sleepyjean

I asked my doctor about this. He said if I ever get to the point where you can actuall see the port sticking out from my stomach (as if!) he could switch me to a low profile port. He said it's something the doctor can do for you with an anesthetic. They don't have to put me under and operate again. Although the thought of lying there while the dude slices my stomach open and pokes around in there, makes me want to gag.

Hi Sunflower, I take 300mg as well, but I don't take it alone - I'm also on effexor and prozac. (which scares me a little bit to say out loud. 3 meds, I must be reeeealllly crazy!). Please don't feel discouraged. Every med doesn't work for every person. Sometimes you have to try different meds, different dosages, or different combinations to hit the right medication for you. I tried Lexapro, Provigil, and Strattera and none of them did a thing for me. It was a hard time, because you have to gradually start taking the new stuff and stop taking the old stuff and then you have to wait and see if it works. It's a long process, and it's hard to stick with it when you're depressed and feeling hopeless. Please don't do what I did - when I first started taking meds a few years ago, it was prozac alone. It helped a little bit, but it didn't really do the trick. I figured that I was beyond help and gave up taking it altogether for about five months. I avoided my doctor and convinced myself that I was somehow defective and nothing would ever work for me. I fell further into depression. It finally got so bad that desperation drove me back to the doctor, who put me back on prozac. Unfortunately, the prozac no longer did anything for me. I've since discovered that if I stop taking my meds for more than a couple of weeks, I can't go back to them. For whatever reason, they no longer work for me and I have to try something else. It's frustrating. I've done that three times, and it finally sunk in that when I find something that works, I have to stick with it no matter what or else I'll lose another 6 months or a year to depression. It took about year for my doctor to hit on the right cocktail of stuff for me and now I take it religiously. The best thing you can do is give yourself a month or so, to see if it's really working and then if it still isn't, scrap it and move on. In my experience, if I have to ask myself if it's working, then it's NOT working. Or not working well enough anyway - and it's not your fault. So if the Wellbutrin still isn't working well, ask your doctor if you can try something else. Don't settle for feeling just "a little bit better" than you did before. The goal isn't LESS depressed, the goal is NOT depressed. Sorry for going on and on, but I've totally been where you are - several times - and I understand how hard it is. Don't give up. Depression meds are just like the band. So many of us go into this, afraid that the band won't work for us. But after you're banded, you discover that if you get stubborn about it and hang in there, you will reach your goal. Hang in there. And please feel free to PM me if you ever need to let it all out to someone who can relate. ((((hugs))))

PB = productive burp It's when your food comes back up, looking very similar to the way it went down, so it's not quite as gross as vomiting. Unfortunately, PBing is usually preceded by sliming, which for me is the worse of the two

my doctor's orders: no food after midnight the day before the fill and two days of liquids afterward

The last time I got down to a healthy weight, I freaked out. Actually, I freaked out for a number of different reasons, but the shopping experience was one of those reasons. Right now, I hate to shop. Besides the whole size issue, I never know what I should be wearing or what looks good on me. It's not a big deal though because I only buy my clothes at Lane Bryant, the one store guaranteed to have my size every single time. When I got down to a 12, I realized that the other 95% of the mall was now an option for me. I never really noticed how many clothing stores are in a shopping mall. I had too many choices and didn't know what to do. So even though I hate the clothes I'm wearing now, I'll probably be wearing them until they literally will not stay on my body.

Oh if only that were true for all of us. I have a D cup, and they've gotten a bit smaller. I'm the kind of person whose weight gain/loss is spread pretty evenly all over my body. But I know that when I reach my goal weight, I will probably still be a D or a very full C. I would LOVE to be a B cup, but I think I'd have to get down around 115 for that to happen. I'm 5'7" so I don't know if that would even be possible.

I have been on Wellbutrin XL for over a year now. With all of these sorts of medications, there's a "breaking in" period. It can often take 3 - 4 weeks to tell if the meds are really doing their job, and your body can go through all sorts of changes during that time. Trust me, your wife doesn't have to worry about having zero appetite for the rest of her life. Just tell her to enjoy the freedom from food obsession for now, because her appetite will return sooner than she thinks.

I tried some baby food. A friend of mine who has a baby told me that babyfood fruit can actually be pretty tasty. LIES! ALL LIES. It was gross. I've got three jars of Gerber stage 3 and not a clue what to do with them.

I'm curious - for those whose husbands are against this, are the husbands overweight too? Now that I know what it's like to be obese, I would never argue with anyone else's decision to do what they feel is necessary. All of us have tried EVERYTHING before coming to this point. We all know the desperation and hopelessness that comes with obesity. I couldn't look another obese person in the eye and tell them what they should or should not do to control their weight.

