Back On Track Together
Support and Help
I am new here and looking for support. I had my lap band 2 yr ago this June and did not do well. But I realize now that I have not been using it wisely. I need some education and some tools. I also have issues I need to ask questions about. I am sure that there are other who have gone through what I am going through. I have so many questions that come up and I am not close to a support group meeting to attend. I have never felt any restricttion till the last 3 weeks, I had an adjustment my 10th and now i am having some problems. I can still eat fine, most anything. But I reflux bad at nite, i am sleeping sitting up. Is this normal???
Hi, Parton, and welcome!
I don't have any experience with the lapband myself, but please keep posting and asking questions until you find the answers that you need. You will find great support here. I hope that you can get some relief from your reflux soon. Does your doctor know how badly it is bothering you? Maybe he or she can prescribe something to give you some relief at night.
I don't have any experience with the lapband myself, but please keep posting and asking questions until you find the answers that you need. You will find great support here. I hope that you can get some relief from your reflux soon. Does your doctor know how badly it is bothering you? Maybe he or she can prescribe something to give you some relief at night.
Loving me...every day...for the rest of my life! 
Hi Parton - I had my lap band 3 + years ago and would do it again in 1/2 a heartbeat if I needed to. If you feel comfortable ask me the questions you have and I'd love to share what I know with you. (If you don't ask me questions, I will just run on and on and on and on LOL) I love talking to people about my experiences and if I can help someone, it makes my day so, please, ask away! 
I lost 103 pounds in a year and have put back on some of that and, thankfully, am in the process of relosing it.
I am convinced I could never have gotten back on/stayed back on without the help of this group. They are undoubtedly the most caring, understanding, supportive and accepting group of folks I've ever come across. I call them angels in disguise as humans
WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER - YES WE CAN!!!!!!
I lost 103 pounds in a year and have put back on some of that and, thankfully, am in the process of relosing it.
I am convinced I could never have gotten back on/stayed back on without the help of this group. They are undoubtedly the most caring, understanding, supportive and accepting group of folks I've ever come across. I call them angels in disguise as humans
WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER - YES WE CAN!!!!!!
I wonder if my situation is normal or if I am unusual. I had my surgury 2 year ago this coming June. I lost 40# soon, but lots any restriction. I can pretty much eat anything I want Or I could till 2 weeks ago. I guess I thought that with the band I would be unable to eat poorly as I hae for 30 year. I had a adjustment recently and finally have a little restriction. But I have to really watch myself as I am what I have heard called a "compulsive eater" I am never really hungery I just eat, and I eat anything. It does not have to be sweet or carbs, candy or cake, I just thik I need to eat. I finally realized this after the lap band surgury but now i have to learn how to control it. I had tried to find web support since I live in a roual area and group support is not available at a time i can attend. My Doc recently told me that I need to find a support system, because my band alone is not going to do it. I am 53 now and problems began when I was 25, I had to have a hysterectomy , had cervical cancer and was found to have a hypothyroid issue. Then I gave up smoking, 3 pk aday. I think that is where my compulsive eating began. I changed one bad habit for another.
Since I lost the first 40 # I have gained the same 10# and lost it 3 times this year. I began at 312 dropped to 272 and now at 280. When i eat what ever i want my band is loose but if I go without eating and get really hungery it gets really, really tight. The problem is that if it is tight I reflux when I lay down at night. I have to take anti acids and Carafate to keep from bruning the lining of my throat. I read that if I reflux that it means I am too tight, but i am not too tight because if I wan to , I can eat anything as as much as I want to. WHAT GIVES????Am I just an odd ball who the band is not going to work for??? Thank u for any insight or advice, I really need the support. I have Arther real bad and getting around is hard, I have to get the weight off some how.
Since I lost the first 40 # I have gained the same 10# and lost it 3 times this year. I began at 312 dropped to 272 and now at 280. When i eat what ever i want my band is loose but if I go without eating and get really hungery it gets really, really tight. The problem is that if it is tight I reflux when I lay down at night. I have to take anti acids and Carafate to keep from bruning the lining of my throat. I read that if I reflux that it means I am too tight, but i am not too tight because if I wan to , I can eat anything as as much as I want to. WHAT GIVES????Am I just an odd ball who the band is not going to work for??? Thank u for any insight or advice, I really need the support. I have Arther real bad and getting around is hard, I have to get the weight off some how.
