joiful

They pulled out all the thicker stuff this time and now I have I think 4 ccs. I have been too tight since Dec. Have gone in then they pull too much out then they put some more in then too tight so I have been too tight since Feb. completely. I am back to eating like crap. I don't have the tool that will help me when I eat so that I am full and then I won't want to eat other things.

I appreciate your response. Haven't been threading cause mine is not working and it is depressing and soooo fustrating!

I was wondering how many fills have each of you had. I have had close to 20 fills and unfills. Since Jan. I have just kept putting off getting ufills even though I have had 3. Sick of paying the $250 each time and it is never right. Now I have gained 10 pounds cause I was only keeping down ice cream. I am really disappointed with the band. So far I have spent about $11,000 and still owe $6,000. I just feel that I will never get it right and I will never get over this stupid eating disorder. I can't understand why they can't get my band right!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've tried a professional for over 2 years, meds, diets, you name it I've done it. I am in this mess and it is just a mess. Don't know any other way out. Tried the band not much working for me. I wanted the full feeling that is why I got the band and I have not had the pleasure of full feeling. Full feeling is suppose to help you not eat any more cause you are full. Over the Holidays when my band was super tight and I couldn't hardly eat anything I felt that I was beating the eating disorder but I couldn't eat so they loosened the band. Now I am back wanting and doing some of my old ways.

I just don't know how to make the band work. Yesterday tried eating BBQ. The sandwich had beef and turkey. Took off almost all the bread. Didn't work. Threw that up. Ate some of the baked Beans threw that up. Then I tried eating the meat and threw that up. I gave up after that.

Last night tried to eat pizza, didn't work.

Saturday night I went to Longhorn and got a sirloin with baked potato and a salad. salad was fine but the sirloin was difficult had a lot of grissle. So I stopped eating dinner.

I am clueless and lost don't know what to eat.

Should I have my band tightened. I don't think I ever learned how to eat really small bites when it was tighten and then I threw up. That is why I had an unfill. What do you think? I don't get that full feeling after I eat and that is when I eat the ice cream.

Thank you Charlene and all that was so sweet. I weigh 170 so I don't think the 20 lbs. is going to make that much difference. The problem is in my neck mostly. I had two dics in my spinal cord when it finally got diagnosed and then had surgery right away. They told me it would take 2 months to recover from the last surgery that will happen probably first of April it is in my neck and will go all the way down.

I am suppose to have a fill on Thursday. I don't want to pay another $250. This is number I think 15 or 16 times that I have been there. 2 where unfills and too much was taken out. I just don't think the band has worked for me.

Thank you for your encouragement!

I haven't posted in awhile. Been doing horrible. I don't think I am gaining weight but I am almost eating ice cream every day. Then there are some fresh Cookies in the house that was sent to us. See what happened was. I enrolled in school to become a Nurse Practitioner. I had spinal surgery in Oct. 22 and I was healing very fast. The fastest they had seen. Then in Jan. I was in so much pain. Went back to the doctor and they said I stopped healing in Nov. So I dropped out of one class. Was having a terrible time with my neck. Had an epidural in my neck. That didn't help. Went back to the doctor and now I am scheduled for a neuro stimulator that involves 3 surgeries. The last one takes 2 months to heal from it. A wire is placed all the way down my spinal cord and then inserts to a stimulator that will beat the pain receptors in my brain and it will signal that it is a tingle feeling instead of a pain feeling. Does this makes sense. They said there was no way that I would be able to do school and absolutely no way would I ever be able to finish nursing school. So today I had to drop out. food comforts me. I am sad for myself. I feel like my life is over cause I can't hardly do anything but lay in bed.

So there it is. I just can't help myself!

Thanks for all your wonderful notes. Congrats on the baby! The last few days the cravings for sweets have not been bad. I have heard that Chromian (sp) supplements taken at higher doses helps too. I keep forgetting to get it at Walmart. It talks about it in Breakthrough the book by Susanne Summers. I have lost around 36-38 lbs. very slow but it has not been that horrible to get that off. I have a lot of stress so I am sure that is where the cravings come in. I own my own business and with this economy it is way down. I also started to go back to school and I had spinal surgery in Oct. and it did not help as much as we had hoped. I have too had slimed out of my clothes. Have one pair of jeans that I bought that I like wearing in a size 12. Felt good and now I am so looking forward to a size 8 and then I will be done and working on keeping it off.

