HeatherO

The bulimic lifestyle is not healthy banded or unbanded. It is still something that you will need to address regardless of whether or not you have the band. It almosts seems as if you are settling in for the bulimic lifestyle, feel that it is impossible for you to do any better, and giving up your band is just making it one step easier to allow yourself to be victimized by your compulsions. You say you will not give up the behavior even if you are risking your life. Why settle for an unhealthy lifestyle? You said that you quit for 6-9 months prebanding and was working with a therapist. You had control over it then, what is so different about it now. Why do you give up on yourself this way? Bulimia will still has great risks even without the banding, it will just be a whole lot easier to engage in it after the band is gone.

I know for me I decided to get down to a normal BMI before pregnancy. I am hoping it will be a little later this year. I want a very healthy pregnancy along with a cute baby bump as well :0). Also, I have a child who is 16. I know all to well what it is like to have a new baby. It will be extremely hard to focus on exercise and diet when a baby is taking up so much time and attention. Anything having to do with "you" time will go on a back burner. Even sleep becomes a luxury. I need to get the work done to get back on the healthy track before I complicate everything with a new arrival. I really want this weight off and it is my first priority.

I had sneeze, cough, laugh stress incontinence as well. I could catch it if I would really clench if I felt something coming on. I did exercises and such but it only helped minimally. My weight is down and now it is now completely gone.

My last fill was tight and I had good restriction for the first time ever. I pb'd and then for almost a week kept pb'ing. What I learned from that experience is that I was making a mistake. My stomach was irritated but I did not take a couple of days on liquids to allow it to settle down. Once I did that, I didnt have anymore problems. A day of liquids followed by a day of light mushies will do wonders for getting you off the cycle of pb'ing, sliming or just being generally uncomfortable.

I looked into wls 3 years ago and I felt like you. I did not go through with it at that time. However, it stayed in my mind and eventually I came to the point earlier in this year where I finally decided to make the plunge. I only have one very real regret . . . why didn't I do this sooner? It has been a great experience for me and for many others. Definitely review more posts regarding polls on regrets or satisfaction, look at people that have posted who have had the band for some time. I think what you will find is that there are a lot more happy banded people than unhappy banded people. liquid stage is no fun, but it passes and you don't have to go back. If you decide not to go forward, where will you be several years from now?

Great post!!!! The Lap Band is the best thing I have ever done for myself and I don't regret it for an instant. My worst day now is better than my best day in the land of obesity. It was definitely, completely, wholeheartedly worth it.

You might be just fine. I would give it a week as long as liquids are going down. Once you reach good restriction you are not supposed to gulp. I know every fill for me caused me to need to revist the bandster rules. Most importantly, sip, eat slow and chew to goo. I would always say give any fill a week for you to decide whether or not it is a good fit. Your fill sounds ok to me so far.

I started at curves a couple of years ago. It was OK but it came to a point where I could not get much of a workout anymore. By going a lot faster you are supposed to increase the intensity of the workout, but i was going ridiculously fast and there was just not enough resistance. It was also open very limited hours when I was usually working. I never could understand why the ones I attended would never be open on a Sunday. It was almost like they were open housewife or retirement hours but werent really geared for those working full time plus jobs. I ended my membership at curves and joined the YMCA about 1 1/2 years ago. I was embarrassed and self conscious at first, until I realized that no one really cared, it was only me and my own thoughts. No one was watching any more than a passing glance that most people have from time to time. There was never a negative moment, people just mostly worked out in there own little sphere of existance. As time went on, I became a regular and now people are always saying hello and see you next week, etc. Now I can do aerobics in the front of the class instead of hiding in the very back corner :0) Anyways, if I have learned anything at all, it is that most of our worry about what other people are thinking is in our own heads . . . so I let it go and don't worry about it much anymore. Besides, if you are overweight and working to get back in shape, who can begrudge you that???

Hang in there, it won't be long until you are losing again. I was able to start losing again during bandster hell before the fill. I did it by cutting out all processed carbohydrates. No potatoes or oatmeal, bread, certainly no sweets. I stuck to lean Proteins and vegetables. I also started kicking up the exercise at this time. At this stage it will be a little more like dieting, but you can definitely do it if you stay focused.

Birth control certainly helps. Since I have lost weight, even with birth control, my periods have gotten 10 times worse than they were before. I also found that if I miss one pill, even if i take it the following morning, my period starts with all of the increased unpleasantries. I can continue taking my doses every day with only the partial day missed (because I always end of taking it as soon as I realize I missed it) and I still have an uncomfortable period session. I then have it again as soon as I start my off week. I tried going off birth control and using alternate means of preventing pregnancy to see what that would do to my monthly cycle . . . it was absolutely terrible. It was like going back to the days in middle school where the cramps were sooo bad all I wanted to do was lie in bed and moan. For you long timers out there who have maintained weight loss for an extended period . . . is this temporary? Is it just exceptionally bad now because excess hormones are being released as the weight comes off? Will it even out once I hit the maintenance phase?

Always check with your doctor first. You really should not vary from your doctors post-surgery instructions unless you are given the OK. If the doctor says it is OK to move up the dietary schedule some, go for it.

Amen to that.

