wadeg7

I was banded on June 12th and I have lost 92 pounds which includes the pre op diet. I was a grazer and night time eater as well. So far I have had only one fill so far. The head hunger still comes and goes but I try to schedule a small snack 3 hours before I go to bed. That seems to help with the night eating. I have also tried to replace my addiction with food for walking. If I want a treat, I gave to pay for it with exercise first. It is working good for me.

I had gas pains for almost a month after surgery. It will come and go and you can have stretches without it being a problem. Three months after surgery I still have some gas first thing in the morning which goes away pretty quickly. Certain foods will make it worse. If I have carbonated beverages I suffer greatly from gas so I avoid them. I think one of the side effects of this surgery is to have more gas than normal. You will learn pretty quickly how to deal with it. Trust me it's worth it. I am down 85 pounds in four months so hang in there.

It is really not a good idea to judge if the band has enough saline in because of what others have on theirs. I only have .5 cc in my 14 cc band and I have lost 83 pounds in a little over 4 months. I keep reading on the boards from people who seem awful anxious to get as much restriction as possible without considering the consequences. You only need enough saline in your band so that you can go 4 to 5 hours without having hunger pains. This does not mean food cravings but real hunger. The tighter the band goes the more trouble you will have eating different foods and make you more susceptible to complications. Remember this is a lifestyle change that if you are going to be successful you will have to live with this change forever. With the exception of carbonated beverages I can eat anything I did before but just in much smaller quantities. The band is just a tool to help and not a magic cure. My advice to everyone would be to be patient and it will work. I personally do not feel some magical restriction. What I feel is that it takes me less to feel full, and if I eat too fast or too big of bites I can feel an uncomfortable lump in my throat which tells me I need to slow down. Remember everyone is different and will require different amounts of fill to reach your green zone. Better to be a little loose than too tight.

3 Months Post Op

3 Months Post Op

Chris they treated me very well. I had minor problem the day after surgery and the nurse came right to my hotel to take care of the problem. Good luck with it. I had my surgery on June 12th and have lost 80 lbs (this includes the weight lost on the liquid diet). I am very happy with the results.

I know it can be scary especially if you are a fussy person with food as I am. I never ate veggies before and I still don't after the band. The only difference is that I try to eat everything else as good as I can. I now take vitamins and supplements to try to make up for the lack of veggies which is a lot more than I did before. I can eat pretty much all bread or products as long as they are toasted in moderation. The only thing I can not do ad I dd before was the carbonated beverages. They just give me too much gas. Good luck with it.

I had to do a 3 week liquid diet that only consisted of shakes. It was very difficult especially the first 3 or 4 days. If you can stick with it for those first couple of days, your body will adjust and the hunger pains will not be so bad. I was at 360 pounds when I started and lost 27 pounds in the 3 weeks so if you are a big guy like me it will come off pretty fast. The one unexpected benefit I had from the liquid diet was that I certainly learned to appreciate food more and it made it much easier when I was able to eat again. I started my liquid diet in mid May and I am down 70 pounds now. Stick with it. You can do it.

My doctor said flat carbonated beverages were ok if it did not cause me discomfort. Well even very flat carbonated beverages cause me a great deal of discomfort. It causes me to have gas as bad as after my surgery so I have had to say good bye to carbonated drinks. It's not a big loss as I have learned to enjoy plain old ice water just as much.

I have to agree with you as well. After 2 months with the band it has become clear to me that I use to consume way to many calories. Before the ban I would eat 1200 calories of pizza for a meal, know I eat about 250 calories of pizza and feel as full as I did before. I still count calories as it is helping me learn the value of good and bad foods, but I expect in the next couple of months to have trained myself so I don't have to be quite so regimented in my calorie counting. I know most of us have a hard time coming to terms to why we became obese. We all make all kinds of excuses (genetics, slow metabolism, stress, ect), I know I certainly did. Yes it is true all of these things can have some impact on weight loss or gain, but the reality of this situation (at least for me) was that I over consumed. When I got bigger I exercised less simply because it was getting too difficult with the excess weight. It is a very tough thing to face and recognize our own weaknesses. If I have learned one big lesson from this process, it is to eat slow and chew well. I have realized by doing this I feel as full now as I did with 3 to 4 times as much food. It is a battle, but we can all win it.

Dr. Confirm did my surgery as well. He is an excellent doctor but more importantly he has an excellent support staff. I would highly recommend him.

