Hi. I need to vent. I am really depressed today. I have been banded for almost two years now. I have lost about 85 pounds. I have 20 more to go to goal. The problem is about 6 months ago I just stopped losing weight. The scale just won't move. I am also having problems with being dialated or stretched. I have to sleep with a Med slant pillow at night for acid reflux and that doesn't even work anymore. I am sleep deprived waking up every night coughing and regurgitating. I keep a disposable cup by my bed so I don't have to get up so many times. This has been going on for a while now. I have had about 2 or 3 fills and every time I get a fill I have to turn around about a month later and get an unfill. If I am too tight or dialated, would that keep me from losing more weight? All of this just does not make sense to me. I have been unfilled for about a month with about half of my fluid out. Then re-filled, unfilled, re-filled now unfilled again. I have had a barium swallow and they could not find anything wrong with me. I feel so FAT right now. I am down to 165 but I have a roll on my stomach and I feel so fat in whatever I wear because you can see the roll through my sweaters. I am too tired to exercise because I am up almost every night. I am sorry if I am feeling sorry for myself, but I am. I just need some advice or to talk to someone that has been there. I just don't know what to expect anymore. I was doing great up until 6 months ago.:help:

If you're not exercising you may have your answer right there.

If you're got reflux and no complications such as a slip, could be you're just too tight. You may need to remove a substantial amount of Fluid and see what effect that has.

But I'd say its VERY hard to get to goal weight without lots of good, hard cardio and preferably strength training too. There's all sorts of valid reasons why people dont exercise, but it remains cold hard fact - you need to do it to get your weight off and keep it off. If you dont do it, you may not get to your goal weight.

So if you can sort out the tiredness by taking care of the reflux, then perhaps you can re-focus on what you need to be doing to lose more weight

Hi wisegirl,

it's ok to vent. I do that sometimes on here too (also in real life, truth be told) I think it's wonderful how much weight you have lost so far. What an amazing gift to only have 20lbs left to go. What does you doc say about all of these fills and unfills? Does he have any advice for you? How about seeking the advice of another doctor for your complaints. Just let them know the whole story and maybe they can help. I know from reading so many of these posts that there are many personalities to all of the different doctors out there. Just think of it like buying a pair of pants, if they didn't fit, woulnd't we take them back for a pair that fit? I just want to say to you, you have been through alot, so don't give up. Keep on moving ahead. You have come a very long way,85 lbs to be exact. No one said this was going to be easy, but anything worthwhile usually takes everything we've got. Best of luck to YOU. You're worth it.

cj033185,

Thank you for your kind words. They really make me feel better. It is nice to be able to go to this forum. I can't make it to support groups, but this is the next best thing.

As far as my doctor goes, I love him to death and I think he has done what he can do. I will though ask him when I go back which is tomorrow about the fills and unfills, I just don't want them anymore. It isn't worth it. Even if I have to get unfilled alot I guess I will have to live with it and try to maintain my weight.

Thanks again for your support.

Wisegirl,

Ask the Doc for an EGD and a total unfill. You may need to give it a rest until the other problems are resolved , then start again with the fills. You're doing wonderful with the wl, but now you need to take care of you.

My story is very similar to yours. The reflux was keeping me awake and I had tried everything. Most recently I have been medicated for sinus/allergy problems and have finally been sleeping thru the night. No more sinus drainage clogging up my system and no more reflux. Life is so much better with a good night's sleep. Hope this is your problem too.

Well my Doctor unfilled me...alot. He put me under a Fluero. He was able to see that I was waaaayyy to tight. He took out .05 ccs. I am not sure how much I even have in there now. I talked to the dietician and she said I am suffering from "soft calorie" syndrome and that is why I haven't lost any weight for 9 months. I was too tight to eat the protein I needed so I slowly went back into my old eating habits. I feel so much better now that I am getting some sleep! I am just afraid that now that I can eat more, that I will eat bad stuff but the doctor told me as long as I stick with the proteins and low carbs, I will be ok. I hope he is right.

Do you still have your Gallblader?

I had the same experience. First I was too tight and had reflux and then it seem like I had allergies, although this is new. I started allergy medicine and it worked.

i had some complications with my first band and lost 150 lbs with it. I eventually had to have a second band and gained about 35 lbs back due to good health and being completely open for a while. It really hard to stay positive when you see the weight gain. everyone says hey you still lost 115 lbs you should be thrilled and all i see is the roll in my middrift. I keep telling myself that thank god i will have this band for life if possible and i dont have to lose it all right this minute. for most of my life its been either lose or gain for me and i guess im afraid if im not losing then ive lost another battle. i think all of us overeaters fear a sense of failure if we are not presently losing. Lets make a pact together to love ourselves even if we are not losing right now cause WE HAVE THE BANDDDDDD. WOO HOOOO. we dont have to do it alone anymore.

What is a "fill" and "unfill"? I am considering having the lap band proceedure and know very little about it.

Alida

Getting "filled" is when saline is injected into your port to tighten your band. "Unfilling" is the removal of saline to loosen it. Good luck!!