Kryssa

I got the fill and starting today I can't eat as much as I used to. I've lost a pound already. Here's hoping...

I agree with everything Sunta said. But I also think it is too easy to forgive someone for not loving you when you don't love yourself. The big question is wether you will still hate yourself enough to put up with his "I'm going to leave if you aren't perfect" crap if you DO lose weight. Somehow, I don't think you will.

Popcorn, chips, and icecream all go down no matter how tight I am. Why is it I never have a problem with problem food?

The hormone is a little on the low side of normal... something about T3. Cortisol is slightly elevated, but well within normal, and I'm working 60 hours a week right now during tax season, so it's a normal response. I also had my resting metabolic rate done. They said it's about 1900 calories a day. Hahahahahahah! If I ate that much I'd gain. I don't lose on 1400 even with plenty of exercise. Ah, well, like I said, we'll see...

It's normal for me... I have first bite syndrome big time! The first bite causes sliming about 90% of the time. So I spit it out and try not to PB, with a not sucessful rate of at least once a day. But if I wait it out I can still eat alot of food, so I'm getting another fill. Hope this helps.

It's air. The saline evaporates into the air trapped in your band. My doc tried and failed to get all the air out at my first fill, I lost most of it that time, but it hasn't done it again.

Well...the results are in (2 weeks ago, but I'm slow:paranoid ). My thyroid is on the low side of normal. But! My doc said it might not be normal for me, so how about some supplements? What?! No medications, just supplements: guggelsterones, L-tyrosine, and forskolin. I'd never heard of either the first or last. They are supposed to optimize thyroid function without replacing it. Ok, so I did an internet search and found a product that had all three in the recommended dosages and potency: on a body-building website! I kept reading, while thinking my doc must be a quack , and realized I might have some very similar goals to a body-builder, i.e. to lose body fat and gain muscle. So I ordered the supplement and have been taking it for a week. I'll let you guys know if it helps. :noidea:

Not to hijack the thread, but I just had to say this: Kelly you are my inspiration! I'm going for my sixth fill tomorrow, I've never had restriction that lasted more than a week, but stories like yours keep me going back!

I pay $87.00 and drive about 75 minutes for a fill. I have had 5 and I'm not there yet. US docs usually follow Inamed's recommended fill schedule (at least in the beginning) so the first fill is likely to be 1cc. There is no way to know how much you will need, even flouro isn't 100% if my doc even offered it. Do not count on being restricted after the first fill, alot more aren't than are from what I've read. Sorry about the bad news, but I thought honesty was the way to go.

Thanks for the encouragement, Vines. I'm not giving up either. I'm just a little (ok, a lot) frustrated. Five fills + water aerobics twice a week + personal trainer twice a week = 11 lbs in 24 weeks. (At 1/2 a lb a week it will take me... never mind, that way insanity lies.) I'm going to go get another fill tomorrow and keep getting them until I'm eating normal little bandster portions without hunger. Good luck beating up on the Cushings!

I had postpartum after both pregnancies and took medicine both times. I had been off it for 3 years when I had my surgery. 8 weeks later I was back at my PCP's office because I was becoming non-functional: i.e. wanting to stay in the bed and cry all day. She (and my surgeon) both think it is because I can't self-medicate with food anymore. Carbs=serotonin...it's a proven fact. I'm on Wellbutrin now and I'm better. Not great but better. Go see the doc and don't buy into all that crap about taking medicine being a bad thing.

Magic, everyone else has already beaten up on you, but I promise I have no intention of doing so. I was on mushies at day 3 and solids by day 8. My nutritionist progressed me faster than normal because I felt like I was starving to death. It's so hard to make good food choices when you are SO hungry all the time. Try to do better with your diet and get a fill as soon as its safe, without a fill its willpower alone, and if we could have done that would we really need the band?

I am so sorry you are going through this. I was banded 10/18 and I've lost 11 lbs, so I really understand. I've rarely felt like I even had surgery. I just made my 6th fill appt for next week. We've got to get there eventually, right? Keep getting fills and don't beat yourself up. BTW, tell your family to leave you alone about eating; Donna's right, you will start eating in secret to avoid criticism and that way madness lies.

