Butterfly512

I can honestly say my only current depression comes from my weight, maybe that was not true in the past but I have been extremely happy the past 3 years in every other aspect, newly married in October 2013 to a wonderful man, and we just had a baby last August, he's also adopting my 10 year old daughter now, everything is good and just what I wanted in my life. I do have ups & downs from bipolar disorder, but the main thing that causes that even is the way I let my appearance and weight issues consume me :-/ I have started seeing a therapist to address any underlying factors, emotional eating, etc..and to help me thru this process. In the meantime, I did decide today to start trying the preop diet now, I am told I should be able to have the surgery within a month so I don't want to sit around doing nothing about my weight and being more depressed as I wait. Thanks for the advice and understanding in general though...every little bit helps, whether other situations are different or not.

The thing really bothering me is standing up in my mom's wedding in june, I had 6 months to lose weight ...of course I didn't again, and I am going to hate myself in the dress :-( especially standing next to my skinny sister ...who already gets all the comments on facebook and anywhere else about how beautiful she is, I am always told I have a good heart & personality :-/ it drives me crazy..she is so stuck up with a shitty attitude half the time too, I wish she would gain a bunch of weight someday lol...but I am so ready to stop living this way. I know how pretty I can look from losing weight in the past and it kills me knowing that. I want the outside to match the inside.

Aww thank you :-) I am glad I am not alone either

Karess, can you message me about what was required for you? I have bcbsmi thru my husband's employer, the dr I am using has been kind of unclear about some things...they just keep saying to get the psych evaluation, cardiac clearance, and to write down my diet history attempts on paper, they're leading me to believe they can get past the 6 month diet preop ..especially because I am just meeting the bmi requirements and if I lose any weight I won't...idk I am confused and just want to know how soon I can get this done.

Lmao..if he pisses me off by saying that stuff again I just might!

He also thinks I will be throwing up all the time, suffering from fatigue from eating less...and he thinks it'll be too much for me to get through. I guess I just have to prove him wrong.

He did go to the first consultation and has a clear understanding of the surgery, etc., from me explaining it and bringing brochures and sending him info from online, he just doesn't understand the problems I have with emotional eating, appetite control, weight gain from my meds..and everything else that causes my failing on every diet. And whether he is fine with how I am or not ..this is for me and will make me happy & complete. I am sure he won't mind though when I am thinner and looking hot lol

I am glad I started such a good thread :-) & it definitely has given me the advice and support I had hoped for in my decision to have wls.. thank you to everyone & it's so nice to see the responses and people coming together on this.

I am so thankful for all the great responses, my consultation was today...it went great. Yes, I know it won't be easy, especially in the beginning but the benefits definitely outweigh the rough times I might have sometimes, and going thru the stress and depression over my weight for the last 13 years is worse than overcoming some obstacles that in turn will have a great outcome and make me happy.

Thank you everyone for your input, advice & encouraging words. Overall, I feel like the hell I have gone thru for the last 12 years with the back n forth dieting, feeling like a failure everytime, beating myself up over it & being depressed almost everyday at some point due to my weight/appearance. ..it can't get any worse ..only better! I can go thru the tough parts of this knowing I have a lifelong tool to keep the weight off, and that the depression, stress and feeling tired and out of shape all the time will come to an end as long as I do my part. Yes, I am trying to make sure I consider every aspect before I make this life changing decision but getting reviews & feedback from people that have gone thru it definitely helps :-)

I am almost positive about my decision to get the procedure done, I have an appointment today to get the process started..to those of you saying how hard it is and that it's still tough after surgery, that is one of my worries, the emotional eating & mental aspect of it..I have bipolar disorder and all the stupid problems that go along with it :-/ ..but I do feel like my only stress and depression comes from me being overweight and unhappy about how I look and feel..I am afraid I won't be able to handle the way it could affect my emotions/moods & stress factors but at the same time...if I use food to fill the void of being overweight and unhappy with that, then losing the weight finally with this "tool" should be a great solution. I quit smoking 1 1/2 years ago..when I found out I was pregnant with my son, that was extremely difficult. ..I kind of turned to food even more after that, so I hope another bad habit doesn't replace food after this..But plain and simple..if the stress & depression is taken away by losing weight and being happy again in that way. .I feel that everything will fall into place in a positive way. Anyone else have a similar situation that has had a great experience as the outcome after wls?

