((big hugs)) for u marie. im scared of the gastric bipass. i have alot of friends who have done it & its either one extreme or the other... either they did it, look and feel great, and it was the answer for them... other friends wish they never had done it and spent months and months in the hospital with complications. bipass surgery is not going to help you overcome your emotional issues... theres alot of things to consider and i think ALL measures should be exhausted before you do it. keep us updated. ill be thinking about u.

Thank you Crystal. I have an appointment on October 27 the day before my birthday to see the doctor. I will make my final decision there. I have tried everything out there, even PhenPhen. I will keep you posted. This has been a great forum I started and I hope it stays alive, it seems to be slowing down a bit. I promise I will be back very soon! Take care...

maries1964, I urge you to not truly consider the gastric bypass. People with emotional eating problems are NOT a good risk for this procedure. It isn't physical hunger that makes you overeat, it's a mental state you need to get a grip on. The WLS will not affect that at all, and can give you more pain and troubles that will tempt you towards bingeing.

The only thing WLS offers is a physical barrier about portion sizes. People can and do mess up after this surgery by eating too much anyway, because they can't help themselves when it's a mental problem.

I think the time and money would be better spent with a good counselor. And at the end of it, you would have a whole, un-mangled body in much better shape!

Isn't that why the majority of humans are obese? Everyone with a weight problem has a binging disorder. If we didn't, and could control our quantity of food intake, we wouldn't be obese or "overweight."

My g/f owns a home health care agency. She sends nurses to homes, and hospices, and ALF's to take care of people out of the hospital, since the hospital is in desperate need of beds.

The majority of her business are people with diabetes, and people that have had gastric bypass operations. 6 out of 10 patients that have had GB operations, fall victim to massive ulcerations and sores, and infections. Many of them continue to eat the way they did pre GB. A lot of them have serious infections after surgery, some don't make it, some make it and continue to eat like they did. A large quantity of these patients that do stop eating, end of living on diet soda's, candies, and lots of cigarette smoking, or caffeine. They get sick at the table from eating more than 4 bites of food at any one seating.. They are not fun people to be around, during a dinner party.. They are forever running to the bathroom to either vomit, severe cramping, or take a bowel movement. Their systems don't adhere to the new way of starvation.

This is not the answer. Dicipline is the answer.
It saddens my g/f and I when she tells me the story of her latest patient.
Amazing how many people's insurance will pay for this operation, these people don't know how to eat, starve, live on caffeine and cigarettes (substitute for an oral fixations) and are miserable because they can't sit down with the family and eat a small, normal meal.

And then, after they've lost 150 lbs, they have all this flesh hanging around, that hasn't been able to recede with time and normal weight loss, and most of these people (unlike al roker, or that carley singer) don't have the cash to pay for a full body lift.. another momentus operation filled with percentages of infection and ulcers.....

I didn't want to pop anyone's balloon, but being that i have first hand knowledge of what MANY patients go thru post op, i know it's not champaigne and caviar after the operations. you don't live a normal life, you will never live a normal life, and you need to understand that.

Perhaps a journal would work for you.

I think there's a distinction between simply overeating and binge eating disorder, driven by emotions AND physiology. I can almost see where the surgery would help with someone who just can't seem to get by on regular portions, although I personally feel that it's WAY too drastic.

The kind of emotion-driven binge eating that leads a person to eat past the point of discomfort, even illness, IMO is NOT going to be helped by surgery. That kind of relationship with food (again, only in my opinion) isn't going to go away without MAJOR work. It would seem that people who "outsmart" the surgery and those who refuse to follow the rules after the surgery fall into this category.

In a perfect world it would be best for you to get to the root of why you binge and to lose the weight on your own. However, gastric bypass surgery has saved many lives, and could possibly be exactly what you need. Don't let anybody give you a guilt trip if you decide that this surgery is what is going to be best for you. Best wishes to you as you make this very difficult decision.

Thank you bailey17. I was a bit depressed and upset reading until I got to yours. I want everyone to know that I have three relatives that have had the surgery 5,3 and 2 years ago and they said they would do it again. I have researched for two years and made a very informed decision. I have been to extensive counseling on the eating and will continue to do so. They surgery is NOT a cure and should not be looked at as one it is a "tool". As far as the skin removal, well in most cases if the insurance denies the claim, you can get around it by appealing it with supporting letters from physicians. Mine personally has already been taken care of as far as the future, they have already approved my tummy, I will conquer any others as I need them if at all. I have already been doing alot of weight training on my arms, chest and thighs so that will be a big benefit. My problem with food is more of a volume problem now than an emotional one, but it is still considered binging, because you just don't feel full. So this surgery will give me the tool to say "hey your full, overeat and pay the price"! As far as complications, if you follow the rules to the letter and do everything you are told, the chances of a complication are few and far between. My doctor has alot of experience, no deaths, very low instances of complications and in all cases it was the patient that did not follow protocol. Well guys I just wanted to let you know, I thank you for your imput, I wish it was a bit more understanding and supportive, but I can see where you are coming from. I am still going to be a low-carber for life my life will consist of mostly protien, veggies a little fruit and extremely little to no carbs of the bad kind. So my life will be no different than yours except for volume. And after a year I will be able to eat up to 7oz of food at a meal (about the size of a child portion or a lean cuisine meal) so I can still go out to eat with my family.

