Help!! Band gone and I cannot stop eating!!!

Hi there I'm new to this forum. I had my band done in 2007 and I have had overall great results. I lost around 35 kilos and it did change my life. Looking back now I had complications with not being able to eat good food. But I was healthy and so happy I put it out of my mind. During a gastroscope my surgeon found my oesophageas had stretched. She was horrified and said it was on the way to cancer if I didn't loosen the band immediately. I was devastated. She also said I was the first person she had ever seen cough under anaestic which is very dangerous. had the band loosened immediately. I admitted to my drs that I had been coughing at night for years and really not able to eat real food and of course vomiting a few times a day. I felt so stupid that if damaged my body for the sake of weight. Anyway after an anxious weight of two weeks I have been given the cancer all clear and had the band completely emptied. Like most of you I am now like a starved animal and although I enjoy the food. The compulsion is overwhelming. I'm putting on weight so my dr reluctantly gave me duromine to help me while I wait to hVe the band removed. I saw the surgeon yesterday and he agreed the band should come out and he suggested the bypass not the sleeve. Mainly due to complications that can occur with the sleeve and the fact that the bypass apparently has the best results for managing or suppressing the hunger which is my problem. So band comes out in May. Bypass to be done in July. On duromine till then hoping I don't blow out completely. I'm trying hard to use my fitness pal and watch my food but even with duromine at night I am like a drug addict looking for my next food fix. It's awful. I'm bloated and feel fat all the time. I'm so sad that this has happened and very scared about the weight gain and the bypass not working. But I'm here now so I guess I keep telling myself suck it up princess ( or in my case eat it 😜) and get on with it. My surgeon is Dr Michael Talbot at SIOS in Ashfield. I'm told he is the best. So I'm in their hands. If anyone lives in a Sydney I'd love to catch up for support etc. I don't advertise my procedure I'm not interested in the judgement but it would be great to hang out with others in the same boat.

JuicyJo - I feel exactly the same way. The band doesn't allow you to indulge in your food fantasies without feeling the pain associated with overeating. I feel like the sleeve will just curve that ability to have any sort of relationship with food and merely make you eat as a function of fuelling your body. I'm not a junk food or sweet tooth addict, I just love good food and great portions so hopefully my choices will remain the same but the quantity so significantly less that weight loss is inevitable.

mini mouse yes! I understand your feelings! and am hoping my opti is in the mail today!
live hate relationship with food. when I had my band in I could deal with food differently. it's only out because it slipped.
28 days to go! hurry up opti! ( my dr doesn't need me to do opti but I am hoping to lose the 14kg I gained since August unbanding!!!

Hi All,

I had my band out in June and getting sleeved in Dec and frankly my eating is COMPLETELY out of control. I constantly feel disappointed in myself and literally cannot wait till I have to start the shakes! I have a new found hunger that I never had before and an insatiable appetite! My portions are crazy and I'm just loving eating anything and everything plain and simple. I can't relinquish the power food seems to have over me and I guess that's partly the psychology of knowing that I will never be able to enjoy food again (which is exactly what I want to achieve - I want my relationship with food over) and that's exactly why I've made the choice to have the surgery.
Interestingly, I spent 2 years in therapy which was life changing and gave me all the tools I needed to manage my food issues but I'm clearly ignoring them all now, however I have a fear of going back to my psychologist prior to surgery as I feel she will talk me out of it and talk me into managing this bad relationship and I just don't want to.
Does anyone else feel like that?

Well like most of you I had the band removed and my hunger came back really quickly but I still cannot eat steak and have real head games with chicken.  My brain still thinks I have the band I believe and I get a mental block if I try and eat the foods I couldnt before when I had the band in.  I thought all I wanted was a steak too but havent been able to eat one yet!  And now my sleeve date one week and being on optifast I guess it is still going to be some time before I do have a piece.  I have heard of virtual lapbands being done under hypnosis and first time I read it I scoffed at the idea but maybe it does work.  I am still going ahead with the sleeve as my brain is a little weird to trust that much.  Haha.  

