angbutler0712

I am 3.5 weeks out of surgery. Am I the only one that feels like I've gone bat sh*t crazy?? I have used food as a comfort for 30+ years.. I was also a smoker then converted to ecigs 2 yrs ago. On my day of surgery I lost my two best friends.. Food and nicotine. I know that sounds terrible, but I am having a hard time emotionally with this transition. Some days I'll wake up so excited to see my progress and in the same minute hate that I can no longer go out to dinner with my family at our favorite restaurant.. I know the day will eventually come, but for now.. I have spiraled into a dark tunnel that feels impossible to get out of. Is there anyone else who has gone through this? Im quick to lash out.. Quick to cry and just this overwhelming feeling of anger and guilt. Part of me wishes I didnt have the surgery.. I go for my 1 month check up next week and will be discussing this with my doctor. Thanks for everyones on going support here. :-)

It gets a easier.. I promise. I opted to go on wellbutrin to help bring me back to normal. I now feel wonderful. The weight is coming of nice and steady and I'm able to eat very small portions of most whatever I want. Still all low sugar and low fat. I wish you the best. Try to stay positive.

Update: so I went to my primary care and requested to start Wellbutrin XL. It's been almost 2 weeks since I started and I feel so so much better. I still have my days for sure.. But the overwhelming sadness has disappeared. I'm 5 weeks out of surgery and have hit 24 lbs down. I'm officially in the 180s. It's crazy to say that.. When I had my band put in 4 years ago I was almost 300lbs. Keep you chin up and take one day at a time. Even with the meds I can't look at the future and not get sad.. Thanksgiving.. Halloween.. Christmas... But I now know that I'll just have to jump these hurdles as they come.

It took me 5 days post op to feel normal again. Walk walk walk.. Thats the only thing that helped me work the gas out of my chest and shoulders.. Hang in there. It gets better.

Well, I've made it one week post op. It's been a very LONG week. My nut and dr initially told me that some people experience dumping with the sleeve and some do not. Last night I desided to mix it up and add a teaspoon of peanut butter to my chocolate peanut butter protein shake. OMG! After a few sips.. I wanted to die! The first wave was slight nausea, second wave I was in the bathroom doing all I could to hold back vomiting but had excessive pbs (im so nervous vomiting will ruin my brand new stomach)and the third wave, I was in bed curled up around my pillow with ungodly stomach cramps. I dont think I'll be having peanut butter again anytime soon. Anyone else out there with the sleeve experience dumping? After this episode im really nervous about progressing onto mushies in a week. Do any of you have a cutoff on how much sugar you allow your self per serving? Example, yogurt. I will be buying sugar free as much as possible, but still looking for some info on dumping with the sleeve. Thank you!!! Angela

yes, I have a drainage tube. My doctor said they come standard with any type of revision done by him. I get it removed on Wed, which will be 6 days post op. So far ive been averaging 20-25 ccs every 4 hours. Im 3 days post op now. Is that similar for you drainage wise? Its slowing down a little.. I'm also paranoid whats going to happen if it's still draining fluids when they take it out.

I was banded in Nov 2011. I had my revision to gastric sleeve along with a hiatal hernia repair on 7/2. Pain for me, was intense when I first woke up in recovery. The surgeon explained to me that I had a lot of scar tissue from the band that he had to clean out. He did tell me that I would have more pain than the average vsg patient. Honestly.. Most of the pain comes from the CO2. I wish there was some way for the doctors to get it all out before sewing you up. I'm at day three now and still have a little gas pain, but WALKING and deep breathing exercises make a huge difference. Now im just really tired.. Living on 500 calories a day or less doesn't allow for much more than getting up to use the rest room or fill my water cup. Going to try and hit 700 calories today! Thats my goal. :-) best of luck to you all going in for the vsg!

