I was banded in 05. That is 6 years. .. wow.

So I struggled the first year with getting the right fill...

Then I lost 100 pounds pretty fast. (I started at 420 pounds) My fill was nice and tight.

And now for like 4 years I been the same weight. Between 305 and 320.

In the 4 years I have lost many many inches and my body has changed alot. And people constantly tell me how good I am looking.

BUT THE FACT IS. I HAVE LOST NO WEIGHT.. NONE. !

I cant get another fill because mine is already really tight. Its very finiky too. It tightens up more during my period (swells up?) and during other times I cant figure out, but during those times I cant even take ONE SIP of Water. And sometimes I go two days without eating. SO IF I tighten my band, than during those swelling up times I would CHOKE on the SIP of water.. And then CHOKE for two days, and well I experienced that in year one, and although I feel like I can tolerate anything.. the body wont allow you to choke, it produces so much saliva that you cant just bear thru it. I had to have an emergency unfil in the ER cuz I let it go for two days and got dehydrated.. ANYWAY... I WOULD LOVE A FILL... BUT for that reason I CANT DO IT.

As for now. I bring up my food, almost daily. I take a bite, see if its 'OPEN".. if not, I have to bring the food up out of my esophagus.

ITs never PUKE because it never enters my stomach. THen I wait and try again later. Till I find the time where I can eat.

What I do is drink first. Then I eat. Cuz usually when I am not open, I am not open to anything, not even liquids.

ANd I DO CHEW.. completely.. and I DONT EVEN TRY to eat food that isnt soft. I gave all that up years ago. I HATE bringing food up and I HATE the stuck feeling. I TRY TO AVOID IT at all times. I never go out to eat. I cant eat in front of anyone.

So mostly if I am not stuck, i will chew food and spit it out. (I cant do this when not open, as you know even the juice will get stuck)

BUt If I am open, I will chew food like chicken and then feed it to my doggie. lol gross huh.

Anyway. When I am open I usually choose to just drink chocolate milk. As it is FILLING and SOOTHING and YUMMY.

The only real food that ever stays down in my stomach is refried Beans with melted cheese, tiny chopped onions, sour cream and tortilla chips, which I eat about 5 times a week. Im sick of trying to eat anything else. Just sick of it.

I also eat alot of chips and dip and Cookies when I am open. THIS IS WHY I AM STILL FAT.

So.. Obviously, in order for me to lose more weight. I need to STOP drinking the Chocolate milk. STOP eating the cookies and chips.

I know everything i can have instead. I know exactly what to do. JUST WONT DO IT. For 20 years I wouldn't do it, and still.. humm I WONT DO IT.

The 100 pounds i lost.. WAS ALL BAND.. It was the restriction. And it worked for exactly 100 pounds. I LOVE RESTRICTION. I DONT EVER force food down, I JUST accept it. Its the BEST THING ever. I LOVE IT>

BUT when I am not restricted, I eat what I want.

I WANT TO BE RESTRICTED. MORE. BUT That doesnt look at all possible.

Prednisone takes the swelling away, but thats a dangerous drug and I cant be on it daily. IF I COULD be, THAN I could get a fill.

Im just kinda upset.. that I have to have a finicky band, that isnt consistent.. cuz if it was. I would have it consistently tight and i would lose all the weight I need to lose.

In the beginning, I got a lot of flack for having a really tight band. But it works for me. My pouch is not stretched, It didnt slip or erode. That is cuz I dont force anything, I just accept it. IF I CANT EAT. I Cant eat.. I dont care.. YET, if I can, I do. And I cant stop myself.

I dunno what kind of advice I want... I have to lay off the junk food and the milk and juice.. PERIOD.

I KNOW I DO.

BUT WAH WAH BOO HOO>> I WANT THE BAND TO DO IT. !! (I have tried, I hope you know that is just a given, I have tried everything, know that!)

NOW.. I WANT A GASTRIC BYPASS... but, no one will do it cuz my band is intact... and its considered a success.

I cant self pay.

I KNOW it would work for me.. CUZ just like now, when i cant eat, I DONT EAT... And if my stomach was too small and it caused discomfort, I would NOT EAT.. just like I dont now, when my band is too tight. .. I would NOT FORCE IT, as I NEVER do now.. I WOULD NOT stretch the stomach as I HAVE NOT my pouch.

