After a little over a year with the band, I have reached the point where I wish I wouldn't have done this.

I started out at 511 lbs and lost 80 lbs in the first 6 months and have been losing and gaining the same 10 lbs ever since.

My problem was obviously not actual hunger, but emotional, and sadly, the band wasn't designed to do anything for that.

Since I'm no longer losing weight, all the band is, is another buden to bear in a life that's already full of them. And now I will have to endure surgery again in orde to rid myself of this particular burden. Lord what did I do?

It was a kneejerk decision that I should have spent more time on.

My doctor was a great surgeon but his after care and support leave a lot to be desired. I even attempted to join a different support group at a local hospital and they said "SURE", we just need $1500.00 up front and we will help you!

Yeah right!

Hammer

Edited August 7, 200817 yr by hammer1

Hammer,

This site is my saving grace and is the secret to success. Plus, it's free!!!

www.thedailyplate.com

Please try hard - don't give up! And know that we all deeply care about you.

I agree with Melody, the band is not a quick fix. Maybe they should have just given you the bypass. My boss has that and she eats candy bars all day. If you are not losing weight than you are not putting in the effort. I was banded 10/03/07 and today have lost 90 pounds and I know I earned every pound.

Not to be rude, but I am kind of offended about you saying this. Your doctor should have made you go through a psych evaluation before allowing you to have the band. Also, 511 pounds sounds a lot more like the bypass but that is only the people I know. I could be wrong.

Just try to hang in there. Being overweight is like having a handicap. You can do it. You have a whole see oh people online who are willing to listen and give you advice. Sorry if I was sounding rude. That comes from my mental issues.

Edited August 20, 200817 yr by Hollie519

Hollie I don't agree with what you say about maybe hammer should have had the bypass. I'm certain there was a psych evaluation involved. I didn't loose any weight the first year I was banded just like hammer. My slow start was due to my lack of commitment to the process. Hammer has taken all the right steps to continue the weight loss and has accomplished a lot in losing 80 lbs already. Hammer just has a little bit longer journey ahead of him than some of the other people with the band. Remember the bypass is no quick fix either. We are all individuals and all respond differently to all of life's stressors.

Hollie I don't agree with what you say about maybe hammer should have had the bypass. I'm certain there was a psych evaluation involved. I didn't loose any weight the first year I was banded just like hammer. My slow start was due to my lack of commitment to the process. Hammer has taken all the right steps to continue the weight loss and has accomplished a lot in losing 80 lbs already. Hammer just has a little bit longer journey ahead of him than some of the other people with the band. Remember the bypass is no quick fix either. We are all individuals and all respond differently to all of life's stressors.

That is exactly why I said just the people who I have met and also went back to edit. I have my own issues about the whole weight loss thing. I hate being fat and was committed from day one but I also am a lot younger than many of you. So, I can see how it could have been a bit easier for me. i'm not saying it wasn a walk in the park because I love food. I just feel so strongly about what the band did for my life and I know its possible to experience great results no matter the age. I am from San Deigo where quite a few people have had the lap band. It was not as easy for me to have it because I was 17 at the time of surgery. I had to go to several doctors including state assigned because I was underage. I also did not pay for my surgery because it was in a study, so I guess I must have had to go through more extensive screening. Maybe that is why my outlook is so different. I just know the lap band is like NA, it works if you work it. That its no easy way out. But again, my own mental issues about earning things. So, my bad if I offended anyone. That was never my intention. We all make mistakes.

So just jump back on the wagon hammer and have some faith. And every pound lost counts so don't sell yourself short.

Hollie, well stated. I wish you the best in your study. You have a lot of pressure to do well so that those who are under age and needing the surgery in the future have the opportunity. I'm pulling for you.

Reading this forum and how supportive most everyone has been to Hammer has brought tears to my eyes. I am so proud of you, Hammer, for going and getting a fill. If this one doesn't help, go again! Keep talking about your feelings and keep a positive attitude. 80lbs is a great start! The future will be brighter, if you want it to be.

