Oregondaisy

I started exercising every day and found I no longer needed anti depressants. Exercise is the best medicine. I feel great when I am done!

You are banded and you should let this tool work for you. If you went on a high protein diet, you would get rid of the cravings for sweets and start to lose again. Don't let this surgery go to waste! Take advantage of it.

I haven't had fluro yet. He sticks the needle in and it only takes a second. He pulls out what's already in there. Then he adds a new fill. I asked him how he knows how much to put in, and he said he can feel how tight the band is. Then he has me drink a glass of Water and asks me how it feels. If I was having any kind of problems, I would ask for fluro. So far, this has worked jsut fine for me.

Those bbq soy crisps are fabulous! I think I will go and have some right now. They have protein, and they are crunchy and go down well. They aren't nearly as many calories as rice cakes.

I never feel anything when I get a fill. I have heard of others that it takes them awhile to find the port. Mine is over in a couple of seconds and it's pain free.

That's a great idea. I have heard of other gatherings where they have a lot of bariatric speakers, giving nutrtion talks, etc.

Glad to see you back here. I have been on a plateau too but I am getting a fill tomorrow. I hope that helps me. Do you know of anything that actually speeds up the metabolism? I had a resting metobolic test taken and it showed I have very slow metabolism.

What have you been eating? You should have been on a liquid diet at first. If you are eating a lot of carbs for your mushie foods, it will slow down your weight loss.

Welcome Melinda! Lap Band talk is the greatest. You will learn so much here. There is so much information here, that our doctors just don't bother to tell us. There is nothing like getting information from someone who knows exactly what we are talking about . I hope you will look all around this board. There is so much interesting stuff to read!

I haven't reached my sweet spot, so I can' t vote. I am hoping I will get there tomorrow, with my new fill.

Go to the very top of the page where it says "new posts"

Starting early makes your stomach have to digest food around the sutures, which can lead to problems. Maybe they aren't noticeable for a very long time, but I don't want any complications. So, no, I followed my doctors orders and stayed on the liquid diet for 4 weeks.

I went into day surgery at 7 am and was home and on lap band talk by noon.

It is very hard not to drink with meals. I always look at the clock when I am finished eating so I know when I can drink again. Sometimes I suck on a tick tack mint after my meal, and that helps moisten my mouth. Sometimes I do take a drink and swish it around in my mouth and spit it out. That does help. I get hungry fast, that's why I am getting a new fill. I don't need to drink and get hungrier any faster.

Do a search on pouch dialation.

I don't know what to tell you Lily. I could have gone back to work the next day. I have a desk job though. I have heard of a lot of people that have pain at the port site, and a lot with the gas pain. I kept waiting for the pain to come, but after about 5 days, I figured I was in the clear. I have a little bit of left shoulder pain now, that I never had after surgery. I am told it's from the band pressing on the diaphram. It was the worse after my last fill. It comes sometimes after meals. I have heard from others that for some people banded, left shoulder pain is chronic. I can tell you for me, I was in horrible pain when the epidural wore off from my c-section. The burning pain at the incision was something I will never forget. I too bought the gas-X and never used it. I also got my liquid pain medicine filled and never used that either. Everyone is different though. I really do think that the fact that I had been doing stomach crunches for the past 3 years may have helped me. The way I felt the first 4 days after surgery, was like I had done sit ups. It was just a slight bruising feeling when getting up off the couch. I don't know how else to explain it, other than it felt like I had done a bunch of sit ups. It wasn't constant though, it was just when I got up off the couch.

I am curious to hear how you will do with that much in there! Keep us posted!

Yes, you can stretch out your pouch. And yes, going back on liquids will usually help it. I think the problem is that you can't tell if it's stretched without expesive tests. I hope someone else will come in here and answer this who is more experienced than me. I know for me, if I eat too much, my left shoulder really hurts. I have heard they call that pouch packing. I try really hard to stick to the amount I am supposed to have, but I don't always have good restriction. I will know more after my 3rd fill. I am going to talk to the dr. about this on Wed. You aren't supposed to eat until you can't possibly eat anymore. You're supposed to stick to about 3/4 of a cup of food, and you aren't supposed to have carbonation. Hopefully someone will post the good bandster rules. I can't remember all of them!