I am definately a binge eater. I hate it so much! It gets in the way of everything in my life. I keep thinking that if only I could lose a few pounds I could do whatever I wanted. I keep trying to start a diet plan, but I never make it more than two days...damn, eh? It is hard, because I always feel so deprived and I end up giving in to my cravings for all the food you should not eat.

i was reading the first page of the numerous replys to this thread (which def makes me feel not alone!) and i could completely relate to something about each and every one of your replys! im really glad i found this site because now i know that there is help out there and that i dont have to do this on my own. it helps to have others who know what im going through and that have beat the inevitable, that gives me such Hope, thank you all! i didnt know "compulsive/binge eaters" was such a thing, i thought it was just bulemia. i have admitted i have a problem and im trying to find other things to replace my "boredom" time because thats when i would binge. it was a feeling thing for me, like late at night when i got so lonely and felt "empty" i would use food to 'help'. what good that did! for about 8 months there i replaced my binge eating with binge drinking and that got me into so much more trouble. not im back to my old habits, which have lessened with time and im trying to fill my life with greater things such as God, working out, school and work!
I still i get those urges and i can go for about 2 weeks eating healthy and working out them BAM it happens again. i am full for a good "day": then the next day i can start eating healthy again...what good does that do?! NONE! but i dont know what else to do, ME alone cannot fix this problem. its really mind over matter for me. but i just want to thank you all for helping me to not feel alone and i pray for those of you who are struggling with this, yes all of you! email me if youd like trub123~msn.com. GOD BLESS*

hey seanx, you sound so similar to myself!! i was just wondering how old you were and stuff, if you're comfortable telling me. by the looks of your "weight" it seems like you may be moreso in the boat as i am! i know everyone on here is in the "same boat" as i am in regards to our eating, but being so young im wondering if anyone else is struggling with any other eating disorders?!

before this wol i binged because food was my comfort. Had a bad day......binge have an argument with hubby......binge the sky wasn't blue enough......binge. I had to understand why i was doing this to myself before i could stop it and don't get me wrong that old deb is still fighting with it.

Hi My name is Lucky..and I AM a binge eater!!! I'm glad I am NOT alone! I did sooo well on Atkins..losing 65 lbs..Then...I didn't recognize myself in the mirror...I looked thin..but didn't feel any different..I wasn't happy...so....i slowly went back to my "binge" eating and gained 30 lbs back. I do good for a few weeks..determined to eat low carb..then BOOM I go back!!! I get SO MAD at myself....why oh why do we do this to ourselves??? I think I eat out of boredom. And now..my little brother (41 yrs old) passed away..and I am not taking it well..so..I EAT!!! GRrrr, lets get a support group going and email each other ok? Is anyone else game??? Im fairly new here and not sure if there is a way to private message someone. Let's get a group together ok? Thanks for listening!

I am a binge eater bad....have been for years. I have two very bad habits, one is getting up several times at night and eating and the other is sweets and if they are in the house I will eat them until they are gone. Lucky I lost my Sister 4 yrs. ago and I started gaining soon after her death and am continuing to gain. I have got to stop this, I have cleared all junk out of the house and I have to keep it that way. Emotions play such a big part in weight.

I binge eat way too much! I tried reading self-help books (like Geneen Roth's book) but it didn't really give me the motivation that I needed. I think the biggest danger is myself, when I am alone in my kitchen and I have nothing to look forward to for the rest of the day. When I know I have a few days free of commitments (school, work, etc.) I’ll run down to the store, stock up on sweets and I hide in my apartment to binge. I binge out of boredom and after I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Just the thought of binging makes me happy, and once I give in to one bite, I know I cannot stop myself. I forget everything around me, my responsibilities that day and the next, my prior efforts to avoid binging, any exercise I just completed and any commitments I made to myself. I eat so damn fast and so damn much until I am uncomfortably full and I pass out. The next morning I feel like sh*t, so I reach for a pick me up…more sugar. It’s relentless and I’ve been doing it for years.