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Anyone recommended to NOT have surgery for psych reasons?



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Hi - I'm new here & so will apologize upfront if posting in wrong place on wrong topic, etc. I'm considering banding. Am wondering if anyone here was advised to not have the banding due to psych reasons (example: doctor thinks that you won't be consistent with pre & post-op diets, etc.)? I think a huge portion of my battle with food is similar to those with drug/alcohol addictions. I definitely have a "mind-game" going on with food. What do you do if you have the surgery & afterwards the cravings & addiction mindset continue? I had a counselor once advise me against banding because it was her opinion that my problem was a "head" problem. I guess I'm wondering how those of you out there who would identify yourselves as "food addicts" prior to banding are doing now? How tough is this mentally, not just physically?

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It was not recommended for me due to the psych eval. I didn't like the psych doctor; we really got off on the wrong foot.

I did really well in the pre-diet and post diet. I can do pretty well on a diet for a few weeks and then it's either hormone related or something in my life that hits me and I fall off the bandwagon and struggle to get back on.

I did well enough to lose 40 pounds and then I have been kind of stuck. I'm not sure really what to do at the moment. So I do not know if I am the best person to answer your question.

I will say this - don't expect to have this surgery and all the pounds just fall off. It will require you to eat right and it will require you to exercise. You will eat less; but it won't keep you from eating again 30 minutes later. You are going to have to work with this and you are going to have to work on changing your lifestyle.

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I also didn't like my psych evaluator, but I was past. I have the same issues as txmomof2, exactly the same. I did really well on the pre- and post-op diet. After about 1 and 1/2 months though, I'm struggling with eating too much. I am proud of the fact that I haven't gone back to eating junk food and stuff (no breads, rice, pastas, McDonald's, candy, ice cream, etc.), but I'm not happy that I can eat so much in 1 sitting. Eating healthy is very important to me. Thank goodness I exercise too. I just hope that with successive fills, my overeating stops. Like you, linigh, food is an addiction to me.

If you can stay away from eating the bad carbs, it might help stave off your addiction somewhat and not make you hungry sooner, tired, etc. Although I can eat a lot in 1 sitting, I do not snack between meals because I no longer eat the bad carbs. Good luck in your journey.

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    • LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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