Hearing the inspirational stories from Big B and Florida Pete has really impacted me. We all have emotional issue of why we have got to the point of needing WLS and we must deal with them. The amount of weight we have to lose really is not the issue. It takes dedication to change your habits and recognize your shortcomings and stop yourself before you start to eat and sometimes it is so hard. The Lapband is a great tool and we are fortunate to have it. We consider ourselves even more fortunate when we are properly restricted and find it helping us. Even then, the old habits and obsessions with food are still part of us unless we deal with the issues and get good support. I have had individual counceling and have been involved with OA from the get go. This website helps me tremendously.

We are blessed to have each other!

Hammer, I love all the supportive folks who joined in to uplift you here and I wanted to add my "Amen" to all those who gave you a pat on the back for going to the doctor for a fill to try to restart and re-energize your weight loss journey - yes, for me with 180 total pounds to lose, it will be a marathon, probably at least 2 years of dedicated effort, but I want to get healthy - not just skinny for vanity reasons, though I feel better about my appearance with each pound, but I want to live a high quality life and I couldn't do that at my starting weight. Never lose sight of the fact that your health was a primary reason for losing weight, and losing weight will help with depression as I have first handle experience with that, and then it circles back around that improvement in depression helps keep us motivated to keep losing, and on ....

So hang in there and congratulations for taking control of your life and keep up the good work.

Second, I formed a local support group in my city using contacts I met on this website under the Local USA Support Groups, for my State and then posted under the one for the Columbus area and we got brave and asked each other if we'd like to meet in person some time. It took 3 brave ladies, Heather, Debbie and I to get it started and we met at a Mall food court - where we could meet in a public place. I brought a helium balloon and made a poster for the table to show where we'd meet. It was the greatest blessing besides this website I have found. We represent lapbanders from all stages now, pre-op, post op, those succeeding in leaps and bounds, and those whose weight loss is going slower than they hoped but we have "banded together" to support each other and its free! I'm sorry a hospital support group wanted to charge you to get the support you wanted. Best wishes on finding some local bandsters in your area to give each other mutual support and hugs in person...its great.

God Bless,

SpecialK

Hey Hammer, I have been lurking for a long while cause it's my DH going through this not me but I feel I need to offer you support too.

Getting on here was the best thing you could have done. Now you need to start educating yourelf about how the band works and how you should be eating and exercising. There is a ton of knowlege right here on the board (check out the men's room for more male related issues) Also there are a ton of great books out there Like the one written by Dr. Ortiz that are easy to read and understand, get your wife in on the learning too so she can be more help to you too.

As the wife of a new bandster I applaud your efforts and hope to continue to hear good thing happening to you.

Trish

I have been having a rough go of it here lately. Needs some support. Been craving sweets and not been exercising. got to get back on track.

Look you are half way there! They say that heavy people stay heavy because they are comfortable being that way. Don't be afraid to venture from your comfort zone. Just stay strong and take it one day at a time. Some people can also get overwhelmed when thinking about a large goal. Divide it in sections. Thats what i did and it has helped a lot.

Remember, pace yourself. The slower you lose the weight, the longer it stays off.

And working out doesn't have to be something thats a grueling process. Start at a walk and set your goal to eventually be up to a run. i can't tell you how great it feels to be able to run. It took me 8 months to be able to run a straight mile. All I did was start from a walk.

If I can do it, you can do it. Keep your chin up. There are people here for you.

I have been having a rough go of it here lately. Needs some support. Been craving sweets and not been exercising. got to get back on track.

You just made the best step you could. You came here and told us about it and admitted to yourself that you had taken a step back. So now you can change those actions and move forward.

You have already done so well with losing the weight keep it up. Remember this phrase "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." You are doing great in being on the road to being thin and you will get there. It's alright that you slipped a little. Now you can get back on track and continue down the road.

