Kris150

Hi everyone I logged in after a long time, because I've concluded that I cannot deal with my regain and "failure" on my own any more... I need the support of others who have an idea of what might be going on with me. I've been reading a lot of stories from lot of members who each think individually and for various reasons that they are in the pits. I'm not one of them. I read these stories above crying silently and thanking the One Above for my wonderful life. I really have nothing to complain about - and now I see that my downfall is old bad habits and a lax attitude towards discipline due to success (which eroded said success slowly...). The reason of my posting is this: I want to thank you all for opening up and sharing. I'm sure you already feel the benefit of support and love, but please know this: you are also educators for us all! I'm afraid that this will sound selfish and self-centred, but reading you genuinely heartbreaking stories (and wishing you all the best!!!) I can't help but re-evaluate my own problems in a very healthy light: my problems are minute and in my control (I'm the proud owner of a well-adjusted band) and now I feel strong enough to tackle them in that manner. You are all so strong, showing us how much a human being can bear, and putting our lives into real perspective. Thank you for being such an inspiration for carrying on and doing my best! God bless you! Kris

Hi everyone I logged in after a long time, because I've concluded that I cannot deal with my regain and "failure" on my own any more... I need the support of others who have an idea of what might be going on with me. I've been reading a lot of stories from lot of members who each think individually and for various reasons that they are in the pits. I'm not one of them. I read these stories above crying silently and thanking the One Above for my wonderful life. I really have nothing to complain about - and now I see that my downfall is old bad habits and a lax attitude towards discipline due to success (which eroded said success slowly...). The reason of my posting is this: I want to thank you all for opening up and sharing. I'm sure you already feel the benefit of support and love, but please know this: you are also educators for us all! I'm afraid that this will sound selfish and self-centred, but reading you genuinely heartbreaking stories (and wishing you all the best!!!) I can't help but re-evaluate my own problems in a very healthy light: my problems are minute and in my control (I'm the proud owner of a well-adjusted band) and now I feel strong enough to tackle them in that manner. You are all so strong, showing us how much a human being can bear, and putting our lives into real perspective. Thank you for being such an inspiration for carrying on and doing my best! God bless you! Kris

Hi all It might benefit some of us, so here is a little recap of what have I done in the last week and how did that effect my night reflux-night cough-heartburn-constant PBing scene: the liquid phase of the 5 day pouch test described above really helped: I started experiencing less and less issues with eating normal food later in the week as I've always been really tight in the morning, I stick to my Protein shake/yoghurt based breakfasts every morning not to upset my system first thing I do take particular care to eat taking tiny bites (the nail on your pinky should be the ideal size) and to chew-chew-chew consciously - for me this is the hardest part My daily diet AGAIN focuses on protein based items - just like at the beginning of my banded life I had been following all these rules and experienced much improvement in the daily pain going away and being more comfortable with regular food around lunch-dinner time. However, I still had night reflux and night cough issues, waking up cranky and achy every morning, my throat on fire from stomach acid and reflux... And then my doc sent me an email with some really bad news... The hospital I used had my surgery done closed down the banding programme (governmental hospital, not private - although I was a private patient) and there is no other establishment currently in place to pick up the pieces. And yes, that means that thousands of banded patients at Hungary are left without any after-care for the time being. No adjustments, no follow ups, no new surgeries... The hospital only deals with emergency cases when the band needs to be removed without delay... Don't ask me to explain. It cr*pper than cr*p and I'm busy now finding an alternative solution. At the bottom of the email giving me this "great" news - basically: I cannot have my adjustment (taking Fluid out) as I planned in July - he left me with 3 temporary solution which "might help": Drink camomile tea 1 hr - 30 ming before going to bed Last meal of the day should be no less than 3 hours before bedtime (as I'm normally turning in at 10, that means last piece of food goes down at 7pm latest) Do not drink 2-3 hours before going to bed - apart from the camomile tea mentioned above I hate camomile tea, but I had to give it a go... And you know what: it works!!! I've been doing the above 3 points in addition to my previously mentioned re-discovered good habits and ever since I've been sleeping through the night: no reflux, no coughing - just peaceful sleep all night! And all this is great, but my main focus must be still to see a doctor as soon as possible and have my current level of fill looked at and evaluated: I believe although the "bad things" has stopped, I still too tight for living with it too long. And that's my advice: no matter what kind of "home remedies" we come up with here, and how do they work for some of us- if you have recurring reflux issues or the way your band behaves changes for the worst for an extended period of time your first port of call still should be your doctor! By the way: if anyone from UK reading this: do you know a specialist who might be willing to take up my fill schedule - I'm thinking private?

