It has been quite a while since I have been to the forum. I was banded about 4 years ago at NYU. I did not have the best experience with the NYU team, mostly as a result of their practice simply being far to large for them to support. Often times I waited in the waiting room (often standing room only) over an hour for my appointment and often felt like I was being rushed out the door once I actually met with the doctor/staff that I was there to see. At any rate, it took a long while to find proper restriction but today I am 138lbs - a full 100lbs lighter then I started. I recently ended up having my band removed by Dr. Cunneen at Cedars in LA about a month ago. I cannot tell you enough great things about Dr. C. He had the best bedside manner, I found him warm and kind and was great to work with considering my band removal was an emergency.

Today I continue to struggle with eating properly however. After years of never truly feeling hungry, now instead of feeling hungry I get nauseated, which I hear is not uncommon as your body relearns normal signs of hunger. I've also noticed that if I go more than a 3-4 hours without eating the nausea kicks in, which of course leads me to not eat, and i get really weak and tired and miserable for several days.

I also have what I refer to as episodes. Often times it happens at night but not always. I will begin to sweat hevily, feel very hot and yet have the chills simultaneously, my abdomen feels very tense and I feel the need to have a bm, some times my heart feels like it is racing though it really isn't when I count it vs a clock. It is all very bizarre to me. This has been something that has been going on for years, maybe once or twice in a year but lately it happens almost weekly. I've checked in w/ Dr. C and there were no complications during my surgery, I've been to a GI specialist, a cardiologist and my primary of course to make sure there isn't anything else wrong and so far no one can find anything else. Has anyone else had any of this (the nausea vs hunger or the 'episodes') ?

While I definitely look better and appear to be more healthy at 138lbs then I did at 240, I have found myself feeling far worse physically. I'm hoping at some point I will relearn the signs my body is sending me and get back to leading a normal life. It has been a very tough month to say the least.

The episodes you are experiencing might be the Dumping Syndrome. I call them my violent attacks, they are scary and can last from 45 mins to hours. I usually experience them once a month. I feel pain in my belly like cramping. Profuse sweating, drenched! Cold chills, hot sensations, for add diarrhea and vomiting! Usually by the time I vomit a couple times I am okay but I feel Lightheaded and feel faintish. I have passed out once. I didn't know what it was til I read it in a book. Hope u get to feeling better soon.

Are you female and are you over 40. Some of those symptoms could be perimenopause or menopause symptoms. Maybe you need to go and see your gynae.

Mmmm, sounds a lot like menopausal symptoms. When I get a hot flush, it is often heralded by a wave of nausea first, then a hot and then very cold feeling, a lot of sweat and then maybe even tears!

But why did you have your band removed? What issues caused that? What you're experiencing may have somethign to do with why your band was removed.

And also...... DH spend years going to various doctors to work out why he'd get the sweats and chills, shaking, chest pain, dizziness and difficulty breathing. Had so many tests and scans. It was anxiety. He didnt have anything in particular at the time to be anxious about but it was put down to post traumatic stress, he'd had some really dreadful times at work a couple of years previously, and he was having panic attacks. Once we realised this and he was sure he was not going to have a heart attack, he learned to deal with them, he learned the triggers, how to stay calm when one hit and over time they just went away.