I failed the Lapband - ?sleeve?

I don't know if you're still reading this thread Alipanda but i thought i'd throw my two cents in. I've had a band for about three years and when i got it loved it...for about a year. It slowly began to change, probably in combination with myself. I always had trouble with getting restriction, even now with 8ml in my band (I think) i can eat too much of things. What i find most difficult about my band is its inconsistancy. One meal it might be fine, the next its too tight, the next its fine etc....plus, what i can and can't eat changes constantly...one day chicken is ok, the next can't get it down for love nor money...so i have crap slider food because i am hungry. This happens constantly. When i can eat something...say for example, a chicken schniztel, i can eat an entire schnitzel...no restriction. Three days later i might think 'i had schnitzel last time so it'll be fine' so i have it and i can't get a bite down. I get terrible sliming and have to throw up, sometimes there's not even food there, its all slime...a cup of it. God its gross.

I am also slowly gaining because i have no consistancy...some days i can have vegies, the next i can't. Actually vegies are a struggle a lot of time which is not good for weightloss. Green things seem to get stuck lots. I can't eat any kind of red meat or bread. I can eat chicken most times but it needs some sort of sauce with it. I can eat fish but only if its battered, if not it gets stuck something shocking. I know i eat worse now than i did without the band, even my boyfriend says he notices it. Sometimes i think its too tight and need fill out, but when i do this i have even less restriction. The thing i hate most though is the inconsistancy. If i knew i could never eat chicken, fine. I would know and plan. But i can somedays and can't others....no rhyme or reason it seems.

I used to say i love my band because i couldn't have lost 20kgs without it. But now i think, whats the point of a 20kilo loss if you can't keep it off? I know the band is not a miracle worker, but i did hope for a different experience to the one i'm having. I'm going to see mt doc in a week or so for a chat...some out? Some in? Who knows. Reading stuff about the sleeve reminds me of the promises i heard about the band....it sounds like the sleeve does the things i thought the band was supposed to. I don't know, maybe its me. I can understand your feelings of failure. I feel the same and thats why its taken me so long to go see my doc, i didn't want to be one of his failures.

debs

I think so Delia!
I am frozen all the time i sleep with my electric blanket on 2 and wear three layers of clothes.
The heater is always on and sits on 24 degrees
If i get really cold its like it is in my bones and i have to have a hot shower to warm up ...
I never felt like this with my warm body hugging layer of fat.
I was always super heated to the point i would go out side to cool of in mid winter !
But i am happy to put up with been cold any day than to go back to being unhealthy .... cheers Suzie

Suzie I have been so cold this winter also. I go to bed with two heat bags one for my feet and one for my back. I wonder if losing weight you feel the cold more?
Delia

Hi everyone
i was banded may 2010 and have lost 37 kilo's with 7 to go to goal weight.
This last year has been so tough for me an emotional roller coaster with family deaths and illness
i gained five kilo and felt miserable and uncomfortable i went and spoke to my doctor
he said winter is the hardest time for any one to lose weight as we crave high calorie food and it is natural for our bodies to put on weight for warmth !
He put in a small fill and gave me a script for meteromine a hunger suppressant which i take every third day and only for the three months of winter
It has been wonderful for me i am never hungry i have lost 3.5 kilo's in three weeks i could go all day and not want food and am happy to just eat a small portion
i can not wait for summer to come i am so cold all the time so i hibernate and only venture out for work i need to get back into my walking !
I believe we have to do what is best for us not every thing works for some but do for others you really need to try and see what would be best for you
i love my band and have not had an ounce of trouble ( touch wood ) we work well together most times and i hope we will for many more years to come ..
Hope you find what is right for you and that you have success with what ever you choose ..
cheers suzie .....

It's Still Not About the Food



By michelle_may_md on Aug 16, 2012 10:00 AM in Tips & Updates




By Michelle May, M.D.

Adjusting to a New Normal after Bariatric Surgery

While bariatric surgery may be controversial, even bariatric surgeons agree that bariatric surgery is a tool, not a quick fix. And like any other tool, it requires the skillful management by a knowledgeable user to work effectively.