I have to say I actually enjoyed being able to eat some foods once the band was removed but was depressed at how little I ate and still gained weight!  It was terrible at the time but now I have my sleeve date and have managed to stick to the opti (only having chicken and salads or scrambled eggs for dinner every other night) I am feeling ok where I am at.  I figure that it was my last time worrying about portions or what food etc for awhile and hopefully by the time I can eat anything 'normal' I will have lost enough weight to say I feel good and dont want it.

I hear you....I'm a month away from being debanded and I just hit 100 kgs this week - I need to get my eating under control!

well I just bought some super boyfriend jeans without trying in and I have severely underestimated the size of my new unbanded butt! :(
they will fit soon enough but I am so disappointed. :(

In the last week, you would think I don't have a band anymore - so hungry!! maybe I'm so relaxed because I know what is around the corner. Plus my super-stressed work environment isn't so stressed anymore, which will be 'helping'.

I'm too scared to weigh myself at the moment, it is kinda liberating thinking that I don't have to worry about what the scales are saying...for now

Geminijo wrote:

I read these posts before I had my sleeve out and thought eek I'm gonna put on heaps of weight because the eating like I did before and the hunger is just going to come back straight away.  Well I had my band out on 2 September and every since I feel full really easily I get restriction in my throat if I eat too big a mouthful or drink too big a gulp of liquid and am waiting for things to return to normal so that I can eat like I used to (obviously not gorge myself or purposely put on weight and be out of control) - but am scared that something is wrong with me !!!!!!!  I can't believe I'm posting this as my problem - but I am scared that its taking so long to go back to how I was pre banded.  I was banded for 2 1/2 yrs and my dr thinks its my head still telling me I have restriction because it got so used to the band !!!  I'm not sure and worried !  I've lost 2.7kg since the surgery a week and a half ago.  Has anyone else heard of this happening to anyone who has had their band removed ??

I guess I thought that having the band removed would make everything just spring back to how it was pre banding !!!!

I hope I have this 'problem' :)

I was talking on another forum that I was looking forward to having a big, juicy steak post-band removal (I can still eat steak, little ones at the moment)...but what I am really looking forward to is having a beer! I haven't been able to drink beer since banding (too frothy)

I promise I'm not laughing! I was being genuine in my suggestion. one here's of mistakes often...

Don't laugh but I've seriously wondered that myself - but no my surgeon is pretty good and I trust that the did actually take it out !!! lol

they didn't replace your band for you by accident did they?????

I read these posts before I had my sleeve out and thought eek I'm gonna put on heaps of weight because the eating like I did before and the hunger is just going to come back straight away.  Well I had my band out on 2 September and every since I feel full really easily I get restriction in my throat if I eat too big a mouthful or drink too big a gulp of liquid and am waiting for things to return to normal so that I can eat like I used to (obviously not gorge myself or purposely put on weight and be out of control) - but am scared that something is wrong with me !!!!!!!  I can't believe I'm posting this as my problem - but I am scared that its taking so long to go back to how I was pre banded.  I was banded for 2 1/2 yrs and my dr thinks its my head still telling me I have restriction because it got so used to the band !!!  I'm not sure and worried !  I've lost 2.7kg since the surgery a week and a half ago.  Has anyone else heard of this happening to anyone who has had their band removed ??

I guess I thought that having the band removed would make everything just spring back to how it was pre banding !!!!

it doesn't seem to matter whether we have surgery or not...this whole trying to not gain weight or lose weight can be a real head ^&*$
 

I am so sad about constant eating, constant food thoughts (not that I want food, but beating myself up about it all) and knowing I still have another 8 weeks at least. :(. at the rate I am going I may crack my original highest weight if 136 kg before I get sleeved. 7 kg in 4 weeks. nothing fits. have order bigger bras and kaftans :(
I have been a averaging 1500 to 1800 cals a day which should be maintenance but I am gaining gaining gaining.....

HI.  I had my band out a few months ago and I completely understand the eating ssue.  I cant stop either!  

I have gained a huge amount of weight even though I still eat small meals and have included healthier options I couldnt eat when I had the band (fruit and wraps etc).  I still cant eat chicken or anything like a steak as my head tells me it will make you sick.  But ....