Something about being restricted physically works for my brain.. HOW DO I CONVINCE the Doctors of this, when I am BEGGING for a GASTRIC BYPASS!!!?!?

THANKS FOR ANY HELP !!

xoxo

THank you to everyone who posted. I just saw this and I read kinda fast.. Really wanna come back when I have time and read everything more. but didnt want anyone to think I was ignoring their responses.

I Do have mental issues.. and im 100 percent honest person with my self and others.. Im just trying to fix this obesity problem, in a way that WORKS...doing the right thing, doesnt work for me. Never has, so when do I realise that and work around it?? In another 20 years.?

What i mean by it doesnt work, is that I never do the right thing.. all i ever have are intentions and try's that dont succeed. Not gonna keep foolling my self as if THIS TIME I WILL DO IT... Im gonna figure out how to make it work, just like I did the first 100 pounds. I went thru ALOT to lose all that, NONE of it was the RIGHT WAY.

Well, if you want your junk food then put in extra extra work at the gym to burn those calories off. I don't eat as healthy as I should but I know if I didn't put in time at the gym I wouldn't lose a single pound! Sometimes after a really good workout I don't want to mess up all the work I just did by eating sweets.

My only other advice would be to watch The Secret.

This may be harsh but nonetheless, here it is. I think it is incredibly selfish of you to come to this board and look for help and suggestions of how to do this journey the wrong way....and be so very blatant about it. You can put all the nice terms to it you want such as...being honest...but at the end of the day it is just blatant disregard for what this place is all about.

There are many people on here who stumble and none of us are perfect but the goal is to lift each other up and encourage one another to get into the battle the healthy and correct way. If you are so clearly unable and unwilling to do so I think it is unfair for you to post it here.

I realize that everyone's journey is different. Again I acknowledge that most of us will stumble and not always do things perfectly. But to just flat out say we are not going to and we are looking for a way to do things wrong and hope others will help us figure out how to do that.....is really selfish and destructive to the most basic purpose of this place.

I really do hope something changes for you and you can muster up what it takes to do this correctly. You can do the right thing wrong...and it is still wrong in the end. We should all strive to do the right thing right.....and help others to do the same along the way.

You really need to see a therapist. I went to counseling for 2 years so I can recommend it. You are not really being honest with yourself, you are just doing what you want and making excuses for it. We all (well most) have been there. Time to stop your behavior and get some help. Only you know if you really want to lose or why you are hanging on to the weight. Go find out what is going on.

Cheri

The band was designed to put pressure on the vagus nerves which tell the stomach to stop producing 'ghrelin' (hunger hormone) so we can eat a normal meal (e.g. 3 oz of Protein, 1/2-1 c vegies) and be satisfied for 4 hours or so. It won't stop you from eating as there is very little 'restrictive' component.

No WLS will do what you want it to. You can eat your way around all of them...including the bypass. Just ask those who've had one and now weigh more than when they first had the surgery. WLS is only a tool...and I know people hate that word...but that's what it is. *WE* still have to be willing to make the necessary changes in our eating. We have to be the ones to choose to eat the right food and choose to put that fork down.

You need to stop eating the junk and get yourself on some type of eating plan that you can follow. Most importantly...you need to stop expecting the band to do all the work. No WLS is going to fit that criteria. Don't look for the band to stop you from eating. Look for it to stop the 'hunger'. *That* is the sweet spot.

I feel like this should be posted in every thread you rule!

But i completely agree. No excuses if you are eating junk, you won't lose weight end of story.

I'm not even sure what you want on this thread? Do you want people to tell you it's ok to remain at your current fill level when you're being so destructive? Do you want someone to say that eating Cookies and drinking chocolate milk is ok for you because you cannot seem to make healthier choices in your food?

Do you want to know my thoughts on why you were able to lose 100 pounds that first year? It was because your over tight filled band didn't allow you to eat more of the cookies and chocolate milk. That caloric deficit was likely why you were able to lose that 100. Your body has now adjusted to the limited level of exercise you have been doing and adjusted to the amount of calories you're feeding it. Hence no more weight loss.

I agree with the people that said you should look into therapy. I also think you should listen to Ponderer/Elizabeth and not spew this negative selfish talk when you are not ready to actually accept any kind of valuable advice.

I know this is harsh, but sometimes coddling isn't the way to make the point.

