reduce your dosage...a tiny, tiny fraction every week.

Another thing to do is to add another antidepressant to hopefully alleviate the withdrawal symptoms from paxil.

Did you experience withdrawal symptoms such as electrical shocks in your head, dizziness, nausea, basically feeling really sick?

There was a huge class-action lawsuit a few years back...patients who were not told by the mfr of the horrendous withdrawal they would go through should they decide to discontinue the med.

There are other ideas that I haven't mentioned..it's been a while...I would highly recommend you google 'paxil withdrawal' or 'paxil side effects'. There is also a good website I think is called Ask a Patient: Medicine Ratings and Health Care Opinions. There is a section where people report their side effects for meds.

Here are some good websites that may help:

benzo.org.uk : Dependence on Antidepressants & Halting SSRIs by Dr David Healy MD, FRCPsych

Quitpaxil: paxil withdrawal advice

Tips to Reduce Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal from paroxetine can be severe, warns FDA -- Tonks 324 (7332): 260 -- BMJ

HTH :smile: It can be done.

Thanks Patricia for the info. :smile:

Hi Everyone !!

I just wanted to bump this thread back up to the top so that it will remind people that the meeting is in a couple of days.

The weather is supposed to improve greatly (we're having rain downpours mixed with periods of major snowing today!!!) so I'll be there for sure !!! In fact I have made myself an appt in Bellingham for a fill in the afternoon so I'll be on the road early...would rather sleep in but I *know* I need a fill badly and can't put it off any longer !!!

So I will be back in Vancouver at a good time and will be looking forward to seeing you all there !!! Don't forget the place change (see Doddie's above post)....

See ya all soon !!!

Patricia

Hi Patricia,

hey, are you going to the NW fill center for your fill? I'm just curious how they operate -- do you have to get a referral from your surgeon, or can you just there on your own? How do they keep track of your fill level? Do they empty you then start fresh in the beginning? Just trying to find out more information on that clinic in case I am in a position later on where I need a fill and one isn't available here, or if I know I need a fill but the surgeon won't do it.

Thxs!!!

Hi there! I was also banded on Dec 28th! It has been much more difficult than I thought it would be. I guess I just wanted to believe it was easy. Are you having trouble eating (well if thats what you want to call swallowing liquids)?? I can hardly eat anything at all. I am pretty much stuck on slim fast and Tomato Soup. I hope its going better for you : )

Oh wow, I'm not sure if I should say you are lucky or to say sorry! :smile:For the first week whenever I drank everything 'bubbled up' and I had to burp after every single drink... and I could barely drink anything, I filled up so fast. Is that what you are going through? That's where I lost most of my weight.

Now it's different, it's like I don't have the band in me.

26 more days until my first fill.

Hi Roberta! Thanks for all the surgery info. Sounds like you are doing well. Did you have to find a dietician on your own or did your doctor send you to one? Joyce

Hi Joyce,

the nutritionist works at the hospital..my doctor didn't send me to her...his post-op diet and hers are completely different, so I'm kinda taking the middle road on it...still on liquids like he wants, but no solids like she wants me to.

OK Here it goes. I was banded on 12/31/07 along with my best friend. We are on this journey together. After 3-4 days I was able to eat some mac & cheese from the kids etc. I asked her what her experience was and she said she can eat as well. In order to solve the mystery why we BOTH had no restriction, we called the Dr. What we found out is that they are using a new band now that is much larger than the band that was used in the past (like my mom and other friend has). The old band was much smaller and therefore you had restriction RIGHT AWAY. With the new band you have hardly any restriction until your first fill. The reason they do this is because with the smaller band some people had a lot of swelling and the band slipped. I was also concerned that I damaged the band because I have been eating everything and anything but I had my esophogram a few days ago and the Dr said - yes there is teh band and you are correct it is wide open. I don't know if this is the case with everyone but this is my story.

HOWEVER I know a lot of people will say that the band is just a tool and that you need to stop eating BUT if I was able to do that I would not have gone through all this PAINFUL surgery. I need my tool to be in working order in order for me to succeed.

THANKS for listening!!!!

Hi there,

Hmmm...I wonder if that is the same band my surgeon used. One of his patients (on a separate email list) stated he was using a newer band. I'll have to ask him. I'm still toughing it out on liquids. I made pizza for lunch for my daughters and didn't eat any. Now i'm off to eat more butternut squash Soup... nummy! LOL

Also wanted to add that it is very cool you and your BFF are doing this together! And I hear ya on having the surgery so we wouldn't feel hungry again. I hate this whole dieting part. Not fun at all.:mad:

My god I am having a hard time creating an account to use the bugg I purchased off of ebay.

When I created my account and was up to the step where I enter my VISA #, it didn't have any provinces listed!

So I go and call the customer service #, it won't take calls from Canada!

I call the technical support # and they don't even have a number I can call.

Anybody happen to have the right phone #? TIA

"When I saw that thread I had to restrain myself from suggesting all dumb asses eat taffy and steak right after surgery. I actually had to restrain myself from writing that. I'm to the point that I don't care, they can eat what they want. It's their band, their stupidity, their everything. I'm not talking someone who learns from their mistake but instead someone who changes their beliefs to fit their behaviors. Big, huge, mega difference. I am not talking someone who doesn't understand the reasoning behind the diet, I'm talking someone who knows full well why the diet is important, WHAT is healing (and it's not stomach swelling), someone who knows they are doing something wrong and instead of bloody well taking responsibility for their own actions they justify it by changing their beliefs to fit their behaviors and telling newbies that the old timers are wrong."

I felt the exact same feelings pre-op, then for about five days post-op where I could only get down clear fluids...but then I got off my high horse and started being more supportive to others.

It is quite offensive to state that a person who is tackling compulsive/binge eating is a dumb ass or it is due to their stupidity. Obesity / morbid obesity is a complex issue, and to a lot of people it takes a great deal of time, and fills, to finally be able to get a grip and become successful at their weight loss.

Making a statement like that is extremely discriminatory and does nothing but make the person that is having these difficulties feel extreme guilt over their actions...which causes them to eat more...which then makes them feel more guilty and depressed...the vicious cycle continues on and on.

They go through the exact same negative feelings before surgery. Dealing with people that assume because they are obese that they lack willpower, they are stupid, etc. etc. does nothing but put them back into that depressed state.

I would dare to say that the vast majority of people who are banded do have periods where they succumb to their overwhelming urges to overeat; however I believe that if they have a supportive group of friends they will be able to finally achieve success.

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to send you some (((hugs))). It is an amazingly difficult process in the beginning, more than I ever expected. I had this assumption that after the surgery I would feel restriction...well that lasted for about a week.

Good luck and I hope you get some good answers.

Maybe Firefox is set to not allow Cookies. Maybe clear them out and your cache.

Also maybe your mailbox is full? Just a thought.

Good luck :eek:

I was just thinking, relationships are like teeter-totters. In the beginning we were the fatter ones, sitting at the ground like some sort of bottom-feeder, while the other basked up high in the spotlight. Now the tables have turned. They don't want to be on the bottom! There is a transfer of power. Such a drastic change in the dynamics of the relationship.

When somebody states something negative, I call them on it right away, asking them something similar to "why on earth would you say something like that?" and offer them the chance to apologise as they *may* have not intended it to be offensive (except the saggy boobs statement, that is really uncalled for!). I like doing it when around others as it will most likely embarrass them!

I was banded in dec 19 2007 3 weeks ago my bmi was 32 now i am feeling so bad that i did that and i could just do a diet and don't be so down like i am now. food was everything for me now i have nothing. Did ayone feel this way too?or can tell me anything good about band with lower bmi?

I'm sorry you are going through this. If it helps I know how you feel. I kinda went through a grieving period, missing food ... missing Cereal, breads, Pasta, etc. etc. NOT hitting a fast food joint while out driving was really difficult! I got distraught at one point thinking, why did I do this to myself, I just want to eat. All I want to do is eat! Then those feelings did pass, and I now am very happy that I was banded. The feelings I now have to deal with are impatience in having to wait another 3 weeks for my first fill.