Have faith in yourself and know that you can do it!:cursing:

I have been having a rough go of it here lately. Needs some support. Been craving sweets and not been exercising. got to get back on track.

Hi Brad,

I can say from first hand experience that you are one of the greatest inspirations around here. After hearing from you and the others a few weeks back, I went back to the DR, got a fill and as of today have dropped another 12.5 lb in the last 14 days.

Your personal success and advice to me has helped to put me back on track, so c'mon buddy, let me throw something back your way! Your goal is to be able to live a normal life and do so in good health and those sweets are only going to delay this from happening. You've come so far and there's no way you're gonna let a "sugar" craving defeat you. Get one of your "before" pics out and look at it, then look in the mirror.....nice huh? Now throw that great tasting poison in the trash, eat you something high in protien and go about your business.

U da man!

As they used to say in the 70's....Keep on Truckin!

Hammer :cursing:

You just made the best step you could. You came here and told us about it and admitted to yourself that you had taken a step back. So now you can change those actions and move forward.

You have already done so well with losing the weight keep it up. Remember this phrase "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." You are doing great in being on the road to being thin and you will get there. It's alright that you slipped a little. Now you can get back on track and continue down the road.

Have faith in yourself and know that you can do it!:cursing:

I love that quote! And I know I also had a hard time when i was on other diets going back and saying I had gained. But be easy on yourself. If you are an emotional eater, than you are probably doing your body more harm right now. Just try to focus more on happy thoughts. Half full not half empty. Happy thought= good eating= feeling good about yourself= happy thought and repeat :]

Hmmm....

I was banded in January this year. It has been a slow process for me. The surgeon that banded me is an excellent surgeon, but my surgery was done just about a year after he first started doing lap band. I have felt since the beginning that they weren't agressive enough with their fills. I got frustrated with dealing with them and gave up on getting fills for a while. In my frustration I started researching other fill options and found 1 doctor in my area willing to do a fill on someone he didn't do surgery on. I scheduled with him and at my first (and only) appointment I found out that he was the first physician to place a lap band in the US. He has been doing WLS since before I was born and was extremely knowledgeable in the area of weight loss. He believes strongly in aftercare. The band without aftercare is pretty much worthless. His eating philosophy is "If it can run you can eat it + eggs and cheese." Basically all Protein no carbs. To help with the cravings for carbohydrates he prescribes phentermine. This is not a weight loss drug, it is simply to reduce the cravings for carbs so you can stick to a high protein diet.

I came away from my meeting with him feeling inspired and frustrated. I tried the all protein no carbs diet for a while, and I'm not completely convinced that it is a healthy option. But I will say that my fasting blood sugar dropped by about 60 in a 3 day period-so it can't be all bad. The phentermine definitely helps. He prescribed it for daily, but I have taken it only on days where I anticipate food cravings, or where they've already started.

The reason that I was frustrated is because he was not able to access my port because he did not have fluorscopy in his office. But my visit with him inspired me to read the Southbeach diet which is actually what my surgeon's office had recommended. Southbeach is high protein low carbs. It is a great read because it explains that we are addicted to carbs, and there is a reaction within our system that causes us to go back for more and more.

After all that, I ended up going back to my surgeon's office for a fill and I have lost more since that fill then any other fill I've had, partially because the fill gave me a little more restriction and partly because of the insight I gained (and the phentermine I got) from the other doctor.

