HeatherO

Every fill is this way for me. Even just drinking cold Water can cause series of small burps. It has caused me to learn how to burp very discreetly :0).

I don't know why, but if there is a chance that I feel like I might be starting down the pb path . . . sipping any water turns it into a definite. Water does not help me with this at all, it just doubles the intensity. Does drinking during a potential oncoming pb help or hurt most bandsters?

I got the headaches and withdrawal in the beginning as well. It only took a few days to make it through. 2nd & 3rd day were the worse and it rapidly improved thereafter. I think you may have gotten all of the pain of early withdrawal symptoms but did not get the benefit of moving past that stage by staying with it a little longer. Maybe you can ween yourself a little more gradually off carbs. Perhaps one week of post induction diet, then you go to induction and follow through from there on out.

I use a pressure cooker all the time for Soups. Just read the label carefully when you take it out of the box so that you know what to do with it and how to bleed out the pressure carefully. Wear gloves when you open it as well and make sure that you can see steam escaping from the appropriate spots as you are cooking. This is great for chicken, beef, lamb, etc. I also make my favorite Soup in it as well. It is a turkish recipe and is called mercimek corba or red lentil soup, but it is absolutely wonderful and my band loves it. Red Lentil Soup (Mercimek Corba) Take 1 cup of red lentils (I rinse them first), a tablespoon of butter, 1-2 cups of chicken broth, enough Water to bring total liquids up to 5 cups in total, 1 onion peeled (you dont even have to cut it), 1 small potato peeled (you don't have to cut that either). I then season it with salt, ground red pepper and a dash or two of cinnamon. All of this is thrown in the pressure cooker and the lid is placed appropriately. It is then put on medium high until the steam starts and I shift it to medium heat and cook for about 25 minutes. I let it cool for a little while, open it up and use a mixer to blend the onion and potato in with the soup (very easy because the pressure cooker cooks these so well it takes no effort to blend them). I finally serve the soup with a little freshly squeezed lemon on top. This is my all time favorite soup in the world, which is very healthy and has decent Protein.

I agree 100%. The good, effective stuff does usually end up at the gym. I had a good laugh the first time I ever saw a fit ball. I thought it was a joke . . . but I feeellll it when I am using it and it works great. Funny thing is, with all of the expensive equipment I have access to . . . I find good old fashion weights and exercise bands, not to mention using my own body weight to build strength, is a much better work out. I dont know why I ever thought I need a specific machine before when just getting down on the floor is such a great (and can be intense) workout.

I stay around 1000 on average with variability between 800 to 1200. When I am on the top or bottom of the range, weight loss slows to a crawl so I try to stick to 1000. I am working out like crazy and have been so for months now. I am really starting to notice a lot of toning and the scale definitely drops more when I am drinking a lot of Water and making exercise a daily part of my life. Exercising includes biking, going to the gym and doing step classes, weight training, or elliptical/treadmill work. I average 1 hour a day or so.

Congratulations Fanny! It is great to move through the various stages . . . there is always some new reward pending. I have just tiptoed in for the first time myself.

i would soak in a warm bath with my head and shoulders resting in the Water and my knees bent (but only deep enough so the water could not reach my incisions since it is not good to get them very wet). My husband would follow up with a little massage which really helped. My neck/shoulder pain lasted 5-6 weeks and was pretty intense. There were a couple of weeks where the bath/massage combo was a daily occurrence. It has since gone away leaving only an occasional twinge if I get overfull.

Everyone is different. That goes for the people with the bands along with those who fill them. Some places are very conservative. I insisted on aggressive fills and I have a Realize band. First fill under flouro was 6.8 and I felt restriction, occasional pb but it was a vague kind of restriction that quickly diminished over a couple of weeks. Second fill was 1.5 and the first week i thought i needed an unfill until i realized i just was not eating slow enough or chewing well enough. I found the sweet spot but i had very aggressive fills. You will definitely get restriction once you are filled enough. You should talk more to your fill doctor to get to the right fill level a little more quickly. If they will not give you larger fills, perhaps you can decrease the time in between appointments to get their a little bit quicker.

I had the "last supper" syndrome for a couple of weeks before banding. It was almost as if I was mourning the eventual loss of eating whatever I want. I am sure I gained some weight that last little bit but I did not weigh myself to see how much. Now I am over 4 months out. My attitude towards food has changed. I can eat most things and I dont miss what I can't eat. Before I was hungry hungry hungry . . . I could eat a huge dinner, be stuffed and only one hour later I was ready to eat something sweet. Now food is not an obsession like it was before. The lack of constant hunger has made all of the difference in the world for me. I dont seem to have the "last supper" syndrome any more. I did try one thing that was not on my list before my last fill, (french fries with cheese and sour cream) and I pb'd after a few bites. I knew I was in the "lets do something naughty before I can't anymore" mode and I was thinking about those fries for a few days. My lapband stopped me in my tracks. I never tried fries again after that. You start to develop a subconscious aversion to foods that make you sick whether you want to or not.