I had my Lapland removal, hernia repair and vsg all completed on 7/2. Honestly.. The pain was almost as intense as child birth. I can say that the majority of the pain came from the CO2 that was pumped into my chest cavity for surgery. I am now 3 days out and still in quite a bit of pain. 6-7 on a scale of 1-10. The intensity of the pain has blindsided me. After having the Lapland put in on 11/2011, I expected this surgery to be similar. Oh.. I was so wrong. After discussing the pain with my surgeon the day after, he explained that Lapland to sleeve patients definitely have a little bit more of a recovery time. He said I had moderated to severe scar tissue and that is also contributing to the pain. All I can do is take it day by day. It's not like this for everyone. The things that helped me the most with the gas pain, WALKING, WALKING and WALKING and deep breathing exercises. I wish you all luck! I'm excited now that the pain is becoming more manageable and to start focusing on my nutrition and results. :-)

Good Morning All, I have questions about what I'm experiencing.. Last week my family came down with the stomach bug and I had vomited a couple times. Starting Saturday I noticed pain under my diaphragm and intense heartburn and indigestion. After spending all of Saturday night in pain, I went to the ER Sunday morning. They took X-rays and my lapband surgeon came in to see me. He removed 2cc's stating that I was most likely inflamed due to the stomach bug I had. He didnt see a slip on the xrays. He said I would most likely have immediate relief, but I didn't. I continued to have the same symptoms. He put me on Carafate 4x per day to help with any erosion that may have happened as well as 300mg of Zantac to help with the heartburn/indigestion. After not much response from the meds, I called my doctors office yesterday and spoke with my surgeon again. He told me the next step is to remove all Fluid from my band. I suggested that I wait another day and see how the meds work. Well, I have been in intense pain since last night. The pain makes me feel nauseous and like I'm going to pass out. Now, the heartburn piece of it comes and goes and is definitely causing me the most discomfort however, there is a sharp nagging pain under my ribs where my stomach sits. When I eat, the pain intensifies and i feel super bloated. The doctor told me he didn't believe I had a slip, as I wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything and that its most likely not an ulcer and that it probably just inflammation as he stated when I was in the ER. Yesterday I took 4 of my Carafate pills and also 900mg of Zantac to try and help with the unbearable heartburn. I tried propping myself up with pillows to sleep last night but it didn't help.. Hence, I am on here looking for answers. Am I over reacting? Should I wait a few more days before going back in to have all fluid removed? Have any of you experienced these sensations before to have it just be inflammation? What does an ulcer feel like? Or a slip? Thank you!!! Angela

Well, I went to the doctors and he removed all the fluid from my band. I'm still in pain and he told me if the pain last through tonight, then to call in first thing in the morning. We'll see how the evening goes.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I very much appreciate it. I called my surgeons office this morning and am waiting for him to call me back. If he doesn't call back in the next couple hours, I will be going back to the ER. Going into the lapband process... This was my worst nightmare. I pray it doesn't have to be removed..

Hasn't stopped for me and I was banded in 11/2011!! I think the tighter your band gets, the harder it is to burp and let the gas out.. That leaves only one other way to go.. My doctor told me this is a common occurance for all weight loss surgery patients.

I agree with Missybear. You can and should be able to eat most anything, just smaller portions and eat slowly. I tried scarfing down a banana over the weekend while walking out the door since i didnt want the peel in the car.. bad idea!! ive learned over the past year and a half that eating fast just causes pain and that ill most likely throw up. I can't drink carbonated drinks anymore.. Gives me a super stomach ache.

I bought a new scale right before my surgery. It weighs me 2lbs lighter than my doctors scale. I'm obsessed with weighing myself and will sometimes go step on the scale up to 4 times in one day. This has only started lately because i'm 6lbs away from ONDERLAND and can't wait to see it. Anyway, if you weigh yourself multiple times a day, depending on what you're wearing or what you've had to eat or drink can make the numbers fluctuate a few pounds. Maybe buy a new scale?

i didn't think to ask this until the morning of my surgery. My surgeon only does realize bands.. so I didn't have a choice. After doing some research after the surgery, i'm happy with his choice. I haven't had any problems and my restriction is great. From what I have read and been told, Realize has more forgiveness for things such as bouts of throwing up. However, I've heard that you feel restriction quicker with Lapband. Idk.. all I know is that I am happy with my 11cc Realize. Goodluck!

