NA'ers?

[Angel_P 0]

Hi everyone, I am Angel and an addict. I did a bunch of my prerequisites today....pulmonologist, pulmonary function test, chest x ray, cardiologist, ekg, echo, and thyroid blood tests. Next week I go for my upper GI and sleep apnea test. I am really excited about this process and about finding recovering addicts going thru this process as well. My best friend is also a recovering addict and he will be having the lap band done as well, but probably a little after me ( his insurance requirements are different than mine), and another friend of ours had the lap band done in December. I plan on giving my sister any pain medication if need be to administer to me(she is not an addict and I trust her 100000%). Nice to meet everyone!:wub:

[savimama 0]

Yes I am 15 years clean and just got banded on May 28,2008.Congrats to all my fellow NA'ers. I am really grateful for the band. I think food was my first drug as I am sure all of you can relate to . Soooo happy to have been given the chance to possibly gain some freedom and feel healthy. Pain medication was given in the hospital felt really out of it- ughhhh. Once I got home I threw out the pain med script and just took liquid tylenol. Glad I did, cause it took about a week for me to recover from the pain med/asthesia in the hospital. Its now a week after surgery, and I actually feel hungry which really scares me-have to watch my food choices too since the swelling is down and I am able to consume more food than when first got home. ANyone else experience this ?????God bless..

[tskelli 1]

Yes I am 15 years clean and just got banded on May 28,2008.Congrats to all my fellow NA'ers. I am really grateful for the band. I think food was my first drug as I am sure all of you can relate to . Soooo happy to have been given the chance to possibly gain some freedom and feel healthy. Pain medication was given in the hospital felt really out of it- ughhhh. Once I got home I threw out the pain med script and just took liquid tylenol. Glad I did, cause it took about a week for me to recover from the pain med/asthesia in the hospital. Its now a week after surgery, and I actually feel hungry which really scares me-have to watch my food choices too since the swelling is down and I am able to consume more food than when first got home. ANyone else experience this ?????God bless..

Congratulations on being banded! Yes, I experienced the same thing. The only thing I can suggest is make wise choices and be patient with yourself. It took time and a couple of fills before I finally felt good restriction. I am so glad I got banded and don't have any regrets! One thing I do struggle with is wanting to replace the food with something else. The food is not there, so I want something else to medicate with (People, money, sex, etc.) I'm doing better with it, but it's not always easy! Keep in touch and let me know how you're doing!

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

I have 14 years clean. It's pretty easy for me to see that I am addicted to food. It's kind of strange as I watch the newcomers come in all skinny and sick looking, then the longer they are in recovery, they get fat.

It's so easy to use food as a drug of choice!

[tskelli 1]

I have 14 years clean. It's pretty easy for me to see that I am addicted to food. It's kind of strange as I watch the newcomers come in all skinny and sick looking, then the longer they are in recovery, they get fat.

It's so easy to use food as a drug of choice!

Yes it is! It looks like you have come a long way in that area! Congrats for keeping the weight off!

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Honestly, the band makes it pretty easy.

[greenerpastures 0]

Fellow NA'ers.

Wow, never posted to a site (anywhere, anytime, total rookie) just a voyeur. I have 22 years clean (wow, how did that happen!!) and over time replaced drugs with food. Scheduled for the band this Thursday the 24th of July. Need to know what to expect in terms of pain, meds etc. Mr. Wonderful (with more years clean than me) will be along every step of the way so he can monitor pain medication. Look forward to hearing from you!

[moonshadow2468 0]

Hi, I didn"t need pain meds. I love my band, it's not very tight so I eat anything I want. It just tells me when to stop, if I ignore the band.... I pay the price. If you want to loose fast then the band gets real tight. But for me, a pound or so a week and being able to eat anything is fine. Good luck.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

I never even used my pain medication. I had a very easy recovery but I can't say everyone is like that.

I don't agree that you should keep a tight band. It's a very fine line having perfect restriction and being able to eat everything in small portions, or being too tight and throwing up all the time. The people that are very tight and throwing up a lot, actually aren't losing well.

I have read on here many times that someone will get a slight defill and they start losing again.

[gainesvillegirl 0]

Hi! I'm an addict named Tina. I go by "gainesvillegirl" on this site. I have 18 yrs clean in NA. Got my band placed Feb. 5, 2008. I'm loving it! I've lost 30 lbs so far; slow and steady. My weight loss goal for Sept. is to lose 10 lbs. I'm adding in some daily exercise (which I had not been doing) and hoping that will help.

[savimama 0]

sorry took so long to respond- im still getting use to moving around on this site and didnt know someone responded!!! Well it has been a slow process these last three months of being banded. i think i am feeling the restriction now after three fills. I lost 20 lbs prior to the third fill. I am grateful for this step forward. After the third fill I definately feel more restriction and its not easy keeping chicken, turkey, cheese down. So now I am using Protein Drinks to get Protein in my day. Thanks for sharing everyone:>) God bless

[derbin247 0]

Hi my name is Kelly and I am an addict from SO CAL. SO happy to see a post from NA members. SO cool. Doesnt look like there are any recent posts from anyone but hopefully someone will see this and get back to me. I will be getting banded in February.

[debrainwater 0]

Hey Kelly,

My name is Debbie and I am from So Cal also....Orange County area. I have been banded since April 14, 2008 and have lost 41 pounds. As they say....One day at a time. Good luck with your surgery.

[derbin247 0]

Hi Debbie thanks for responding. How is the band working for you? How did you handle the pain medication and how did you handle it with your meetings (as in sharing about it?) How long do you have clean?

[debrainwater 0]

The band is working good, I have lost 47 pounds thus far. With the holidays it was sort of tuff, gettting back on track now. As far as the meetings, I didn't share about it. The only people that know about it are from my womens meeting, my sponsor and my family. I didn't feel it necessary to share with everyone. As far as the pain, I only took the pain meds in the hospital, I used liquid tylenol at home. My clean date is 5-23-05. Just taking it one day at a time......what about you? Have you had your surgery yet? When is your clean date? Did you share? Where do you live? I'm in the city of Orange.

Best of luck,

Debbie:thumbup: