My name is Stacie. I am married with 3 kids. I was banded in 4/07 by dr Hollis in Houston, TX. I have not lost any weight. Well, I lost some and gained some over the past year. I started at 238 and now weigh 218. My band has been nothing but trouble. Once I get a fill it is fine for 2 weeks then it slowly resticts to the point I can't even get liquids down. I have to go back in and have some of the fill taken out. Then in another week or so I have no restriction. So of course I eat like a pig. I have this head hunger I can't get past. i am a cash pay so of course I have had no counseling and when I go in for my fills it's just a PA that does it and you never see the doctor again. Right now I have no restiction at all. I can eat anything. I am scared to go get another fill. I need help and support please from someone who has had a tough time but still managed to loose weight and it didn't fall off in one year like magic. Please help I am so depressed!!!!:thumbup:

Hi Stacie,

I have not been banded yet. Tomorrow! I have no real sage advice for you. Other than sometimes we have to take time out for ourselfs. If I had done that better I might not be in this situation. I am sure the kids keep you busy and that can be difficult.

The only time I could find me time (that I wasn't too tired) seemed to be early in the morning before my day started for everyone else's needs. Try to get up 1/2 hour or 1 hour earlier to exercise, meditate, meal plan for the week. I found that meal planning for me is the toughest but the best way for my budget and my sanity!!!

Good luck and keep in touch,

Vera

Stacie,

Sounds like you have a very fickle band, as my doc calls mine. A drop can make a huge difference to me. I'm at about 3.8cc's and I think I might need a tad more, but when I go to 4cc's I can't even swallow my saliva, Its horrible.

I started having this trouble in November when I got overfilled, and since that time, I have not lost weight, so I do understand your frustration.

One thing I realized is I kept waiting on the band to "work", but I wasnt doing my part. Once I started following the band rules, and quit testing the band, it started working. Weird, huh. I'm not saying that is what you are doing, I'm just simply telling what happened to me.

I know it must be hard being self paid, I was fortunate enough to have my insurance cover mine, and I've had to have 11 fills, so I don't think I would be where I am today if I hadn't had the insurance.

Here is my advice, First of all, you have to really sit down and have a long talk with yourself, your the only one that control what goes in your mouth. Try and start following the band rules - Proteins first, and see if that helps the real hunger. As far as the head hunger, I know its hard, but maybe instead of grabbing something that is bad, how about grabbing some fruit? Some grapes? Carrots? Trust me I do understand what you are going thru, I spent a year of eating and giving in to my head hunger, then I finally snapped out of it.

The 2nd thing I would do is don't give up on getting your fill right, it takes a lot of patience sometimes, but try and tweak your fill, maybe just a few tenths of cc might do the trick. Trust me, I know this is a hard part, I've been trying to get that perfect sweet spot for almost 19 months now.

Best wishes, and I will be here to help you whenever you need it.

Thank you so much for your advice. I was reading your journey and it was like reading my life story. It is nice to know that somone had as much trouble as me with the band. You are so right that I am not making the right decisions about what i eat when i have restriction. I always go for what is easiest to get down which is ususally high in calories. I am so afraid of PBing becasue then i know my band will restirct. My pcp put me on fluid pills too see if that will help with the band. It seems when my feet swell around the time for TOM as you called it then that is when i would wake up with the band closed shut to even spit. I will go back in for another fill next week and give this another try. You have motivated me not to give up. Thanks for the pep talk and advice. I will keep you posted.