Fao Islay

[bednobs]

Hi Islay, i hope you don't mind me addressing you directly to ask you a personal question (after all you can choose to ignore it if you want, and you have been quite open in the past)
you previously said that eating wasn't really about feeling hungry for you, but more comfort eating - because you were big, you felt bad about yourself and that prompted you to eat (i know it's more complicated than that - that's a simplified version of what i understood)
Anyway, now you can't eat for comfort, have you replaced it with anything else? Is the feeling of being thinner a good enough compensation for the fact you have to control eveything you eat? I ask because i had a friend who had an op - not the same as yours, a banding i think and lost loads of weight, but "ate through" the band, stretched it and now is bigger than she was before. She just couldn't cope with the not eating much part of her journey

[Islay]

Hi Bednobs - sorry only just seen your question. Wow where do I begin.
Lets see, the op I had is very different to the band as whilst the band can be manovered around - I physically cannot overeat without feeling very ill and vomiting it all back up again.
The need to comfort eat is still there - I am going through a very difficult time at the moment with some very dark moods - my head hasn't yet caught up with my ever changing body.
Yes being thinner on the whole is a brilliant compensation - and I do eat mostly what I want just in tiny portions - for example - I had a mini cadburys egg just now - that has got rid of my craving (and i discovered they actually don't taste very nice).
But and this is a big but I sometimes wish I was normal!
Apparently this is a normal part of weight loss surgery and why when you go through the NHS they waste 2 years making you sit through therapy.

Did your friend go private?

The not eating much does get to you at times, it’s a case of looking at what you have now that you didn’t have before – I am under no illusion that I probably would not have seen my 50th birthday if I had not gone down this route.

Feel free to ask me anything any time x

[hc4361]

Do you still feel hungry, Islay?

[Islay]

No Hc because the hunger 'node' has been cut out.

[bednobs]

thanks for answering. Sorry you are struggling at times

[Islay]

Hey bednobs - no worries - everyone has bad days (if they are honest )xx

[anneasquith]

Indeed we do Islay, and like everyone else you can also allow yourself to have a bad day .

[Bazile]

So , has the pleasure of eating gone , because you can only eat tiny amounts ?

[Islay]

Yes sometimes Bazile but its not only to do with the tiny portions but what effect some foods have on me now.

Bread, pasta and rice make me hurl and cause severe cramps
Sugar or sugary products give me dumpying syndrome with which I can pass out.
I can’t eat and drink within 20 minutes of each other.

Whilst most of the time I am happy to eat 1 mussel, 1 crayfish etc – there are other times that I miss having that great big bowl of mussels and a slab of bread to mop up the juices!

However I do know in the long run it was the right decision

[Bazile]

I really didn't know that the surgery was associated with those type of side effects .
Are those symptoms normal as a consequence of having the band or does it differ from patient to patient - can some people eat more than others ? .

[Islay]

Hi Bazille, I had the sleeve operation not the band, with the band the stomach stays intact and they put a band around it to reduce the size of the pouch - with the sleeve up to 80% of the stomach is cut away completely and disposed of. My stomach is now the size of a test tube.
The side effect vary from person to person as does the size of the stomach after the op - my surgeon believes in doing really small sleeves especially for extremely overweight patients!
There are certain rules that all sleeve patients need to follow like the drinking rule and not eating after 20 minutes and chewing at least 20 times.
I have unfortunately had a few more side effects than others would.