Band. James Band.

Imagine a rock stuck in your stomach with an unending stream of white slime growing out of it. Seriously, it's like re-enacting a scene from Rosemary's Baby... The funny thing is the inevitability of occasional experiences like this is actually worth it for the weight loss!

The best answer is to of course always listen to your surgeon. I just posted this on another thread and thought I would share it here too... I didn't have my first drink until about a month and a half after being banded. Since then I've probably averaged about 1-2 drinks per week. I usually combine Whiskey or Vodka with 7up - the 7up is probably not the best thing for my band, but hey, we're all human. As an aside, for Crystal Light fans, I have found that Crystal Lights combine well with Vodka and/or Rum - a Malibu banana Rum with Cherry Crystal Light on the rocks being my personal favorite for a non-fizzy delight. Cheers.

I didn't have my first drink until about a month and a half after being banded. Since then I've probably average about 1-2 drinks per week. I usually combine Whiskey or Vodka with 7up - the 7up is probably not the best thing for my band, but hey, we're all human. As an aside, for Crystal Light fans, I have found that Crystal Lights combine well with Vodka and/or Rum - a Malibu banana Rum with Cherry Crystal Light on the rocks being my personal favorite. Cheers.

Story of my bandster life... BTW Denise, congratulations on all your weight loss. Very inspirational.

Thank you to everyone for your responses. I feel less dumb now. It seems like I'm not alone in my tactic and that it won't likely contribute to a band slip. Of course we all would likely agree that good band habits like chewing super slowly are a necessity, but when getting stuck does happen (which for me is impossible to avoid 100%), then I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to safely eliminate that extremely painful feeling!

Wow, Hot and Sexy is right Little Miss Runner Chick!!! Congrats on your incredible success and best of luck with WW in reaching your final goals. You are an inspiration to so many of us - thank you so much for sharing.

The last three times I've gotten stuck (which luckily is happening less often now), I've tried bobbing up and down, kind of like jumping repeatedly without letting my feet completely leave the floor. I have found this to be effective in either quickly inducing vomiting or quickly taking down what's stuck. I've tried this recently because I have had instances of being stuck for like 45 minutes - where the build up of foam keeps making the problem worse - and it is complete torture. Tonight I got stuck really bad, so bad that I'm convinced it would have been a 45 minute episode, but by bobbing up and down the problem was over in about 7-8 minutes. The other two times I tried this I was unstuck in like a minute or two. My questions are (and they are admittedly kind of dumb): -Am I just imagining this or does the sutto-jumping thing really help? (BTW, I'm afraid to completely jump because I don't want anything to fall around me due to my heavy weight hitting the floor) -Has anyone else tried this? If so, did it help you? -Is what I'm doing putting me at risk of having my band slip? Or is quickly getting unstuck actually helping to prevent a band-slip? I guess I'll eventually ask my Doctor, but I know she'll just tell me to avoid the behavior that causes me to get stuck. But the reality is getting occasionally stuck in kind of unavoidable in my opinion.

Just wanted to check in here with everyone and give an update on me and my wife. I'm struggling. Only lost 5lbs. I initially lost 10, and then gained 5 back. My wife and I were banded six days apart and the good news is that she now has restriction, although she is throwing up a lot. She has only had restriction for the last week or so, so I don't know if she's lost any weight yet. She does seem to be fitting into her clothes a little better and she is definitely eating less. I have my next fill scheduled on Feb 6, it will be my 5th fill. I hope to have restriction soon. I'm still optimistic about my lapband, but it is hard to be patient. I hope everyone else is doing okay. The success stories on the website keep me motivated.

My PA told me at both of my fills (the most recent was this afternoon) that I would feel restriction for about 6-10 days and then it would go away and I would need another fill. He uses the water sipping method while he fills my band. What he said was true for my first fill. Will see how things go now that I've had my second fill...

My wife and I just got our 2nd fills today. Neither of us have felt much restriction lately. I am up to 5.4cc now and my wife is up to 6.7cc. The PA will let us come in again in two weeks for Fill #3, which is kind of cool because I've lost very little weight thus far. While I haven't been feeling much restriction, I've gotten stuck and handful of times and it has not been fun. My band is just randomly tight sometimes (mainly in the morning, but one time at night) and as soon as I feel a thing, I get majorly stuck (it comes out of nowhere). It takes about 20 painful minutes to get past being stuck. It is so not fun! I haven't thrown up food yet, but I have thrown up the white foam twice - it's a very strange experience. My PA told me that for guys it may take about 5-6 fills to feel consistent restriction and for women it may only be 3-4 fills, but he also said these things vary a lot. I like how he's letting me get my next fill in only 2 weeks. I have a lot of clothes which will begin to fit me once I've lost 10 more pounds and I'm anxious to fit back into them.

