rpaniagua77

Hi Margo, I have felt that way before. Please don't binge. You will feel so bad afterwards. I did it once and got so depressed for gaining back 5 lbs that I had lost. I felt awful. Don't do it. Just drink some water and ask god to help you fight the temptation of food. That is the best advice I can give you because it works for me.

Ok its is January 13th and I know it is late in the year, but I hadn't been on here in a while. I want to join. BETTER LATE THEN NEVER RIGHT??? Starting weight 01-13-06 is 266lbs I will exercise! I will drink my water! I will take my Vitamins and protein! I will make healthier choices! I always weigh on Mondays and I promise to check in on Mondays to give my status!

Just wanted to see how everyone is doing. I was banded on November 7th and have not been here in a while with all the Holiday stuff going on and I went to mexico for about 10 days on vacation. I managed not to gain any weight but gained about 3 lbs when I came back. Holidays are the worst I have been eating a lil bit of everything. I had lost a total of 36 lbs and then gained back 3. Not too bad I guess. I am scheduled for my 1st fill on Jan 4th and I hope this will boost my weight loss. I am so excited with the 33 lbs I have lost. I am just checking in and want to know how everyone is doing whether it be success or hard times please reply and fill us on on how you are doing with you band. Overall I love my band it has helped me control my eating tremendously and a lil exercise does not hurst of course. I hope all of you guys are doing well and I can't wait to hear from you. Have a Happy New Year and I hope you succeed at all you new years resolutions.

Unfortunately that is one of the side effects. I know a friend from work who was banded about 2 years ago and her hair is very thin. You can see her scalp. Dr told me to make sure and eat enough protein and maybe even shampoo with protein in it will help. Look on the bright side. It's looks like you have lost 60lbs and that is a great victory for you . Maybe you can consider getting some tracks if it does happen to fall out to where it is noticeable. Or ask your dr what you can take to help prevent it. Maybe some kind of vitamins or something

Today is a horrible day I woke up at 10:00 a.m. and hungry as hell. I drank my broth and later had a yogurt. I am sooooo hungry and want to cheat big time. I just had 2 more oz of chicken broth and I put a cracker in it and let it get soggy and ate it. I know this is cheating but I want to cheat even more. Usually I feel ok with hunger pains but I don't know why today I am mad because I want to eat so bad. I can have an egg starting monday, but I was going to go ahead and have one today because of my hunger. MY DAMN LUCk I went to the fridge and we have no eggs. I am so sad I am crying I want to eat. Please someone give me some encouraging words. Thanks

Today is the big dayat 12:30pm I am to be banded. Wish me luck fellow bandsters. I am a little scared and alot nervous. Today is the first day of my new life. I want to succeed to bad. Any advice please reply.

Thank you for all your responses I needed some encouraging words. Unfortunatley at first my dr said anything as long as it is in liquid form. But at my post of visit I told him that I was doing ok and that I had boiled and pureed some squash ( I love squash) with a little sour cream and tomato sauce. He said that was a no no right now and that he didnt want me to having anything that isnt already in liquid form. He said that I had not reached the mushy stage until Monday and could not puree until then. He also said he still wanted most of my food to be liquids although on Monday I can add an egg and some other mushies he still wants me to be having alot of liquids ( water, crystal light, watery mashed potatoes, gatorade. This really sucks I had been doing so good and today I just don't know what happened. I am going to take your advice and not cheat. I am also going to take a long walk maybe that will help. Thanks guys I luv my LBT family.

Has anyone felt any different while on your cycle with the band. I have heard some people say their band feels tighter and am wonder if this is true.