I won't missing going shopping, thinking I have something that might fit ok and trying it on in the dressing room and then, seeing there is no way it is going to fit me in a flattering way. Going shopping in certain stores and seeing that the biggest size they have is one size below what I need. Traveling abroad and feeling as though you are the heaviest person in the country, not just the room. Actually it is kind of sad coming back in that I can blend in easily and not be the heaviest here. There is a huge difference in body size here as compared to many countries abroad. Obesity has become such an epidemic here that eventhough you notice how overweight you are, other people just blend in to the background.

Oh the joys of pregnancy. It seems to be par for the course and a little unavoidable. I had to keep taking catnaps or become a zombie. Good luck.

An unfill is definitely the way to go if you are vomiting regularly. You will feel so much better and be so much healthier if you can get more nutrition in as well. You can always get another fill once the baby comes.

Wow, I am very sorry to hear that. It is sad to think you just had the port issue correctd and now this. I hope they can do something for you that does not involve complete loss of the band. Best of luck to you.

I get stuck when I dont have a fill as well, but it is from not following bandster rules and eating something like chicken without chewing well enough.

See your doctor as soon as possible. Any infection at this point could be serious since you have had major surgery. Please let us know what the doctor says.

I didnt have this exact thing happened but I remember it was touch and go with the liquid phase. Thanks for sharing . . . I had a great laugh.

My husband was very supportive but he was also a little skeptical that it would really work. He said he would stand behind me as long as the personal risk to my health was not too great and that it would not have an effect on the ability to have a baby in the near future. He was with me all the way, could not have been better with the support. However, he has since told me that he was not sure if the surgery would really work but now he is convinced since I have had such great success so far.

I agree 100%. I notice people who are attractive and I notice people who are unatractive. I have always been a bit of a people watcher. I think it is just my nature. It happens even more when I am in an airport, foreign countries, etc. It is human nature, and other than being very discreet, I still catch myself doing it. As far as staring goes, most of us have the courtesy not to do this, or make catcalls or funny statements. As far as being noticed is concerned,nothing compares to time I spent in Turkey. If I go in a shop, or on the bus, or walk the streets it seems like 8 heads in 10 will turn and stare at me openly. When I mean openly, there is no diverting the eyes if I look back. It is completely disconcerting to be noticed in this way. I was told the reason this happens in smaller cities is because I have red hair, blue eyes and whiter than white skin. They can see I am a foreigner from a mile away. I get a lot more attention now from everyone. I now blend in as a much more normal sized person. Some of the attention is good, some of it is bad. It bothers me most when I am at the park running or biking and a passing car occasionally has someone yelling something out. I want to say something or do something to get them to have a little respect but in reality I usually blush down to my toes if you know what I mean. People are friendlier, more open, strangers talk to me more. Men are paying a lot more attention. I am not used to being approached by men I don't know. Even yesterday when I was at blockbuster I noticed a man kept looking at me, finally he came over to me and said "Are you Irish?" I could tell it was just an opening to try and get a conversation going, but instead of feeling flattered by the attention, I just felt irritated and quickly broke away. What kind of come on line is that anyone, are you Irish? That is a new one for me. Really, I don't even know how to feel about all this attention. In some ways it does irritate me that I had to lose weight for people to make more of a point to try to speak to me. On the other hand, there are definite benefits to invisibility. If I wasn't married, perhaps I would feel more flattered by the male attention but really it just annoys me right now.

Requirements seem to vary by doctor. Mine only said I could not have caffeine the day of surgery. So I was still ingesting several cups of sugar free coffee and diet pop before surgery. Day of surgery I had a terrible, throbbing headache and I could not take anything . . . reason for headache . . . caffeine withdrawal. If I had to do it all over again, I would have weined myself off caffeine the week before surgery.

Cottage cheese, refried beans with a little melted cheese and yogurt are great for something quick when you are already very hungry and need something fast. There are definitely a lot of great recipes as well.

I should be ashamed of this NSV but I am going to put it out there anyway :0) Please try not to be to shocked. It is time to renew my license and I go next week. I was looking at it and saw that my weight on the license was 180. Well I am sure I was well over 200 when I got the license, so obviously I was not truthful when I got it the last time (probably could just not bear giving some bored, middle aged women peering at me over her glasses something I was ashamed to even admit to myself). NSV - I weigh less in reality than the original fictional number on the license :0). What a hoot!!! So now that I have to do this again next week and I am losing so well, how much should I say . . . ? What an interesting dilemma. I just wonder how many of us who are overweight give the true number on our licenses. It is hard to do because you have to show it all over the place and it stays the same for years . . . . I posted this as a response to an NSV thread in the Jan '08 group but wanted to put it out there in general support as well.

I should be ashamed of this NSV but I am going to put it out there anyway :0) Please try not to be to shocked. It is time to renew my license and I go next week. I was looking at it and saw that my weight on the license was 180. Well I am sure I was well over 200 when I got the license, so obviously I was not truthful when I got it the last time (probably could just not bear giving some bored, middle aged women peering at me over her glasses something I was ashamed to even admit to myself). NSV - I weigh less in reality than the original fictional number on the license :0). What a hoot!!! So now that I have to do this again next week and I am losing so well, how much should I say . . . ? What an interesting dilemma. I just wonder how many of us who are overweight give the true number on our licenses. It is hard to do because you have to show it all over the place and it stays the same for years . . . .