Betsyjane

The weight that I gained on prednisone put me over the edge and is why I decided to be banded.

Did you ever see Sleeping With the Enemy? Structure can go too far, IMO. I just don't see myself ever hiring a decluttering person. To me, it's a matter of getting your mind right first. I started looking at a room at a time and saying, "What would I pack if I left my husband and ran away from home by the end of today? Most everything else has gone to the local auction house. It helps me declutter whn I get some money back for doing it. It's an ongoing process for me though. After I do every room, I start back with room one again and find I can let go of more stuff. There are some really nice books about living the simple life, and I find that the lighter I travel on the planet, the lighter my mood. It doesn't come naturally, but I keep shedding things on a regular basis. My goal is not to have a bunch of pretty boxes to put my things in...It's to have only those things around me that are worthy of being dusted, stored, repaired, maintained....

Landsend.com

Please feel free to tell your husband that I was a Diet Coke junkie, and I also slept in various places each night, and never slept well. None of the meds worked. Within a week of stopping caffeine, I never had restless leg syndrome again.

Thanks, Barbara. That is just great that Dick got out. A dose of La Villa probably did him good. Hey, RhondaLynn. Terrific! Hope to see you there. Around 6:15PM!

Medicine really is as much of an art as a science,isn't it? I've heard Paxil and RA go well together, too. Who knows. I never can tell if my brain fog is due to Lupus or the meds. I do know that weather change and the amount of sunshine I get drastically effect my energy level..... Some things just don't show up on tests. I'm assuming you've looked back to see if there were any lifestyle changes that could account for your hitting a wall....

I have relatives in from out of town that Monday...Might be able to make it and maybe not.... I've decided the worst thing about having Lupus is that I never know if I will follow through on commitments that I've made. I never know if I'll have the energy to get out of a chair. It's becoming even more poignant for me now that I'm an "athlete" I couldn't follow through with a trainer, water aerobics, weight lifting class, Tai Chi. I wonder if I will do better just to belong to the gym and go when I have those windows of opportunity, rather than on a set schedule. I'm going to continue Tai Chi, but it will definitely be a question each time, whether I can go. And I go to water aerobics when I can. It's not very consistent! I've let friends and opportunities fade away a lot since I got Lupus. Eventually, you just don't leave the house much if you can't plan anything.... Ah well, it's not all bad. I have 9 dogs at my feet.....5 Golden Retrievers, a Hungarian Viszli, a Lab, and a Poodle.

I have Lupus, which wasn't made better or worse by the lap band, and a big part of it is the fatigue. I never know if I can keep the obligations I've made. I almost have to go on an hour by hour basis to see if I'm going to hit the wall. They prescribed an antidpressant for me at one point, on the theory that you ought to be depressed if you have a chronic illness. Oddly, it didn't change my mood, but it did decrease my pain a lot. I thought that was strange, but they told me that pain and depression receptors were near each other. My other odd experience was that I had horrbile restless leg syndrome, and the doctor prescribed everything in the world for it, and nothing helped. When I got banded and quit drinking Diet Coke, I stopped having restless leg syndrome. Duh. You never know what will help.....

congrats on your lack of tumor! Let's see... What zaps energy.... Depression? Too few calories? Chronic fatigue/Epstein-Barr?

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You did it! Liquid Tylenol helped my shoulder pain..... You're on your way!

Get to a doctor that knows lap bands and has done lots of them! It will make all the difference. Those statistics make me crazy and always have. I have read that on average you lose 50% of your excess weight with the band. And I've heard 70%. I also know that I'm not an average. With dedication and exercise, I am going to lose most or all of my excess weight. I am an individual and not a statistic.

Best wishes and congratulations to both of you. Think past your operation. One week or less from now, you'll be back to your life, and on with your life as a bandster.

Not for me! 4 ounces is just right for me. Everybody's different. I figure I'm at my sweet spot when I lose a pound or 2 a week.....

