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Lap Band To Bulimia



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My Band to Bulimia without the weight loss.

I was banded in 2007 with a Lapband and lost 75lbs in months and feeling like a person again. Then my band slipped. In 3 months time while I was waiting for the insurance to go through for the removal and replacement Realize band, I gained about 50lbs of that back. I was rebanded in 2009 and to date have been the same exact weight I was the day I was rebanded. I have had adjustments, fills, unfills and all that Jazz..... nothing has changed, I throw up or PB every meal I eat, I have terrible indigestion and have developed ulcers. UGHHH. I cant keep down a meal and I have not even lost a pound. Sometimes I feel like i wouldnt mind throwing up from time to time if I was loosing weight. My boyfriend who has been my biggest supporter is now looking down on my situation as I am always leaving him at the dinner table to join my friend "The Toilet". I have even switched Physicians. The band is in the right spot and under fluro every thing looks good. I know this Realize band takes getting use too but Im going on year 3 here. WTF?!?!? I say band to bulimia because as people with this terrible disease sometimes you dont loose weight but infact you can get an enlarges heart which I am terrified over due to not eating. Am I alone here? I now weight 220 and my insurance wont pay for a different procedure. I am so depressed I avoid people and social situations.

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Do you have insurance that would help pay for you to go talk to someone who deals with eating disorders? Even if your throwing up isn't bulimia, it sounds like you have done way too much of it over time. Is your lapband Dr.'s office one that offers any type of support? The constant vomiting can cause so many problems with your stomach, heart, esophagus, teeth ......... the list is long. I hope you can find someone who can help you get it all figured out.

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You are not alone! My mom is going through the exact same thing and I am very concerned. Drs. don't seem to want to help or try to figure out what is wrong with her. She too throws everything up. She only lost about 35lbs initially and has not lost any since then. I am reaching out to try to get some help for her because she has become very frustrated and has given up thinking this is the way it is going to be. I am not satisfied with that and think there has got o be someone out there that can help!

My Band to Bulimia without the weight loss.

I was banded in 2007 with a Lapband and lost 75lbs in months and feeling like a person again. Then my band slipped. In 3 months time while I was waiting for the insurance to go through for the removal and replacement Realize band, I gained about 50lbs of that back. I was rebanded in 2009 and to date have been the same exact weight I was the day I was rebanded. I have had adjustments, fills, unfills and all that Jazz..... nothing has changed, I throw up or PB every meal I eat, I have terrible indigestion and have developed ulcers. UGHHH. I cant keep down a meal and I have not even lost a pound. Sometimes I feel like i wouldnt mind throwing up from time to time if I was loosing weight. My boyfriend who has been my biggest supporter is now looking down on my situation as I am always leaving him at the dinner table to join my friend "The Toilet". I have even switched Physicians. The band is in the right spot and under fluro every thing looks good. I know this Realize band takes getting use too but Im going on year 3 here. WTF?!?!? I say band to bulimia because as people with this terrible disease sometimes you dont loose weight but infact you can get an enlarges heart which I am terrified over due to not eating. Am I alone here? I now weight 220 and my insurance wont pay for a different procedure. I am so depressed I avoid people and social situations.

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I know what you are going though. I have my band on July 2006, lost 23 pounds, eat very little and not weight loss. The last year I start having big problems with reflux and food coming oou on the middle of the night. All my friends also are used to me going to the bathroom all the time I eat something..... My Doctor was Dr. Pinnar in Reston, VA. He left and I try to go to other doctors and I spent so much money with tests..... all are normal I have now gastrite and take reflux medicine, but I am not getting better. I want to get this band out but the doctors want money upfront 3,000 and I do not have, I already spend 1,700.00 this year with co-payment...

I hate this band......

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I would try switching to all liquids for a couple of weeeks. Learn that you CAN keep those down. Then go to mushies for a couple of weeks and learn that you CAN keep those down. Then on to soft foods the same. The regular.

I had to do that. I had to retrain not only my body and my band but my mind that it did not have to come up. That I was not always as stuck as I perhaps felt I was.

I still get carried away and will eat too fast or not chew well enough and end up in the bathroom. If I notice I am doing this routinely, I have to force myself to go back to square one and start over. Kind of a "time out" for me to get myself back in line.

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I began forcing my food back up not chewing well and getting stuck. I began eating the wrong foods and feeling guilty and bringing back up. It became very easy to regurgitate and to stop doing this I had my band unfilled most of the way so I can stop the habit. I didn't think I would go back to being starved and eating everything in site again. I gained 65 lbs back. I hope only a fill or 2 now will get me to where I should be. I really have to penalty for over eating and never have, but I got over filled and when I got stuck I couldn't eat, drink or take my medicine. so this is my bulimic story. I guess I need to do what I should have done 2 years ago and see a counselor and find a support group.

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    • LeighaTR

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    • Doughgurl

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      · 2 replies
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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