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i have been banded since July 25th. The past month I have experienced 2 stuck episodes that were no fun at all. Is it normal to be getting stuck so much after 3 months out?? The first was on a piece of bacon while I was on vacation. That lasted about 18 hours before I found relief. Had to keep getting it up.....(sorry) until I got relief. The last episode (last night) out for dinner with friends. Got the stuck feeling after 2 bites of french dip (roast beef with gravy). Went to ladies room to get relief. Then started with the excessive indigestion....hiccuping....belching.....and foaming saliva which came up unvoluntarily. No fun at all. Last night's episode lasted about 2 hours. When I got home I made myself vomit to get relief. Is this normal????? Does a stuck episode usually last this long.\??? I have not had a fill and am happy with the weight loss, but not happy with these stuck episodes. I am chewing and careful what I eat. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, do you think I can damage the band by making myself throw up the stuck food?? I am going to the dr. on the 15th and have alot of questions for him. CAT

The question is :- if you couldn't stick to the preop diet how will you manage to stick to the postop diet? If you decide postop that it is just too hard or that you will substitute something you run the risk of doing a lot of damage. I would be more worried that you are not ready and committed to make the change that the surgery requires than I would be about the liver. You have to realise that the band is a tool that works when you work with it. I would take a good hard deep look at myself and work out what I wanted and if I was in fact ready.

My thinking exactly. I tend to be an open book anyway, so I really didn't care who knew. I just tell people that this is my way of getting and staying healthy. Most people are very supportive (at least to my face). The others can go jump off the proverbial bridge for all I care.

were you supposed to be on the liquid only pre-op diet? if so, i would say cancel the surgery until you are ready to do it the right way. i can see slipping once or twice on the pre-op, but it sounds like you just gave up completely and just ate whatever you wanted to eat. That's not a good sign that you are ready for this change. Call your doctor and be honest and see what they suggest.

Can I tell you...for me, Its because of jealousy and the fact I cant face my own disappointments in myself. My best friend, who has been my best friend since we were 9...started weight watchers in january - shes lost about 40 pounds...and i notice...i never say anything...because it reminds me of how much of a failure i am - she has seen me lose and gain and lose and gain...this was her first attempt at changing her lifestyle.How come she can do it and I cant? I am jealous of her. So much so that i cant bare to hang out with her. Because looking at her makes me think about how I want to be in her shoes so badly....I want those things...maybe its me being caddy. I dont know. But thats why i dont say anything....and I hate myself for it - because she deserves to hear it...and I just cant do it because it kills me inside.

OK, I am not a long term bandster, so I dont even know if you would want or value my opinion. I have only been banded for 3 months. But I have to say from reading your post that I totally agree with what Corrigan and Elcee are saying. It sounds like it is not the actual band that is the problem but perhaps the doctors and the surgical center that you are using. This is a major life change. I was told by my insurance company that they would pay 100% of the costs if I used a particular hospital that they were affiliated with and they would only pay 80% if I used the one that I wanted to. I opted to pay the extra money instead of going with the hospital they wanted me to use because I had done extensive research on my doctor and the facility and I also knew some patients personally that had great experiences with them. It was worth it to me to pay a little extra and get the care and service that I was comfortable with. It has definitely been well worth it as I have had nothing but a great experience. My weight has been dropping off at a very consistent pace and I feel absolutely wonderful. I have not thrown up one time or gotten stuck or felt bad. in fact I feel fantastic! But before I could have the surgery they required that I become well educated on the process to make sure it was a success. I had to visit the nutritionist, go to educational seminars to teach me what I would need to know about the surgery and the after care, how to eat and drink with the band, etc. They also required that I had to attend a support group meeting prior to surgery. My doctor personnally called my house a couple of times over the weekend after my surgery to check on how I was doing. So I say all this to make a couple of points about your post! First, I am so sorry that you are having a bad experience. I feel really bad for you that you are having to go through all of this. Perhaps you could find another facility to go to and change doctors. I would caution you though that your statement about not recommending banding to ANYONE is pretty strong. There are just as many great success stories out there as there are bad experiences. The band has changed a lot of peoples lives in a very positive way! Surely you know this too or you would not have decided to get it in the first place. I would recommend it to my friends in family in a heartbeat with the condition that they are knowledgeable about what they are getting into before making the decision and that they are fully committed to the dedication and work that comes with it to make it successful. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you can feel better soon!!

I didn't start this thread to be argumentitive, just the opposite, this is really some thing I'd like to know, I'd like to know how long this effect lasts. I've raised animals most of my life and when you feed them a lot they get fat and when you don't they get skinny. Maybe this is simplistic, but that's my understanding. I'm no scientist, hell, I'm barely a liberal arts major, so many scientific consepts evade me, but I'm trying. In all fairness, I found this today along with proof that it's accurate. Starvation mode theory can be created on a low calorie diet that is high in carbohydrates. The immune system needs amino acids which Protein is broken down to. If you don't get enough protein guess where your body gets it from? It gets it from the muscle in your body. This slows down your metabolic rate. Viola Your starvation mode. But it doesn't prevent weight loss, just trades fat for muscle.

Blood sugar spike? We diabetics know it well.

Mine is Georgie. Named after our previous president. . Don't really want to explain because I don't want to offend anyone but it's not meant to be a compliment

Zana, Just click on anyone's ticker and it'll take you to the site and you go from there.