Debra, I too was banded on the 7th and know exactly how you feel. I am hungry sometimes too my stomach growls because I don't eat the 2 oz every hour like I am supposed to and even when I do drink all day it still growls and I hate it. Sometimes I just don't want any stankin soup or broth or watered mashed potatoes. So I just don't eat sometimes. I know that is not good either because then later in the day I am starving and I have to give in to the soup or broth and drink it. I know that I too can consume more than that without feeling full I only tried it once I had some broccli cheese soup at hand and it was good so I drank the whole drink (sipping of course probably took me about an 1 or so it was 10 oz. I did not feel full but I was fine, I just tried not to sip on anything for the next 3-4 hours since I had drank the whole 10 oz in 1 hour. My dr too has me moving along quickly from liquids to creamy and mushies within 2 weeks I can even a scrambled egg and thicker soups after 2 weeks. Today is my post-op visit at 1p.m. and I am just wondering what he will say or what instructions he will give me now. I know 1 thing though is that I do not feel full after the 2-3 oz consumed and I don't remember the dr saying that I would. Right after surgery I could not drink much because of pain. Well now I don't feel much pain only hunger and like I said I don't ever really feel full but I also try really hard to only drink or eat the 2 oz instructed by the dr. I know IT IS SO HARD!!! but I have been fat for a long time and I am so ready to look and feel different. I tell you what it has only been 9 days and I have lost 16 lbs although I know this time is strictly for healing I guess the liquids are making me lose the weight and I already feel different getting out of bed in the morning. I feel a little lighter( laugh at me if you want I know it sounds silly) but it's true. I have even had some people notice the weight loss and that tells me that this is working. It may take some time but heck, time is what we have anyway. So cheer up and think positive. This will work for you just trust in it and do as your dr instructs you to do. You will be ok. Even when or if you mess up a little just start over. GOOD LUCK AND KEEP YOUR HEAD UP YOU WILL BE OK.

My dr did not tell me to do a pre-op diet and after surgery he did not make me do only clear liquids either. He basically said anything you don't have to chew. This has not been all that hard but I do miss food. Every dr is different so I guess just follow your dr''s orders. I'm sure you will be fine even after the chicken sandwich. As far as the liver shrinkage, I don't understand that either because I was 300 lbs on Nov 7th this year when I got banded and my dr never said anything about shrinking the liver or anything he did say they would blow me up with gas to see everything and to help make sure there were no mistakes. After you are banded you will feel very uncomfortable both pain from the incisions and major gas pain with cramping and bloating. At least that is how I felt and since the surgery I know there were 2 days in between that I felt hungry as hell major stomach growling. All the other days were fine some days I did not hardly want to even drink water but I knew I had to. You will be ok just remember you are doing this to live and long and healthy life. It may suck right now but just think long term. You will lose the weight eventually just stick to your dr's instructions. Good luck!

I am not as sore any more only a little around the port. I still have a lot of gas though and it hurts really bad. Gas-x is not working too good for me. I also feel full really quickly and I am not hungry or maybe I just know I can't have anything I really want so I am fine. I think the difficulty in breathing deep must be normal because I feel it too. Like you want to take a deep breath but you can't then other times I am feel really good and wonder if I have slipped my band since my body feels normal for a couple of hours. Since I don't know what a slippage feels like or what it would take for the band to slip I am really paranoid. I feel like if I stretch, or if I bend the wrong way or if I cough too much it will move. I guess like I said I'm just paranoid but doing well I went and bought a scale today since I did not have one and GUESS WHAT!!! I have lost 12 lbs. I think that it is awesome considering this time is supposed to be healing time and any weight loss is considered a bonus. I am excited. Although I do feel deprived and the hunger pains suck. My stomach growls all the time and I have to admit the liquids suck. All in all I think what you are feeling is normal since I feel the same way it's just part of the healing process I guess. Well good luck and I hope you feel better.

I have heard that after surgery it is normal gassy. I had my surgery 6 days ago and did not really feel gas pains at first but for the past 2 days I have been in so much pain because I feel like I have alot of gas but can't seem to get it out. I even took some gas-x and it helped a little but after a few hours I felt the pressure again. Is this normal and what can I do to feel better. Sometimes it feels like my stomach growling and sometimes it feels like gas so I can't tell the difference but it hurts and is uncomfortable.

