revision surgery

Hi all. I am 2.5 years Lapband post op. I started at 275, lost 55 lbs and gained back 90, all within the same 12 months. (Made the mistake of petsitting in an ice cream junkies home for a month. That was a slippery slope right there.) Now I am considering gastric bypass revision. I have had bulimia in the past and am still having problems with binge eating. I have a therapist and all that, but am still desperate for a lasting change. I am kind of leary of sabotaging myself again. Does anyone out there have experience with either revision surgery or WLS with an eating disorder?

I have not had any of the above but I can tell you from the sounds of things you have more of an emotional issue. Have you considered counseling to get your tool to work? Cause you can still regain with RNY you still have to control your eating habits and you still have to restrain from sabotaging yourself. Just a suggestion

I tend to lean on the side of opinion that HotMamaWannaBe has...  you have some issues that really need to be addressed before even a revision would be a success for you.  Your surgery did not fail you.  In essence, you failed the surgery.  I'm suprised your psychological evaluation did not show an eating disorder tendency.  And, if it did, they should have done counseling with yo prior to surgery.

 Here's the thing.  Your tool still works.  But YOU are the one who has to do the work now.  get the carbs out of your system, get back to protein first, moderate carb vegs second, and cut out all the sweets and crap.  Up your protein.  Pretty much, you've got a lot of work to do, and its not going to be easy. 

Yeah I agree it is a psychological issue largely. I am working with a therapist on that, but I also have heard from lots of folks, in support groups, that the gatric bypass is a way different experience than the band. I know of lots of folks who are now regaining with theband. It is a tool but has only worked moderately for me. It is so tight in the morning I can only sip liquids, but by evening its opened and by then I feel like I'm starving and binge to make up for the day. Not very healthy. Anyway, this is why I want to hear from folks who have had a revision surgery. To see if it made a difference in how they approached food, if they still sought it out as a comfort, or if it became merely a tool to survive.

With the Gastric, you can't eat like you do with the band.  It will make you sick if you do.  I had the gastric 3 years ago and got down to 116 lbs at my 2 yr weigh-in last January.  I'm up to 140-150 lbs, none of my little size clothes fit me.  But mine is not bingeing, I just can't tolerate food right now.  My tummy is rebelling and my GI Dr. doesn't know why.  He is talking about putting in a feeding tube for a while to see if that helps me out.  I am hoping I will be able to get back to at least 120-125. 

Just remember with the band you can eat all your favorite foods just smaller portions, with the gastric you can't.  You will be completely changing your food intake but you will lose weight real fast. 

May God help you with this new journey.
Kathy

You must remember that there are pros and cons to both surgeries. Both can be "cheated".  Most of the time, people with the band cheat theirs by drinking milkshakes since they go down easy... or other high calorie drinks.  Solid food is very hard at times for them to digest...  so they turn towards liquids.  

With RNY, we have to be very cautious of how much sugar we take in at once.  But, we can snack and graze, and eat small amounts of sweets all day long but in small portions at a time...  

So there are ways to cheat or eat around both surgeries...  its a matter of wrapping one's head around the surgery they have chosen and make it work.  It's very important that you do the "headwork" of why you eat, when you eat, plan your eating... the battle is fought and won in one's mind...  the surgery is just a tool.  You must know how to use the tool to make it work for you....

Do you drink protein shakes?  Are you eating dense protein at meal times?  Do you take vitamins?  Are you healthy?  There might be some issues that you can take a closer look at...  perhaps chart your foods to see how many calories you take in each day...  that will really help you with food meal planning...

I agree you need to seek some sort of counseling first before you seek a revision.

On the topic of the band, what did you eat when when you were "wide" open in the evening?? Did you just eat ice cream or did you eat good healthy protein foods like tuna, salmon, meats, beans etc? Protein fills you up and keeps you full longer the ice cream, this is what is called a "slider food" because that is what it does slides right down and you don't get any value from it except calories.

How many fills did you have? After care with the band is essential especially in the first 2 years. If you gained back 90 lbs. you must not have had any restriction at all.

If you sabotaged yourself with the band you can do it with any type of WLS that you have. Good luck with your decision.

I do have a lot of restriction, unless I sip hot liquid all day long. Problem is by evening, when the band finally loosens, I am starving, sometimes I still can't eat solids well. I end up vomiting and then I go get ice cream or pudding, or yogurt, etc because it slides down easily and the high fat content is satisfying. Band surgeons call it maladaptive eating. I've learned to eat improperly (as though I needed help with that) as a way of workign with a band that's too tight. I should have the last fill removed but am afraid of losing control of my eating (which obviously has happened anyway). What can I say, my shrink will never be out of work with me around.