I just got to perfect restriction two weeks ago. 7.5ccs in an 11cc band. Took me amost 9 months to get here. My weight loss has increased over the past 2 weeks.. feels great! I've only lost 37lbs, but it's really starting to show now. My band is fairly tight.. so the green zone for me is, no breads, rice or pasta.. I can eat most anything else with small bites and thorough chewing. Dry meats are a definite no no. I add fat free dressings to just about everything to assist with sliding through. I'm full after about 1/2 to 1 cup of food. Luv2sing920 - Your band will loosen as you lose weight.. so adjustments will be part of the process until you've hit your goal weight. Some people do not need as many adjustments and are able to stay in the green zone longer. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. I've had to have multiple adjustments, have hit the green zone a couple times. I usually have an adjustment every 4-6 weeks. Good luck!

I have the realize band. My surgeon also explained it that this band is more forgiving and less likely to slip when compared to the lapband. I'm 6 months post op and have 7.25cc's in my 11cc band.

That is wonderful! Congrats!!

well.. from my own experiences, it doesn't get much better. I burp ALL the time. With that said, my band is very tight and I believe that contributes to it. After surgery I was very similar to you.. burping a lot. A few months out I noticed it died down a bit. However I feel that the tighter my band gets, the more food sloshes around in my pouch and creates gas.. I don't know if that's whats happening.. but that's what it feels like to me.

I can no longer eat steak, dry chicken, bread products, skin from fruit, scrambled eggs and raw carrots. It amazes me that I can't eat scrambled eggs. i've tried a few times and it almost always gets stuck. You would think they would be a slider food..

Definitely go talk to your doctor. Once you get the right amount of fill in, you'll feel the restriction you need to assist with losing weight. Good Luck!

Toddy, I felt the same way since my last fill. I went from 7cc to 7.5 cc's and was super tight. I was able to eat, but felt uncomfortable. I was also having a little bit of coughing at night. I called my dr yesterday afternoon and they brought me in this morning at 730am to have a slight unfill. She removed .25cc's. So now I'm at 7.25 in an 11cc band. It made a HUGE difference so far! I can sip my water and not have it settling in my throat. It actually moves through fairly quickly. I am happy with my choice to go in for an unfill. I was thinking I would just deal with it and wait for enough weight loss that my band losens. The coughing really scared me tho and my throat was starting to become sore.. Also, I felt miserable.. I knew that when I woke up yesterday morning feeling like crap because I couldn't even get cream of wheat down, I had to have some taken out. Good Luck!! By the way, I waited 1.5 weeks hoping it was just swelling from the fill.. it wasn't.

I am 7.5cc's in an 11cc band and i'm in the green zone.

difa, welcome to the bandster club!!!!! try to rest and take your pain meds to ease the pain. The first few days are the worst. Also, if you're having chills and feel warm, take your temp. If you're running a fever over 100 call your surgeons office. I'm not sure if it's normal to run a fever after surgery, but you should definitely call the doctor if you are. It could be a sign of infection if its high. Remember to take walks periodically.. it helps with the shoulder pain. I also used a heating pad on my back and shoulders for the first week. It was super soothing. Good luck difa!! We are here for you!

I would say that you wait it out for a day or two if you can. Try getting in as much fluid as possible. I just had a fill last week. I went from 7cc to 7.5cc in my 11c band. I am SUPER tight. The first few days were just like what you're experiencing. I am now able to eat mushy foods and some solids as long as I chew chew chew. Even that doesn't work sometimes and I start sliming and feeling like I may be stuck. I just give it time and it eventually goes through. I like being tight like this. I'm eating about 800-900 calories per day. I feel SO full after just a half a cup of food. It's amazing. I feel that as long as I am able to get in my calories without getting stuck, not throwing up or having nighttime coughs, i'm good. I have finally hit MY OWN GREEN ZONE! If you get to the point where you cannot take in any fluid, call your dr asap or go to the er. Good luck and keep us posted!