I have also been recently banded and am still on the liquid stage. It is hard at times oh man does my stomach growl and sometimes I think I thougt it was gas pain but it was actually hunger pains. HURT SO BAD! and I have tried gax-x but it just does not work that good for me. I actually find my self cooking now more than before. It's almost as if cooking and looking and smelling the food is satisfying to me. I just keep thinking ("I can't have this now but I will in about 5 more weeks". " I won't be on liquids forever and this time will pass" "It will be ok but I have to have self control and portion control".) I had gotten away from cooking because I was so depressed about being fat. Now I am trying real hard to have a whole new attitude after surgery and I have more energy it seems like I am pepped up and excited about my future weight loss. As a result I am cooking more and cooking healthier for the whole family so that when I can eat normal food they will have been a little used to the difference. I am buying more fruits and veggies leaner meats such as turkey and chicken burgers. They had that last night for dinner and did not mind at all. Of course my children are 71/2 months,4 yr and 8 yr so they eat whaterver I tell them to eat. And my husband has been so supportive of all of this. He started losing weight about 3 years ago when he started working out everyday at the gym.Of course he asked me time and time again to go with him but I would not ( too embarrassed). Now he is getting me a membership to go with him there too. Sorry if I rambled I just said what came to mind. Just try and do like and do and focus on the long term not the moment. Hope this helps and good luck on your weight loss journey.

That is wiered huh? I have only had my band about a week and I already had a cycle and it felt different. I didn't feel hungry at all and I felt like I couldn't even drink more than 3 sips of something and then felt full. It is wierd and wondered if it could be because of the cycle.

Hey that is cool how do you feel?

Sorry I don't know but I was wondering myself. Hope you get some good responses.

I have heard people talk alot about feeling restriction after a fill. What exactly doe this mean. It seems to me that it would be the feeling of being full after eating a small amount. Or is it when you eat so much that you throw up. Can someone elaborate on what restriction feels like to you and how do you know when you don't feel resticted. Also, What is PBing and slimming I have seen people use these terms but I'm not sure what they mean. Is it short for throwing up? Please help!

Good luck and hope for a speedy recovery. Let us know how it went.

I feel a whole lot better today. But I do have some redness and irritation around my incision. It feels tender. I called the doc and did not get a call back. I will definitely have to follow up tomorrow because my sister and mom looked at it and said it doesn't look well.

Welcome to Bandland Abby. I too love this support group the people here are so nice and always happy to answer questions and help. I was just banded Nov 7th and don't know what I would do withou this tool. Good luck and I hope you have much success!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! EXCELLENT JOB!!! I hope to lose 40 lbs in a 3 months just like you. I would at least be able to tie my shoe without feeling shortness of breath. WHEWWW!

I love pork too! simmerred with a little water and alot of seasoning add some squash and it is mmmm good. So is there really such a thing as free food that we can eat alot of and not gaina pound?

Ok, first I want to know what is PBing. And second when you say restriction what does that mean? Does it mean that you had too much fluid in the band and felt too full or does it mean you could not eat. I have not had a fill yet so I don't know what it feels like. I assumed that my first fill would just make me feel fuller faster. Am I wrong ? please explain this feeling of restriction and the reasons a person would need to get an unfill. Thanks

Today is my 3rd day with the band For example today I have had: 7:30 a.m. 2 oz chicken broth 8:45 a.m. 2 oz strawberry glucerna ensure 10:30 a.m. 2 oz cream broccli soup (watery) 11:45 a.m. 2 oz strawberry glucerna ensure 12:30 p.m. 2 oz watery instant mashed potatoes 2:30 p.m. cream broccli soup (watery) 2:45 p.m. 2 oz pudding 3:00 p.m. flinstone vitamin 3:15 p.m. 3 oz cream of chicken herb ( watery) 4:15 p.m. 1 oz applesauce 5:15 p.m. 3 oz strawberry glucerna ensure. TOO MUCH YOU THINK?

Guess I'm lucky I did not have to do any liquids before surgery and right after surgery I was able to eat sorbet, jello pudding, mashed potatoes(watery) cream of wheat(watery). These were the dr's insturctions. All I can say is that my liquid diet hasnt been that bad. Good luck to you!