Nanook

Cindyj33, I don't consider myself a food addict either. I had strong cravings for sugar and was a type 2 diabetic but also have other issues too that made it difficult for me to stay away from sugary foods/carbs. I mean you an eat a cow and nothing else and lose weight if you follow the Atkins diet plan. We have to eat and breathe to live and I don't consider myself an oxygen addict. My problem was the fact that the band didn't help me stop those cravings and I was still able to eat them no matter what restricion I had. I was never able to get past that until now. Best of luck to you Nancy.

Good luck Sabertooth!!! Nancy.

Looks like you made the right decision for yourself RM, congrats on your success!! Nancy:thumbup:

Thanks Abbypoo, And the best of luck to you too, you seem to have a good attitude and I'm sure will do wonderfully!! Nancy.

So far so good with the RNY, I'm actually losing weight now so it appears this was the better choice for me. Can't change history of course. I'm hoping to finally get off the meds that are related to my weight and the CPAP machine in the near future, take care, Nancy.

Well this is a lap band forum so of course there will be more people in favor of lap band than any other procedure but when the wrong information is put out there about let's say RNY or Sleeve then the bad information should be corrected and that corrected information would certainly benefit people who are looking to decide on a particular weight loss surgery, just imho. Nancy.

I was fat as a child and it made me shy, I was raised by a mother who did not like the idea that her eldest daughter was overweight. Of course when I look back I wasn't that heavy. The dieting spiral began around age 12 and after my mother died at age 14 the weight really began to pile on. I lost it my first semester in college dorming next to a drug dealer who had diet pills. I went through the first period of my life as being cute and pretty. I had always been fun and funny and had a good personality but never the "cute one" till then. That I must admit was a good time in my life and then it came back on. Which took me from loving life to being depressed again. Lost it again for my upcoming wedding and began to slowly put it back on again after my first baby was born until I was at my highest 259 just prior to starting my RNY revision. So although I definitely had to try harder to be seen and heard as a fat woman in this society my depression and lack of self esteem kept me from becoming anything "fabulous". My personality is more confident as a thin woman and I don't have to be as much as a people pleaser so I do change, not becoming a "skinny beeach" type person but just more comfortable in my own skin. I've been skinny but fat most of my life and life for me is much better as a thinner person. As I know it can be "easy come easy go" so I don't put too much stock in the "wow I'm great" now that I'm thin you never know how long it will last. So my expectations for WL are not as high as they have been when I was younger. Don't want to be 125 pounds anymore and would be happy at 180 pounds!

Let me just say something about Headhunter, when he first appeared here at LBT he had just had some real traumatic issues with his lap band and almost lost his stomach and his life due to it. Many of the people here were not very receptive to him because they couldn't believe that something that horrible could happen to a lap band patient and he was just trying to share his story so people knew that yes, this could happen as it happened to him so be aware. He was even accused of being a troll on this board. Hey I was too at one time and I hope they weren't referring to my hair in this horrible east coast humdity! I believe after reading many of his posts that he's just trying to educate people on WLS in general as he's had a couple like I have. And he's also said many times that he's not trying to force one or another surgery down someone's throat like some people do just to make sure that you look at all the facts and pick the right procedure for "you". I've seen plenty of information put out here about RNY that appears to be more "old wives' tale" than anything but if I had to take the time to correct every one I'd be here forever and I'm just not that young anymore! After reading this thread I found HH to be pretty darn funny myself, but that's just me. Personally, my PCP didn't want me to have the lap band and I was his first patient, and probably only one to have it done. I wanted it done anyway as I was afraid to have the gastric bypass for the same and often misguided reasons that everyone else has listed. My bariatric surgeon didn't really care which I had and I have to admit I wasn't as informed when I had mine done in 2007 as I should have been. Came here looking for answers after I had been banded about six months. Learned a lot here! chips and chocolate and Cookies go through the band? Why didn't he tell me that? My 19 yo daughter had the gastric bypass less than a year after I had my lap band done. This was her choice and I knew how important this was for her "well being" and as we were still covering her with our insurance so after much thought we let her go through with it. Naturally I was more scared for her to have it than I was for myself. She has since then lost 150 lbs and has truly blossomed into a much happier person, she was wonderful to begin with but was miserable with herself and it was going to a dark place for her. Anyway I got GERD after about a year on the band and was put in the hospital for the chest pains it caused and within two weeks of that they removed my band. I was so frustrated with WLS and myself for being a "failure" that I couldn't even think about revision surgery. But as the band was gone I put even more weight on, (as I was one of the few who gained with the band) and got even more depressed and that's when I met with my surgeon and decided to revise. My life is totally different with RNY than it was with the lap band as so far I've actually lost my appetite and "head hunger" or cravings whatever you want to call it. I was a sugar eater and had type 2 diabetes. And yes, I put sugar in my tea now and haven't died. And yes I tried cake and had dumping syndrome and am glad I did! And when I do eat I already have a built in restriction plus the malabsorption doesn't hurt either! I am losing weight which I thought would be nearly impossible so I pinch myself still to see if I am dreaming. Like HH I'm telling you "my" story and am not trying to push any surgery as what works for one will not work for another. Just like the lap band works for some people and not for others, like myself. I had the lap band and since I had problems with and and had it eventually removed I've had plenty of pm's from people asking me about it and telling me their similar stories as they were always afraid to come here in the open to as they might get attacked, which as we all know can happen. So long story short, and sorry for the long story if some of us appear to have "chips" on our shoulders it could be because of many attacks we've received here over the year or two due to our lap band complications, sorry but true. Good luck to all of us who have had WLS as we all need it, Nancy.:laugh:

