peacelives10

Have any of you struggled with losing weight with the lap band because of hypothyroidism. The reason I'm asking is because I have struggled with losing weight with the lap band since I got it back in August 2010. My first week post op I gained 7 pounds and was reprimanded by my surgeon for not following the rules (even though I couldn't get anything down but a few sips of Water and the liquid pain killer I was prescribed). The only success I have had with the lap band was getting to my lowest weight of 212 pounds but since then I am 224 pounds and have been since January of this year. I began to get very frustrated and depressed because I was following the rules with 1 cups of food of the right foods (low fat, high Protein, low carbohydrates). I was exercising and still do with zumba, walking off the pounds with leslie sansone, bike riding, and the epileptical machine. I can only get in about 600-900 calories a day and find it very hard to get in more than that. Every time I went to see my surgeon, my weight remained the same at 224. I was ashamed and angry that I was working so hard but the weight was not coming off but I thought that my surgeon might be able to shed some light on why I wasn't losing weight. Instead, he aggressively accused me of not following the rules, of drinking sugary drinks, eating fatty foods, and not exercising. My mother was in the room with me and told him that I don't do any of that and he proceeded to tell her "well, you may live with her under the same roof, ma'am, but when you go to sleep, she's probably sneaking food into her room." I ended up getting a fill that day of 2 cc's (I have a 7 cc band). I had to return the next day because of acid reflux and I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I left feeling guilty and ashamed and angry. I was following the rules and tried to explain that I was but he talked over me with his accusations. I let it go and thought that with the fill I was finally going to lose some weight. I exercised and ate very good like I have always done and still remained at 224 and even went up to 226 on some days. One day I would weigh myself and I would be 222 then the next day I would be 227. I got depressed and angry and stopped exercising because I felt like it was lose-lose situation. I went back to the doctor for another fill and of course I weighed in at 224 pounds again. I explained to him that something is wrong and that I'm not losing weight. His response was to accuse me again of not following the rules. I told him what I ate and what I do for exercise and he talked over me and said that "listen, if you eat fatty foods and drink sugary drinks you WILL NOT lose weight!" and I told him I wasn't eating fatty foods or drinking sodas. He wasn't convinced and sent me to the dietitian next door for a "lesson in eating properly with the lap band" because I can't seem to follow the rules according to him. I told him that if I wasn't following the rules then I wouldn't even show my face at his office out of embarrassment for my lack of trying. He told me to come back in 2 weeks with a food journal so I could show it to him and to go to some website to read and re read the lap band rules until they stuck in my head. He told me that I think I know everything but I don't and that if he put me in the hospital with IV's and no food that I would lose 20 pounds in a week and he guaranteed it. I left feeling very depressed and hopeless and ashamed and guilty. His accusations were becoming true in mind. I thought it was my fault. I became scared of food and didn't eat for a week because of him.I just drank water and propel water and a few crackers. The next week I limited myself to 300 calories a day. I knew this obsession with food wasn't right but his accusations turned me to this behavior. It is the 3rd week and I'm due to see him next Wednesday and I still weigh 224 pounds even with liquids and only eating 300 calories and doing zumba. I am very depressed about my situation and even more upset that my surgeon doesn't believe me. I went to my general doctor last week and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and he told me that this could be a very good and legitimate reason why i am not losing weight. I looked up hypothyroidism and found out that it's very hard for people with this condition to lose weight and that their metabolism is very slow. I feel that my surgeon should have known or suggested that something was wrong inside of me, that maybe it was my thyroid, rather than just accusing me of not following the rules. I see him next wednesday and when I tell him about my hypothyroidism I know he will just accuse me of over eating again. I am taking thyroid replacement pills now and hope that they will help a little. My question is has anyone else had these problems regardless of exercising and eating healthy. And has anyone found out they had hypothyroidism while trying to lose weight with the lap band? And I do have good restriction and stop when eating when I feel full and am not hungry between meals.

Thank you guys for your quick replies.

I went for my first fill today and when the doctor inserted the needle I felt a pop and felt something move inside my abdomen in my port area. My mother heard the pop. Is this popping noise and sensation normal with the first fills or with all fills? I'm scared that my port may have come dislodged or flipped. I didn't want to may a big fuss about it already because my doctor had already accused me of not following the rules 10 minutes earlier and I didn't want to create another situation where he felt he needed to accuse me of something.