I am doing fine, I am just sick to death of trying to reach the "sweet spot". 12 fills and 2 unfills I feel is just ridiculous!

I was crying just a tiny bit last night because I wanted sweats. I just can't seem to get over the sweats. Some times I feel like giving up and think to myself is being fat all that bad? I couldn't hardly get up the stairs and turn over in my bed but I wasn't crying and thinking about sweats all the time cause if I did I would just go get them. I am 45 and I am so sick off this!!!!!!!! Just can't understand why I can't get over this. I had a few days on Christmas Eve and Christmas that I wasn't craving food or wanting to eat. What happened? Why was that so much different? I was much tighter than and now I wonder if I get tighter (had no acid reflux) than those thoughts of food would come back to being nothing like it was.

Having a terrible time with this.

I have been to the doctor 14 times. Just two were unfills. I have a 9 cc Realize band and I am at 8.8 right now. It is full of the thicker stuff they can put in. I was wondering if any one else has had this many fills. thanks!

Do any of you eat sweets?

I had .42 removed from my band cause the .8 was too tight. I am still not able to eat cause it gets stuck. Then I think how slow are you really suppose to eat?

I lost 2 lbs. the Monday before Christmas and then another 2 lbs. on Christmas Eve. So I lost 4 lbs. right around the Holiday. I did it from working out at least 30 minutes 5 days a week about. I have only lost another pound since then. Then I read that as long as we lose it is good. I keep thinking that to myself. This has been a long process. I was banded July 4th and have lost 33 lbs. My eating habits have really changed. I know I am not getting enough calories now. How can you other banders get enough calories on a cup of food for a couple times a day? I need help on this one.

I agree about the bed and still the pictures were not the same as their website. It was hell never ever would I ever suggest going to see them. They are not $15,000 cheaper. You can get banded in the states for around $16,000 or less. I had spinal surgery in Oct. 2008 and I got over my surgey much quicker than I did getting my Lapband. Not speaking English is critical to any one's care and simple of words were not understandable to them. Having complications could have caused my death but I got over it but it was a struggle.

Then I know for sure I am too tight. Going in tomorrow. I am just scared they are going to take out too much. I have had a bowl of Soup today. Needed some calories saw my old birthday cake from christmas eve tried to eat it and couldn't. That is a good thing. Going to eat meatballs for dinner. I weigh about 175 now. So happy about that. STill have 25 to go until I am at a healthy weight. Has anyone answered the question why can you gain so fast but taking it off takes so much longer!

I don't have any of the heartburn so I thought this was the way it was suppose to be. I am sure it is not. I PB a lot or actually throw up so I think I do need just a tad out. It is difficult knowing when you are tight enough.

I think I may go for a little unfill. I am not able to eat enough and I am worried that I will turn to slidders like some other people do. I just don't want to pay the $250. For though the Holidays was not centered around eating food instead it was centered around not eating. That is still not a healthy mindset. I loved though not having to HAVE to have certain foods and keep eating even when i was stuffed. I did not have a free for all Holiday which is very new and every day is new when food is not the mainstay in my life!

After you have surgery you always weigh more. I did when I had my spinal surgery and with all the others. So don't worry.

I wanted to let you all know something and to have patience. I just now started loosing weight when my band was tightened enough that I could not eat certain foods and didn't want a large meal or even a medium meal. I want to stress this and I want you to look forward to what I am experiencing cause you will to. Here's a good example of how my life is changing. I went to lunch yesterday to met some friends was hungy in the morning but didn't eat cause I was eating an early lunch. By the time I met my friends I was more thirsty than hungry. So i just had iced tea and had over an hour conversation with my friends. I was NOT thinking about food at all. Just in the moment of the conversations that we were having. Then I saw another friend that I talked to later who bought two large iced Christmas Cookies, two chocolate cookies and a wonderful look chocolate cupcake. She asked me to have some and I just shrugged no and talked to her and her grown son. Later late last night I was talking to my husband about my day and guess what? "IT W

I have been exercising for a month. It is not depression. My bed is comfortable and warm. I can sit here look at my computer and TV. I was working at my business until I had spinal surgery and now my husband is. We are trying to figure out about going back to school and looking into the medical field. Cause I didn't go last semester and take some science courses I have to wait to start a program in Fall 2010. That is just so frickin far away that it just has been so fustrated that I just want to stay in bed. I have even eaten Cookies last several days.