Now after I originally read your post and none of the f/u posts what I really wanted to talk about was the emotional reasons for eating. At my highest weight I was 378 lbs... That is what I weighed when I started WW in 1997ish-a heck of a lot for my 5'5 frame. I was in the most horrible relationship (I'm not implying that you're in a bad relationship), and I felt as unhappy as I could possibly be. Over the course of the next year or two I got down to 294 lbs on WW... but what a struggle every day was to make the right choices. It was about that point that I just gave up and started gaining it all back. Around 1999 I decided I was going to try counseling because obviously diet alone was not working. I spent at least a year in counseling discussing things like being abandoned by my father when I was 4 years old. My mother emotionally leaving me when she met her 2nd husband when I was 11, having a step father who couldn't stand me and let me know on a daily basis by only talking to me if he had something negative to say. Food became my comfort at the age of 4, at 6 years my mothers last entry in my baby book says, "My child is eating constantly and I don't know what to do about it." Every chance I got to be alone in my house growing up, I was eating.... and that was often. Food was my companion. I can't say that my time in counseling completely cured me of overeating (obviously or I wouldn't have gotten a band this year), but I can say that I have never weighed as much as 378 lbs again, and my weight actually did stabalize for a period of years which had never happened before in my life. It was because my weight had stabalized and I wasn't on a constant upward motion that I decided it was time to get banded... I thought that was an indication that I was eating more simply because my stomach holds more then the average person before I feel full. I still think that is true. But I recently started counseling again to get at more of those core issues.

What I have figured out for myself is that being "morbidly obese" does not stem from 1 issue. Therefore, it does not have 1 solution. Success at weight loss has to come from several directions.

Obvioulsy heredity plays a role, but personally I think part of that is just learning poor eating habits from your parents and you don't know anything different, and making changes to something you've done your entire life is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT!

Part of it is an actual addiction to carbs.

Part of it is emotional eating.

Let me just say that as far as counseling goes... if you do decide to go that direction you have to find the right counselor. If you go to one and you don't feel comfortable with them then find someone else.

Keep getting fills and don't say the band is a failure until it is completely full with 10cc's and you weigh 511 lbs again!!

And remember what they say in those "Anonymous" programs when you're reading all these posts, "Take what you need and leave the rest behind."

And also... congratulations on your continued weight loss and best wishes on your journey!

Hmmm....

I was banded in January this year. It has been a slow process for me. The surgeon that banded me is an excellent surgeon, but my surgery was done just about a year after he first started doing lap band. I have felt since the beginning that they weren't agressive enough with their fills. I got frustrated with dealing with them and gave up on getting fills for a while. In my frustration I started researching other fill options and found 1 doctor in my area willing to do a fill on someone he didn't do surgery on. I scheduled with him and at my first (and only) appointment I found out that he was the first physician to place a lap band in the US. He has been doing WLS since before I was born and was extremely knowledgeable in the area of weight loss. He believes strongly in aftercare. The band without aftercare is pretty much worthless. His eating philosophy is "If it can run you can eat it + eggs and cheese." Basically all Protein no carbs. To help with the cravings for carbohydrates he prescribes phentermine. This is not a weight loss drug, it is simply to reduce the cravings for carbs so you can stick to a high protein diet.

I came away from my meeting with him feeling inspired and frustrated. I tried the all protein no carbs diet for a while, and I'm not completely convinced that it is a healthy option. But I will say that my fasting blood sugar dropped by about 60 in a 3 day period-so it can't be all bad. The phentermine definitely helps. He prescribed it for daily, but I have taken it only on days where I anticipate food cravings, or where they've already started.

The reason that I was frustrated is because he was not able to access my port because he did not have fluorscopy in his office. But my visit with him inspired me to read the Southbeach diet which is actually what my surgeon's office had recommended. Southbeach is high protein low carbs. It is a great read because it explains that we are addicted to carbs, and there is a reaction within our system that causes us to go back for more and more.

After all that, I ended up going back to my surgeon's office for a fill and I have lost more since that fill then any other fill I've had, partially because the fill gave me a little more restriction and partly because of the insight I gained (and the phentermine I got) from the other doctor.

