Hi sorry to have not been on the forum, but i have been to depressed. It just does not seem to be working. i had early weight loss after the opp and it was the only time i ever felt full and couldn't eat, that was in January 23 lbs in total , but not lost for weeks but not gained either. I had another fill yesterday 7 mils in a 9 mil band now. Please tell me should i feel full with out pain when i eat. I feel embarrassed i paid for the opp and told all my friends, they are now taking the p... .

This is what I am so afraid of. I too will be a self pay. I have talked about this for almost two years but now that time is near I am so afraid that I will not be able to lose. Sometimes it looks like the only thing people lose from is the liquid diet. Good luck and please keep me posted.

Dont get me wrong dj53 i would do it all over again i think its just me who is taking time to work it out and find my sweet spot.

You won't know the full restriction you have until a good two weeks after your fill. Give it time. If you still don't feel restriction keep getting fills until you do.

A lot of people need to be near full capacity before they feel restriction. But a very small fill could take you there.

In the meantime, what are your routines now?. Are you actively cutting down on food intake and upping your exercise? The band really has for me required a VERY active participation in the weight loss process, I've had a surprisingly little amount of restriction from fills, to be able to still eat bread at my stage isnt common.

I've found exercise for weight loss needs to be serious business (well for me anyway). Walking didnt cut it, I now run an hour five or six times a week. That kept the weight moving off for me although of course it took me a year to build up to that. But an hour of whatever exercise is similarly intense at your particular stage (could be brisk walking!) five or six times a week is a great idea.

Thanks for all your support and advice.:nervous

Cheers

First I want to let everyone know how much I admire you. It takes courage and determination to not get discouraged when things go wrong. I have several obese clients who either have had Lapband or gastric bypass or are considering the procedures. I would like to know if others have expienced depression after the initial weight loss slows or after the procedure period. I welcome any feedback you can give me. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!:help:

First I want to let everyone know how much I admire you. It takes courage and determination to not get discouraged when things go wrong. I have several obese clients who either have had Lapband or gastric bypass or are considering the procedures. I would like to know if others have expienced depression after the initial weight loss slows or after the procedure period. I welcome any feedback you can give me. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!:help:

Might want to start a new thread for this, you'll get more takers.

Something to keep in mind, everyone is different and your depression could be from your expectations of the procedure. We think, feel and then behave (Albert Ellis). If your thoughts are running toward, "I made a mistake", "all my friends are going to laugh behind my back" etc. The feelings produced by that type of thinking (embarrassment, shame, failure) will only suck your motivation and will away. Try a disputation statement. Instead of "I made a mistake", try "I really don't know what to expect for my metabolism. I might simply lose more slowly than others". For others making fun of you, "that is not rational, those are my friends and I can trust them to care unconditionally" "the reason they are not saying anything is because they may not know what to say to me". We always judge our insides to everyones outside. If they are quiet, and we feel bad about our selves then the only explanation we can come up with is that something has to be wrong with me. This is a shame message and is a core belief of most obese individuals. Hang in there!!!!!!

If I am reading correctly looking at your previous posts, you just had surgery a few weeks ago.....is that right? It is normal to hit a plateau, a stall-out, after just a few weeks to let your body catch up with itself. That will happen all through your wls journey. When they tell us we will average losing 1-2 pounds per weeks, that's just what they mean.........AVERAGE over a year or so. Just because you don't lose every day or every week does not mean it's not working.

Hon, find a pair of pants that are a little snug and try them on every few days. Even on the weeks the scale doesn't move, you will probably feel the pants getting a little loser. That's a good way to keep your spirits up and know that your body is shrinking and 're-arranging' itself. The scales are not the whole story!

You don't mention your eating habits now....I hope your doctor gave you good guidelines for losing weight with the band. It's just a tool and you have to feed it right.......always eat your Protein first at a meal - good dense protein digests slower than anything else and will keep you satisfied longer than anything else. Get at least 80 grams of protein every day.....if you can't get it with food (and it's hard with a little pouch) then use a good protein supplement. Keep your carbohydrates below 40 grams a day.....greens and Beans are good carbs. Eliminate all bad carbs such as starchy white foods - Pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, sugars, etc - they have no nutritional value and they keep your blood sugar bouncing and make you think you are hungry when you are no. Don't drink with your meals.....wait an hour or so after your meal so you don't wash the food out of the pouch and get hungry quicker than you should. Drink at least 64 oz of liquids a day......the fat is flushed out through the kidneys so you must keep drinking. And keep the body moving, exercising.

Be good to yourself and be patient with this process. You can do this!!!

The original post is from May 2007..

my band was fitted in october, and like you had the initial restriction from the swelling, I have had my 10 ml band filled all the way up to 9 ml with no restriction at all. i had a fight to get an x-ray done, and when I had the x-ray, the band had split open, so was full, but not restricting anything, might be worth looking into - I have been in tears several times not understanding why it wasnt working so maybe you should look into it? - hope you get sorted, I'm waiting to have mine redone at the moment