Update:

took my measurements, clothes on (like that matters, ha ha!!):

shoulders - 55

chest - 52

waist sucked in - 48.5

waist - out - 50.5

hips - 52"

fat roll - 56"

upper arm - 18"

upper forearm - 33.5 (cm)

wrist - 19.5 (cm)

upper thigh - 29"

calf - 19.5"

Waiting for my first fill on the 11th. Not a fun waiting game.

Oh my god, it is sooooo rude to leave your shoes on in somebody else's house! You'll get their floors dirty! I would flip if somebody left their shoes on in my house. I spend too much time cleaning to have to clean up after somebody else's dog poo/outside gunk mess inside my house. I have small children and the last thing I want is for them to roll on the floor where somebody had their outside shoes on.

The only time to do it is when the owner specifically states that it is OK as the floors are really dirty (i.e. doing major work in a home, wood floors, etc., or just walking in and out). If they tend to not care if you have your shoes on or off, then that means their house is really dirty.

Do Canadians keep cleaner houses than Americans? This is just a non-issue! You don't do that here.

Talk about cultural differences, EH???

This thread reminded me of a trip my husband and I took about two months ago.

We live near Vancouver and took a drive down to Issaquah Washington (just south of Redmond) for a car meet.

One of the Americans there asked where we were from, we said outside of Vancouver, and he replies something like "oh wow, so you're from Canada. Must be getting really cold up there. Do you have a lot of snow yet?", in which I replied "buddy, we live an hour away, our weather is the same as yours".

Then a buddy of ours (who happens to be aboriginal) said "yeah, I just finished building my igloo".

OMG we were LAUGHING and the guy was so embarassed!

Just had to say, your progress is amazing! Way to go :welldoneclap:

Sixteen days post-op...haven't used anything on the scars, not really concerned. Port finally doesn't hurt!

hey guys, here are my scars! I got banded on 1/9/08 and had a great recovery. the first pic is the day of and the second pic is 3 days post op...i think im coming along pretty nicely. i get the staples taken out on monday so i will see then!

OUCH!! Staples!?? Owee!! :smile: Those must hurt. I just had glue in my incisions.

I wanted to share my experience with you, I have not had my band placed yet but I have had major abdomial surgery before. I had 2 tumors wrapped around my pancreas and had a surgery called a Whipple. I had to have a large part of my intestines removed so this is pretty comparable to GB. The pain and recovery where horrible. I was in the hospital for 21 days. I had a G-tube which was probably the worst part. I can't describe to you the emense pain that is invovled with a surgery of this magnitutde. If you have small kids I strongly urge you to think long and hard about having a major abdominal surgery, the recovery time is a long and very rocky painful road.

With The lap band there is no cutting of the stomach or intestines therefore the recovery is minimal. This is the only reason I would ever consider going under the knife again, believe me when I tell you I would take fat any day for the rest of my life than put myself through a surgery where they had to cut any part of my digestive system. unless you are 400+lbs and can't get out of bed I would seriously consider the band as the way to go. Thanks for listening(PS. that is the short version)

Gena, I just wanted to pass along some (((hugs))) to you. My mom had pancreatic cancer as well.

Hi there,

When I was initially looking at having bariatric surgery, I logged on to bulletin boards, for both gastric bypass and lap-band, and read the threads that had to do with complications & side effects. I wanted to get a realistic idea of what I was signing up for.

Reading literature that describes possible complications is one thing, but reading people's personal stories, and the suffering they have endured really sticked home with me. That is why I chose the lap-band. I have two small girls, ages five and three, and I needed to be there for them, have a fast recovery, and not risk my life having bariatric surgery.

I hope this helps somewhat and I wish you luck in your decision. :-)

Mine took a bit longer..about a week and a half. It gets better every day :-)