OK - here we go. You are "head" hungry - not "tumjy" hungry. We know little or nothing about tummy hungry - we've worked very hard to never be tummy hungry. Head hungry means your hunger is between your ears. It's all in our thinking. Join the Back On Track Together group if you have not already done so. They are undoubtedly the most caring, understanding, supportive and accepting people I've every found. Once you've joined go the Cathy's Cardio and Cafe threads. I've posted on theRE a lot about head hungry the last few days. Won't repeat it here as my posts have been long there and they address many of your questions.
We've all been where you are and have done what you've done. Write down your food and exercise plan each day and write down food eaten and calories. If you estimate, you will estimate a whole lot less than you are actually eating. Once you have eaten that, EAT NOTHING ELSE THAT DAY. I've never known anyone to die overnight because the did not give in to their complusive eating the day before LOL Do not base your eating on feeling hungry - either head or tummy hungry. Tummy hungry has absolutely nothing to do with our eating. How many times have we been so stuffed and miserable we can hardly breathe but we kept right on eating? More times than I can count for me. If we were comfortable eating appropriately we would never have needed bariatric surgery in the first place - nor would we be needubg to relose pounds now. So give up basing your eating on feeling hungry. Know how many calories you can consume and still lose, plan your food for the day within that limit while being absolutely certain you eat a minimum of 60 grams of protein before anything else, drink your 1/2 gallon of water (Crystal Lite can count as water - but not tea, coffee, sodas, juice, milk etc) each day. Take your vitamins, calcium, B12, and any medications you need without fail every day. EXERCISE. Whether before or after surgery there are only 3 ways to lose weight ****at fewer calories !2) burn more calories with exercise and (3) a combination of the first two - and it is that combination we must do for the rest of our life if we are to lose and maintain our loss. This isn't a diet it is a lifestyle change. When we diet, we lose the weight, then go right back to eating - gaining all that we lost + more. If we are to be successful now we must face the truth that maintenance (or call it lifestye change) is forever. My head knew that going in to surgery, but like so many others, at about two years post-surgery I hadn't quite accepted that emotionally so I gained some weight. I am now in the process of successfully relosing it. Any one who thinks WLS is the easy way out has never lived it. It may be the hardest thing we ever do.
Don't beat and belittle yourself because you have regained. Be kind, but very firm, with yourself about what you eat. Your band is obviously not too tight. You are just overriding it's benefits when you stuff yourself. Don't give yourself a pity party and serve refreshments! Pay attention to your body (not your head telling you are hungry.) If your band is tight when you are compliant it is equally tight when you're not. Your acid reflux and pain is from the way you are eating - too fast - too big of bites - not enough chewing - way too much food. Follow the eat slowly, take small bites, chew well before swallowing and follow the food guidelines and you won't have to deal with acid reflux.
After each fill (and if you are not controlling your eating) go back to through the four stages of refeeding you went through after surgery (1) clear liquids (2) full liquids (3) pureed food (4) soft food then on to regular food. Stay at least two days on each level and if you are out of control stay on each level at least a week. YOU DO NOT GET TO VOTE: YOU EAT WHAT YOU SHOULD AND NO MORE EACH DAY - regardless of how you feel. I can guarantee you will not perish - may be extremely uncomfortable emotionally, but you won't die. Just as we expect our children to mind us (without voting or whether they want to or not) when it's for their own good, we need to knock off our double standard and expect/demand the same from ourselves. Take it 5 minutes at a time. We can go without binging for 5 minutes. When that compliant 5 minutes has past, commit to another compliant 5 minutes. Celebrate in a non-food way each 5 minutes. Remember it is not about our stomach, our band, our bowels, or anything physical - our hunger is ALL about our thinking. feelings are like a math problem What we are thinking + what we are doing = what we are feeling. The only way we change what we are feeling is to first change what we are thinking and what we are doing.