Now after I originally read your post and none of the f/u posts what I really wanted to talk about was the emotional reasons for eating. At my highest weight I was 378 lbs... That is what I weighed when I started WW in 1997ish-a heck of a lot for my 5'5 frame. I was in the most horrible relationship (I'm not implying that you're in a bad relationship), and I felt as unhappy as I could possibly be. Over the course of the next year or two I got down to 294 lbs on WW... but what a struggle every day was to make the right choices. It was about that point that I just gave up and started gaining it all back. Around 1999 I decided I was going to try counseling because obviously diet alone was not working. I spent at least a year in counseling discussing things like being abandoned by my father when I was 4 years old. My mother emotionally leaving me when she met her 2nd husband when I was 11, having a step father who couldn't stand me and let me know on a daily basis by only talking to me if he had something negative to say. Food became my comfort at the age of 4, at 6 years my mothers last entry in my baby book says, "My child is eating constantly and I don't know what to do about it." Every chance I got to be alone in my house growing up, I was eating.... and that was often. Food was my companion. I can't say that my time in counseling completely cured me of overeating (obviously or I wouldn't have gotten a band this year), but I can say that I have never weighed as much as 378 lbs again, and my weight actually did stabalize for a period of years which had never happened before in my life. It was because my weight had stabalized and I wasn't on a constant upward motion that I decided it was time to get banded... I thought that was an indication that I was eating more simply because my stomach holds more then the average person before I feel full. I still think that is true. But I recently started counseling again to get at more of those core issues.

What I have figured out for myself is that being "morbidly obese" does not stem from 1 issue. Therefore, it does not have 1 solution. Success at weight loss has to come from several directions.

Obvioulsy heredity plays a role, but personally I think part of that is just learning poor eating habits from your parents and you don't know anything different, and making changes to something you've done your entire life is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT!

Part of it is an actual addiction to carbs.

Part of it is emotional eating.

Let me just say that as far as counseling goes... if you do decide to go that direction you have to find the right counselor. If you go to one and you don't feel comfortable with them then find someone else.

Keep getting fills and don't say the band is a failure until it is completely full with 10cc's and you weigh 511 lbs again!!

And remember what they say in those "Anonymous" programs when you're reading all these posts, "Take what you need and leave the rest behind."

And also... congratulations on your continued weight loss and best wishes on your journey!

Hi---

Thank you for that post. It is both inspiring and very informative. I have personally found much of what you said to apply to me too. I know that my success with my weight problem and food obsessions will come from many different sources.

I take from OA only what I feel I need and leave the rest, I seek weekly councel with a therapist I feel comfortable(after going through many others) with. We deal with "mindfulness" rather than past issues. I had a mother similar to yours in many ways and have always found companionship and salvation for every feeling or situation in food.

I have been on phentermine and still have a supply. Thing is, that I was told that it IS a diet pill(part of the Phen-Phen) which caused many problems years ago. I investigated it in depth and had not heard of its relationship to stopping cravings for carbs. I used it to try to get control for my pre-surgery diet but had bad reactions to 30mg.1x day. I went to 15mg 2x day and it worked better. I am hesitant to be on it now although I'd like to use it late in the daybecause that is when I have my problems. It does not keep me up. Did your Band Dr say it was Ok ? It was my GP who gave it to me in the first place. I am very interested in what you know about it.

I investigated so much--was banded by one of the most experienced surgeons. He also has the band so really understands it. He is agressive with fills and I am restricted. It is the "mind" hunger that still is there. I try not to graze but that is what I am used to and it is possible even with the band. In the morning I am restricted. By night, I can eat a lot if I allow myself. This is my issue. I have been trying "distraction" as a tool at night when the urges come. It is hard!! I am looking forward to next week when I start work and my kids go back to school. Summer has been very unscheduled and a routine helps so much!

I am very interested to know the name of the Dr who first placed the Lapband in the US. The one you went to for help.(if you would rather PM me, fine-thank you!)

I hope my fellow banders don't mind this long post and perhaps it has helped someone. I get so much out of reading and posting on this site! We are all in similar boats and sometimes we can share the same life jacket!

Best Wishes to everyone!!!