Pepper28

@B-52 Interesting...wonder why bypass and sleeve patients loose more weight per month.... Gastric patients only absorb half of the calories eaten because the part of the intestine that absorb calories have been cut out along with the egg sized pouch. So they've got a double bonus! Sleeve patients entire stomachs (not just the top portion like lap band) are cut into the shape of a long tube, much like a paper towel roll all the way down thru to the intestines Lap Band on the other hand, all we have is the egg sized pouch, we still absorb 100% of the calories eaten.

Sounds like even some of the medical staff are delivering these exaggerated #'s and this increases our weight loss expectations when in all actuality, I've not found any of this to be so. I've seen 10lbs+ a month with the gastric bypass and sleeve patients. 10lbs a month with lap band has to come along with a 1,200 calorie diet, no carbs, and a ton of cardio. Just my observation from my last 5-6 months being banded.

@bluegudren I'd KILL for 10lbs a month! I think at the right fill/cc level, diet and exercise its obtainable. I did that once with Weight Watchers. I stayed under my points and I worked out. I lost 35lbs in 3 months. Then I quit WW...and every single pound came back. Maybe this time w/the band, it won't let me quit as easily this time around.

@terrydumont46 So did you decide to get the fill? Did your Dr agree to giving you the fill? How much did you get? I do struggle with this dilemma as well. If I judge between the green clean unprocessed foods, I can not tolerate another fill. 1-3 bites is all it takes of any meat or any vegetable, steamed or uncooked. However, if its junk food, ice cream, chocolates, anything processed or liquefies in my tummy, yes, I need a fill, because those things will never fill you up. They only satisfy the craving, not my hunger, so you'll end up hungry within the next 30minutes to an hour.

@Buddy567 I know what you're feeling....you're following all the doctor's orders and you're not getting the results you thought weight loss surgery would provide. And its so difficult to accept the fact that you've not lost a considerable amount of weight in all this time. And its even more difficult trying to explain to family and friends why when they see you, you've not transformed into this thinner person they all anticipated. I'm right there with you. I can't explain the lap band process to those who do not have lap band. I have a girlfriend who ask me the same questions every time she sees me.... Sooooo...why aren't you losing weight...they don't understand the fill/adjustment process I tell them I'm following the doctors orders and they can't help feel I've wasted my money. And I honestly hate to admit it as well. I should have gotten the sleeve. It was a couple grand more than the lap band, and I didn't think it would take 6 months to finally get some restriction or assistance from this 'tool' Needless to say, I'm stuck with it for now and I have to keep all my fill appointments until the weight loss finally happens. And all anyone wants to tell you is "put in the work" "follow the diet" eat your Protein first, stay away from sliders, workout, eat 1,200 calories, and you do ALL that, with no assistance from the band, and then you think so now what? Where's my weight loss???

Ive been banded nearly 6 months now & only 3x have i, had to "cough something up" because of the restriction, or eating solid foods too soon after a fill, or from just not chewing &then swallowing whole bites, & it causes such pain in ur chest, & the sliming, & sweating isnt pretty. But it taught me several lessons on what the band will not allow. Clean, green, unprocessed foods are the most difficult to get down so proceed with caution when eating these. Only the junk foods aka sliders go down with ease, i find & almost no discomfort. Also, bands in 2008 were a little different. They only held 4-6cc's (not real sure, but its a single digit) so they are almost nearly restricted immediately right out of surgery. The allergen bands now days can hold up to 9,10,11,& even 14cc's so they require fills to provide the needed restriction to minimize our meal portions

@GoWalking, I cldnt have said it better myself. What they dont tell us in the LapBand Consultation is that restriction doesnt come right outta surgery the way it does w/gastric & sleeve. First, the band is installed, like the gentleman stated up top. Then, you move into the MONTHS of maintenance, experimenting with fills and adjustments, gaining, losing, breaking even, etc In the meantime, any weightloss will be on your own accord until the band is filled enough to restrict your eating and minimize your meal portions. Its taken me literally 5 months (8/1-12/26 to be exact) with no loss, just breaking even. Ive lost 8lbs with my latest fill & then being too tight comes with problems of its own but thats for another topic!

