I'm officially in information-gathering mode. And one thing I want to know from all of you who have "been-there-done-that" with LapBand sugergy is this...

What is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that you didn't know about WLS until *after* your LapBand surgery?

Mostly, what bad/ugly thing did you not know about or understand until you experienced it firsthand? What do you wish you had been warned about before your surgery? What side-effect/complication/result/experience were you not expecting?

Thanks so much, ya'll! You have no idea how helpful all this information is.

I'm officially in information-gathering mode. And one thing I want to know from all of you who have "been-there-done-that" with LAP-BAND®®® sugergy is this...

What is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that you didn't know about WLS until *after* your LAP-BAND®®® surgery?

Mostly, what bad/ugly thing did you not know about or understand until you experienced it firsthand? What do you wish you had been warned about before your surgery? What side-effect/complication/result/experience were you not expecting?

Thanks so much, ya'll! You have no idea how helpful all this information is.

Good: As I got lighter I got way more energy, slept less but felt more rested, can tie my shoes while standing up, clothes are much more comfy, more confident and happy in general.

Bad: I sometimes forget and take a big bite of something and PB. I used to be a major chili-head but post banding my heat tolerance has gone down. I should have set aside more money for new clothes. I get cold occasionally. I hadn't felt cold since the '80's.

Ugly: I sure wish my skin kept up with the rest of me. My body is now beach worthy except for some loose skin on my torso. It seems to slowly get better over time but I wish it would hurry up.

Thanks! Thats exactly what I was talking about!

Also, I read the hair-loss thread. Thats another example of the kind of stuff I'm wondering about.

Thanks! Thats exactly what I was talking about!

Also, I read the hair-loss thread. Thats another example of the kind of stuff I'm wondering about.

I didn't lose any hair. Hair loss during weight loss is almost always related to insufficient nutrients and Protein. Make sure you supplement both and you'll be fine. For me, one Centrum Vitamin per day and making sure I got ~100g of protein took care of that.

Just speaking from my own experience which has been very good.

The Good... It's working and I'm finally losing weight! I am also so lucky in that I have never experienced ANY nausea or vomiting through this process like many others do.

The Bad... Unlike others, my hunger NEVER went away after the surgery and I felt ready for some fried chicken while I was sitting in the recovery room, my stomach was literally growling!

The Ugly... While I did feel restriction in the amount I could eat initially, by week 3 I could eat like normal again and didn't lose anything else until I got my first fill at week 7!

So not too bad for me. :smile2:

We all know the good of the Lap Band. It seems as you are looking for the things we did not expect...

1. Hair loss, it does happen. It will grow back. If you take biotin it will help.

2. The surgery is easy, but take the week after off. You won’t be sore but you will be weak from lack of food.

3. You really won’t be restricted until after you start getting fills. Yes, you will be able to eat after the surgery. You must make the effort to stay on tract and you will get hungry.

4. When you start loosing the weight get a compression garment. This seems to help with training the skin. Now that I have one I can’t live without it.

5. Lapbandtalk.com is a great support system. Use it.

6. Clothing will be an issue. You will see the weight coming off and new clothing needs come sooner and faster then you may think.

7. The say to eat slow… they mean it. Eating a meal fast will end up having it come back up on you. This is a quick action that does not give to much warning. The warning signs are not fun. This is the same for eating too much or adding water to a meal.

It is worth it. It will be the best thing you can do for your health and happiness.

Michelle

284/173/155

Highest/Current/Goal

Surgery date- March 12, 2009

We all know the good of the LAP-BAND®. It seems as you are looking for the things we did not expect...

1. hair loss, it does happen. It will grow back. If you take Biotin it will help.

2. The surgery is easy, but take the week after off. You won’t be sore but you will be weak from lack of food.

3. You really won’t be restricted until after you start getting fills. Yes, you will be able to eat after the surgery. You must make the effort to stay on tract and you will get hungry.

4. When you start loosing the weight get a compression garment. This seems to help with training the skin. Now that I have one I can’t live without it.

5. Lapbandtalk.com is a great support system. Use it.

6. Clothing will be an issue. You will see the weight coming off and new clothing needs come sooner and faster then you may think.

7. The say to eat slow… they mean it. Eating a meal fast will end up having it come back up on you. This is a quick action that does not give to much warning. The warning signs are not fun. This is the same for eating too much or adding Water to a meal.

It is worth it. It will be the best thing you can do for your health and happiness.

Michelle

284/173/155

Highest/Current/Goal

Surgery date- March 12, 2009

The compression garment is a good tip.. I hadn't thought of that.. I see you had great weight loss.. was it all after the lapband or was it preop too...

Thanks

Jennifer

Jennifer-

All but 10 pounds was after the surgery. I made sure to stick to the rules. Even before a fill I was making sure my intake was 1/2 cup. It was a hard time but I made it and it helped. I am no longer an insulin dependant diabetic, I do take meds of any kind, and I started jogging. I never figured I could do that.

Jennifer-

All but 10 pounds was after the surgery. I made sure to stick to the rules. Even before a fill I was making sure my intake was 1/2 cup. It was a hard time but I made it and it helped. I am no longer an insulin dependant diabetic, I do take meds of any kind, and I started jogging. I never figured I could do that.

That is just awesome... I hope to have the same success after banding....

Congrats and continued good luck on your journey...

Jennifer:thumbup:

For me, the hair loss was/is the worst. It doesn't matter how much or how little Protein I get, my hair just still falls out.

But, I had a LOT of hair to begin with, so it's actually kind of nice to not have to blow dry for 15 hours.

The weight loss and not being able to overeat is DEFINITELY good. Also good was not having that "oh my God I ate too much on the holidays" feeling after previously eating huge meals. Overeating just isn't an option anymore. It no longer controls me.

The bad and the ugly? I haven't really experienced anything "bad and ugly". I have PB'd, usually it is due to user error, I either ate too fast or I found out a food just doesn't work for me (scrambled eggs for example, but eggs cooked other ways are fine). It reminds me to slow down and chew well.. it happens much less now than it did when I first started getting fills. Live and learn...

I can say my eyes are often bigger than my stomach, that is for SURE. It has been a very interesting experience. I always leave food on my plate, ALWAYS. I think that one thing that happened that I never realized before which is an observation more than anything is my food ALWAYS gets cold because I eat so slow!! I often have to run to the microwave to reheat a few times. Just interesting and frustrating but no big deal.

The bad and ugly were before surgery.. when I could eat until there was nothing left.. now all is good.. GREAT in fact!!

I disagree with the poster who told you that you would not be sore after surgery. I hurt. Not just a little, it was very painful for me. As I said in another post, I WISH someone would have told me that there MIGHT me a chance that I would hurt so badly. I could have prepared for it mentally. It took me by surprise.

My good and bad are basically the same as everyone else's.

The ugly - I was not prepared for how much I would "miss" food. I went through an actual mourning period when I admitted defeat and faced the fact that I would never eat the same way again. I'm sure that means I was using food as a coping mechanism - which is why I got so overweight to begin with. I don't think anyone could have prepared me for that feeling of loss.

Surgery was no big deal....I had surgery on Tuesday and was back at work on Friday.

Not everybody experiences hair loss; in fact, I'd hazard and the ones who experience significant hair loss are a very small percentage. You may see some hair loss as an after-effect of anesthesia.

For me, there hasn't been any ugly. It's a pleasure to put on something and find it's too big...because I can't remember how many years it had been since I'd experienced that. I healed fast, didn't experience any hunger until about day 8 and on day 10, my doc moved me to mushy foods and day 15 to adding regular food at will.