How do you handle when you are depressed and don't want to get out of bed to get busy and not eat as well as you should? It is sooooooooo hard to get me out of bed when some one upsets me.

Bubbles have you worked out at all? That is the only way I started to lose weight. Today I even went out in the freezing cold weather and fast walked and then jogged some for an hour and 15 minutes. I know if I do work out it is going to be a big help. Try it if you haven't been. Another think that I try to do is keep busy. I'm usually in my bed but when I did stuff around the house and made sure I did even if I didn't like it I lost weight. Try it and let me know.

As I think you know I have been having lots of trouble with my band. 8 fills and I was banded July 4th. Now I can hardly eat anything. Some times I wished I got the sleeve but I heard chances of gainig your weight back is so much more of a possibilty than with the band. That is why I was thinking she would be better off. How long have you had your sleeve?

Thanks again for the advice. I have to be more careful about the skins. Had the same problem when eating a roast and I cooked the potatoes with it. thought I could eat them but I was wrong. I than just ate the meat.

Did you have to have your band removed?

My friends is having the sleeve instead of a band. Do you like your sleeve better? How long did it take you to figure out what you could eat with your band? I wished she would have a band instead but that is a choice.

I love love love that jumping jack idea!!

I saw an Arnold S. (not even going to try to spell Swazanager) and he was so physically fit that I was eating a slider food and stopped. Told myself that is what I needed to look like when I am his age. I tried eating shrimp and it all came up. That is when I tried eating the slidder food. Stopped and ate some frozen turkey meal.

Poodles.me I have a toy white poodle just thought I would let you know.

I know what you mean about life. I am just starting to have a life back. My favorite place is in my bed. I stay in it for hours in the morning watching the news and emailing and doing searches. I've about let my children grow up with out having me much involved. Sucks we have missed out on our lives. When you get banded make sure you get some restrition soon. If you do you will start to have your life back sooner. It took me 8 fills and 4 1/2 months later. I force myself to do things even if I am in tons of pain. the reason why is cause I know that every day that I do that I will get better. I will slowly get a life and I will lose the weight and have relief from food addiction. I got an eliptical and put it in my bedroom. Every day that is a reminder that I need to get up and get moving and if I excersise I will lose weight and gain mobility. It has worked!

Okay the latest. I called my doctor and a medical tech called me back. I can't eat hardly anything. She said that it was okay to eat soft foods. From what I know this can cause weight gain cause you start eating your unhealthy foods again because they go down easy. She said that eating chocolate Malto Meal was fine to eat in the morning. Yesterday I ate Chipotle and barely had anything. I did notice though you could only eat a couple Beans at a time or a tiny piece of chicken. Is this normal. That is so small!

Last night I had just shrimp and it came up. So then I wanted the rest of a chocolate sundae that I have had a couple of times. Stopped eating that and forced myself to eat some turkey from a frozen meal. That went down fine.

People who have gastric lose weight so fast. How is that when I see that we talk a lot about not eating enough then not losing any weight or hitting a plateu?

So is my band too tight or I am just not eating the right foods and size. I had some pancakes and an egg on Friday. First time trying that with this fill (#8) and it all came up.

I was banded on July 4th that was Independence day from food for me. I have had 8 fills. The last two with a thicker fill than saling. My band finally has started working. I lost about 30 lbs. on my own and now I have lost 8 more since my fill on Nov. 13th. Is is much much easier when you have restriction. I kept going back to my doctor's when I wasn't getting any restriction. Start going more often, if you are not getting want you want from where you are going, go some where else. I was persistant you need to to and get things changed. You will find it I did and I thought my band was not going to work Now I am trying to figure out how the band works since it took almost 5 months to get restricition. Good luck!