Slow Losers - Unite!

Mtorres · June 28, 2006

I got my band on 02/02/06. My 1st fill was on 05/17/06. I had to wait to get my 1st fill because of another sugery on 04/18/06 (not lapband related). I have only lost 30 pounds thus far! I feel like a failure. I'm due for another fill 07/12/06! I can't wait!! I feel as though I should have lost more already.

wild_in97 · June 28, 2006

I am cruising these message boards trying to figure out for sure if I am going to put out all this money. This group makes me wonder if it will be worth it at all. I am the kind that gains weight when I go on fasts, so the idea of doing this really scares me. Last August I went on a juice fast. I drank two glasses of vegetable juice like V8 or Tomato juice and two glasses of fruit juice a day. I did this for 9 days. Then, for the next week or two I would drink 3-4 juices a day and eat a garden salad and have a cup of tomato basil Soup with low fat milk in it. That was all.........I gained 10 pounds with this!!!!!!! I know if I could have fasted for 30-40 days, I could have changed my metabolism and would have begun to lose the weight............but the above was all I could do.

Now, I have a personal question, for those of you that have lost lots of weight, do you have a lot of sagging skin, wrinkles etc.....when you lose???

This concerns me very much. I need to lose 80-95 pounds depending on which chart you are looking at. I weigh right at 232 and want to weigh between 135-150. I know I look and feel good there. But if I am more embarrassed about lose skin at 135 than my fat at 232, should I do the lap band.

Also, how many people never have any problems with them whatsoever? How many say that they never have to go back for any kind of removal or procedure to correct slippage????

OK, I have worn you guys out. Can you answer my questions???? Pleeeaasseee!!!!!!

Wild!!!!!

Marimaru · June 28, 2006

Kim, thanks for the encouragement!!!

Wild, I've never had any issues other than being slightly overfilled, which is easily fixed with an unfill. No flipped port, no slippage (yet, crossed fingers), or erosion that I am aware of.

If you gained weight on a fast, I would highly recommend that you have some things tested before you have surgery. Vinequeen, who I'm sure you've read about, was banded, did not lose much of anything, started gaining back, etc, and found out she has a brain tumor that is probably contributing, and it's likely she may not have needed the band to lose the weight if this was found (possibly). That aside...

I've lost 65 lbs in 2 years. Yes, I wish it was more, I wish I was at goal by now, or struggling with the last 20 lbs or so. I do not, even a little bit, regret getting my band. I was 280 when I started, and I have no doubt in my mind that I would have blown past 300 already had I not been banded. Even when I'm not losing weight, I am happy I have my band, because I am not gaining weight.

I don't know if 65 lbs is "lots" of weight, but I think my skin is doing pretty well. When I was at 55 lbs lost I got stuck for 8 months-ish, and my skin tightened up pretty well on it's own. I'm thinking that after I get to goal, if I can be patient, I might only want minimal surgery to fix a few things. My breasts are never going to tighten up, so I'm already planning on having them lifted, but I think my tummy will be ok, and my arms and thighs could be ok. I'm 24, so I don't have any facial wrinkles really, but losing weight has definately helped me look more my age (instead of, you know, 15).

Hope this helps.

Angeleyes · June 29, 2006

Thanks Jack, I am trying to learn to take smaller bites of that s..... sandwich. I also try not to focus so much on weight loss. I am trying to work on walking and going to Curves, my weight loss isn't that good but I have lost a pant size. Also if we are not filled tight enough this band thing is not going to work right! I am at a 2.8 and I need to get a fill again.

wild_in97 · June 29, 2006

It seems that most of us overweight seems to have some real serious underlying issues as to why we are over weight. I have underlying issues as to why I am overweight and as to why I want to lose the weight. To read some of your posts, I admire the honesty you share your lives to us. It seems that I have always hid my feelings to spare others feelings. I have hid my feelings to not let others know they have hurt me, scared they will only find that they can hurt me more and more. My husband is the only person in the world I share all my feelings with.........but even with him, I have never told him my weight. It is something I can not hide from anyone, but it is not something I want to admit my exact weight to anyone. I weigh 232 and am embarrassed and totally ashamed of it. I have two sisters that are thin and beautiful, and they have hurt me so much that it is hard for me to ever get around them at all. I think I have decided to go to Mexico to get this band. But I am so scared that I will be one of those that will lose a little, and stop. I do not want to waste my husbands good money to do something so selfish as to get this surgery and it not work. For all of you that have gone to Mexico for your banding, can you send me some good report as well as those that may not be so good. I want to hear it all. Please let me know all of it.

Wild..........If you knew me, the name Wild does not describe me. I am very quiet and very self reserved. I am almost an introvert.

Marimaru · June 29, 2006

...I have hid my feelings to not let others know they have hurt me, scared they will only find that they can hurt me more and more...

That quote describes me very well also. I'm actually in counceling for this. BUT at the same time, no one knows what to do with me when I DO stand up for myself. I got in a HUGE fight with my mom because she snapped at me one day and I snapped back!

