parisshel

Could be blood sugar, or meds, or low Iron. Have you had a complete lab workup lately? I'd start there. Well done on your impressive weight loss!

I did a big food funeral for the three months leading up to my surgery....gained about 10 pounds, I'd say. But have been completely compliant with the post op directives since my surgery...and am down now 24 pounds. I don't have any regrets...yeah, I could be at a lower weight right now had I not allowed myself everything I wanted. On the other hand, this all took place during the Christmas holiday season and it was the first holiday season I've ever experienced guilt-free. I ate everything, loved it, and didn't feel bad because I knew I was going to change my life on March 20th. So I totally get what you are posting about, and I suspect lots of WLS patients do this as well.

Oh, that's a relief. So maybe the movement (the slip) was provoking irritation. I'm glad they caught it before it got worse. I hope the unfill resolves it, and you can stay strong while this clears up!

Just commenting to say I love your user name. (Also, good advice.)

I've always liked sweets and did not find the band increased that. What I have found, however, is that if I don't start on the sugar, the desire for it goes away. Post surgery I was weeks without sugar and didn't think about it. Now that I can have a small treat from time to time, I think about sugar. Which means I really have to cut it out altogether, because it "calls" to me and can hinder my weight loss efforts.

I incorporate cheese often, but in tiny amounts. Dabs of goat cheese in my salad, or melted grated cheese on refried beans. Just enough for the taste and a hit of calcium and protein. I never, however, just eat it on its own.

The very first bariatric surgeon I consulted told me he no longer did lapbands, and said "they now take out more lapbands than they put in." So I found another surgeon. That surgeon told me he refused to do the Sleeve, based on the lack of longterm data (the procedure is still considered "new", certainly when compared with the Lapband), and (more importantly, at least to me), that he currently had several sleeved patients on his ward in the hospital, being treated for leaks along the staple line. And that is one long hospital stay, when those leaks happen, with bad consequences for the pouch. In the end, I choose the lapband because cutting out part of my stomach? Um, no. Just the thought makes me squeamish.

This sounds like my experience. Next time, I won't be so anxious. Knowledge is power!

My sense is that it is vital to work with a therapist specialized in body image/eating issues as part of the WLS journey. I hope you have access to one so that you can rejoice in all your hard work. In the meantime, well done! You have spared yourself some major health challenges, if nothing else. That's something to be happy about.

Run! Run fast! DO NOT SETTLE FOR THIS SCHMUCK!

Do check in and let us know, ok?

Try going in using a different search engine. For example, if you are using Firefox, try Google Chrome. Sometimes the pic uploads won't be compatible with certain search engines; I know if I use IE NOTHING works...can't comment, upload pics, nothing. (I know, noone should be using IE anymore anyway. )

9 weeks post op and I haven't reintroduced bread (or pasta). I know these are trigger foods for me so I don't want to add them back.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Standing in line to reenroll for the millionth time at Weight Watchers last fall. I just could not bear the thought of losing the weight again, only to regain it plus more. I just didn't have it in my anymore to be constantly hunger, trying to game the WW system, always needing special foods in the house or I'd deviate from the program. I left the WW Center and started my lapband research that day. Had my first consult with the surgeon on December 11th, after months of research and self-questioning to make sure I was mentally prepared for this. Surgery took place March 20th. I'm very very pleased with my decision, and so grateful to be living in an era where there is a real, viable, proven tool to help people like me. I feel like such a burden has been lifted off my shoulders...I'm really loving the way I eat now...tiny portions of wonderful things.

Oh, I feel for you. I am 9 weeks post-op and developed a toothache 2 weeks ago. Root canal scheduled for next week! Luckily I had my first fill last week so I have been on soft foods and have not had a big need to chew chew chew...which would be impossible since I can only chew on one side of my mouth. So you have all my sympathies....get it taken care of so you can be a perfect bandster and not get stuff stuck!

Luckily my bf is 10 years younger than me. Just sayin'.

It's true...you look like you are 15 years old! Great picture, CarolinaGirl!