I have a strong feeling the Sarah (Sweethear181) might just wrote the most important thing about it - at least in my case. She wrote above: "My doctor explained to me that the reason I had this snowball effect was because we never really let my stomach heal and my stomach lining kept getting more and more irritated and kept swelling over time." I had a really bad episode on Wednesday with the re-heated shepherd's pie and I draw the line: this is it! I need to do something to survive until mid July! So I decided to do a 5 day pouch test (as per Kaye Bailey at 5DPT), starting with 2 days full liquids. So that's what I've done yesterday and today - and I feel great for the first time! (meaning: no heartburn, no pain, no daily mini-burping). So tomorrow is soft Proteins - including a fab tuna and parmesan patty which actually tastes really good. Probably with mashed cauliflower or sweet potato. I did this once just before Christmas when I had an allergic reaction to some strange food I ate at our company Christmas party - it totally helped back then. And it seems to be working again. How great is that! In a worst-case scenario, I can keep it going until my appointment. At least I still have all the nutrients I need and not feeling hungry all day. Not to mention the fact that I might just "heal" myself by going back to post-surgery basics... Did I tell you I suspect that lack of attention to detail in what and how I'm eating are the core reasons of all these troubles? A year ago, in the months following my surgery I was so disciplined: with measuring everything, not EVER going over a cupful of food per meal, eating lots of Protein and not even thinking of putting any non-helpful food in my mouth. I've lost that sometime ago... I got lax and complacent with the rules. This weekend I will re-read a few of my WLS related books and will do everything to get back to the disciplines I used to follow last summer. I do not believe I have a slip - at least not at my stomach and band. I do have a slip in my head: all my priorities have been tilted because I lost over 60 lbs and I think I rule the world. I don't. And all the rules I was told to follow post-surgery I still have to follow. And I will have to - forever. If I want to keep my band. And I do, that's for sure. So that's my standing point now. And I'm committing to it 100%. Apart from re-reading books I will also revisit my food diary: see what I used to eat which did not give me grief and let me lose weight. By the way, I'm reading Dr Steven Peters' book The Chimp Paradox about mind management. Just this morning I've stumbled across this line: "If things go wrong, or you have failed at something, all you can do is to start from where you are and what you have got and then begin again." Amen

All what you are saying is not really promising... I know it's tilted thinking, but I could do with some reassurance that I'll be fine. I cannot wait to see my doctor - still a month away. Yesterday we had shepherd's pie, which is normally an easy dish to eat, and it was ok yesterday. However, I tried the leftovers for dinner tonight (heated up in the micro) and ended up with a mighty stuck: all out now, but the unconformable tight feeling is still there and I've been "foaming" in the last 15 minutes. I feel so depressed and anxious - that's not helping either: stress creates Water retention which makes my band even tighter... Back to the shakes for a while.

Hi there, I'm afraid I'll need to pick a number in this queue.... My last (and second) fill was in September 2011, and it seemed that I hit the "green zone" with that (my doctor does all his fills under flouro, so that might be why I only needed 2 fills to get there). I was living and losing happily - even during my 6 months post-surgery check up in January this year my doc was happy with the fill level (so I was) and with the position of the band. All was rosy. However, in February I started waking up with stomach reflux in my throat. After it happened three times I went to see my GP who gave me a tablet I have to take before going to bed to stop the generation of stomach acid through the night. That seemed to work. All reflux went away and I stopped taking the med. I have to say that I always experienced "tighter" days - mostly in relation to general stress levels, my period and what I was trying to eat and how fast. But they never lasted longer than a given meal or a day or two. About a month ago all these changed suddenly. I honestly cannot remember exactly when or what happened, but I started to struggle with food in general and sometimes even with liquids. It felt like "out of the blue" and I could not point to any of the earlier causes of tightness. And it just kept happening - and even getting worse. I now cannot eat Breakfast (it used to be yoghurt and fruit/granola or some egg based dish) - only liquids go down very-VERY slowly until midday. Then no matter what I try to eat for lunch, I need to brace myself for struggle and inconvenience/pain. EVERY TIME. And it continues into the evening: no matter what dinner is, I'm going to have the "elephant sit on my chest", and several times a week a PB is the result (just like during lunch). I started to dread every meal. And - of course - my food choices are now becoming based on what I think will go down with less struggle, as opposed to what I suppose to put in my mouth as a weightloss patient... Not good. The nightly reflux re-started, I now go to bed every evening with a Tum and I have to chew one sometimes in the middle of the night too. The heartburn comes now after EVERY meal - regardless of what I ate. So now Tums are making their way into my daily routine too. I cannot help but wonder: why? Why after 7 months after a good, working fill do I experience all these? What happened? Is it dilation? But how did that happen? Can it be the result of just one possible overeating which I didn't even feel? (We had a trip to Rome, which involved some pizza and pastry, but never got stuck or felt as I overdone it...) Hand-on-heart, I cannot think of anything else. My one year check up is scheduled for mid July, and I emailed my doctor with my current symptoms. He's in my home country and I live in UK, so I cannot just "pop in" for a consultation. But he always responds to my emails so I'm looking forward reading his take on this. I'm dreading an unfill - but recently the pain I've been in is making me think that even for a couple of months and with the risk of putting weight back on would make it better. I want to go back to where I was in last October-November: making good and sensible choices, keeping the portions under controll, and NOT feeling pain every time I eat or drink something. Is there hope? And what's going on here? Any insight will be MUCH appreciated!