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!! I believe in your, please join me in believing in yourself. Please go to the BOTT web site and read my recent posts - and those of others. Read the BOTT guidelines. Then send me a message and let me know what you think and any questions you may have. I will delight in giving you all the support I can. It is first up to you to be willing to accept support and do whatever it takes to get back on track, to not beat yourself for being human - we are not failures, we are simply human. We all need support! I'm far from the only person offering you support there.
Hopefully something I've said here or some of my other posts will be helpful for you - I hope so (I love being able to help people). If you're comfortable, please keep me up-to-date on your progress.
WE CAN DO, AND ARE DOING, THIS TOGETHER
p.s. Just checked and you have already joined the BOTT group. Great!!!!Read the posts - seems I always learn something when I read everyone's posts - even when I think they don't apply to me. Remember, we lapbanders aren't some separate breed. We all share the same problems whatever our procedure was. You and I happen to have the lab band, but we all have to follow the guidelines every day, be sure we get our protein and water, and have times when we aren't compliant. Cathy teaches us that the day we are not compliant is not the important day - it is what we do the next day. No procedure is magic - it is only a tool. Just as no nail would be driven regardless of how many hammers we had in our tool box, unless we picked one up and uesed it. So it is with our tool of bariatric surgery. What triggered us to want to eat before surgery will continue to trigger us to want to eat after surgery. Surgery is simply a tool to help us deal with not eating while we examine and resolve the issues that make us want to eat. (It's all between the ears) There is no procedure that cannot be overridden and all the weight regained. so, use you tool, be firm and kind with yourself, celebrate your compliant 5 minute times, and keep reaching out to us for support. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!
We've all been where you are and have done what you've done. Write down your food and exercise plan each day and write down food eaten and calories. If you estimate, you will estimate a whole lot less than you are actually eating. Once you have eaten that, EAT NOTHING ELSE THAT DAY. I've never known anyone to die overnight because the did not give in to their complusive eating the day before LOL Do not base your eating on feeling hungry - either head or tummy hungry. Tummy hungry has absolutely nothing to do with our eating. How many times have we been so stuffed and miserable we can hardly breathe but we kept right on eating? More times than I can count for me. If we were comfortable eating appropriately we would never have needed bariatric surgery in the first place - nor would we be needubg to relose pounds now. So give up basing your eating on feeling hungry. Know how many calories you can consume and still lose, plan your food for the day within that limit while being absolutely certain you eat a minimum of 60 grams of protein before anything else, drink your 1/2 gallon of water (Crystal Lite can count as water - but not tea, coffee, sodas, juice, milk etc) each day. Take your vitamins, calcium, B12, and any medications you need without fail every day. EXERCISE. Whether before or after surgery there are only 3 ways to lose weight ****at fewer calories !2) burn more calories with exercise and (3) a combination of the first two - and it is that combination we must do for the rest of our life if we are to lose and maintain our loss. This isn't a diet it is a lifestyle change. When we diet, we lose the weight, then go right back to eating - gaining all that we lost + more. If we are to be successful now we must face the truth that maintenance (or call it lifestye change) is forever. My head knew that going in to surgery, but like so many others, at about two years post-surgery I hadn't quite accepted that emotionally so I gained some weight. I am now in the process of successfully relosing it. Any one who thinks WLS is the easy way out has never lived it. It may be the hardest thing we ever do.
Don't beat and belittle yourself because you have regained. Be kind, but very firm, with yourself about what you eat. Your band is obviously not too tight. You are just overriding it's benefits when you stuff yourself. Don't give yourself a pity party and serve refreshments! Pay attention to your body (not your head telling you are hungry.) If your band is tight when you are compliant it is equally tight when you're not. Your acid reflux and pain is from the way you are eating - too fast - too big of bites - not enough chewing - way too much food. Follow the eat slowly, take small bites, chew well before swallowing and follow the food guidelines and you won't have to deal with acid reflux.
