I was banded in 2005. I was very successfull in my weightloss. I went from 220 to 135. I counted calories and went running twice a week. I suffered a knee injury from running about a year ago and have been going downhill ever since.

I am now up to 156lbs. I know to most it still seems like a good weight. But I find myself so depressed about my recent weight gain. I thought I had it all under control. I have been eating nothing but crap recently, which is why I am where I am. It's like a switch in my head went off and I can't switch it back on again.

I had a recent fill, which resulted in a small unfill because it hurt just to get Water down, and I am back to where I started. I can still eat anything. I can't rely on the full feeling because I feel like it is unobtainable. I have to rely on counting calories.

I find myself so envious of people who can only eat 800 calories per day and people who were able to get RNY.

Mentally, I feel like I am at square one. I have realized that this will always be a huge battle for me. For the first year, I was on cloud nine. But now, I realize that there will never be a cure for the eating issues that I have.

It makes me realize that maybe we are treating our eating issues the wrong way. Maybe we should be getting therapy instead of weight loss surgery. Anyone ever feel like this?

Disclaimer: No I am not knocking lap band surgery. I am just trying to work through the mental issues most of us are suffering from...how about a section for doing the head work?

Aren't you supposed to keep getting fills until you get to your sweet spot. You finally get enough adjustments until you get the right restriction so you can't eat whatever you want, RIGHT????

Just wondering because I haven't been banded yet....

Hi Jasmine..I've had prople propose I go to therapy for my eating too but my response to them is...I am fully aware of my eating... I eat because I love food and because I am constantly hungry... I am a compulsive eater but my reason for that is because food is a comfort to me and a quick pick-me-up when I'm feeling down or bored. So for me..there is no hidden reason why I am eating..so therapy is pointless. Hypnotism..possibly....but therapy, no. I've chosen to ignore hypnotism because I don't believe in it.

I tried the hynosis route just this year ... It worked well for about 4 months and I lost about 20 lbs, but then my subcon started working against me and it was all over. Never worked for me after that and like always, I gave up. So the lap band is truely my last hope, but after reading in here I am really having doubts about going thru with it...It is scaring the pants off me!

<p>Hi Banded4Life...don't be scared..of all the surgical options you could have this is the least risky. Yes, it doesn't work for everyone and people on this site have had lap bands removed but the way I see it is ..it is not a lot of money considering the potential for improving your life, and it is easily taken out if you decide it isn't working for you...so it is a shot worth taking! If you have any reservations, talk them through your surgeon...the decision is different for everyone.</p>. You will find the majority of people do have success with it.

I can see how regain would easily happen and this post is a very relevant one.

I have been guilty for very long periods of time of relying totally on my band, thinking I can eat whatever I like because the quantity is controlled. But we have to take charge of it every single day and consciously make those good decisions.

I find running five or six days a week allows me a myriad of indiscretions that dont show on the scales. Were I to be injured, I'd be in trouble, no doubt about it. This is a good reminder to stay focussed, even once you get to goal.

And I think of it like being born with a deformity. You just cant see it, but its there and nothing will fix it, we can only hope to manage it. We will always have to try harder than the next person. We all have an eating problem/disorder. Yet ironically, its the most normal thing of all, our bodies have not evolved to know that we dont need to eat everythign today, it will still be there tomorrow. So we have to fight that.

Jasmine, there is nothign done that you cant undo. You do not need to panic, just get with the program again. You CAN do it, you've done it before.

Hi Jasmine,

Thanks for bringing this up - it's given people the opportunity to be honest, without being shot down by someone (no one in particular) with a holier than thou attitude who gives you a lecture about the band only being a tool, what did you expect, should've done your homework etc. I've found it hard to understand how people ignore the underlying psychological reasons for needing surgery like this, and the importance of dealing with it ( not everyone of course).

I don't overeat because I'm hungry but I don't know why I do, but I have to find out because I've just had my band removed (that's another story) and I couldn't cope with putting back the relatively small amount I have lost. I do feel that the medical professionals involved in this king of surgery don't give these issues the attention they need. It really is fairly new surgery and the long term success, failures and side effects are unknown.Fortunately I've recently started a job where you get a certain amount of counselling sessions for free.

Sorry I don't have any answers for you, but if I come across anything helpful I'll let you know.

Take care, Rachel.

Hypnosis didn't work for me AT ALL!

The way I look at it is I'm a foodaholic. Literally. I really, truly feel like I'm addicted to junk food. I've done this over and over again. If I have ONE tiny bit of 'bad' food (chocolate, ice cream, chips), tomorrow I'll have two, then I'll have four, and it spirals until I am literally out of control. When I decide to go on a diet, I initially get the shakes from withdrawal. When I get banded in Nov, I'll have to do that liquid diet. That will be the 'getting clean' portion. Once all the junk is out of my system, this is it, I am not going to have one bit of junk ever again. I've done it before and I've gotten more and more out of control over the years. It's as though I have to 'stay clean' just like alcoholics do. I'm not paying $16,000 to then F it up. I'm sick of it already. I don't know why I eat the way I do but I know when I have a long amount of time when I'm 'clean' of the bad stuff, it's easy to eat well. Anyway, does this have any relevance at all to the topic at hand? It's late, I'm tired. I just know this is the end of the road for me, my last shot at losing the weight - nothing else has worked, this is it, I've got to do it the best way I possibly can.