If your over two years out, perhaps there is a specific problem that might not be the usual lapband related pain. I think it might be time to seek advice from a specialist. Your bariatric doctor or primary care physician should probably consider giving you a referral.

I agree, the commercials are a little cheesy and almost make you think the weight falls off by itself. There is still work involved. Yes, I am still hungry sometimes. If I go an hour after my usual meal time I feel very hungry, sometimes eat too fast and pb. Skipping meals is a definite no no for me because then I seem to stay hungry off and on throughout the day. However, in general I am not hungry if I stay in plan. I am almost never the same hungry as I was pre-band. Pre-band I could be starving and looking around the kitchen for something to hold me over for dinner immediately after work. On a scale of 1 to 10, I could reach about an 8 (i could eat a horse) on a daily basis. Now, unless I am not eating on time, maybe it is only about a 4 (a yogurt would take the edge off). Hunger for me is now manageable with the band.

It really depends. You have to look at where people are in their band journey when they post their threads. You also have to pay attention to some of the causes imbedded in the posts. One thing that you notice on these boards is that people tend to post more in the couple of months after surgery. You will find many, many posters who have just began their journey. There is a time after banding, but before you get restriction where weight loss is hard. You are hungry and the band has not started to work yet. Because people are posting more early in their journey and are looking for answers when there is a bit of a snag, you will find a lot of posts regarding early difficulties. Everyone who has ever been banded has been in this position a couple of times. Our bodies need time to adjust to big changes. There are also plenty of long timers on the board who have reached goal or have lost and kept off a significant percentage of their weight. It is important to read posts by people who have found success because there are a lot of nuggets of wisdom there. Look in posts for someone who has reached goal and has a lot of posts, click on their name and search through their posts. Chances are even with these people, you will find a couple of posts regarding being stuck, stalled early in the process and you will later see how they got back on track. There seems to be a recurrent themes among those who do lose and those who have trouble over the long term with the band. In no particular order, they are as follows: 1) Exercise is important. It is rare to see someone not losing (over the long term) when they have built exercise into their life. It is possible to lose weight without exercise, but people with the best success have incorporated it into their lives. 2) Emotional eating is not overcome by the band alone, you have to find a way to work through this if it is an issue for you. 3) There is a balance between too tight and too loose. Once you find the right spot, everything works with you and the journey becomes easy. Sometimes it takes a little patience to get there. Too loose means too hungry. Too tight can also result in a failure to lose weight if you can not eat healthy and there are big physical risks involved as well. 4) Some people sabotage their band. You can see it in a lot of posts where people are not losing. Some examples are eating milkshakes, ice cream regularly or taking in a lot of "slider" foods. Slider foods are foods that pass easily through the band and tend to be empty calories. Sometimes people get into this habit because they keep their bands too tight so normal foods, Proteins or vegetables, do not comfortably go through the band. Grazing can also be a problem. 5) There are band rules which are relatively easy to follow and become second nature over time. Eat high quality, nutritionally rich foods starting with lean Protein and moving on to other foods. Healthy eating is important. Avoid carbonated beverages and items high in sugar/fat (cakes, Cookies, etc.). I love my band. I was banded by Dr. Corvala at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana, Mexico and had a perfect experience. I found a great local Ohio fill doctor with inexpensive fills and a good support system. I have lost over half my weight in a little over 4 months. I follow the rules, minimize cheating, exercise daily most days. The best thing that the band has done for me, is that I am not hungry and I can not overeat. I have been successful with dieting in the past but it was always involving deprivation and ignoring hunger which can't be maintained over the long term. Now that my hunger and capacity are in check, eating healthy has really become a lot easier in the long run. I may not be perfect in following rules, but I make good decisions 90% of the time which is enough to keep me losing. Even if I never lose another pound, I am a happier, healthier person than I was before. If I have a bad day or two, I don't gain anything. I was scared before I took the plunge but have not regretted it for a moment. I have no doubt it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Will the band work for you? If you are committed over the long term to a different lifestyle and using the band as a tool to help along the way, I have no doubt you can find success.

I can eat just about anything in small portions except for bread, pasta (but I can have a bite of them with something else) and I have avoided diet soda. I just eat smaller portions. It has not been a problem, I am just satisfied with less which is absolutely wonderful.

