2012

Why do the fills sometimes take 2 weeks to take effect? Is it because of swelling after getting a fill and then you really feel what restriction it's really providing (hope that makes sense)?

I second Isopure, the grape and green apple are pretty good. Watch the lemon tea, as it has caffeine and depending on what your instructions are, you may not be able to have this yet. I was told no caffeine for 2 weeks after surgery.

You mentioned cost, as an option if you have a Big Lots near you, you may want to run Zoic drinks by your nutritionist. They are 15 gram protein, 90 calories, and really low in carbs, like 1-2 depending on the flavor,and I'm talking net carbs after you deduct the fiber. I'm in regular food stage now and I still drink these and they are good. They are $5.00/4 pack, but I'm talking prices in Kentucky. They are located in the medicine area of the store. Whey protein makes me sick, but these don't. Just a thought.

Hi Emily, Northern Kentucky here and I had my lap band done by Dr. Curry. If you have any questions, just let me know. Good luck!

Journal what you eat and it really helps you watch what you are doing. You don't have to do it for the rest of your life but it really helps to "relearn" food and eventually you will do like second nature. For example, I was really surprised by fruit and the amount of carbs they have.

Um, no, but you know people will try it.

For those of you with past gallbladder issues, can you please give me your opinion? Everyday around lunch time, my lower back (both sides) start hurting and I'm in pain for the rest of the day (unless I take Aleve) until I wake up the next morning and it starts at lunch time again. Does this sound like the pain you had? And what kind of test should I get for a gallbladder? Blood, urinalysis? I'm bouncing around with my PCP because I can't stand this group of docs I currently have and need to find one to figure out what is going on with me.

I know this is an older post, but I thought I would give it a try. For those of you doing green smoothies, do you have any issues with too much air in them? I need to incorporate more veggies and fruits and I was thinking of going the vitamix green smoothie route. It would be easy for a morning breakfast and since I keep reading that people have a tight band in the morning, this would be good to get used to, to avoid skipping breakfast.

Did you try the tea without milk and still get bloated? I have not heard this from a doctor, but I have read, that sometimes people become lactose intolerant after lap band. I thought I was running into that problem after surgery and found out that whey protein was not getting along with my body, I found some alternatives and all is good. Before surgery, I had no problem with whey protein. Just a thought.

Great job! Now mentor me and tell me how you lost that much in such a short time since February Wow!

Too funny Steve Glad your still around on the website to help us newbies.

Mine was primed with 3 cc at surgery.

Summerrain, is it just after you eat? If so, I have read on here it is some people's signal they are full or eating too fast, maybe this is a possibility? Mine happens from the first bite throughout the entire meal, so I know that's not it. I agree I don't think it's gas and I think the gas pain is usually in the left shoulder, had fun with that after the surgery

I am 5 weeks out from surgery and just had a fill on Friday, I just started noticing that when I eat, I have this pain in my front right shoulder? It's like someone is poking me in the front shoulder when I eat. It's with every bite, so it's not from being full. I don't believe I'm eating too fast and I definitely chew, chew, chew. And it does not happen when I drink. Anyone have this?

So it looks like we have some interest and I see that there are several rooms if we wanted to choose one of those to use, how about "WLS after dark" or whichever one. To accommodate pkb, I could do Sunday nights at 9pm EST, is that good for everyone else?

Thanks Jennifer, the Pepcid did not help me, so I don't think I have the same problem, but I'm glad you feel better!

Hi Lu, I did not have to request this where I go, the first fill is automatically done under fluro. I think they do this to also check the lap band is placed correctly. When I was looking at my X-Ray, it's big machine you stand in front of and look at 2 screens, at least where I go, and they were pointing out that my band is sideways (which is how it's supposed to be placed) and here is my tube and port. The only thing I could really make out were my bra hooks and the port

This might be a stupid question, but does this go away after you take the pepcid for awhile? I have pain on the opposite side of my port (port on right, pain on left) for the last 5 days, I mentioned it to the nurse at my fill yesterday and they were not sure what it was and said it was probably a pulled muscle, I don't recall pulling any muscles, but who knows.

Thanks both, I feel better now than I did this morning

Well a positive note, and at the same time may be a negative note, is that when you are losing weight with the lap band you become much more fertile and need to watch for getting pregnant. But my doctor stated that you should wait for 2 years after getting lap band to get pregnant, so you may want to take that into consideration. Also, seeing the port, I have felt 2 people's ports, my nutritionist's and my stepmother's and you would not know it's even there until I felt it. The reason my nutritionist let me feel hers is because they had a heck of a time finding my port for my first fill yesterday and they explained that the surgeon had put it in me pretty deep, which is good because as I lose weight it will not be poking out. I carry most of my weight in my belly which explains why they were having a hard time finding it. How did I get past all the worries? I'm miserable and I need to lose this weight, period. I have dieted a million times, lost and gained hundreds of pounds, and it's not sticking. My self esteem is crap and I would like to get married one day and possibly have kids, I'm 34 so I need to get going . Also, do your research and find out the facts on percentages for complications and follow the rules!

I had this done yesterday, has anyone gotten sick from the barium? I have not felt good since yesterday, but they had overfilled me and then unfilled me about an hour later where I could swallow again. When I tried to eat today, which is pureed, I just don't feel good and not really hungry. Maybe my stomach is aggravated from what they did to me yesterday?

How can you tell you are too tight? I can tell you, I had my first fill today and it was a 2 hour horrible experience. They put in 2 ccs as it's what they always do on a first fill, I swallowed the barium, nothing was trickling through the band (did flouroscopy), I wanted to vomit. Then the nurse thought something went wrong, stuck me in a room to spit up, walk around in circles, and constantly do little burps to try to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling in my throat. The little cup of water they gave me, I took some sips and no more, nothing was going down. Finally she laid me down, pulled out some of the saline and realized I had too much initial primer and gave me 2 ccs which threw me up to 5 ccs in a 10 cc band. Ugh, if they always go like this, forget about going for more fills. But I'm not giving up this easy, I had to take out a loan to do this since my company could care less about people needing weight loss surgery, and I'm going back in a month.

Hi texas-bandette, how did they rule out that it was not gas pains? I have had this pain on my left side under my ribs for 2 days and I can't get it to go away, even with Gas-X and my port is on the right, so I don't believe that's it.

I was really anxious and a little scared up to the time of getting surgery and what helped get me through is that I kept thinking of the future, get through this little step and you will get this weight off. Just keep the end result in your mind. Also, it helps to be confident in your surgeon, I know mine has done over thousands of lap bands and devotes his life to this, he even has the band himself, so this helped too. You will have pain, but you will get through it, it does get better, I'm 3 weeks out and all those aches and soreness are gone, except for my food journal I keep everyday, I would forget I had this surgery .

When I get there, I'm afraid I won't be able to find the normal clothing side of the store Just kidding, but I can relate, in my early 20's I lost 80lbs and could not believe when someone called me skinny, I had to ask the person, like are you talking to me? And when you walk through a tight spot, thinking still "am I going to fit through there?" But you have to admit it is probably fun to try the plus and misses in the dressing room, whoops that plus just fell right off .