No but if you wait till you're a senior citizen you may get tuition for free!

Well good luck with school, that's a big deal! Both my daughters are in school one in grad school other still working on her bachelors and I know how hard and taxing that can be I get to live vicariously through their classes.

You could still probably watch those shows on line that's what I would do.

dbinnc, I didn't have issues taking meds after I was banded but did for a while after having my gastric bypass but have no issues anymore and that's a whole different ballgame anyway as you have the malabsorption issue to deal with. You sound depressed and it's normal to be depressed after surgery and more difficult if you're not taking the meds that you should be. If I were you I'd get in touch with your therapist/doctor whoever prescribes these for you and tell them the issues you're having and why you're not taking your meds and what they suggest. My antidpressant is in capsule form so I could not cut it up even if I wanted to. So talk to your doctor and hopefully you'll get back on the meds and feel much better for it. Take care, Nancy.

CJoyce, There are a lot of products out there like "spanx" which can come in a variety of pieces depending on what you want supported. I prefer the faux spanx as it's not as expensive. These can be found in the JC Penncy catalogs, and most woman's size catalogs and on line sites like www.onestopplus.com which combines a few woman's size catalogs together. Anywhere you can find woman's lingerie you should be able to find some kind of support garments. I believe Lane Bryant and Torrid sell them in their stores and I'm sure there are pleny of others that do just thinking of the ones I've actually been to. I rarely leave the house now without wearing one as I knew I'd have extra skin after birthing two babies over 21 years ago and I feel better in my clothes if I'm wearing them. Good luck and I'm sure others can chime in with their faves, Nancy.

Beth it's too bad you don't get cable TV because the best info I get sometimes is from the Stephen Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Sometimes it helps to laugh at some of the crazy shite that's happening in our country and the world.

I've watched Glenn Beck's show and have listened to him on the radio and if I believed everything he said I'd be too afraid to leave my house in the morning. He appears to be a fearmonger and I'm a middle of the road person where I listen to all news and try to decipher on my own what's really going on in the world.

I didn't know I had hypothyroidism until I had the presurgery bloodwork done requested by the bariatric surgeon and unfortunately I never lost weight on synthroid either. Have also had two separate WL surgeries since then. Good luck to you Nancy.

Yarah, As someone who recently replaced her band with RNY I am quite familiar with the "Revision" section over at www.obesityhelp.com I've read there that people have gotten the lap band after their RNY stopped being effective as well as other procedures. You might want to check it out and good luck with what you decide to do, Nancy.:juggle:

If it wasn't for the new "Ghetto" post I never would have read "5th day out and yes I ate chicken" which I had already missed!! It was enjoyable but now I can't get that damn Elvis Presley song out of my head "In the Ghetto" so thanks a bunch!!!