Probably not a great thing to eat chili (pureed, but chili nonetheless) 3 days after my first fill. I never had gas pains post-op, and now I understand what everyone was talking about.

I wouldn't say it is a safeguard for portion control, but an appeitite dimmer. I call it the nicotine patch for the Fat. You know smokers who use nicotine patches to get off cigarettes? That's what my lapband does for my appetite...it diminishes it so I don't eat too much, just as the patch blocks the smoker from wanting to light up.

If I could tell every pre-op one piece of advice, it would be this one: sit down and write out all you hate about being at the weight you are at. And then write out all you hope to obtain from lapband surgery. Then answer these four questions: What do you care about? (As it relates to living a good life) Where does this come from? (Why do you care about these things?) What is not possible in your life if you stay at this weight? What new theory will you have about your body at your goal weight? I wrote all this out, and I printed it out and took it with me to the hospital. It is also a good document to look at as you work out whether or not you should proceed with WLS. I think most of us hesitate and do a back and forth as we start seriously considering WLS. But one thing that kept me moving forward was looking at how predictive my weight loss history had been. I had reenrolled in Weight Watchers so many times since the age of 14...always lost weight with the program only to eventually gave in to the persistent hunger. It was very clear that I was not going to be among the 1-2% of people losing over 50 pounds and maintaining that loss for life. I didn't really have a big fear surrounding this decision. I know I'll be successful, so there isn't a fear of failure.

I could feel every liquid in the back of my throat after my fill last Wednesday; it slowly diminished over the weekend. Now it's been almost a week and my water goes down like it always did, but my food--I just started back on solids today--man, that's a different story. My chest is very tight as I begin to eat, but then it relaxes. So I'd say for me, it took about a week for the fill to settle and for me to swallow comfortably. But I'm very careful about bite size and I chew my solids to smithereens!

I posted about a similar situation a couple of weeks ago. I'm not at all a lapband veteran (I'm 8 weeks postop) but a couple of weeks ago I was having stabbing pains in the sternum. Like spasms, but the pain was fleeting. It seemed to be unrelated to a meal as it would occur several hours after. My band at the time was unfilled, and my surgeon suspected that there was some irritation going on as the band was kind of moving as it had not yet been filled. (I'm not sure I agree with his explanation because, like you, it seemed to be gas/bowel related.) Anyway, he prescribed Nexium and it went away promptly. I hope you find whatever it is that is causes your pain. It is indeed scary; I, too, thought they were symptoms of a heart attack.

I would keep doing what you are doing until you decide that you need that fill. I only say that because I was also like you, pleased with the restriction my empty band was giving me, with a loss of 2 pounds each week. I met all my nutritional needs, just had bloodwork done which was excellent, and was enjoying everything I ate. I followed all my surgeon's post op directives to the letter in terms of reintroducing my foods in stages. I didn't want a fill, but did not wish to be viewed as a non-compliant patient. My surgeon is quite authoritarian and is not open to hearing a patient's take on things. So I went and got my first fill last week, very reluctantly. Right now I have way too much restriction and cannot even get down any of the healthy. protein-rich, real foods I was basing my diet around. But I'm going to give it a couple of days; it may be once the fill/band settles down I'll be able to reincorporate my salads, Beans, eggs, etc. But I greatly regret not cancelling my fill appointment last week. I was doing just fine without it, and now I'm hating the way I have to eat (for the moment; again, this may change as the fill settles down.) That said, it is providing me with a rapid weight loss. There's at least that benefit.

Absolutely no average whatsoever. People's morphology is different; many people have a fill placed at the moment of surgery; some doctors fill slowly (perhaps to keep you coming back in = revenue stream); some, like mine, do a more-agressive fill. Also, remember that people have different sized bands, with varying lengths of tubing linking them to the port. So a 4 cc fill in one person with a longer tubing will not equal 4 ccs in another with shorter tubing. And 4 ccs in a 14 cc band obviously is a different restriction level when compared with 4 ccs in a 10 cc band. Your fill should be tailored to your comfort. I understand the question--I read alot about fill levels prior to having my first fill a couple of days ago--and now I realize that, while interesting, you can't really do much with the information.