Well, upcoming surgery must be heavily in your mind if it is coming through in your dreams. Perhaps sleeping through it is a good sign your going to have an easy recovery. The burger might just be your mind trying to readjust to what you eat after (although you wont be eating burgers for a while after :0) The post pregnancy feeling may just be the closest thing your subconscious could come up with as post surgery pain. Dreams are always interesting, that is for sure.

Are you getting enough Protein in? Are you taking Vitamins? I know you are scared of gaining weight but I am afraid you might be sacrificing your health to be thin. Having an unfill does not necessarily mean weight gain, specially if you are being careful and consientious about your food choices. This is true if you are eating meat/proteins and focusing on getting more healthy foods in. It helps to be at the "sweet spot" but it sounds like you have bypassed it at the risk of your own health. You may see weight gain if you continue eating slider foods along with increased capacity that a looser fill provides. Slimfast might be helping you in the near term but may not be helpful over the long term. My doctor advised against drinking slimfast. She said that by taking in liquid/easy nutrition this way, it goes right through and I am not allowing the band to help me by giving me the full sensation. It is not very satisfying in the long run. I have been reading posts on different web sites for a long time. One recurrent them that I have seen that people who are too tight for a long time is lack of weight loss (not to mention the physical side effects). It doesn't have to be a large unfill, but something small may get you back to a more healthy diet and the additional weight loss you desire.

I think we all have those days. It is best not to dwell on it and move on with some other activity. Perhaps just tell yourself, it is done and I am not going to continue. If you still need something to much on, have some veggies.

Exercise is great for getting things moving again. It is hard to get started but if you build it into your routine it starts working for you. You can start with walking on the treadmill while you are watching a program. Perhaps it needs to come up out of the basement where it is too easily forgotten. I also agree that 800 calories may be too little. However, how do you know for certain that is your range? You should try to do some journaling, even when you cheat, to get a better idea of what your daily ranges are.

Walking and Gas-x indeed help. Even with those, they help to take the edge off, but it does not eliminate everything. For me everything got a little louder but it is not so bad now at 5 months out. However, it I am hungry and drink something cold, I can feel and hear it gurgling all the way through :0)

I take spectravite orange chewable adult vitamins. They taste good to me. I get them at CVS or Rite-Aid (I can't remember which one). I also take a sporadic calcium supplement but only on days were I don't have any milk, yogurt, cheese which isnt often.

You have gone through a very difficult time. It seems as though your band slipped some time ago, at least before your complete unfill. You have come so far and done so well. The last two months or more have been hell but you have had a specific problem to make it so. How was band life before this began . . . was it tolerable? At this point, I could understand your feelings to just have it out and be done with it after suffering for sooo long. You may be able to do this unbanded, but you will have to deal with hunger and no restriction which gets harder and harder over time. I think the worst part is that you went so long without a diagnosis. Please carefully think about not just having it taken out. If there is a means to fix it in place, that would be sooo much better in the long term. This is especially true if band life was OK pre-slip. Can you remember what may have caused the slip? Did you have a case of the flu or some other sudden onset of symptoms that might indicate when this would have happened originally?

Vomiting everyday and being consistently too tight are prone to causing bands to slip which lead to band removal in a lot of cases. You may be losing a lot now, but you are already seeing physical signs that your health may be deteriorating which should be carefully considered. Phenomenal weight loss in the first few months is irrelevant if you lose your band and are back to square one within your first year. Please, consider getting a slight unfill for your health and peace of mind. Anyone can lose little or even gain weight while having the lapband. It is a matter of calories burned vs. calories consumed. Foods such as high calorie ice cream are risky for bandsters because you can get them down very easy. If I ate 1,000 calories in milkshakes every day (which is not that many calories for a milkshake with high sugar and fat content) I am sure I could gain weight. Are you tracking calories and Protein consumption on a daily basis? Your ranges in these areas can give you a better idea if you are suffering from malnutrition.

You need to worry much more about vomiting than coughing. I have not heard of a slip caused by coughing, but I am not a doctor. Make sure that you have same anti-nausea medication just in case. Staying with liquids will help along with a cough suppresant that is friendly to your banded stomach. If the cough is really bad, don't hesitate to call your doctor for suggestions.

I don't think they are a very good choice due to the fat content as well. If you did decide to have some avocado, I would say use an extremely small amount. I think it is best to avoid them altogether at this stage of your diet.

6-8 weeks is common to wait for the first fill. After that I can go in every 2 weeks if I need it that often. I would call the office and say you need another fill and try to schedule it. 6 weeks might be common practice, but if you really need another and express it . . . perhaps they will see you. It will not take 6 weeks for it to work. You will immediately feel a change and it may even tighten up a little bit more a few days later.