I have bc/bs.. the office manager at the bariatric Dr I am using said she can help me avoid the 6 month diet requirement ..so hopefully any other hoops I gotta get thru won't be too difficult or take too long either.

Hi everyone, I am new to the boards after lingering awhile back when I was first considering wls At that time (a couple years ago) after going to the consultation & beginning to start the process, I changed my mind but now after getting married, having my son, etc. I think it might be a better time to do it now anyways, & after several more attempts at several different diets ..again, I need a solution to the constant struggle with my weight. Fyi, I am 35yrs old, 5'4 & weigh 200 pounds...it may seem less overweight than some people getting wls and I feel like I might hide some of it well (from what I am told) but in the end I am miserable, depressed and discouraged constantly about my weight :-( everything else in my life has been finally great for 3 years now but I still have this void that being overweight and unhappy with myself causes, it affects everything in my life, it consumes me everyday when I constantly start different diets only to fail, & feel horrible and beat myself up everytime I get off track. It puts a strain on my relationship even though it's a great one, I am still hard to deal with when I am always moody back n forth depending on how I am doing with the diet I am currently on :-/ and I get crabby when I am always hungry and feeling deprived when trying to limit my calories/carbs, etc. I really feel that my weight problem started when my mental illness problem came out & after being put on bipolar meds 15 years ago..I gained weight from certain meds, then lost and gained again, had my first child, then have been overweight ever since with only a couple successful attempts to lose weight only to gain it back from not sticking to good eating habits & exercise plus I always went for a quick fix with diet pills mostly :-/ My concerns with wls are mostly my bipolar disorder, I am definitely an emotional eater, but I feel like my only emotion that causes overeating, binge eating, possible food addiction (especially after quitting smoking), etc. All of those are caused by my feelings about my weight and hating the way I look, I eat to comfort myself, feeling better only temporarily until I beat myself up about failing another diet and being depressed about my weight again. It's a vicious cycle. But I Think WLS could be the answer finally. I only worry about the mental part of it with the bipolar, I am stable after being on the right medication for years but there are still symptoms I deal with everyday. And I don't want those to interfere or cause me more distress, but I feel like the constant stress & discouragement I have been dealing with for 10+ years with my weight can't get any worse..only better with wls as a solution/tool. I want to lose weight like yesterday though lol.. I want to get skinny now & my impatience, always ruins any attempts too..but only because I keep failing, procrastinating, and prolonging losing the weight that way. Every event I want to lose weight for, stresses me out because it comes and goes without me losing weight, I feel stressed and depressed leading up to it..and vicious cycle again ! So, I am considering the lapband (several family members had success with it)..but I have been looking into the sleeve also, not sure which would be best for me until I talk to a Dr again, But I am worried the band might not be enough for me to lose/keep the weight off with my other problems? I also don't have support from family, they think I am fine how I am, or should be able to lose weight with diet and exercise, etc. And my husband is supportive in a way but he's fine with how I am and doesn't like my mood swings when I am dieting :-/ Any advice on all of that is appreciated, sorry for rambling.. I had to keep stopping and starting typing the post while my 7 month old needed me too lol Thanks :-)

Yes I am hoping if it comes down to that I can get her to understand why this is a good choice for me, so far I have only told her by email/msging thru the medical center, she replied with "I only recommend weight loss surgery when needed for medical reasons) ..and then she suggested weight watchers and therapy..again. I already started seeing a therapist today to start addressing the emotional eating, etc part of the problem.. But I feel like I need the lapband as a tool to not only help me lose the weight but to keep it off, it will give me no choice but to stick to a healthy diet, instead of me going back n forth from one diet to the next and the stress of constant failure and depression causing more emotional eating. I am hoping it is the solution for me, without causing me more psychological problems.

Yes they are, and anyone that hasn't gone thru it doesn't understand :-/

Well it's not up to her...I will do what I think is best, just not sure if wls is the best option yet..but I am out of options and exhausted from so many years of struggling with this.

Ugh, so I asked my psychiatrist for her input..she thinks wls should only be for a medical condition & keeps suggesting weight watchers and said therapy with that is best. This bums me out because I really wanted her support. I have tried every diet including ww over & over.. yes I need behavioral help with the weight problem too, but diets aren't working with the constant hunger & emotional eating, etc.

Thank you for sharing your story & encouraging words, and thank you to everyone for the replies & advice I am meeting with a bariatric surgeon this Wednesday to discuss my options and concerns.