Adjusting to a New Normal

Many people who decide to try bariatric surgery believe that they've tried everything else—counting every calorie, point, exchange, or carb and every minute on the treadmill—but most have never even heard of intuitive or mindful eating. Some believe or hope that having bariatric surgery will solve all of their problems, but nothing could be further from the truth. For example, if you’re an “emotional eater,” the situations and emotions that triggered eating in the past are unlikely to disappear simply because you’ve chosen to have bariatric surgery. As one patient said, “They didn’t operate on my brain!” Some discover that they “miss” their friend—food—leaving them with a feeling of loss. As one person told me, "I've cut out my coping skill!" Others believe that after surgery they won’t need to think about their eating anymore. In fact, it is just the opposite. You need to become very thoughtful about eating in order to use this tool optimally to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you’re not mindful about your eating, this “tool” can cause you to experience uncomfortable, even serious consequences—and you’ll be far less likely to get the results you hoped for.

An Essential Tool

Mindful eating is an essential tool for building a healthy lifestyle. Mindfulness is beneficial because it teaches us to focus our attention and awareness on what is happening right now, which in turn helps us disengage from habitual, unsatisfying, and unskillful habits and behaviors. Specifically, mindful eating skills help resolve the mindless habits and emotional eating issues that commonly lead to overeating and problems after bariatric surgery:
•Eating too quickly, taking large bites, and/or not chewing thoroughly
•Eating while distracted leading to overconsumption
•Not savoring food and therefore having difficulty feeling satisfied with small volumes of food
•Eating too much, leading to discomfort, vomiting, and/or distention of the pouch
•Grazing throughout the day and/or eating "slider" foods and high-calorie soft foods and liquids
•Emotional eating
•Not consuming enough protein and other nutrient-rich foods
•Feeling deprived or left-out in social situations
•Struggling to establish consistent physical activity
•Continuing to struggle with the eat-repent-repeat cycle

Bariatric Surgery and Mindful Eating

The life-changing concepts of intuitive and mindful eating can help prevent, identify, and resolve these and many other problems in people who are having difficulty adjusting to their “new normal” after bariatric surgery.

Most people who make the difficult decision to have bariatric surgery want to improve their health and energy so they can live the vibrant life they crave. Yet without the additional tool of mindful eating, bariatric surgery can feel like a permanent diet that continues to consume your life. One of the most meaningful changes that happens when you learn to eat mindfully (whether you've had surgery or not) is that it allows you to think about eating when you need to—and free up your energy and attention to focus on living in between.

If you have had (or are considering) bariatric surgery, download this list of key mindful eating concepts. After all, even after bariatric surgery, it still isn't really about the food!

Your thoughts...



Michelle May, M.D. is the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops and Facilitator Training Program that helps individuals learn to break free from mindless and emotional eating. Her newest book is the Am I Hungry? Mindful Eating program for Bariatric Surgery.

http://caloriecount.about.com/its-still-not-food-b583177?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_20120816&utm_term=continue1

Come on now, you haven't failed you've just hit a couple of rough patches on your journey.

Have you considered starting from as if you've just had the surgery and go through all the 4 stages and then start from there.

Whats your exercise program like because I think exercise and the band go hand in hand, I started with a 100meter walk and have powered onto 70klm walk but with little steps and wanting a healthier life it is possible.

Get yourself a dietician and do as they say, I say my success is all because of my caring dietician.

Oh and the title of your post is 'I failed the Lapband".... no you didnt sweetie...it failed you!

Hi Alipanda I am that person who was sleeved.

I had my band for 4 years and in the final 2 of it I had nothing but trouble and started with the regain. I faught getting the sleeve but eventually curcumbed.

I have to say its the bloody best thing I ever did. The op is much easier than the band and the post eating is like a normal person except you eat small amounts.

Like you I was eating too much of the wrong thing with the band, mostly because its all I could either stomach or get down. Now I eat salads and steak and fruit ... never with a stuck issue an never with pain or embarrassment of frothy at the mouth.

I understand that a sleeve is a huge decision but for me it was a good one. In all honesty it is everything the band was promised to be.

Talk to your surgeon and dont put up with misery with the band. He put the bloody thing in so make him earn his money. Make him tweek the band till you get it where you need it.

Alipanda
Very stange how Doctors are different. Your doctor is I feel sending you on a plan that is not substainable but this is just my thougths.

I feel you want something that will be for the rest of your life.

My Dr wants us to eat normal but smaller portions. An entree size meal. 3 meals a day with two snacks yoghurt or fruit. He would like us to lose .5 to as kg a week. Slow but steady.

Protein 1/2 the plate carbs 1/3 of the other half and the rest vegetables.

I am not doing that now.

I follow the Dukan plan and eat protein one day meat chicken ect and no fat or low fat dairy and the next Protein and vegetables.

I find with the protein I am not hungry and it suits me. Still smaller meals but about 5 or 6 times a day with yoghurt and oatbran filling in the 2 or 3 snacks (small meals)
You will find my daily menu in the Dukan part of the forum if you go back to the earlier posts.

