puddin

It's as if my body has learned how to get around the band, somehow! I don't think another fill is the answer..... I think I'm just going to have to lose the rest of the weight the "old fashioned way". I do hope that the band will at least help me maintain.

Agreed. I think we both might. Sasha might just be right... our Ghrelin levels are returning because our bodies are so used to the band now. That being said, the band HAS helped me to maintain, mostly because it taught me to eat less.

I don't know if babies push things around, or if shrinking organs can make a difference. I really wish I only needed to get 5-20 lbs off, ver nice job. You might just need an adjustment, small but enough to get you back to where you want to be.

You know, come to think of it, it was after I had my son that I noticed I no longer felt satisfied after meals. It would take an hour to feel any sort of satisfaction, but it never was a lot. Maybe that baby pushed the band or hormone levels changed. Looks like you've done great so far! I'm sure you'll be successful.

Puddin, if you've only got 20lb to worry about after having been pregnant, had a baby and coping with a special needs child, yo'uve done pretty OK - most of my weight came with each of my kids - not the pregnancies but the sitting round breastfeeding and eating and being stuck at home for months - at times I was gaining 2lb per week!

Before babies I was only a bit "solid".

It is probably BECAUSE of the special needs child that I've been able to maintain. I gained 60 pounds during pregnancy since I had to be unfilled the entire time, but lost 40 of it after the baby. Found out about a year ago my little guy is autistic and, in addition to the 5 hours a week of structured therapy, requires about 20 hours a week of "floor time," which basically equals getting on the floor and playing with him, trying to get him to interact with you. In addition to that, every "moment" is a teaching moment, so everything takes four times as much effort. All that makes it pretty easy to stay active. It is a lot of work but I wouldn't change it - or my son. He's perfect the way he is

Jacqui! Wow it has been awhile! Good to hear things are still going well for you, too. Sounds like I'm not alone in this. I suppose I'll have to lose the last 15 (again) with spit and grit... the way OTHER people have to. Lame. Boy, the first time I lost it all it seemed so stinking easy. Even the last few pounds were not difficult - of course back then I was single and had loads of time to exercise obsessively and count every calorie. Being married and having a child with special needs sure takes every last second. I still exercise every morning, but not the 2+ hours each day I used to.

I do not get stuck very often.It just takes sheer will power to not push it down when I do.

Thanks, Mis73. While lots of that info does apply, I have to admit, I am not ever satisfied. I am just always... hungry. The band, for me, has changed. I did feel satisfied before but don't now. I read somewhere once that prolonged users of the band have decreased levels of leptin, the hormone that helps you feel satisifed.

So, I feel pretty unique here - correct me if anyone else has the same issues... I've had my band now for about seven years, I think. I am at a decent weight (though I am 20 pounds heavier after having my son, than at my thinnest), but I have some band problems:

1. I am able to eat a lot of food, though I'm pretty restricted. Had a flouro last year, suspecting maybe pouch dilation, but everything looked good. No dilation. Why can I eat more than I used to be able to eat when I was really actively losing???

2. If I am stuck I am able to "push" food down by applying pressure to my band area with my hand. Yes, it's very odd. I try not to do it, but sometimes when I'm stuck or I WANT to eat more food, I'll push it down.

3. I don't really get that full feeling any more.

Any other long-time bandsters have these same issues? Do you think a revision might help? The docs seem quite clueless - maybe because the band hasn't been around all that long. I would love to lose those 20 pounds I've been hanging on to for awhile, but it feels so much harder this time around!

I'm a veteran bandster. I reached my goal a few years ago. I had a baby 17 months ago and during the pregnancy had gained 60 pounds. It was at the end of my pregnancy and after that I seem to have lost the feeling of being full. I have lost all but 15 of the 60 pounds. I have been on clomid for about 6 months to try and have another baby. I know that's causing me to be hungrier than normal, but I'm not sure why I've lost the sensation of being full. I maintain my weight now by just trying to eat sensibly and completely staying away from sweets, but I'd LOVE to get my restriction back! My doc says I'm as restricted as I can be without being closed off and I DON'T have a dilated pouch, so I really don't get why I can eat so much.

My doc did finally do a fluoro this morning. My pouch was not dilated, no slippage, nothing wrong... so why can I eat so much and have too much of a fill??? Well, I'll just have to scale it back.

I've got a problem. Every night I wake up, about 4:30 AM, coughing from breathing in acid or whatever might be still in my stomach. It continues every hour after that. It's miserable! Everyone says it's a symptom of too-tight a fill, but I can eat quite a bit. It doesn't seem to matter how much fill I get. Could this be a symptom of pouch dilation with too tight of a fill? I'm going in tomorrow to have some fill removed, but I'm wondering if I ought to just have them completely unfill it (or partially unfill it) for a few weeks and go on a liquid diet. They typically don't do the barium swallows.