I have noticed that my cravings for food has greatly diminished, not just sugar. It can't be anything but the surgery. Everyone is different but for me I finally found something that has helped and I was about to give up. I'm just being honest and not trying to shove "RNY" down anyone's throat. I'm also in the beginning stages of RNY so things can and will change. I'm still healing and cannot take in as much food as someone who had the surgery six months ago. It's a restriction you get from the beginning, there's no messing with tightening or untightening your restriction and if I treat my new stomach well it should stay in good working order. Good luck to you Nancy.

mpw09, you sound like you know what you're doing but just remember you're not your mom. And you're right not everyone has dumping syndrome and possibly like your mom will go through it even if it means a not so fun time! I can tolerate some sugar but if it's over a certain amount that's when I'm in trouble. My daughter also had the rny after I was banded and that was "her" decision. Of course I worried like crazy for her thinking it was the end of her basically. So far so good though she's lost 150 lbs and is much happier and healthier now. It was because she did so well and I did not on the band that I thought I'd give it another shot as I was still worth it and knew that the band just wasn't the right solution for me. No weight loss surgery is perfect but considering the fact that your mom is only shy by 20 lbs from her goal I think she met the statistics for wl and probably did even better. I believe they say you should lose about 75% of your excess weight and most people lose more and then hover around an extra 20 lbs. It's just what happens. Good luck, and if you choose the band I hope you will be very successful with it, Nancy.:smile2:

From what I've gathered over the past 2 years when trying to figure out why my lap band wasn't working for me as it was for others I came to a few conclusions. One was it was meant for certain types of eaters who ate certain types of foods. Those that ate larger portions of foods seemed to do well and those that tended to eat and crave sugary fat foods struggled. I believe we use a term like head hunger a bit too lightly as it's supposed to be something we "should" be able to control by having and maintaining "willpower" or by getting some sort of behavior therapy and that's not necessarily the case. Head hunger is more physiological in nature than psychological. It's a real force that many of us can't control especially in a case where diabetes is in the mix or one is peremenapausal/menopausal, have hypothyroidism or anything else where homones seem to take over or aren't in the best working order. I think people tend to feel that if they can't work the band the way it should be they are not only considered failures for being fat but failures for failing at the band when in reality they just chose the wrong weight loss surgery. I not only had restriction from the very outcome of RNY surgery but my "head hunger" disappeared also. So there is probably a physical reason for that since physically my insides were rerouted the thing most people dread but it works. I also was fearful of this in the beginning and is why I opted out of RNY and chose the lap band first. You can't change the past but you can learn from it and I was much more knowlegeable going into RNY than I ever was getting the lap band. I'm just using myself as an example of someone who would never have done well with the band because of the many factors I listed above. People have to choose the surgery for the right reasons and not just because it "appears" to be less evasive. I say "appears" only because of the many complications we read about here on the board every day. Surgeons are wonderful at what they do in putting in bands and stapling stomachs in half but they might not be as good at figuring out which surgery is best for you so there's a lot of research that must be done and it's your own responsibility to do as much as you can. Good luck to you all, Nancy.

I have had both surgeries, first the lap band in 2007 and it's removal and then the RNY. Bottom line I had GERD with the band and since it's removal it's gone. I also gained weight with the band because the only food that would go through it were the high sugar/fat foods. One size does not fit all in the world of weightloss surgery and the more you know the better off you'll be. I consider myself a "newbie" with RNY but I'm also a "revisioner" and feel that's a totally different ballgame, like Headhunter above. I know my limitations as a human being and if I could have resisted eating sweets before the band I wouldn't have needed the band. RNY has kept me from craving them like I had before and also due to dumping syndrome, though not everyone has it, keeps me in check like Mariem said. I'm off my diabetic meds now and hopefully will continue to stay off them. Good luck to whatever surgery you choose, Nancy.

If someone told you that they could restrict most of the types of food you ate but you could still eat foods that slid through the band meaning chocolate, ice cream, cookies, chips etc...would you be successful? Not all of us are that strong. It is something you really need to discuss with a doctor ahead of time to make the right decision for you! Good luck Nancy.

MPW09, I too had a sweet tooth and also had type 2 diabetes and on the lap band was able to keep eating sweets as the healthier foods never would go down for me and I would PB. My diabetes worsened with the lap band because of that. I didnt know all the junk food would still go through the band I only thought something like ice cream or sugar drinks would be an issue. I'm much older than you and was at the point where I couldn't even lose weight anymore, forget the keep it off part and due to my health I had the lap band removed and eight months later revised to RNY. I'm fairly new at it and know the effect sugar will have on me now and it's not pleasant. I also don't crave it like I used to (knock on wood)when I was banded and before and am off my diabetic meds completely. I know it's not a "popular" view here at LBT but thought you might as well hear the other side of it from someone also. Good luck to you which ever surgery you choose. Nancy.