cheryl2586

Yes you can take cold medicine. You can take medicine just like you did before just use tylenol in it.

Now it seems that people just dont know how to search the forums to find an answer to their question and repeat the same question so here I am laying it all out for ya as simple as I can: Its all normal!!!!!!! Gas? Yes you will have gas, your stomach will growl, talk, make noises you never heard, be loud enough for the neighbors to hear it. The gas will go away within a few days or by the first week. You may never get rid of gas. It may always be there. The band changes your digestive flow causing GAS. Put gas x on your grocery list. Pain? Yes you will have pain. It is just not an option. To what degree you have it is up to everyone. Your port site will however be sore longer than any of the other sites can take up to a couple months to feel completely pain free. One day post op pain, two three four days post op pain. You may have pain for two weeks. Sore Throat? You may have a sore throat after surgery because they put a tube down your throat while you are sleeping. Nausea? Most bariatric patients wake up nauseated. This is common it should not last. Have them put a patch behind your ear before you go in to surgery. However if you throw up unstoppable for more than you think is normal then call your doctor. Problems? If you feel you are having a medical issue call your doctor. That is what they are there for. We are not medical professionals and can not diagnose medical issues. Band slippage? If your band slips you will have uncontrolable vomiting. Not because you can eat more than normal. HUNGER? When the swelling from surgery goes down you will BE HUNGRY. HUNGER IS SOMETHIING THAT NEVER STOPS ITS IS NATURAL FOR YOUR BODY TO TELL YOU WHEN TO EAT. You may get fuller faster but you will still get hungry. Shoulder pain? If your pain persist more than normal you could and probably are eating too much. You have a nerve that goes from your stomach to our left shoulder and the band presses on it. Signal STOP EATING. Head Hunger? You need to realize that the band will not control head hunger it just wont. If your stomach is growling you are hungry eat. If you just feel empty drink. If your not roaring then you are not hungry. Restriction? You may or may not have it from the beginning. If you dont you may need a fill 6 weeks post op. Weight loss? It is not going to be fast. Im sure you were told slow but steady and then maybe not steady after a while. Its all about you, your metabolism and your ability to stick to the diet. Diet? The lap band is a diet and if you dont think it is then dont get it because it is a diet/life style change. You can not continue to eat the way you did before surgery and think you will lose weight because you wont. Nothing taste better in your mouth than being thin. Soda and carbonation? Drink it if you want to expand your pouch otherwise stay clear of carbonated beverages. Alcohol. Although alcohol will not hurt your band the empty calories will hurt your weight loss so dont attempt it. One leads to two. If you are steady losing weight I dont suggest getting a fill. Only get a fill if your not losing weight, overly hungry but if you eat enough Protein you should stay fuller longer, and or gain back weight. If you keep losing weight you do not need a fill. Why put yourself through that when it is not necessary. Fluids? You need to drink 64 oz of fluids after surgery whether you want to or not or risk being dehydrated. Dehydration means IV"s if you love needles then dont drink after surgery. Bread? Some may never be able to eat bread ever. Some may. Same with Pasta and rice. Exercise? Its entirely up to you whether you want to excersise or not. The band alone is not going to do it. It is a tool and that is all it is to teach you portion control. If you do not use it as a tool then you will not lose weight. If you are severely overweight wait until you feel comfortable doing some type of excersise. Eat protein first with all your meals then add the other things you will find out you wont need so much of the other things. Anyone want to add anything else I forgot then please do. I am not being smart just trying to answer all the questions in one place.

Start walking the gas should disperse within the first week but your going to be sore especially your port site for a long time at least three months

OOOOOOOO yes decaf coffe helps so much. Love it in the evening with fat free creamer and sweet and low. It does help also.

A fill may make a difference and maybe not. You cant bank on a fill making it easier for you. You have to get it in your head to stop eating when you are not hungry. Your stomach growls when you are hungry if its not growling and you just feel empty then dont eat. Drink when you feel empty not eat. You have to start now or you will not do well. Your to early in the game to be giving up. Stop it and get back into the swing of things right now or you will regret it.

