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I think you need to get additional help. A psychologist specalising in eating issues would be a good idea. For some reason you seem to have had the mistaken impression that the band was a magic wand and that after banding the weight would just fall off. I don't know if you had this impression because of lack of research, poor info from surgeon, lack of support group or whatever. The fact is that you have now discovered that the band is not a magical wand. It is a tool and it is a tool that you have to utilise properly to get results. It is a fantastic tool as it helps by curbing hunger so that we can follow our Dr's recommendations which are there to help us lose weight and get healthy. But if you don't use it properly it won't work. The same as a chainsaw won't work if you don't turn the power on. Just be very careful. It is not possible to have the band adjusted so that you cannot eat junk food. In fact no matter how tight your band is you will find that the junk will still go down. Cookies,chocolate,icecream,milkshakes all just slide right past the band. They are full of calories and don't satisfy you so you will end up in a situation where you gain weight. Being too tight causes all sorts of problems including the need for further surgery. As I said at the start you need to see a professional. In the meantime i would start looking at and making a list of the reasons you are self sabotaging. Are you scared of being a normal weight? Will being a normal weight mean that you will have to address other issues in your life? Are you hiding behind your weight - using it as some form of protection? Maybe your issues are simpler. You may be eating because you are bored,lonely whatever. If this is the case find strategies to deal with them. Take up a hobby. It is hard to eat if your hands are busy knitting,scrapbooking,painting etc. Find a form of exercise that you like. You do not have to go to the gym. You could walk,cycle,dance,swim ,play tennis etc etc. There are lots of options and you should be able to find something you enjoy. Hope some of this helps. All the best.

Yes it sounds like you are in the right place.

If I am eating out I focus on foods that are band friendly rather than ones that will promote weight loss. I am surprised that some of your previous replies suggested foods such as grilled chicken or meat. These are some of the hardest foods to get down post band. I also agree that a salad is not very satisfying and some of those salad vegetables can cause problems. Especially fancy lettuce,raw carrots. I tend to go for foods like Pasta dishes or risotto's. I know some people can't do pasta or rice post band but I generally never have problems with either. When you have risotto generally the rice has been really well cooked and has absorbed all the liquid it can so it is not going to swell in your stomach. Things like a starter size canelloni or lasagne work well for me. If there is nothing like that on the menu then I would probably pick a burger rather than a steak and not eat the bread. Foods that have been slow cooked are pretty good too e.g lamb shanks. Other than that it can be hit or miss.I had Indian twice in the space of a fortnight. The first time no problems. the second time i ended up sliming and uncomfortable. both times i had made similar choices so it was probably the different cooking styles at the different restaurants. Either that or my hormones must have been playing up.

Restriction is when you are able to eat a small but reasonable sized portion of healthy food, feel satisfied and not get hungry again for 3 - 4 hours. There are also some things that restriction isn't. Things you should be aware of as some people seem to chase these things and end up being too tight. Restriction is not being full on only 2 - 3 bites of food. Restriction is not eating 1/4 cup of food 3 times a day. Restriction is not the ability to only eat slider foods. Restriction is not measured by whether or not you can still eat bread, rice, Pasta, chicken etc. Restriction is not vomiting/sliming/pbing at every meal because you can't get the food down. Restriction does not equate to a magic fill no. And something that is important to remember. Restriction is different for everybody. HTH

I certainly wouldn't view the sleeve as a median between the band and bypass. Yes you won't have something inside you for life but you will have had a good sized portion of your stomach permanently removed. That is not to say that a sleeve isn't a good option - I believe that there are lots of sleeved people out there who are extremely happy with the procedure. Many of them had been banded previously and had issues with the band. The band is the only option that is reversible. Not that most of us want it reversed but it is good to know that it can be if there were future issues. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Feel so soory for you, I hate dentists. The problem with dentistry is that it is expensive as well as painful. If they made it more affordable people might get over their fear and actually go. The other problem with dentists is that their work never lasts. Most of the teeth that i have that are filled have been filled more than once. Is that because they do a bad job, they just need to generate more income and cannot justify messing up another healthy tooth or what? I also have 1 tooth that has been crowned twice. At great discomfort and great expense. I got told that it was not done properley the first time. Guess what , I have bleeding around this crown again. The rest of my teeth are fine!!! My phobia of dentists is so bad that I figure I died at the hands of one in a previous life. And in another life I think my chariot crashed over the side of a windy mountainous road as I can't stand those either! Hummingbird I love your email.

I don't think you will get a Dr to respond. There aren't any that regularly use and contribute to this site. I think you would be better off discussing it with your PCP, going to an info seminar, checking out your ins requirements etc. If you want input from non medical people that have lived the experience then you have come to the right place.

Sorry to hear that you are going through that. The loss or potential loss of a long tern relationship is devastating. But you will get through it. In the meantime it is good that you are still focusing on yourself and your needs. Lots of people neglect to do that to their own detriment. All the best.

I eat rice no problem. I eat white and brown rice but I don't buy the kind that sticks together in clumps like glue once its cooked. I also eat all my food mixed together rather than seperating each food. Not sure if this helps or not.

