Does your hunger really go away with the lap band???

hi, i am having surgery in a month, and I am starting to get worried. everything else has failed for me. how come this won't? why will i stop eating now? I overeat all the time, how is this different,how does it feel? no body ever says how they feel. I know I am just really worried, but I don't think I could handle another failure. I am having the lap band done on marh 12. please anyone just tell me how this feels different. Thank you so much!!

Hi Pamela, Some of the best advice I ever got about doing this wls I got from the Over Fifty Board. Even if you aren't over fifty, which I am, the basics are the same. I do know what you are feeling, believe me. I've been fat since I was born, been on just about every diet invented plus a couple I made up myself. I had my surgery Dec. 1, '04, I'm down 63 pounds and 26 inches, and I figure I'm a slow loser. How does it feel? Well, I never had a "what have I done to myself" moment. I can walk without severe back pain and shortness of breath. I am off of 3 blood pressure medications already. My insulin use has dropped tremendously. I feel so different. I don't feel gorgeous, I still look in the mirror and see what I was even when I'm told how much better I look. I don't know if you wanted to know how the Lap will 'feel' afterwards, can't help there since I had open. I don't think you will be a failure, either. IF you are a little like me, and many others, you won't feel hunger the same way. I'm getting used to this new thing. I've only had a touch of the head hunger a couple times and it was no problem not to eat. I personally don't eat as much as I'm supposed to and I know it isn't a good thing, but that's something you have to find out for yourself. You shouldn't be able to overeat, at least in the begining. Part of the idea is that the pouch lets you know in no uncertain terms DON'T EAT ANYMORE OR ELSE I WILL REVOLT. It happened a couple times for me, eating too fast mostly. Barf. No fun, and it reminds you about the overeating, too. Give it a chance. Hopefully you learn how to eat correctly before learning how to overeat again. (I was a BIG overeater.) You still will have to make the correct choices. I have to learn to do that, too. And it feels very weird sitting down to the table and there's hardly any food on your plate and everybody else is chowing it down. I didn't know if I could make it thru that, but I did. I was surprised at how small an amount was more than enough. And I was surprised that those heaping plates kinda made me sick. (My husband is starting to consider a different eating plan, now, too. He has been very surprised by my managing to survive on such a small amount of food.) Hang in there. Read some of the posts on the OFF board from the last week or so. I think you'll get some answers. Good luck. Best, Janice

Janice, thank you sooooo much for responding. I am scared of failing. I am not afraid of the surgery, just being a failure. You have really helped me relax a little. 25 days to go!! thanks!!

I had the RNY surgery rather than the lap band, so I can't speak directly to what your experiences will be. Have you been following the Lap Band forum? I've not gone there, but you might get some good insight from the posters there. I'm 12 weeks out and have not had any return of a true hunger pang. Early on I had to remind myself that it had been several hours since I ate anything. I still watch the clock and insert food at specified intervals. I do, however, have head hunger. I smell something really great outside a restaurant and the little voice in my head still says "go get some of that". Temptation doesn't go away with the surgery. You still have to make the decision not to eat the foods that aren't good for you (or not to eat them to excess). I probably COULD eat a whole box of Girl Scout cookies from the ones that I ordered. I WOULD eat them if I opened them up at home and I'm sure I wouldn't dump. I take all the ones that I ordered to work and share them with my coworkers. Then I can have 1 cookie to nibble on. Fortunately I don't have to feed anybody else at home, so the house has nothing hanging around that I shouldn't be eating. With a small pouch there is a big reinforcement for eating too much. I had problems with the "clean plate club" immediately after surgery. I'd measure out my portions and eat until I felt full, but if there was a bite or two left I'd try to jam it down. Then I'd start burping and burping and eventually the excess came right back up. You'll probably have an episode or two like this, most people do. It is normal to test your limits. I've pretty much learned now to go beyond what my tummy can hold. If you take it slow and follow what your surgeon and/or dietitian recomment, you'll do fine. If you follow posts on the main message board, you'll see people losing lots of weight in the first few months. I wish that was me, but it wasn't. I'm a slow loser, and have been frustrated by several plateaus. Out of the 12 weeks since my surgery, my scale has been immobile for 3 periods covering 7 weeks. During some of those times, I was shrinking. Take your measurements before surgery. I didn't take mine until I was in the middle of my second plateau. I could tell clothes were fitting differently. I've lost 33 lbs in 12 weeks (28% of the way to my goal), and have shrunk from size 26 to size 22. Good luck on the 12th-- Sue O.

What is the lapband forum?? I don't know about this. Thank you very much for your response, they all help so much! pamela

If you click on "main entrance" on this site (at the top of the screen under the tab for WLS Home), in the upper left-hand corner of the screen there will be a column header "MEMBER FORUMS". If you click on the down arrow where it says "select a forum" a drop-down menu should open up. The first items on the drop-down list are the forums devoted exclusively to the specific surgery types--Lap Band is the 3rd one down. Or, you can click on the WLS Home tab, and the "surgery types" are listed in the column on the left-hand side of the screen. This will get you there, too. Sue O.