Here's a link to a post on my surgeon's forum from someone who is contemplating a different WLS after band removal. She was also non-compliant.

http://www.thinnertimesforum.com/topic/57053-mini-bypass-contemplation/

Without compliance, success doesn't follow in the long run.

So basically I cant tell the truth... concerning the Gastric Bypass.. cuz the truth is I wont follow the rules. I never do. Never have. No matter what I tell myself I am doing or trying or will do... its never done, now is it. 20 years plus of failing MEANS Im not doing it.

I eat when I can.. and i dont when I cant.

I hoped the gastric bypass would make eating more impossible than the band does.

BUt maybe thats not true.

Nykee,

The restriction with bypass is SO different from the band. My whole family is big (as am I) and most of my aunts and uncles have had gastric bypass and failed at it. The band actually provides for more restriction when speaking of the "eating" aspect. You can def eat around the bypass, stretch your stomach back (which is not healthy) and now you have less intestine, etc to boot. My uncle is a perfect example, at first he lost weight because of the initial discomfort when eating after the bypass but after he healed he went right back to eating the same and gained it all back and then some.

It is ok to get unfilled a little so you can eat more because you can't loose weight without eating enough calories, the body just won't allow it and you have to be eating healthier foods to provide the Protein that you need with it. I have not been banded yet (later this month) but there are people in my family who have had WLS and the doctors office I go through one has had gastric bypass and the other a band installed so I've hear many annectodal words of wisdom from both sides.

My personal decision was the band because I don't like the idea of re-routing and cutting out my insides not to mention the special Vitamins and the lack of absorption from having less instestine afterward..... it just wasn't the choice for me.

Hang tight! You can do it, you just need to start from scratch and get a little unfill, go back to shakes for a bit to calm everything down and get back on track..... someone else said in another post I read that that's the beauty of the band, its always there fore you when you get back on track!

Good luck to you!!!!

Faith

SMDH if you want to eat cookies and chocolate milk then you deserve to stay obese. Really???? you want advise here it is. I dont feel sorry for you because you said you will never follow the rules of wls so therefore you dont deserve any pity. If you are that tight but can eat cookies then something is wrong in your head. If you cant eat real food then you cant eat cookies. Im sorry but you do not deserve pity you deserve a good talking to from your doctor and see if he agrees that if you can eat cookies you can eat food.

SMDH if you want to eat Cookies and chocolate milk then you deserve to stay obese. Really???? you want advise here it is. I dont feel sorry for you because you said you will never follow the rules of wls so therefore you dont deserve any pity. If you are that tight but can eat cookies then something is wrong in your head. If you cant eat real food then you cant eat cookies. Im sorry but you do not deserve pity you deserve a good talking to from your doctor and see if he agrees that if you can eat cookies you can eat food.

omg wow

It looks like no matter what advice you are given, you will not be willing to follow any of it. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. We all know this journey is not easy. We all struggle daily (am I wrong people?) but those of us who ARE willing to do what it takes (or at least willign to try) can get frustrated by those who are simply not willing to do so, then complain about it. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's clear you're not willing to accept any advice. I do wish you the best. And I do urge you to get an unfill (even a small amount) and to rid your house of the junk food...see a nutritionist and see your surgeon. Are you going to a support group? If not I also urge you to do that.

"Don't look for the band to stop you from eating. Look for it to stop the 'hunger'. *That* is the sweet spot"

GREAT!!!

Well, if you want your junk food then put in extra extra work at the gym to burn those calories off. I don't eat as healthy as I should but I know if I didn't put in time at the gym I wouldn't lose a single pound! Sometimes after a really good workout I don't want to mess up all the work I just did by eating sweets.

\

Thank you and I wish I could do more like that.. i have lumbar disc disease with stenosis. Sometimes I cant get out of bed.

BUt your right. The only time I could ever lose weight it the past, is when I incorporated exersize

"Don't look for the band to stop you from eating. Look for it to stop the 'hunger'. *That* is the sweet spot"

GREAT!!!

I eat when I am not hungry. So being full doesnt make a difference... And weird thing is, I was NEVER hungry before the band. Like ever. Now I am hungry ALL the time... I LOVE not being able to eat, if that makes sense. The sweet spot for me is not being able to eat. We dont really NEED to eat, ya know. lol..