Well I am 2 months post op and I am down almost 65 pounds. The lap band procedure requires much more follow up than the other procedures. I think a lot of doctors don't want to worry about the follow up. I am very happy with my decision. I would encourage you to talk to several doctors so that you can get different views on the matter so you can make the right choice for you.

I am 50 and have been keeping my calorie count between 1000 and 1200 calories a day. I have also been walking for 25 to 60 minutes a day. Presently I am losing about 3 pounds per week. Stick with it. My incentive every day to do my exercise is that if I do not exercise I do not get my evening snack. If I want it, I make myself work for it. It has worked for me so far. Good luck.

Plateaus are very common during your weight loss journey. I am 6 weeks post op and I went through a 10 day plateau. When the plateau ended I lost 7 pounds in less than a week. Be patient. It took most of years to put on the weigh. It is unrealistic to expect it disappear in days. For most of us it will take months and in some cases years to get back to where we should be. Good luck.

I had the same problem. It will go away in a day or two. I was told it was caused by the withdrawal of all of the sugars and carbs. Keep with it, it will get better. Good luck.

Hello Everyone, just to clarify I have lost the 52 pounds after 8 weeks (5 weeks post op and a 3 week liquid diet). The weight loss was almost even during these 2 phases. As for the fill I would equate the feeling of the needle to a prick you get on your finger for a blood test. Nothing more than that.

Hello Everyone Today I am 5 weeks post op and I am very pleased with the results. I had my first fill today and the process was very easy. I am now in the 200's for the first time in quite a few years. I weighed in at the doctors office at 299 pounds or a loss of 52 pounds. I am one third of the way to my goals. What I am most pleased I have been able to eat all of my favorite foods albeit in much smaller quantities. I would definitely do it all over again. It takes a lot of work, and you have to want to succeed, but it does work. Thank you to everyone on the message board for all of your postings. It certainly has been helpful to my journey.

I am 4 week post op yesterday. I am down 55 pounds including the weight loss I had as part of my 3 week pre-op liquid diet. I too am feeling much better with more energy. I have been eating about 1000 calories a day with a half hour walk every day. In my personally experience the bigger you are when you start the faster it comes off in the beginning. Enjoy it now as you will hit some dreaded plateaus where no weight will come off for several weeks at a time. It is a long process but you are off to a great start.

I am 4 week post op yesterday. I am down 55 pounds including the weight loss I had as part of my 3 week pre-op liquid diet. I too am feeling much better with more energy. I have been eating about 1000 calories a day with a half hour walk every day. In my personally experience the bigger you are when you start the faster it comes off in the beginning. Enjoy it now as you will hit some dreaded plateaus where no weight will come off for several weeks at a time. It is a long process but you are off to a great start.

Hi Everyone. I am 2 weeks post op just starting my soft food stage. I have been feeling much better and all my nausea and most of my gas issues have disappeared. The only problem I am having is that I am waking up with a gas pain in the middle of my stomach. Once I use the washroom or have multiple burps it is gone for the day but it is very uncomfortable when I wake up. I wear a bi pape machine at night for my sleep apnea and I am beginning to wonder if this is what is causing the excess gas because of the constant air being pumped into me when I sleep. Has anyone had the same problem?

Well folks I have just completed my first week post op. The pre op diet of 3 weeks of shakes went very well. I was down 27 lbs on surgery day. A week later I am now down 37 lbs so I am very pleased. The surgery went very well but my recovery was tougher than expected. I had 3 days of bad nausea and gas which I was able to eliminate with the exception of a little gas hanging on. Today was my first day of mushies and all I could get down a breakfast was a scrambled egg and 1/4 cup of oatmeal. It was good to have something other than liquids. I feel like I am finally on my way. Starting to finally feel normal again. Looking forward to my future.

Hey Everyone I am still having hard stomach pains in the middle of my stomach. They come in waves, sometimes ok and sometimes cramping. On my second day the removed all the saline from my band as I was having dry heaves. That stopped the problem until I was flying home when I had the dry heaves again on the plane. For the last 2 days I have not had those issues but the stomach is really sore. I am thinking the vomiting probable strained my stomach and I am just swolling up. Did anyone have this problem?

Hey Everyone My recovery was going well until I flew back home from surgery. After 4 hours of flying and and one plane change I am feeling miserable. I had the dry heaves all the way home on the plane. I am tired and sore and my stomach is so uncomfortable. I am having a hard time drinking any fluids. Anyone ave any suggestions.