With the resting metobolic test, I couldn't exercise for 2 days. I had to come in fasting, first thing in the morning at 8am. they stuck this thing like a close pin on my nose and a tube in my mouth to breathe in and out of for 20 min. It was hard to try to breathe normally but that's what you are supposed to do. The whole thing is hooked up to a machine like a computer and it tells how many calories you are burning just sitting there and how many you need to eat to lose weight. I was a yo yo dieter all my life,and that's really supposed to mess up your metabolism. I am the same as far as no magic number in my head. I want to stop buying clothes in the plus size department, and not think about sweets all the time. Being on the 4 week liquid diet really helped the sweet cravings go away. I am sure I could have done 4 weeks on liquids without being banded, but I doubt that I would have done that. It took me writing out a check for $10,000.00 to make me do that! I never had to go to any seminars. I had been attending support group for a year, with my 26 year old daughter who had gastric bypass. Then someone talked about lap band, and I wondered why I had never considered that. The next day, I called the surgeon for an appt.

That is way too big of a fill to start out. I had 2.5 put in last time and I couldn't swallow the water he gave me. I was totally prepared for an aggresive fill because I was tired of not losing. I had him take the .5 out. I had read on here all the problems of being too tight, and I didn't want to ask for trouble. It took me a long time to chew properly and cut my bites small enough. Even though I haven't lost well at 2.0, I got used to how I was supposed to eat, and I am ready for another fill.

Janet, I am in the over 50's thread and I am one of the ones that have complained about the slow weight loss. I do everything I am told, and exercise. I had a resting metobolic test taken and it showed that I have a really slow metabolism. I am getting another fill on Wed. and I hope that helps me start to lose like other people. I get full fast, but I am also very hungry in a couple of hours. I haven't gained any of the weight back, but I haven't lost anything this month either. I know if I hadn't been banded though, I would be heavier by now than I was the day of surgery. I didn't get to meet the guy I have been talking to on the phone. I was disappointed. We had made plans to meet, but he has a son, and his exwife didn't want to pick him up on the agreed upon time. He didn't want to get into it with her that he had plans to meet someone, so he asked if we could meet next weekend. He works out of town all week long. It seems over the last few years I have met a lot of men with child support and exwives problems. I start to think that if they are single in their 50's there's probably a reason for it. Maybe I am wrong. I don't want to spend every night talking on the phone with him though either. I have done that before and found it to be a big waste of time and energy. My experience has been that just because you click with someone on the phone, doesn't mean there is any chemistry once you meet. dotofoz, my only advice is to take things slowly. There isn't any advice I think that is better than that. People change, and it's really better to know someone extremely well before making any decisions on how far you want to persue something. I was with my exboyfriend for 3 years and I really thought I knew him well and he turned out to be a completely different person than I thought he was, if that makes any sense. Welcome to our singles thread. This is my favorite thread on LBT! Welcome Sharon too! There is nothing better than getting thinner and feeling better about ourselves!

I am in the same boat. I will let you know on Wed. when I get my 3rd fill. I thought the 2nd one would get me losing, but it didn't. I kept getting food stuck so I was afraid to get a 3rd fill. Now I am back to being able to eat anything I want. I don't, cause I don't want to gain. I hope this 3rd fill makes me full on a tiny portion. That's what they told me, when I was exploring getting the band.

It's funny how some things gets stuck on some people, and on others they work just fine. I have heard a lot of people say they can't eat chicken at all any more. I have heard the same thing about steak too. Then I have heard that a lot of people can eat anything they want without it getting stuck except for bread. I was getting stuck with almost everything I ate after my 2nd fill. I learned to chew better and cut my meat into the tiniest bites. Now I rarely get stuck. I am having a new fill on Wed. though, and what I have always been told is, what works before a fill, may not work anymore. I will be finding out soon! Patina, Just make sure you are chewing until there is nothing left to chew. Chew until goo, is what they say!

I read the fly lady's website, but I never signed up to get her emails. I don't need any more junk email. This whole situation with clothes getting too big is adding to the problem. I should just take them all to goodwill, but I keep thinking I will take them to the re-sale shop and make a little bit of money. Plus I could trade them there for clothes that fit me. I have clothes all over my bedroom, that don't fit anymore. I hope that my entire wardrobe becomes too big! Don't worry about cleaning the entire house. Just make a plan and say "for half an hour, I am going to work on this" put the radio on or play a cd so the tv doesn't distract you. Then for half an hour, work on one problem. That helps me a lot. I can't stand to do it for too long. Sometimes, I am on a roll, and I will clean longer.

Yes, I hardly ever get anything stuck anymore. I am more careful though. I am a little afraid of what's going to happen with a new fill. I will find out Wed! I just hope it makes a huge difference in my weight loss!