1) To eat slowly, to chew chew and chew again, wait to see if that goes down, to measure the discomfort, (if any), before i take another bite! 2) That i get fuller quicker on green clean unprocessed foods, im talking 1-3 bites and im so done 3) That i can still eat tons of ice cream & chocolates and other unhealthy sliders that liquify in my tummy if I wanted but then that would NOT encourage the most successful weightloss now would it And thats what ive learned from my LapBand

I recently had all the Fluid drawn out & then put back in just to get an accurate cc because like you, i thought id sprung a leak. My chart read 8.5cc's but only 6cc's were in my band. A difference of 2.5. Which we figured were about 3-4 visits where either the nurse was just sticking me and the fluid was going else where OR id had a leak. I went back 3 weeks later and the fluid was the same so there was no leak, the nurse's fills were unsuccessful. Once the needle is in, theyre suppose withdraw a tiny bit just to make sure theyve accessed the port successfully and this wasnot being done for 4 visits!! So have them measure whats in the band next time for a few visits just to make sure the amount remains the same and go from there Good luck and plz keep us posted

My tummy rumbles the loudest in the mornings as i sip coffee & its pretty embarrassing it sooo loud. I dont think its hunger though

I know Protein is the best thing for us all right now, and my Protein shakes go down just fine, its the chicken fish and especially beef that gets STUCK right now even when i chew them down to barely nothing. My veggies are steamed so no problem there. So im currently rocking the liquids and veggie only diet for the moment since meats get stuck and sliders are delicious, but wld sabotage all the weight ive been able to lose so far This has got to be the other phase of bandster hell. LMFAO

Oh wow! Now thats scary. Guess i really hadnt thought it all out. Im down 8lbs in 1 week on liquids. My next appt is Thursday the 9th and i am honestly tired of this liquid diet. I will have them remove half of the .5 and see how that feels.

So true @carolinagirl being so tight that now sliders are my go-to comfort foods when i have to bring the clean foods back up because they get stuck is no way to live. I dont plan on staying this tight forever but at least until ive lost something. Ive not lost a single lb in the 5 months ive had the band installed and now at this restriction level its melting right off. I will eventually have a cc or 2 taken out so that the clean foods will not get stuck but it wont be anytime soon.

@2muchfun I get stuck and im forced to stop eating after a few bites. I dont stop eating because im satisfied i dont get there, stuck arrives, so im not reaching the "fullness" If this keeps up into the 3rd week im gonna get an unfill.

In the lap band veteran forum ive read that no ones following any particular diet plan, but eating whatever their band tolerates. Was your band not filled tight enough to limit your food intake? I have the worst junk food habit & ive not been able to kick it, even with the band. But im tight enough now where it is impossible to eat an entire can of Pringles in one sitting the way I would at any other fill level less than 7.5. And when my real clean foods are too dry to go down i turn to Sliders. shakes Ice Cream and anything my band "tolerates" and ive lost 7lbs this week doing so

I must have a different band because my band does not help w/hunger. Im always hungry. My band does drastically limit my food intake. After 4bites, im "stuck" 6 bites, "slime" and together its enough to make u forget about any craving you've ever had...

Ive had lap band 5 months and have finally got my 1st ever scale victory of 7lbs. I didnt lose anything pre nor post op. Getting to 7.5cc's a week agao and finally! Finally! 7 whole pounds!!!

@mschlegel January 1st made 5months. Im at 7.5cc's for 1 week now, in a 10cc band. And i cant eat dry lettuce. They say to allow 2 more weeks. If i cant get veggies down after the 3rd week ill need the forbidden "UNfill"

Really? salad dressing on the side? I cant get dry lettuce down without the dressing. The fat from the ranch helps the lettuce go down smoothly.

@dylanmiles23 Lesson learned on the oranges! Im gonna try the chicken tortilla Soup and salad. Way too tight for fish today id be too embarrassed if it got stuck at a time like this.

When did your friend have this now corroded band installed? The newer bands, from what i understand, from what ive been told do not corrode. Some time ago, bands only held 4cc's now they come in 10, 11, and 14cc's. Back then 4cc's bands gave restriction the first day out of surgery, now theyre filled/adjusted over time. So it may be best to find out whether she/he had the Allergen band or some other. It could have also been the installation. I have a girlfriend who got the band AND her surgeon stapled the rest of her remaining stomach into the shape of the sleeve. She had to have the lapband removed and had the sleeve done correctly in its entirety some years later.

I had half an orange an hour ago & its still sitting in my throat. (Sorry for being so graphic). But im sitting outside of Salt Grass waiting for friends to Celebrate a going away. These particular friends dont know ive had wls. What do I order? Im staring at the menu ive printed online. Do I bring the orange back up? Since it hasnt gone down anyways? Just to have dinner? What if that gets stuck too? Wls really saps the joy out of meals. Every meal is a battle but I wouldnt change it for the world!

I have not tried fish yet but after the two incidents yesterday youre right i do fall back to sliders. Which, I imagine, cant be good!

Im at 7.5 in a 10cc band and the clean foods im "suppose" to eat hurts the most to get down. So now, funny as it sounds, ice cream and chips, sliders, etc, are really my bffs. So its definitely a catch22

Havent had a descent breakfast since 6.4cc's. 6.4cc's and less i was throwing back eggs bacon and even a slice of toast 6.4-7.0 i grazed....now at 7.5, warm coffee. Slowly.