I ask myself the very same sad question, "what am doing wrong? and why are so many people on here losing weight and I'm not?" I was banded on August 24, 2010 weighing in at 221 on the day of surgery. A week after surgery I had to go to my lapband doctor's office for a routine check up and weighed in at 224. It is now January 11, 2011 and I weigh 218. I do everything by the book. I follow the rules. I get all my recommended Water in, I exercise 5 days a week (Leslie Sansone 3-5 miles each day), and count my calories. I have counted my calories before and I have put everything that has gone into my mouth into a journal. I usually take in about 900 to 1000 calories a day, but the scale does not budge. I get all my Fluid in (64 ounces) and drink nothing but water with crystal light and get all my Protein in. I'm on a high protein low carbohydrate diet. Before being banded I used to come on here everyday and I would read all the success stories and be so excited that I was finally going to get my chance of being banded and finally losing the weight like so many people on lapband talk have done...but so far the results have been disappointing and embarrassing. I get a fill tomorrow. hopefully that will make a difference. I just don't understand it. Before I was banded I lost 25 pounds on my own doing the same exact thing...nothing but water and crystal light, high protein, low carb, 3 to 5 miles a day and I lost weight...and now I'm banded and nothing...I change up my routine with turbo jam and bike riding and I'm still not losing anything. It makes me sad and I don't understand it at all. The worst part of it is that I have a friend who was also banded..10 days before me and she lost 50 pounds in 2 months. Every now and then she would text with "how you doing? how much weight have you lost?" and I would sadly lie and say "oh, I lost 20 pounds already" knowing full well that I had lost nothing at all...she would also post pictures of her befores and afters on her facebook with comments like "I need new pants again..this weight is just falling off!" I'm happy for her success but when you compare what she has done to what I have done..it just doesn't add up ..she eats out almost everyday, eats unhealthy foods, and doesn't exercise at all...and I do the exact opposite of that and I've only lost 3 pounds? I'll stop complaining now...

I have really bad cramps when I get my period and I got mine about 3 days after my surgery and the pain was unbearable that I crushed two midols into pudding...bad bad very bad idea. It didn't taste like anything at first but then all of a sudden it burned my mouth and I threw it up What helped me was the liquid pain killer you get after surgery. lortab. It took the pain away for about 12 hours...I took 2 doses and the pain was gone and I was loopy but happy that the pain was gone.

You're definitely not alone. I lost 27 pounds pre-op and was 221.2 on the day of surgery. 3 days post-op I went down to 218 and then I got my period on my 3rd day post op and I always gain 4-8 pounds when I get my period. My weight the next day shot up to 225 and stayed that way for an entire week. I've now been off my period for 2 days now and it will not move from 224. I'm 17 days post op and I gained weight! I feel so discouraged and keep wondering if I did the right thing with the LAP-BAND® and all..and keep telling myself that I could have and would have lost more weight on my own without the surgery in 17 days. I am losing inches though but I want to see pounds lost. At least I can say that my clothes do fit better and my stomach bulge has gone down. And then I read about other people losing 20 pounds 2 weeks post op. My friend called me the other day who had the LAP-BAND® done on August 2 of this year and she told me she lost 20 pounds so far and I she asked me how much I had lost and I lied and said "oh, i've lost 10 pounds" when I had really gained 6-7 pounds. I want to call my doctor but I'm afraid he'll say to get a fill and I don't want one yet...and plus I do have restriction maybe because of swelling or something. Anyways, I weighed myself this morning and it was 224.8 and it ruined my entire day. I'm still on the liquid diet..I eat nothing but cream soups...one can a day gives me breakfast, lunch, and dinner...and between that I drink two 4 oz of protein shakes and drink lots of water...I start pureed this coming monday and am I afraid that I'll gain more weight.

I couldn't sleep either and I take a high blood pressure medication that also helps me sleep. I had my surgery the same day and I crush my pill in applesauce or pudding and it works well. The applesauce was kind of hard to get down but the pudding was a lot easier. I crush my pill and put sugar free pudding into a medication cup and eat it like that. I tried to just crush it and mix it with water but it was unbearable. I ended up gagging and hurting my incisions. With the pudding or applesauce you can't taste the pills at all. Make sure to get sugar free products.

would you mind telling me how long you stayed in the hosptial for recovery. And how much the cost was for removal.

I'm in the same boat. I have BCBS of Texas and they are taking forever to even look at my documents. It's been 2 weeks and every time I call my insurance company, who ever I get in touch with tells me that my papers are there but no one has looked at them. When I tell them if someone can please look at them as soon as possible all they tell me is "well, just give it another week and a half or 2 weeks" It's driving me crazy. I'm a college student and due to start the nursing program this fall and was really hoping to get my LAP-BAND®® surgery before the semester starts on August 30. Looks like I'm going to have to put it off til school has break which will be Thanksgiving break.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I just turned in all my paper work and am just waiting for the bariatric office to send them to my insurance company. I hope everything goes well with my documented dates of my supervised diet. And to spoiltmom (sp?) my insurance company is BCBS of TX under my dad. He works at a university.

Hi, I hope this makes sense My name is Jen and I'm been going through the process of trying to get the LAP-BAND®. I started out in March and now all that is left for me to do is turn in my 5 year documentation of obesity and my medical clearance results. I remember reading somewhere on these boards that a woman or two were denied because their insurance company stated that their first month of supervised diet didn't count. I'm starting to get anxious and maybe I just imagined this thread because I've been searching forever for it and cannot find it. My question is this... is this true? Can they deny you because they feel that the first month of the supervised diet doesn't count? I had to do a 3 month supervised diet which started on 4/5/2010, 5/7/2010, and ended on 6/7/2010. Does the 3 month diet have to be exactly 90 days? because I counted my days and it was somewhere between 63 days and a date of 7/7/10 would have completed a full 3 month diet? I'm so confused? or is the documented 3 dates sufficient?:wub::eek::sad::ohmy::huh2::frown: I don't know if I'm going crazy with worry. this whole process has been so frustrating. An answer would really be appreciated. thanks.