My main let down is bread!!  Any kind!!  I have missed it so much that I like to have it and the carbs are obviously my downfall.  I havent had any ice cream or chippies and stuff all chocolate since the band came out but I have had bread.  It seems to be my go-to food for snacking on.  I walk in and out of my pantry so much just to walk out again saying you dont need anything but 10 minutes later I am back in there again!!   Evenings are by far the worst.  My hubby goes to bed early as he starts work early but I am a bad sleeper (always have been) so I stay up to all hours.  This is my worst time for thinking I am hungry and snacking.

Now the band is gone I get the most unsettling tummy rumbles and at night when it is quieter it gets so loud. Lol.  

I have an appointment with my surgeon on 12 September to make a date so I am hoping it will be asap after that.  I will get devastated if it is going to be another two months.  

I have no will power or whatever it is I need to stop eating so between now and the surgery I am sick worrying just how big I am going to get.  I have already had to buy clothes bigger as I threw my old ones out when I lost 20 plus kgs never dreaming one day I would be that big or bigger again.  

I would love to try hypnosis but have heard about so many fakes and frauds I have no idea which one to go to.  I know it is mainly head hunger I am dealing with but how do you stop it.  It must like a drug addict or something.  I just need that fix of food!!!  

I wish I could suggest some magic remedy but I dont have one or cant find one.  If I did I guess I wouldnt be wanting this surgery.  I am hoping the head hunger will be easier to control otherwise I am scared the sleeve will fail.

I'm just wondering if there are any ex-bandits who con offer some advice here on the best/healthiest way to deal with the increased hunger post-banding and pre-sleeving.

Once I get my band removed, I am hoping to maintain my weight...easier said than done though, because I don't 'do' hunger very well!

I downloaded a hypnosis thing on the weekend that's supposed be like having a band, but I fall asleep before I get to the important bits! ;) PMSL

Oh no!

I guess it just goes to show that old eating habits aren't that old? I'm really scared now about the 6 month wait I'll have to go through between band removal and sleeving!

I had my band out on the 7/8 and I am inhaling food! everyday is a binge... I track on my fitness pal but I CAN NOT stop eating. I was giving myself two weeks. that's today and it's not looking like its going to get better any time soon! I don't have sleeve date yet as my surgeon is away but he said 3 months which brings me to November... I eat anything and everything. it's BAD but at least it has proven my decision for wls in first place was spot on :)
goodluck!!!

Oh! lucky you re: recovery! I hope that I bounce back so well too!

How about giving yourself a week or two to indulge in all those things you have missed out on and want and then get into healthier eating? I'm thinking/planning I will try to scoff myself with salad/veges so I feel like I'm indulging in huge meals but with minimal damage (weight wise). I wonder if I will follow my own advice when the time comes?

My recovery was quite easy kazbo, I had the band removed on Friday and was back at work on Monday. I am still sore and can't really undertake a lot of physical activity as I get tired easily. 
The nurses were quite surprised by how quickly I bounced back, I was pretty much up and about that afternoon - i found it really helped with shoulder tip pain from the gas. 

Thanks tumultuous-tara! I've never heard of 'unpleating' before, is that a real thing? cause if it is, i will be using it as my excuse from now on! ha-ha

Christina,

Don't worry about it too much.

You NEED to eat post band removal to unpleat the stomach. So eat and be merry.

And it's not all bad, you no longer have to live off slider foods.
You can eat all the fruit and vegies and meat you like now.



All the best,
Tara

Congrats on your band removal...how has recovery been for you?

I worry about the 'last supper' syndrome when I (hopefully) get my band removed...I'm already starting to eat more now!

I have to keep telling myself that I am getting WLS to stop this from happening and that I won't starve, it's not the end of the world and all that but I think that I would cope quite poorly with the band gone and the return of serious hunger.

I don't do hungry very well - I get really cranky and irritable

Good morning all!!

I had my band removed 09/08/2013 and have been eating like a woman possessed since! 

All I want is burgers! Burgers, burgers and more burgers! I think nice already gained about 5kgs in the two weeks I've been band free!

 I'm having the sleeve done in October, and  concerned about the damage I am going to do between now and then!

I'm always hungry and I just want to eat eat eat! Did anyone else feel like this after having their band removed? Any suggestions on how to curb the eating and/or cravings? How did your age between band and sleeve?