Hey guys.... Here's what it was like for me. The day of surgery, I went in and there was a woman there who just sits with people and helps people relax. I had last minute jitters and wondered if I was nuts to let someone insert a foreign object in me permanently.... Then the doctor came in and was reassuring and answered any last questions. They started an IV in my arm. which was no big deal. Then they start the medicine in the IV and you just go to sleep. The operation itself just takes minutes. When I woke up, I was groggy and a little nauseous. The put an anti nausea patch on my arm. They had me walk around. I was still pretty much in twilight. Then they had me drink a tiny cup of barium (no taste...white), and we watched it on the fluoroscope....it showed that it went on through my stomach without getting stuck. I sat around and drank some Water. They gave me instructions for what to do when I got home, and gave me photos of the actual operation, and home I went. It took me about 3 days of recovery. I was sleeping in a recliner because I had gas pain in my right shoulder..... And no matter what they tell you, the only things that worked for me were walking, heating pad, and lots of liquid Tylenol. I walked and slept, walked and slept. But I really started feeling quite a bit better after my initial nap after I got home from the hospital. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Everybody"s different. I wasn't given a pre-op diet and just kept eating until I was banded.....

Hi Terri. What are your best tips on losing the weight?

If it's that same woman who has been there a lot, I thought she looked a bit disrespectful the way she was dressed. I could see a long sleeved black T and matching black pants..... I looked a little on ebay and saw silks and linens. I'm just not small enough yet to be comfortable exercising in anything that isn't stretchy...... I have some nice black stretchy exercise pants. Maybe I'll look for a shirt too. Those canvas prison uniforms are not fun! But I do think they look cute! Periodically my kidneys threaten to fail with Lupus. I always hold my breath about dialysis. So far, they've always come back without needing it. Keep a good thought. When are we all meeting for dinner again....or do we need to just skip over to June given Lupus, spousal surgery, house building and biker trips.....

I didn't hit my sweet spot until fill #3. I really struggled and felt guilty until then. And then....after the 3rd fill, all of a sudden it wasn't a struggle anymore. don't wait, if you think you might need more fill!

Hi Audrey. You're normal. I was the same way. I chose the surgery because morbid obesity is life-threatening... but people minimize it. If i hear one more time "just eat less and exercise"...or "the band is "the easy way out". I finally just decided that most people are just plain uneducated about it. Sometimes I take the time to educate people, and sometimes I don't even tell them I'm banded. Anyway, I was REALLY scared before the surgery. Even though the risk of complications is small, it is surgery. and after the surgery it's a major life change and there's a steep learning curve. I think you're just surrounded by people who don't know any better. Keep hanging around here with people who have been through it, and see if you can find a local lap band support group. My only regret is that I didn't get banded sooner.... Everything you said makes perfect sense.....

I know that the earliest bandings in Houston were done experimentally as the final research studies before general approval. Could be she was in that group.....

Having a time with Lupus. Hope to catch up with everyone later....

I have been astounded that I can now look at a plate of food and say, genuinely...how could anyone ever eat that much???? It sure wasn't like that before the band. I do find though that when I reacha palteau in my weight loss, a few days of writing down my calories, protiens, carbs, and fats will getme honest with myself about where I'm slipping, and get me back on track. But before the band, it would have just made me crave food, like everyting else did.

Go for what works for you. I do think, though, that you might have too much restriction. You should be able to eat small healthy meals. You might want to consider starting over with tiny fills and trying it. I don't know you, so this may not apply at all. A friend of mine owns a medical transcription company, and she says that even the stay at home folks who love what they do, doing medical transcription, often carry around a fair degree of depression...from the isolation and the sedentary lifestyle. If that applies to you, I trust you'll sort out if you want the band gone or if you're depressed and so too discouraged to have energy to try to do the band in a different way....

I understand that normally the first year is the best opportunity for weight loss, and every pound is harder as time goes on. But what's normal? This band experience is sooo individualized! I lose in spurts with long plateaus in between..... OK. My report back. I ate grazed between 2 and 5 PM on 2 days. I exercised on almost every day. It's all a step in the right direction. More importantly for me, I kept a food log...which I ahven't done in a long time, and that straightened out quite a few of my bad behaviors. My goals for this week are to exercise 6 out of 7 days, not graze between 2 and 5, keep my food log, and only watch TV standing up or exercising, if I'm watching anything before 8 PM.

Yeah, I agree on the schedule! I'm no good without it! Can you get some Protein shakes down anyway? The good news MIGHT be that I hear thin people talk about how they can't eat under stress. I couldn't relate to that. Maybe you're just being a normal thin person......