Since I have been on the Dukan I have had 2 lots of fill out and lost 13k 6 months this year.

I was banded 31/2 years ago but had two slips and four operations so it has not been easy for me. I don’t make adhesions and as my band was not sewn in it slipped. Sewn in now and is ok. I lost 24k in the first 18 months then put on 7 when I lost heart with all the trouble. I have now lost 29.5 all up with 6k to go to my goal weight.
So don't lose heart you can do it.

Delia

I was banded in Dec 2006. I lost 26 kgs the first year and then another 6 in the next year. I stayed the same for a couple of years but have been gradually regaining. I now have lost 17 kgs since banding. Sitting on 91 now.

Absolutely Linda! When I think of all the money I have spent on fills and unfills I'm sure I could have hired a dietician for a year!
What's your story Linda?

Bloody doctors. Who wants to live like that. You would lose weight without a band doing that. You should be able to eat everything but in small amounts. I am getting some fill out tomorrow. It appears that tight bands are causing a lot of damage to people.

Hi everyone, thanks for the support!
I think that a sleeve is a bit too drastic for me at the moment, but I definitely need to get my eating habits up to scratch.
Way too much junk, sweets and carbs.
We have just purchased a thermomix so I'm hoping that will assist in making better food choices.
I am going back to get a bit of fill out, just toooo tight to live with!
By the way, Delia, thanks for the advice, I wanted to ask you about your eating habits. My dr advocates no breakfast, tin of Tuna for lunch and fish and veg for dinner. I suppose this has never sat well with me, (no fruit, little veg etc). What's your eating plan like?

Hi Alipanda and welcome to the site
This is just a thougth with your band. Did you know just .1 of a mil can make the difference in restriction and being to tight.
Also when you think you can eat anything and the band is to lose it may be that you are not eating the right things.
Protein protein protein (this is harder to get down) but with the loser band is ok.
It is trial and error and as you were banded 4 years ago maybe you have forgotten some of the rules.
It may pay to read your banding book again and talk to a doctor and their team and start again as if you just had the band.
We can give you all the support here so keep coming back.
Delia

Hiya Alipanda,

Just want to welcome you. WELCOME !!

Reckon you are in the right place.

I'm toying with the idea of the sleeve too. (Not loving my band at the moment - but not loving myself either.)

Talk more another day.

Cheers
Tara

Hi Alipanda,

Apart from the 2 kids, that's pretty close to my story . . . . . sort of. Banded in June 08, ultimately with a heap of exercise and very strict diet I lost close to 100kgs, and embarrassed as I am to admit this, I think it has all been regained. Short story - never had proper restriction, either too tight or too loose, wasn't able to purge anything that got stuck (except with extreme effort from me). Last March I gave up exercise (thought it was just going to be temporary while my thyroid got back on track), started eating a bit more, and . . . . . . well the thyroid kept getting worse (unbeknown to me), so with a non-working thyroid, more food, no exercise, guess what happened?

So at this point I am probably back where I started, I don't have a scales able to weigh me and neither does the GP. I have thought about the sleeve, but I am afraid to fail that as well.

I never got from the band what I had hoped for - a physical restriction on amount consumed.

I understand how you feel. The band has not lived up to expectations (or promises) for many people. I think it's a money-making venture for most surgeons, none of whom I believe actually have one themselves. If they did, I'm sure the advice would be a little different.

I have thought about having the sleeve too. It seems a lot more conducive to living a normal life. The stuck episodes with the band are ridiculous.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Hi Alipanda

There are a few of us here who feel like you do. There is one who has gone for the sleeve and is very happy with it. I am sure she will come on and introduce herself.

Hi I am new to this site!
Was banded in October 08, I lost 6-8 kgs immediately post-op.
Since then I've had two children. After my second child I started having fills done again.
I feel like this surgery has been a complete waste of time and money for me. I am heavier than pre surgery.
I had 3ml in, totally unrestricted. Had 1ml in, now too tight! This is the story of my life! I have never been able to tolerate anything more than about 3.5 in my band. I have yoyoed between too tight (where I eat junky slider food) and too loose (where I eat too much!)
I know that my eating habits has gotten worse since the band, (a lot more junk, not enough good stuff)
Has anyone had this experience? I feel like a failure, I am Embarresed it hasn't worked for me and feel liking having it out. I have also considered the sleeve, just to not be throwing up all the time! Please help me with some advice! Thanks!