I went to Mexico for my surgery 2 years ago. I've lost 65 lbs, which is good, but I would be happier if it was more. But at the same time, anytime I am not losing, I am also not gaining, which is insanely helpful. Like you said, many of us are overweight for a reason, and I am hoping that with this counceling I can quit sabotaging myself and get to goal.

wild_in97 · June 30, 2006

I was talking to someone the other day about when I got in the habit of eating a lot. I have never been one to love to eat Breakfast. So, growing up, I would not eat much of anything, if anything at all before school. It made me feel like I was going to throw up the first couple of hours. Then, our school lunches when I was growing up was horrible. I would eat the roll and throw most of the rest of it away. School was always hard for me. I had a hard time concentrating, I could not read well, especially out loud, and I was always afraid the teachers were going to compare me with my sisters. So, when I got home in the afternoon, I hit the house hungry and relieved from all of that pressure and anxiety. I would eat a huge amount of food. Mother was always running her own business, and she would tell me to get whatever I wanted. I would always eat at least one sandwich, coke, cupcakes and maybe a few kitchen sinks. Days that I had felt humiliated for one reason or the other, it was always worse. So now, when is my hungry time of the day. It hits around 3-4:30. And it is almost like a release of intense anxiety. I can feel it when I come home. And yes, Jack, it is comforting to be home and to eat at home away from the rest of the world. And you are right, because of my weight now, I still deal with the humiliation of others and feeling much worse about myself.

Anyhow, just thought I would share how I got in the BAD habits that led me to this message board. Thanks.

Wild.

vinesqueen · July 4, 2006

Hello my sweet Tribe!

Well, I'm on another cortisol high, so I gained back the 15 pounds I lost in two weeks. Yay me!

Again, if you are doing everything you can, working your band and your food and your body, and you are still not losing, then it is time to demand answers. Demand, demand, demand.

Do not give up. It might be that you have changed your body composition, and you have less to lose. I know that people have said that the closer you are to your actual goal, the slower you lose. And by actual, I mean, what is best for you based on your actual body fat composition, not some arbitrary number on a chart.

I think it is so important that if and when we work as hard as possible, and we are still not seeing results, then it is time to demand answers. If one doctor says it's nothing, find someone else. I know that if I had given up after the first doctor I would be still beating myself up, I would still be making myself crazy wondering why I couldn't lose weight no matter how hard I work, no matter how restricted I was, no matter what crazy food combination I tried.

Oh, and please don't try to force it, I know someone said that they were going to ask their doc to synch the band as tight as it could go so they would lose weight. ** Bad idea!** Being too tight is miserable with a capital miserable. It's also thought that being too tight can contribute to band slippage or eroding the band *yikes*

Banded Brenda · July 5, 2006

Hi Everyone,

I am going next week for my third fill. I am going in without any weight loss for the third straight month. I am actually learning how to deal with that disappointment. But I do worry, is it possible that my pouch has been stretched in these 4 months of getting it right? If anyone can really shed any light on that fear, then I can get through the rest. I am greatly increasing the exercise piece and I honestly feel better than I have in years and that's the main reason this 54 yr old woman had the lap band in the first place.

dasongbirdt · July 6, 2006

Not only am I a slow loser....I am THE slow loser! I can only claim to have lost roughly around 15-20 lbs since being banded in May of 2004. I've been too loose and I've been too tight. I've never really found my "sweet spot". I recently had to have all of my saline taken out because my pills were not dissolving and formed a "barrier" and NOTHING was getting through, Water, tea, NOTHING! I have an appointment to get another fill on the 13th of July and hopefully I'll see results then but, it's very very frustrating. I don't exercise like I should but I am starting back so hopefully that will help.

Suavacita · July 6, 2006

How do I join this group. I was banded in March of 2006 and have only lost 12 pounds. I had a fill 6 weeks ago and have lost nothing since. The doctor who did my fill is the not the same doctor who did the surgery so he was unsure what size band I had. Should I get another fill from the original doctor?

Marimaru · July 6, 2006

Suavacita; it's a little early to really be able to tell whether or not you are going to be a slow loser, as you don't have a good fill level yet, so you don't know if those pounds will just fall off when you do!

Definately go back for another fill, and make sure that whoever fills you (be it your surgeon or otherwise) ALWAYS knows what size band you have. It should be in your chart. If they think you have the bigger band and give you a bigger fill, but you really have the small one that could cause BIG problems (too tight!). If you have the big band, and they think you have the small one and give you a small fill, it's going to be almost pointless.

vinesqueen · July 6, 2006

Dasongbird, it's time to go to a different doctor. If you are not losing weight with your band, it's time to start demanding answers from different doctors.

Your surgeon has basically one tool in his or her tool box: surgery. Surgery doesn't work for everyone, because not everyone needs surgery. If you are not losing with your band, then you need to see someone who specializes in metabolics. It might mean that you need to see an Endocrinologist, but do not stop demanding answers.

Push! Fight for your health!

Xena · July 6, 2006

Hi Stacey!

You mentioned that you have not been back for a fill because Dr. Spiegel is charging $100.00 for it. Supposedly, he is back with UHC so if that is who you have, you should only have to pay $20.00 for the fill. I've got to go back for another fill and I consider myself a "slow" loser too. I was banded 5/11/6 and have lost 20 lbs but I keep going up and down a pound. I haven't lost anything in the last 2 weeks. :cry

Well, Good Luck to us all!!!!

sea · July 7, 2006

I found out the hard way that doing the exercise is the crucial element to weight loss. A very slow band loser. But things got better when I got serious about walking and swimming. Try it!