Thank you all! It seems common sense always prevails - maybe I should just stop worrying and sign up for a class letting the instructor know my situation. I think I'll risk that. Have a great one! K.

Hi All I'm struggling with an exercise decision: am I "allowed" to do yoga or shall I avoid it? All this with regards to port problems, port dislocations, etc. I've been trying to find expert opinions on this. My doc says it's all fine, because he stitched the port to my abdomen (having a very low profile Johnson's port in the centre of my abdomen, just where my ribs end), but I heard very strong opinions about the contrary too: that too much straining or crunching of the abdominal muscles can "hurt" the port (move it, dislodge it, etc.) I used to do yoga before my op, and I really "crave" it... But being self funded I cannot afford to cause any situation where further surgery might be needed. So I turn to you and ask: what is your experience regarding yoga after banding? If you say yes, how long did you wait after your surgery to get back to the practice? Is there any exercise you avoid? Or on the other hand: Do you know anyone who actually had problems with their port after exercising/stretching of the abdominal muscles? I'd appreciate any and every constructive or thought provoking responses - I'd really like to do the right thing here. Thank you all in advance! Kris Check out my blog here!

Hi All I thought I bring this up here and ask for your insights before I rush to my doctor. In the last couple of days I've been feeling a dull pain roundabout where my port is. Now you need to know that my port is not on the side, but right bang in the middle, just below there little bone where my ribcage meet (called the Xiphoid Process, I think). That's a new positioning technique championed by my doc especially for those who's planning to get pregnant later. The pain comes and goes, but it's giving me a headache - I haven't bumped into anything, I did not do abdominal stretches and I know in fact (because I asked) that my shallow profile port is actually stitched to my muscle wall from the inside. So why does it hurt out of sudden 3 months after surgery? The scar is healing ok, and the pain seems to come from inside, not from the surface. Any ideas? Thank you, Kris

Hi Faz I think you will notice two distinctive sides for this argument. One will say Fluoro is not necessary at all, as the fill can be done without the x-ray machine - which is true: it can be done and many doctors do that. They say it saves you getting so much radiation you do not really need. Which is also true. And it's also faster, hassle free and - most of all - cheaper for the doctor/hospital. On the other hand, you will hear the side which says that actually with modern x-ray machines you do not get that much radiation, it definitely does not do you harm and your doctor has a chance not just to adjust the restriction more accurately, but to see if everything looks as it should be. As they can see the restriction instantly (before any swelling kicks in) you might need less adjustment to reach your "sweet point". They can also pick up any unsavoury things quickly, like slippage, erosion, etc. My doctor only does adjustments with Fluoro. But even doctors do not agree on the definitive method: I read books written by world renown experts advocating for both sides very passionately. My personal opinion is: it can be done both ways; you might get "there" sooner and have the extra reassurance of "all clear" with fluoro; however, you can save yourself some radiation going without it. You might want to consider having one fluoro done every six months, just to make sure all is fine inside, but the rest you can have "blind". I know I love the reassurance of my surgeon and the x-ray specialist looking at my insides and giving me the green light... Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies - most of them are really in tune with what I thought/experienced since I had my band (only 2 months... still a "baby") I used to be a real carb-girl pre-op, but since banded I haven't touched rice and Pasta, very rarely have potato or a 1/4 slice of toast (to go with my meats). And absolutely no sweets, pastries or cakes. It took me by surprise how easy it has been giving up all these favourites. Is this still a "honeymoon period" (I only had one fill so far - the second coming up in two weeks time) but I'm enjoying it! Is this going to go away? I hope not... It is very easy - can it be too easy? - to stay away from the carb even if I cook it for my family. They can have their pizzas and chips and ice cream around me - I cannot care less. And although I'm strictly and consciously limiting the amount I could eat to the suggested "band portions", I do not feel hungry or want to snack during the day. Which is great. But will this last? Or even gets better when I reach my sweet spot? Now, that's something I'd like to experience. How does it feel? What was different for you as opposed to before the sweet spot? However, my husband - who's very supportive in a passive way... - keeps asking me: if this is not the band but my sheer willpower, what do I get from the band? - just like Russell asked. And I don't have an answer yet, but I'm collecting my thoughts. I found a couple of interesting ideas in the following article: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html - I'm sure it's an old one and many of you have already read it, but it was new to me and it might give some further perspective to other newbies like me. Have a great day!

This is a question playing on my mind too... But the answers rarely offer a real insight. You know about your calorie intake limits, you know about your exercise, you know about slider foods. My question is: if you stay within your calorie limits (800-1200), and do your exercise does it matter what you eat? You might feel hungry if you skip on your Protein and substitute with carbs, but let's say you can withstand the hunger (or don't feel hungry at all): does it matter if your 250kcal lunch came from healthy food choice or - goodness forbid! - a chocolate bar? I'm keeping to my 1100kcal a day, keeping very active and losing steadily, but I always wonder what would happen if... Any insight from experienced bandsters?