Thanks for your comments and I'll keep you posted. I get to eat Mushies today after two days of post-fill liquid diet. I'm interested to see if I experience any restriction today.

I get to eat Mushies today after two days of liquid post-fill diet. I'm excited to see what kind of restriction I'll have.

I posted about this in the October Bandsters thread and thought I would post about it here as well... My wife and I had our first fills today. The process was interesting. The PA injected the needle and asked me to stand up with the needle still in my stomach. He completely filled my band with fluid and asked me to take sips of water. I could feel the water fill up in my chest. He then took fluid out until I could consistently swallow water comfortably. The amount of the fluid that was left in the band at this point was 3.8cc. He said I'd feel restriction for about 6-10 days. I'm scheduled for my second fill in 3 1/2 weeks. I was unaware of this as a process. Has anyone else experienced this method? The logic of it makes a lot of sense to me. I'm cleared to keep getting fills this way every four weeks until I find my green zone.

Yeah, I like this method. I had never heard of it before he did it. It was kind of weird standing up with the needle sticking out of stomach and sipping on Water, but the whole thing really does make a lot of sense. My PA will allow me to get a fill like this every four weeks until I find some degree of long term restriction. This means that I can get to my third fill (seems to be a magic number for a lot of people) in only 8 weeks.

My wife and I had our first fills today as well. The process was interesting. The PA injected the needle and asked me to stand up with the needle still in stomach. He completely filled my band with fluid and asked me to take sips of water. I could feel the water fill up in my chest. He then took fluid out until I could consistently swallow water comfortably. The amount of the fluid that was left in the band at this point was 3.8cc. He said I'd feel restriction for about 6-10 days. I'm scheduled for my second fill in 3 1/2 weeks.

Very inspiring - thank you for sharing! All the best in reaching your final goal!

I hear you on the standstill. My first fill is scheduled on the 18th and I can't wait!

I take two medications (generic claritan and sudafed) which are on this list and defined as "slow release". I stopped crushing them and now I eat them. I found that the taste was very bad when I crushed them and that by eating them (essentially crushing them with my teeth), the bad taste doesn't stay in my mouth as long. The drugs seem to be working for me to combat my allergy problems. Is there any risk to eating them or does it just mean that the "slow-release" design won't be as effective?

Today is Day 23 Post-Op for me. I found out yesterday morning that I didn't get a job that I was a finalist for and really wanted. So I've been feeling very bummed out and have been eating a lot, even while on a mushy diet. Ive been consistently well under 1500 calories per day since surgery. But yesterday, I had 1445 calories and today I'm already at 1460 and it's only 4pm where I live. I don't want to slip into any bad habits, but I guess I'm okay since I'm still at a reasonable number of calories. In the old days I'd easily be at 4000 calories per day feeling the way I do right now.

I'm wondering if surgeon's make more profit on the sleeve. Two nurses from my doctor's office kep trying to sell the benefits of the sleeve to me and how everyone was happy with it. I still chose the band because I felt it was less extreme.

I'm now Day 12 Post-Op and my wife is Day 6 Post-Op. I started work yesterday and it was challenging, but I made it through. No one at work knows I've had the surgery. Today seems to be better, but I can't wait to feel 100% normal. I get to start Mushies in two days and am excited to eat some semi-normal food. My main two problems are back pain (especially after eating) and stomach swelling. My stomach is so swollen that none of my belts fit. I hate wearing pants without a belt and I don't want to buy new ones either. I fear that it may take another 2-3 weeks for my stomach swelling to subside. Overall, I feel excited about having the Lapband. The first few days and weeks are not fun, but I know they will be worth it! My wife felt much better yesterday. She is still suffering from back pain, but is taking the pain medicine to combat it. She is seeing the Doctor on Thursday for her follow up.

How exciting! I can't wait to get my first fill. The doctor cleared me to have a fill four weeks after my surgery date, but I haven't made the appointment yet since that's still 2+ weeks away. I think I'll call them this week to set it up. I still have a huge bruise over my port site. I wonder if they can still do a fill there if the bruise doesn't go away? Anyone know about that?

I respect you for taking your time with this decision as well as continuing to collect information on what's ultimately going to be best for you. While I am newly banded, I don't think the Band is right for everyone. From what I've read here, it seems like the Band is probably right for you, but I don't think there's anything wrong with taking more time with the decision. This is a big life adjustment, and while the Lapband is probably the least risky WLS, there are still some small risks you'll want to consider. Best of luck to you on your journey!