You will only get fuller quicker after a fill thats all you will still have issues with hunger always. You may stay fuller longer but hunger is a natural response and we cant get rid of that. You just have to know the difference between hungry and empty its two different creatures. When your belly growls eat if you just feel empty drink that simple

Get yourself a small bowl to eat out of I have a 3 ounce bowl that I fill and that is all I eat. I put the rest of the food away before I sit down to eat so that its not out and looking me in the face. I give that time to sink in to my head that I am in deed full once I got that I am full I go about my business. You have to measure everything and do it. It will make a world of difference. If my husband isnt done eating then he can get more out of the fridge and reheat it. People you have to get it together if you dont then why did we go through all that surgery and the hell of preop and classes and crap to still eat like we did before surgery. You have to know when to stop and me getting a little bowl from the dollar store has helped me immensely

You will still be hungry after surgery. You will always have hunger when you are hungry. People have this misconception after surgery they will never be hungry again. That is not true. Maybe the first couple of days you wont be hungry but after the swelling goes down you are going to be hungry. Your stomach still works the bottom part is still there and very much in working order. I dont know why people think because they got banded that hunger stops it does not. At some point you will get fuller quicker but you will still be hungry when you need to eat its that simple

It will stretch your pouch and very much so if you are drinking carbonated beverages and then start eating more then you know your pouch is stretched. I wouldnt reccommend it. Plus if you drink beer it makes you full very full

Why do you want to feel that way. Your doctor is there to help you. Go see him and get back on track sometimes you think you are hungry but my rule of thumb is if my stomach is not growling and just feels empty then I am not hungry. If you are just feeling empty drink a shake and dont eat.

Yep paid 500.00 this is a common practice among bariatric surgeons to keep their support groups going I say its keeping their pockets going because I paid the 500 moved away and havent wen to one support meeting and when they did have them they were not convenient times for me because I worked 7 to 7 and he had the band ones at 5.

Just remember that you are still going to be hungry after surgery. Once your swelling goes down the hunger will come back that is a misconception that the band will restrict your hunger.

Girl you need to drink more than that. Chicken broth will retain your fluids. You need at leas 64 oz of fluid per day and thats on a normal person. You need to drink drink drink just drink clear liquids.

Some insurances will approve with no comorbidities but most wont. Most want you to have surgery if your taking a lot of medications for problems. Call your insurance and ask them they will tell you.

When you are banded you get fills with saline that is where the port is. In order to make you stomach restricted you have to get fills. They place aport in the muscle and when you need a fill they put saline in the band to make it tighter. When your pregnant they remove it so you can eat normally

I dont regret it but its never easy not in the beginning not ever. Its a daily struggle to not go back to your old ways when your having a bad day, feeling down, or just plain want something sweet. Your on a food roller coaster most of the time in my opinion. Yes the band helps the belly but it does not ever help the mind. You have to help your mind and reprogram it. I call sweets poison because to me thats what they are. Chocolate goes down so easy but that is the root of my evil so I cant have just one. Just one was never in my vocabulary however 70lbs down I feel great. I will continue this struggle forever not to ever be that unhealthy person again.

The lap band has not affects on you having a baby. They will just remove fluid while you are preganant so you can eat and if your are breastfeeding they wont put it back in until you are done. Thats all.

You may not have that feeling after a first fill so dont get excited. It may take several fills before you get that feeling just sayin

Your port site may hurt for months this is normal

I think the poster meant having a band for that long. Well this is how I see it. There has not been enough studies done for the long term affects of the band because no one has been banded that long however I would imagine that at some point some years down the road it would have to be replaced because even a hip and knee replacement only last about 15 years. We will just have to see as it goes if it will hold up or will have to be changed. If that point ever comes for me I will have it removed and have the sleeve done I surely dont want to have to keep getting something replaced every 15 years because it wears out.

My band is always tight in the morning I usually have a shake to get something in. You may not want breakfast but just be careful not to over eat lunch and dinner

Its the band and gas. It happens you will have all kinds of pains you dont know what they are its normal. Whats not normal is throwing up unstoppable. Pain you have to live with.

I platued six months after surgery and guess what six months later I am the same weight got filled lost 7lbs gained one back. Everyone is different. You cant expect weight loss to be fast when you didnt gain it fast. It may take up to two years to lose all your weight or longer especially if you have a lot to lose. Its just that simple. Yep it sucks sometimes.

You can not have aspirin long term but once for a headache will not put a whole in your pouch. You just can not take it regularly I take furicet when I have a headache and I have taken Ibuprophen I just dont take it daily about once every other month. Caffeine is also only something you shouldnt have for three months post op. I drink coffee everyday for the last nine months and no problem. Drs tell you things to never do well you should never have the Heimlich Maneuver done on you after a banding but are you gonna die so you dont get your band knocked out of place NO. You can not take Drs so literally. Never is a long time and if I have a bad enough headache I am not spending a fortune in the ER for them to give me the same thing only in IV form. Everything in moderation. They tell you never to drink alcohol either. Yeah sure everyone listens to that one. They tell you dont smoke with the band, dont drink, come on common sense folks if you take aspirin or excedrin take it with food and not on an empty stomach just dont take it a gazillion times a day for the rest of your life.

No food equals feeling like crap. You may not be hungry but if you want to heal and feel well you better start eating something. If your bloated its because your empty. Drink your shakes if you dont want to eat and push the fluids. You better do it before you feel worse than ugh. Just sayin