MollyRN

I gained 15 pounds (pre-op) when I started taking prozac, in like a month. But really, I think I was to blame for half of that. I have lost an average of 12 pounds per month since being banded and the prozac hasn't interferred. I think you try to drugs and if you gain weight, it will only be a little and you can work past it. You need to feel good.

RIGHT ON!!! I just hit OVERWEIGHT yesterday - and it does feel so good! Wrote about it on my blog! Keep it up!!

LET ME IN!!!!! Have wanted to be part of this club since PRE OP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Knock knock!!

I LOST ONE POUND DURING MY PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting.... it can be done darn it. Period weeks stink

Just a followup comment....I think they we all make a personal choice about our good fill level. Can you physically eat bread? (or donuts?) and choose to employ your will power to not eat those things? Then okay. Or do you choose to let the band and the fill help you make that decision? As bandsters, we have this flexibility. I am a great dieter, for about 3 weeks. That's my 20 year tread. 3 weeks great - 2 months crap. Back on the wagon. I chose to have the band help me with my lame will power. I cannot physically eat most things that I should not be eating. They make me sick. Sick being a PB or slime or something. If I ate a bite of a donut today, I would see it in about 2 minutes. Makes me hate donuts. But we all can make this decision. The trick is the hunger control. If you are physically hungry, then you are not tight enough.

Mine started about one month post-op and was pretty bad until 6 months. It didn't matter what I took or how much protein I ate. My surgeon says that it stops once your weight stablizes or even slows. I had regrowth from the beginning - it wasn't like I went bald. Now it still falls out but not overwhelmingly any more. I am going to quote my surgeon. "Skinny girls lose hair. Fat girls don't. You are in transition." May sound rough, but I have read this as well. Don't get hung up on it. You will be fine!

Agreed - carbonation may not bother you yet, but it is not good for your pouch. Kick the habit. In the long term, you drink it and feel like crap honestly.

Many may not love my answer - but here it is for me....I am never hungry. I can only eat a little bit. And I have to be SLOW - I mean, 2-3 minutes between bites. If I am slow, I can eat almost anything (other than bread or pasta). I ate 3 ounces of filet mignon last night and it took me 25 minutes.

Let me first say, if it works for you do it. That said, I got the band to lose weight - but I also got the band to FREE MYSELF from dieting. God, I dieted and tracked and counted points for 2 decades. I keep a count in my head of protein intake, and that's it. I refuse to go back to the obsessing about food. I just cannot. I want to be free. Plus, I would argue that there is NO WAY POSSIBLE I consume the points that WW would give me. No way. So it would be a moot point for me. My rule is enough protein and that's it. I saw a quote on some blog once that said the goal of the band is not to see how much you can eat, but how little. WW's whole focus is to eat as much as you can of good things - and if you overeat, you still have the flex points, right? I am not bashing them, I had some success through the years with them. But I have choosen to adopt a whole new mentality. And my method has worked for me so far, 98 lbs down in 9 months. AND NO DIETING

Never lose during period weeks and now my cycle is like every 19 to 20 days which means my how rhythm is off - such a bummer. But it's okay - I am staying the course! My goal for this challenge is 8.8 lbs away and we have 5 more weeks. I can do this! Congrats to everyone in this challenge. I love these!

In the first couple months after I was banded, I have volcano-like emotions at times. I agree with the hormone thing, but I also think that we are pretty raw emotionally and some things would set me off into an hour of tears. It was kind of like PMS....

I am almost 9 months post op, and seriously, if my cycle gets any shorter, I will just have my period all the time. I went from 26 days (from the first day of my period to the first day of my next period) pre-op to today's lovely 18 day cycle. 18 days... that means that 6 of those 18 were period days, leaving me with 12 days a month where I don't have a period. Went to the gyno and he said I am too young to be pre-menopausal (I am 38) and said that he thought my body was in a state of flux and I just had to ride it out until my weight stabilized. Has any one else experienced this? I do not want to take the bc pill and I am going bananas with this. Need some feedback on other people's experiences... thanks

For me, I had to learn what the second to last bite was - and unfortunately, this came from throwing up. I mean, if I take one bite, I no longer feel hungry so that can't possibly be my personal gauge. I just know, at this point, that if I take one more, I will not be a happy camper. Once you have fills, you do feel differently - you feel it start to back up and not clear the pouch as quickly.

Down almost 5 lbs this week and have no idea why.... but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth. So exciting.... got a doc appt on Thursday but there is no way I could take a fill right now.

Don't you feel better?? I am so glad you went in and that you told him the truth. We have to be empowered patients - it is the only way to get the care we deserve. Good for you! I personally just kept down my lunch - first meal in 3 days May your good news spead to everyone!!

That said, I am kind of in the same boat. I only keep down about 40% of what I try to eat. I am going in tomorrow for an unfill. I still think it is pretty rare for the band to slip and you might just have been stuck.

It doesn't sound like a slip but I think throwing up this early in the process is indicative of an issue. Personally, I didn't start throwing up until I was about six months in. Even if you can't go in, you should really call the doc and tell him exactly what you wrote here. If you have been banded for a month and you had no fill at surgery, then you should be able to most likely eat anything, just not a lot of it.

Jack - you just summarized the issue I am having and I am going tomorrow am for an unfill. Well said!

I agree - tell the doctor the truth. You are an adult and you made the decision to not go to see him - but you cannot be dishonest and not get the care you deserve or need.

I think I am in exactly the same boat. I got a fill last month, was okay for like 2 weeks, got my period and I haven't been able to really eat since. No matter how slowly I eat or how much I chew. Even one bite often needs to come back up. In the last week, I have PBed at least one meal (of 2) a day. I too need to suck it up and go get an unfill. The resorting to Soup and stuff is a no no and I know it. Your post just reconfirmed it for me....

The thing about this is that they tell us because EVENTUALLY you can't do it. Like they tell you to eat slowly from the beginning, but eventually you can't eat quickly. They tell us to not drink after you eat and eventually, you physically CANNOT. These rules are only rules in the beginning because they want you to practice. Eventually, they become self-evident and heavily dependent on your own body.

Yeah - the head hunger is the part they don't tell us about before we get banded. This is where you will have to focus your self control. It does eventually go away once you kick the addiction to eating even when you are not hungry. It's easier said than done for sure. But there is a difference between hunger and what is in your head and you can distinguish between it and override that desire to eat.

Ok - I get the before thing because I am so tight at this point that nothing ever goes RIGHT through. It takes a couple of minutes for anything, even water, to clear from my pouch. This is why I give it 5 minutes....

Before I got banded, I was like NO WAY am I telling anyone. Once I did it, I was like WAIT, this is not the easy way out - WE ARE BRAVE PEOPLE. And I like how you put it.... we do the eating, the band controls the hunger. Nice.

I smile at your post. While I have never said it out loud, I feel the same way you do to a certain extent. I don't journal, track or count anything other than a rough Protein gram assessment each day. I was never a big junk food eater (but rather an overeater) so I don't feel like I eat crap. In fact, I am probably less strict now about WHAT I eat than I was in my two decades at Weight Watchers. At the point I am now, I struggle more with making sure I eat enough than watching what I eat. I will say I work out like a maniac, so maybe that helps. Now, does that mean it will always be that way? I have NO IDEA. I have lost about 10-12 lbs per month for 8 months.... I am 40 lbs from goal, you might see me on here next week complaining that I cannot get into Onederland no matter what I do.