Well... last night I felt so tight that I couldn't swallow my own spit. It was miserable and painful. I called my band nurse who I LOVE and she met me at 10:30 PM and completely unfilled me. I had total relief immediately. She said that was a good sign that I hadn't slipped. She said usually if you've had a slip the unfill will not provide complete relief like that.

So today I'm wide open. I may schedule that endoscopy today. Did you call your band doc to have it done or a gastroenterologist?

emjay

You know, it does help to drink warm liquids, but not enough. I do notice that the more I drink during the day, the better it feels. Maybe I'll just resort to drinking warm liquids instead of cold...

Oh Carol, that sounds awful. You think I should go get an endoscopy? Do I need to be unfilled for that?

emjay, that is very possible and the only thing I can think of. I just don't know how to get rid of it now.

By the way, I'm filled to only a 1.8. I was filled to a 3.2 before I was pregnant. If my esophagus can calm down during the day I'm wide open and can eat a ton.

I get first bite syndrome. My esophagus spasms for awhile when I first eat and takes FOREVER to calm down. I've given up on eating at night because of it. I don't understand why it's this way now, after having had the band for several years. I was completely unfilled for my pregnancy and it started after I have been getting fills ever since. Anyone else have this?????? It's really driving me crazy. I'm burping stuff up all freakin day long!

Thought I'd post the Utah Health magazine ad they recently put me in. I'm so excited to be on it, helping others to make the decision to get the band!

What did you give the Bodybugg as a reason for not having it on during the photo shoot? :thumbup:

Congrats and as a man I am obliged to tell you that you are a hotty!!

Thanks :blushing: but yeah, this was actually one of my engagement photos, so no bodybugg!

But thanks, everyone! I just had a baby and was completely unfilled for the pregnancy, since I threw up the whole time, so I've got 35 pounds to lose from the pregnancy. But I know I can do it again with the lapband AND the bodybugg.

Okay, not really. They just put my pic in Utah Health magazine. Here it is!

Same here! I struggle with several bites and after LOTS of burping I can then eat, very weird. I did assume everyone was experiencing it too,hench the reason for not asking. I haven't been on in sometime now so thought I'd jump start myself again! I have been at a standstill for some time however I do NOT need a fill, I am behaving badly with the no no's, I can't help it I am still grieving the loss of my son and the garbage food goes down easier than the real food. I am trying to get back on track now, I just finished the last piece(bite sized)of chocloate in the house.

I'm so sorry about your loss! I don't know the details, but it breaks my heart just to hear it. I know how it goes to just eat the junkiest thing that goes down the easiest when things aren't right. Good luck! All I can say is that the suggestions people posted here have seemed to work pretty well! In fact, first bite syndrome seems to be going away slowly

Thanks for posting hmarko. The weird thing about this is that I'm not a new bandster. I never had first bite syndrome until two months ago! And I'm really not overfilled. I'm a 1.8 and, before the baby, I was at a 3.0. It's very frustrating, however, and I feel like I can't get fills because of it.

Question for you: Do you mean you time 30 seconds to two minutes between EVERY bite? Or is this just after the first bite?

Bumping this in case anyone else has more suggestions on how to help this. I never had it until after I had my baby 2 months ago and started getting fills again!

I think I have swelling around the band. I had a baby almost 6 weeks ago, and i think that has made me swollen. I was filled to only a 1.5 (I was totally unfilled during my pregnancy) and I still get stuck quite a bit. I've done mushies and liquids for 24 hours but the inflammation is still there when I go for solids again. Any advice on how to decrease the inflammation?

COUNT YOUR CALORIES!

The bodybugg is the other #1 thing that helped me be successful!

Counting calories obsessively is how I lost all my weight!

lost 165 with the band. now need to get back to this after gaining 35 during pregnancy...

Hey thanks! Maybe swollen because I'm still retaining a lot of Water from giving birth/pregnancy?

I have this weird problem. I had my cute little baby boy about five weeks ago. During my pregnancy I was unfilled and gained about 45 pounds! I'm trying to take it off now, but I was filled back up to a 1.5 (I was around 3 before) and now food constantly gets stuck! I don't understand, because I can actually eat quite a bit, it just seems like no matter how small the bite, food gets stuck. Any ideas on what might be going on?

I gave birth to my sweet little guy two weeks ago and tomorrow I'm scheduled to go in and have my band tightened again. I gained a lot more weight than I wanted to during the pregnancy (like 50 pounds), but had my band completely loosened. Here's my dilemma: I am already producing so little milk and have to supplement with formula. Do you think having my band tightened will affect my milk supply? I drink around 16 cups of Water a day, but will the fewer calories further affect the milk supply?