Shows how much we all differ. If I am eating out with friends one of my first choices is pasta. I know that for me it's a safe option that I can eat without a problem.

Do you remember writing this? You were looking for tough love then - that's what you got this time.

I'm confused.In your original post you said So that is what you got. ADVICE. No-one was trying to judge. We were trying to help you. Trying to help:- .....You see what the issues were that were preventing your band working to its full potential. .....You work with your band so that you could be a success. .....So that you could possibly be saved from going through additional surgery which is both expensive and possibly unnnecessary.Plus all surgery has risks. .....So that you could be saved dissappointment when the new surgery doesn't work in the way that you hoped it would because you have still not faced the issues. My apologies for trying to help when it wasn't wanted. Maybe next time you should post with a disclaimer that says " Advice only from people who agree with and support my decision" or "please only reply if you have had a "failed" band and then successfully converted to a bypass without making in changes in your behaviour" It would probably also help if you posted this in the Life after lapband thread rather than the General support section. Whatever you decide to do good luck.

Maybe you have geographic tongue. Geographic tongue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have tried them plenty of times and they don't help me at all. The food doesn't go down, I continue to slime and I still have to bring the food up.

Bend over toilet, cough, spit, cough some more. Think I'm OK go and do something else. Realise not Ok back to loo repeat. Sometimes I actually heave like I would have done when vomiting preband. That is a recent development and one I'm a little worried about.

I think your Dr is a Nazi and that his regime could lead to problems in the future! If you were comfortable before, able to eat and losing weight then there was no need to mess with that. Aiming for a 1/4 cup is ridiculous, unrealistic and could lead to you being too tight which comes with a whole set of problems.

Can't help you out sorry. But I am also having surgery soon. Have a hysterectomy scheduled for end of Oct. I believe that I will also need a complete unfill. I am going to see a new Dr on Tuesday so will find out then. I don't have problems with my original Dr but this one is a lot closer and been as I won't be able to drive for a while after the surgery I thought it would make sense to have someone close. All the best with your op.

That sounds awfful. Sorry you are going through this. keeping my fingers crossed that it's not too serious and that it's a simple fix.

What you have experienced are a couple of minor hurdles. I am sure that having them must be really stressful and we all want our journey to be easy and plain sailing.But look at what you have achieved. 35lb in less than 2 months is incredible. Surely you must see that makes it worth it. Lots of people have to have their ports repositioned. It is minor surgery. You will be fine. Do not give up on the band - you are doing great.

Your posts tells us a couple of things. That you eat too much That you drink with meals Before you go through another surgery I think you need to address these issues. Otherwise you may get a bypass and have that "fail you" too. Eating too much probably means you are not properly restricted. When was your last fill? Have you seen your Dr lately? Do you have any other support group? I think you need another adjustment. Remember what you eat makes a big difference as well. There are lots of foods that i can eat in large quantities but they are not the ones I should be eating for weight loss. If I stick to proper Protein, veggies and carbs then I can only eat small amounts and I stay satisfied for longer. Drinking with meals is something bandsters are not suipposed to do. I am sure you know that. The question is why are you choosing to ignore this rule because in doing so you are causing the band to be ineffective.If you cannot get food down without drinking then you are probably taking too big bites,not chewing properley or choosing foods that do not agree with your band. If you follow these rules you should not need to drink with meals. In fact if you had proper restriction you would find it very difficult and uncomfortable to be able to drink with meals. Try choosing foods that are cooked in a way that keeps them moist. For instance grilled chicken breast can be really dry and difficult to eat but if you eat the darker meat and choose a moist cooking method stewing, casserole etc you will find it a lot easier to eat. You have to remember that the band is a tool that helps in our weight loss efforts. It does not do all the work on its own and I get the impression (I could be wrong) that that is what you have been expecting. Before you put your body through more surgery which if you are not properley committed could also fail I suggest you relook at how you are using your band. Go back to your Dr, get an adjustment, join a support group and follow the "rules" and I am sure you will start loosing and not need the other surgery. And don't forget exercise is important to. The bypass works for a lot of people but again not everyone and there are even instances of people having bands over bypass.

My GP refused to refer me. OK I had only recently moved to the area so he didn't know me well but he said all I had to do was exercise more and he gave me a leaflet on how to lower my cholesterol. He said that a band was far too dangerous. Needless to say I went to see the Surgeon off my own bat without a referall!I don't like being told that I can't do something.

Most junk food doesn't need that much chewing as it has already been processed to some kind of mush. Think about nuggets, burgers sausages etc. They have all been made from "meat" that has been blasted into tiny bits and then stuck back together. NB. I use the term "meat" very loosely here. Then there are all the dehydrated foods that you reconstitute with water.e.g potato - again there is no texture/substance left to chew

All the processing changes the composition.

Well decided that I had better keep cover as the waiting lists in the public system seem to be pretty long. I went through Iselect and have now changed to HCF. It costs more than my original AHM policy but a lot less than what i would have had to have pd to stay covered with AHM.

Were those Patty's prayers that got answered or did Bob start praying in secret!!!!