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I have been seeing a therapist for food addiction for six months or so. I just decided to have the VSG. I am self pay so I do not have to wait the required time. I can schedule very quickly. My therapist has recommended I wait at least the 6 months normally required by insurance companies in order to really process my "feelings" about it all. I really don't want to wait. I was curious if anyone else is using any sort of counseling to help prevent crossover addictions and what y'alls thoughts are on the whole wait thing. ????

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If you have food addiction issues, I think I would follow the advice of your therapist to make sure you're not setting yourself up for failure.

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I agree with Jenn, waiting would be a good thing.

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The addictions don't go away with the sleeve, so it is important to address them now with your therapist. Six months isn't too long to wait in the grand scheme of things. You can start making diet modifications now.

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Get sleeved then continue to process your addictions. You don't really understand what you're dealing with until you're sleeved. IMHO.

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I say read all of the material you can get your hands on... Don't just read the good... Read the bad too and then be honest about what you know you will struggle with. The sleeve will not fix our heads... It's only a tool. It's like when my mom had her gastric bypass... She didn't address why she got fat in the first place... So she had to tackle that head on the hard way post op..to avoid drinking too much or going broke. I was just sleeved on mar 13 and in that 6 months pre- op I wanted to rush into it... But glad I had to jump through hoops... Made me take a hard look at my life and how I got here? This is a drastic life change and well lean on your support group... You can do this... It's a mindset... I think this is harder than weight watchers or any of those diets I did... But it forced me to change initially and now I'm laying a foundation for my future success and you will too... But take it one day at a time!!!

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I would follow your therapist's advice and wait. I'm in therapy for my food addiction and I'm greatful for the time I've had to work on my relationship with food. The sleeve will still be there in six months and the additional work will only help you on your journey. Good luck!

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I didn't wait because my insurance was changing at the end of the month and i would have to go through a whole other approval process that was far more lengthy. I started therapy pretty shortly after my surgery and part of me is glad I didn't wait, part of me thinks I should have waited if it were possible.

Either way, following up with counseling is a great idea, no matter if you decide to wait or not. I'm not sure if that helped at all, but either way continuing help is vital imo.

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