Before I got banded, I resolved to weigh myself once a month. In the past, I have weighed myself daily and if I didn't lose or if I (gasp!) gained, I would be so depressed I'd binge. I was terrified that it would happen again, so I didn't want to weigh myself too often and get obsessed. But then I got my band - and started weighing myself every day. It was addictive, because every single day, the number was lower than the day before. It was so thrilling to see the weight coming off so steadily. It gave me confidence that I am going to succeed in this. As the honeymoon phase came to an end, and the weight loss slowed down, I decided to weigh myself weekly, so I wouldn't be disappointed by not losing every single day. I have since learned my lesson. Now that I couldn't binge even if I wanted to, the scale has become a valuable tool for me. One of the reasons why I weighed 266 pounds is because I stopped paying attention to my weight and the poundage just kept creeping up and up. I'm never going to be "surprised" like that again, so not weighing myself isn't an option. Also, weighing myself weekly built up so much anticipation, that if I didn't lose weight, or lost a tiny amount like 0.2 lbs, I would be really disappointed and feel like all of my hard work was for nothing - which lead to skipping exercise and eating junk food for the next couple of days. Now I weigh myself in the mornings, when I've got too much restriction to drown my sorrows in vast quantities of food. Weighing myself daily rather than weekly keeps me from convincing myself it's ok to eat an entire box of graham crackers on Monday because I can diet for the rest of the week and still lose weight by Sunday's weigh-in. Monday always lead to Tuesday which lead to Wednesday, and then I'd have to fast for the rest of the week, which I could never pull off. Now, if I eat too much on one day, I see it on the scale and correct it the very next day. The cause and effect relationship between eating and weight gain is much clearer to me now. In a strange way, I find the daily fluctuations in my weight sort of comforting. Given the way I'm eating now, It is physically impossible for me to gain two pounds in one day. So if I'm 248 today and 250 tomorrow, I know that it's just a normal fluctuation and not actual weight gain. I know that not only will I succeed, but even if I do gain some weight back after reaching goal, I will be able to catch myself before it goes too far and becomes 20, 50, or 100 pounds. It's a good thing.

I'm 5'7" and I'm aiming for 140. I don't know if I have a weird body or what, but to me, 140 is even a little bit chubby. Last time I was that size, I think I was around a size 12 and I distinctly remember having fat rolls. It seems like a lot of people my height are aiming for a higher goal weight than I am, which makes me wonder. I think some people may carry weight better than I do. Or maybe I have a small frame or something. I've noticed that quite a few of us have a goal weight that puts them at a BMI of 30+. So I guess my question is not so much what your goal weight is, as how you decided what it would be?

meyour, your attitude is completely unnecessary and unwanted. Aussie was never rude or disrespectful to you.

Not to preach gloom and doom, but you might want to consider couples therapy to help get you through this period in your marriage. Your husband is already bringing a whole lot of baggage and resentment into the situation and his fear is only going to grow as you lose weight. If it was enough to tell him that you love him and would never cheat on him, then he wouldn't still be so upset. Therapy would help him work through his issues and help him find peace in his heart. It would also help you understand how difficult this is for him. You losing weight and getting healthy could be a great thing that brings you two closer together. But situations like this are also one reason why there is such a high rate of divorce after one partner loses weight. This will be a life-changing experience for you. If he's not on board, you may find yourselves growing apart.

Hey gang! Nothing major to report on my end. I'm still losing at a pretty good rate and I've just about resigned myself to the fact that one week out of every month is going to be a MAJOR struggle for me. I'm still pushing along, though. ONEderland is on the horizon. Some days it seems like it will take forever to get there. Other days it seems like just a matter of time...

I agree. I think you're overthinking it. I think your PCP is in a better position to assess your physical risks than the shrink.

That's so awesome! Congrats!

My doc says not to eat anything after midnight the night before. Its' the same as when you do the barium swallow. They need your tummy to be empty so they can see exactly what's going on through the flouroscope. Don't be nervous. It's not scary at all. Just don't look at what they're doing and you'll be fine.

Sounds like hooey to me. There are no end of different kinds of implants used in modern medicine, and I've never heard of one corroding. Hip replacements, Breast implants, etc, all of that stuff is made of inert materials.

I'm with you Aussie. This post seems highly suspicious to me. I can't imagine anyone losing that much weight so quickly without seriously damaging their health. Besides that, you said your doctor put you on a very strict diet, but the diet you posted doesn't seem all that severe, and certainly not severe enough to lose that kind of weight in such a short time. In my opinion, that would require some sort of liquid diet. Looking at the meal plan you posted - an egg, three pieces of bread, three pieces of chicken, two pieces of fish, nevermind the other stuff - that's more than 800 calories. I'm sorry, but I'm too much of a cynic to believe you. You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true...

I turned on the tv this morning and Extreme makeover was on. One of the people getting the makeover was this guy Jeff who'd lost 200 pounds in one year (diet and exercise only, no surgery). His skin was loose and baggy all over his body so the surgeon was going to do a "full body tuck" on him. I didn't stay to watch the show, so I don't know what kind of weight loss program he was on, but he had to have just about starved himself and worked out for hours daily. So why didn't "starvation mode" hit him? Is this going to be one of those reasons why men lose weight faster than women do? http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/bios/jeff.html http://www.ienhance.com/extreme-makeover-s2e10.asp

One of the things that would be so great about this group is if the people who reached their goal stuck around for a little while. It's so inspiring to the rest of us and balances out the more common threads about problems we are having, etc. Would anyone like to make a pact with me? Once I reach goal, I promise to come back and post here at least once a month for the next year. Is anyone with me? Now that I think about it, it would be nice to have a forum for bandsters at goal.

I still swallow my pills whole. One of them is effexor and it's pretty big capsule, but I haven't had any problems. It might be because I take my meds at night when I'm less restricted.

Anyone have links to any good lap-band success stories? I really like Mae's (muffinbirdie). Are there any others like it?

I read somewhere that WLS can make a strong marriage even stronger and weak marriage even weaker. I believe that. Here is an interesting article from two years ago. The title is "Gastric bypass surgery has its risks, including divorce" but GB or LB, what's the diff? I believe this was originally published in the NY Times. Here's the link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/180580_bypass03.html

Hey Vines, does your doctor know what the deal is? I know you've been having trouble but I haven't been following all the details. Are going to work on regulating your imbalance or did they just shrug and give up? If they did, that's pretty rotten.