Same thing happened to me. Then 3 weeks later it came back due to hormonal fluctuations. Now...nothing again. I'm scheduling ANOTHER fill for next week maybe. It will come; I think we have to believe it or go crazy.

I started teaching my kids, now 8 and 10, to eat healthy from the moment they were born. We ate at restaurants 70% of the time (until I divorced their father); my kids didn't know kids meals actually came with fries not veggies until they were in school. My son is very thin, very active, and could care less about food. My daughter is thin now but she loves to eat and hates physical activity. I've adjusted: if she wants second helpings at mealtime, I make her take an equal portion of veggies with whatever she asks for. We also eat out much less often now, it's a treat instead of a lifestyle. I was a 50 lb. 5 year old; Tori weighs 55 lbs and she is 8. On the other hand, I want to stress that if my kids tell me they are hungry; I feed them, no questions asked. I can choose what they eat: salad, crudite platter w/low cal ranch, fruit, etc. I'm the adult and as such I control what is available: good or bad. My mom put me on a diet from the time I was 8, It didn't work, as a matter of fact it made it worse. I was always hungry and I began hoarding food. I want better for my kids.

80% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score! Well yea. I may have been born in Oak Harbor, WA but I've been in the south since I was 4. Mom from Oscilla GA (try and find THAT on a map) and Dad from Mooresville, NC. Cute survey ya'll.

I had my fifth fill last month and felt restriction for the 1st time but it only lasted for a couple of days, then nothing. 3 weeks after the fill all of a sudden I couldn't eat normally (i.e. alot!). The food wouldn't fit! So I've cancelled my fill appt for next week, I think I'll stay here (2.5/4.0) for a couple more weeks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm watching the parade which is going by outside my window. Savannah has the second largest celebration, second only to New York. The parade goes on for hours!

I got divorced? I had been eating out at restaurants twice a day six days a week for 10 years when my hubby decided to leave me for another woman. For the next 9 months I had no money for anything, and many nights if my kids wanted seconds at dinner I didn't eat at all. I used to eat 2 lean pockets at lunchtime and that was it for the whole day. So..the I guess the short answer is I stopped eating. I finally got restriction about a week ago. It's awesome! I know I'm not nearly as tight as others talk about being, but that's ok too. I'm losing a consistant 1/2 lb a week, but sometimes seeing others' rapid weight loss is so depressing that I've been known to avoid the boards for days at a time.

I weighed 311 lbs./BMI 55.1 when I started this journey. I dieted my way down to 261 and when I started to gain weight again, I scheduled my lap-band surgery. In 22 weeks I've lost 11lbs, so "for the long haul" might be an understatement.

Nanster, Congrats on NOT being a turtle. Turtles usually lose less than a pound a week; you are losing 3/4 lb a day. That said, you are right: mother nature can be evil sometimes.

Continuing the slightly off-topic: I have refused to eat at Burger King for about 5 years now. They de-beak their chickens too. And they also tie their mommy pigs in pens so small that they can not lie down or turn around even while giving birth. I don't want to think about the cows...it's too sad. And if I think about the babies in China I will lose my mind...

I am glad to hear that other people have this problem too. Dee and I share a doc; I was worried that he did something wrong! Warm drinks do not always help me. Taking one bite and then waiting and another bite and waiting THEN eating the rest usually works though.

God, isn't that the truth. I was whining to my surgeon/fill doc last week about losing 1/2 a lb a week and he said he could convert me to bypass. I told him no thanks, I'd rather have the switch (he doesn't do that one), he said no way should I or anyone ever even consider it. <sigh> He did give me a bigger fill this time though. I'm almost there! I can see it: restriction and lack of hunger, like a light at the end of a tunnel. I actually felt it for 2 days until the swelling went down after my fill. Just a bit more...next fill scheduled for 3/21.

Leah, without knowing what you've done or are doing I can't really help but I would like to send alot of empathy your way. I've lost 10 lbs since my October 05 surgery myself. Keep plugging away.