After each fill (and if you are not controlling your eating) go back to through the four stages of refeeding you went through after surgery (1) clear liquids (2) full liquids (3) pureed food (4) soft food then on to regular food. Stay at least two days on each level and if you are out of control stay on each level at least a week. YOU DO NOT GET TO VOTE: YOU EAT WHAT YOU SHOULD AND NO MORE EACH DAY - regardless of how you feel. I can guarantee you will not perish - may be extremely uncomfortable emotionally, but you won't die. Just as we expect our children to mind us (without voting or whether they want to or not) when it's for their own good, we need to knock off our double standard and expect/demand the same from ourselves. Take it 5 minutes at a time. We can go without binging for 5 minutes. When that compliant 5 minutes has past, commit to another compliant 5 minutes. Celebrate in a non-food way each 5 minutes. Remember it is not about our stomach, our band, our bowels, or anything physical - our hunger is ALL about our thinking. feelings are like a math problem What we are thinking + what we are doing = what we are feeling. The only way we change what we are feeling is to first change what we are thinking and what we are doing.
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!! I believe in your, please join me in believing in yourself. Please go to the BOTT web site and read my recent posts - and those of others. Read the BOTT guidelines. Then send me a message and let me know what you think and any questions you may have. I will delight in giving you all the support I can. It is first up to you to be willing to accept support and do whatever it takes to get back on track, to not beat yourself for being human - we are not failures, we are simply human. We all need support! I'm far from the only person offering you support there.
Hopefully something I've said here or some of my other posts will be helpful for you - I hope so (I love being able to help people). If you're comfortable, please keep me up-to-date on your progress.
WE CAN DO, AND ARE DOING, THIS TOGETHER
p.s. Just checked and you have already joined the BOTT group. Great!!!!Read the posts - seems I always learn something when I read everyone's posts - even when I think they don't apply to me. Remember, we lapbanders aren't some separate breed. We all share the same problems whatever our procedure was. You and I happen to have the lab band, but we all have to follow the guidelines every day, be sure we get our protein and water, and have times when we aren't compliant. Cathy teaches us that the day we are not compliant is not the important day - it is what we do the next day. No procedure is magic - it is only a tool. Just as no nail would be driven regardless of how many hammers we had in our tool box, unless we picked one up and uesed it. So it is with our tool of bariatric surgery. What triggered us to want to eat before surgery will continue to trigger us to want to eat after surgery. Surgery is simply a tool to help us deal with not eating while we examine and resolve the issues that make us want to eat. (It's all between the ears) There is no procedure that cannot be overridden and all the weight regained. so, use you tool, be firm and kind with yourself, celebrate your compliant 5 minute times, and keep reaching out to us for support. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!
Thank you so very much, I got a mesaage from soneone else telling that u had written me. i really had to learn how to use the site to find it. I really needed to hear everything u had to say. I am not writing much today as I am recovering from an illness and still weak but I will be in touch as I get back on my feet. I have a very sensitive respertory system and several women at my office were using scented candles Monday and it closed off my air way. I am sure that with all the steroids I will really be getting the hungerys iin a few day. And gain the usually 10#. I will get back with you and once again that you.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I am feeling soooo much better. Got to go back to work yesterday. Doc wants me to get a nebulizer to keep at home so I can get a treatment as soon as the condition starts. U are so right I am an addict to air and when I cant get it the withdrawal it awful. Thank u for alll the advice, it helps to know someone with answers. I am doing well I think, I do find it hard to get in 60 grams of protein. I have never been a big meat eater and almost no red meat. So I am cking lables now and making myself get more. I found the Edge protein drinks give me a good start in the morning and i am doing alot of chicken, cheese, greens and dried beans. I thouht I have so much to learn that I would concentrate on one area at a time to get the hang of it. I really have never paid much attention to my protein intake. I have stopped ( at least for 5 days now) the refluxing. I have thought alot about what u said about the hunger in my head and i know u r so right. I thik I even have found a trigger. When I am idol, watching tv is when I want to eat. So I am trying to stay away from the TV . Thank u for all the insite
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Cathy W.
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Kathy S.
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