Linda

I know I'm a foodaholic too. I fall off the wagon...I lie to myself about what evil foods have crept in to my diet....I can look in the mirror and not see myself accurately. I figure I will always address issues, the rest of my life. But without the band, a slip up would mean rapidly regaining all my wieght and then some. With the band, I can get it together before all of that happens. It is more forgiving. Alcoholics strive to fall off the wagon with less intensity and for shorter periods of time each time. Me too. And I've made peace with "dieting". I am on a strict "diet" of healthy food and porportions at home, and order whatever I want when I'm out, allowing the band to assist with just portion control. So I have my cake and eat it too, sort of. I also know that when I have good restriction per fluoroscope, but can eat too much, I've stretched my pouch. The time I did it, I was lucky that a few days of liquids resolved it. I'm always restricted in the morning, so I needed to stop gulping breakfast too. But if that hadn't worked and I needed a slight or complete unfill to take care of it, I'd gladly do it to re-start the restriction of the band. And finally, once a month, I go down the list of rules for the bandster life and keep a 3 day food long so I can honestly see what I've allowed to creep in. I'm making peace with the work involved...Heck, befor ethe band I was a total failure at weight stuff. Now it's just hard work. I can live with that.

Hi everyone. I am new here and haven't even had my first appointment with the doctors yet. I wanted to do some research first to see if this is really what I want to do, and I have to say, you all have given me a lot to think about in this post alone!! I never imagined so much could go wrong. I guess I was in the mind set that the surgery is the fix-all and everything else will just fall into place from there. Thank you all for sharing your complications and how you dealt with those. It really is a lot to think about. But hearing that it is possible to find a successful resolution to the problems is encouraging to those of us still in the thinking stage.

Jasmine--

I agree that you are being too hard on yourself!! What you are putting yourself through mentally is only going to make things worse. Do you know how many people would kill to be at 156?? I am one of them girl! :cool:

You have done awsome, and beating yourself up will not fix anything. But I don't think there is anything to fix but your head! You are beautiful and healthy I am sure! Be thankkful you have made it this far. If you are eating the wrong things you can fix that, but worrying about a few numbers on the damn scale is nuts girl! YOU ARE WORTH more than that, we all are!

I for one, no longer really care what the scale tells me. It is not my friend.... :heh:

You guys are all so SWEET for responding. To tell you the truth, I had forgotten about this thread. I'm still struggling but not as much. I haven't really been weighing myself. Like you guys said, scales are not my friend. I've just been going based on how my clothes feel.

I used to be motivated by the fear of losing my band, but for some reason, that fear is no longer there. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to get back on track. I need a really good scare.

Thanks again for all of the kind words. I really appreciate you all taking the time to write:).

Hi Jasmine,

Thanks for bringing this up - it's given people the opportunity to be honest, without being shot down by someone (no one in particular) with a holier than thou attitude who gives you a lecture about the band only being a tool, what did you expect, should've done your homework etc. I've found it hard to understand how people ignore the underlying psychological reasons for needing surgery like this, and the importance of dealing with it ( not everyone of course).

I don't overeat because I'm hungry but I don't know why I do, but I have to find out because I've just had my band removed (that's another story) and I couldn't cope with putting back the relatively small amount I have lost. I do feel that the medical professionals involved in this king of surgery don't give these issues the attention they need. It really is fairly new surgery and the long term success, failures and side effects are unknown.Fortunately I've recently started a job where you get a certain amount of counselling sessions for free.

Sorry I don't have any answers for you, but if I come across anything helpful I'll let you know.

Take care, Rachel.

Oh Rachel,

When I read this, I know exactly who you are talking about and you are so right. I definately don't need to be lectured by those types of people. I know what I'm doing wrong. Sometimes though, your emotional side takes over your logical side.

And I completely agree with you when it comes to

some medical professionals not addressing these issues. Mine did not. I know that some do and that this is what the psych eval is for. But maybe it's because I was banded in Mexico. Maybe the US docs make our psychological issues more of a priority. I don't know. I'd hate to lump them all together. Just going on my experience. I'm not going to blame them for my head issues, though. I'd just like some of them to make more patients aware that this is not a cure. That the head issues will always be there. That you can eat around the band. That you can regain your weight. I mean, if the surgeons were so thorough, why are so many of us on this board with so many questions? I refuse to believe that so many of us "did not do all of the research". I did my research.

I'm so sorry to hear about you losing your band. Did you start a thread about it somewhere? I'd like to hear more about it.

Take care,

Jasmine

I have experience much like yours! My band also no longer works for me. Have had it since 2003 and am at a point where I am considering the VSG- paying for it the hold-up!

Why? You can eat around a sleeve as easily as you can a band. Both are merely restrictive procedures.

I think that regardless of having a psych exam, you are going to face some issues throughout the band process. I didn't have a psych exam as I was banded in Mexico, but I have seen people post on this website that they lied during their psych exam. So, even if you are given the green light for surgery, it doesn't mean you have "done the work". I know there are plenty of people who say that they just "like to eat" or were "always hungry" and have no emotional issues around food, but no matter how much research you do, how many books you read or message boards you frequent, there will be some surprises along your band journey. I am not saying anything negative against anyone. I just think that if you have RNY, Lap-Band, VSG, you probably hit a point where you were near the end of your rope and would do almost anything to get the weight off. I know people get denied for surgery due to depression, etc. and those things may get so much better with surgery. I guess my point is, it isn't easy and no matter how prepared you think you are for surgery, it is part of life with ups and downs, surprises and expected outcomes, exceptions to the rules, etc. There are good days and bad days, but for most people, the overall ride is better than the one they were on previous to surgery.

I am going to get a fill on the 23rd. In the past, everytime I go for a fill I have lost about 1/2 to 3/4th of the last fill. No leaks showed up with dye injection. I am going to ask my surgeon to inject omnipaque & use a stopcock as recommended by some of you. My fingers & toes are crossed hoping this will work.