HeatherO

I would check with your local pharmacies for Gas-X but I really don't know if they have it or something similar in the UK. You will get a prescription for pain killers most likely. Afterwards, usually they tell you to take tylenol. I was told that it was ok to take it in pill form but I must drink a full glass of water afterwards. You can also get liquid tylenol as well. Just make sure that whatever over the counter pain killer you get is on the list of approved pain killers per your doctor. Most are not approved because they have ingredients that can irritate your stomach which is bad for bandsters. A hot water bottle should work the same as a heating pad. I never used nor needed one post surgery. It wasn't necessary for me but everyone is different.

I love PB but I didn't know what to eat it on. I tried it today extra crunchy low fat on two reduced calorie triscuit crackers. Yummmmyyy. I like the thought of bananas. I used to have a little Peanut Butter on celery before banding but I dont think I can tolerate the celery any more. I have only had PB once since banding, and to be honest, it happened after I first read this thread. I think it is healthy in moderation.

For mushy ideas, I ate lots of homemade lentil Soup and refried Beans blended with chicken broth and a little melted cheese. It was high in Protein and very good. I have been banded going on six months at the end of this month. If I have learned anything it is that you need to stick to your doctors suggested diet and follow bandster rules to find weight loss success. Dont start eating solid food and skip stages. At one week out, eating solid food already and skipping stages, you are at risk of damage to your band down the road. It doesnt matter that you can do it without being too uncomfortable. It is a matter that your stomach needs to heal completely before you start making it work. Not everyone loses weight at this stage. The focus has to be healing right now, and believe me, the weight loss will come if you follow your bandster rules and doctors orders. Yes, you need to go back to mushies as prescribed. Please don't put your health at risk. It is not worth it when you only have a couple of weeks when you can start eating again with little risk. The band won't do you any good if you have a complication and lose it altogether down the road.

Some people have issues without a doubt. However, a lot of people that might be several years out, have had success and no complications may no longer be active on a forum like this. Banding is the same as anything, once the initial newness wears off and if everything is going well, life goes on and you get busy with other things. The internet can be a little one sided in this respect because not everyone is posting if you know what I mean. Slips, erosion other items do occur but they affect a minority of people. Sometimes situations occur where this is unavoidable, but it can also be caused if you do not follow the bandster rules well or keep the band too tight for too long.

I am a very deep sleeper. I remember being pregnant and having dreams about peeing. I went to bathroom after bathroom after bathroom. Continuous dreams of searching for a toilet. It never helped until I woke up and actually went to the real bathroom and took care of the problem :0)

It is easier because my constant hunger and tendency to overeat has gone away. This has really helped me to stop obsessing over food. It has also curbed cravings. I can eat one bite of cake on a special occasion and be done with it, move on, and not feel deprived at all. Eating used to be everything to me, now it is an afterthought on most occasions. If I eat too much, I am sick. I hate being sick, therefore I stop before I overeat. Even if my brain tells me to overeat, there is a hard stop in that my body will reject anything beyond a reasonable portion. However even with the band, I still have to make good decisions with food, avoid grazing between meals and get exercise. It is similar to dieting as before, but lack of hunger and inability to overeat make it a heck of a lot easier to deal with. I have lost this much weight before, but it takes twice as long and is usually accompanied with constant feelings of deprivaton and obsessing over food. The band was worth every penny and I have no regrets.

I had low grade nausea for about the first 1.5 months from time to time. I followed my doctors instructions, but I swear it was Water making me nauseous. Sometimes it is just like that, healing from surgery can make you nauseous. If it continues I would call your doc, but occasional issues arent uncommon since you are still so newly banded.

It goes away quickly, don't worry too much about it. However, you can speed it along and feel better if you can get some Water down. It is hard to just drink a cup of water directly after banding. It might help to always have a water bottle near and sip, sip, sip througout the day. Some people are sensitive to the temperature of the water soon after surgery too. You might want to try warm (maybe with some chamomile tea), room temperature (goes down easier for me), or ice cold.

I go to CVS and buy the adult Spectravite chewables. They taste kind of like the flintstones chewables and leave no bad aftertaste. Different Vitamins can give me a gross taste in my mouth after I take them. There are a million varieties of Protein shakes, and a few taste absolutely horrible. You should try to get some samples or post a thread asking about the best tasting, economical protein shakes for newbies. The shakes can be expensive and you dont want to buy a ton of something that makes you want to urk as soon as it hits your lips. I bought premixed Isopure 40 grams protein and zero carb premixed drinks at a Vitamin shop. They taste a little like gatorade but are not terrible. They are clear and you can have them immediately after surgery. Some people dont like the taste but I found them to be tolerable.

All you need to do is start clicking through thread links and you will see it. It doesnt happen every time but it seems to be happening at least 50% of the time for me. Go to some longer threads with multiple pages and click on a different page then you are currently on. Also, go to Forum and click a thread. Sometimes instead of the Forum, you go back to the Home page. When the problem happens, I am always redirected to the Home page. I am sure you will find it if you click around randomly. This issue is especially annoying because I keep losing my place and have to click around to find where I was. I am too easily lost.

Hang in there . . . this uncomfortable part will not last very long. 9 incisions seems like a lot. Most of us only have 5 or 6. It doesn't help to have extra places that itch. I found out that I am allergic to most bandages and tape after surgery. They were giving me itching and discomfort as well. I had to stop using traditional bandages and went to a liquid bandage for some (I think it was called new skin) and I also was able to find bandages with cloth on the inside and the tape portion looked like plastic wrap. I was not allergic to this other bandage but it still irritated my skin. I found the best thing for me was air. After a shower, I would let my incisions air dry while I read a book or watched tv in my bedroom. If your wounds are closed and there is no drainage, perhaps you just need to leave them a little open because of the rash. Do you have some undershirts or t-shirts you don't care about? If the wounds are closed, perhaps a clean, loose shirt that wont be hurt by any topical cream might be the most comfortable way to allow your rashes to go away.

I am so excited I can hardly believe it. :thumbup: I got on the scale this morning, the day before my birthday, and what did I see???????? The magic number - 169!!!!!! I can't believe it. I have officially left the BMI land of obesity and am only overweight. This is the best birthday present I have had in soooooo many years . . . . I am embarrassed to say. It has been a bit of a struggle to get here, but I am sooooo incredibly, wonderfully, ecstatically happy. :cool2::wub::tt2: :thumbup: lala la la la, I love my band, lala la la la :tt2::wub::wub:

Definitely don't take off the steri-strips, just let them fall off when they are ready. I had one come off earlier and my scar there is wider and pinker in that area. I was told not to swim until 4 weeks out. Best to call the doctor and ask. Also, if your wounds look like they could be open at all or if you have any drainage, don't go at all until they are closed. I started to use some liquid bandages (maybe it was called new skin or something similar) when I started spending more time in the Water. The water doesnt seem to affect it at all. It worked well for me.

That was perfectly stated :thumbup:, thanks MacMadame. I have dieted successfully and lost my weight (eventually regained). When I am dieting without an aid, I am constantly hungry and feeling deprived as I take the steps to losing the weight. :thumbup: I have been banded successfully and am again losing my weight. I am not hungry and not feeling constantly deprived as I take the steps to losing the weight. The work is the same in either case, but thank goodness my band is helping me to maintain my sanity while I do it. Thank you, thank you, thank you my faithful band. :cool2:

Making progress :thumbup: NAME ____________weight now____ goal___ lbs lost *****:cool2:********** **********:thumbup:******:tt2:***** aJoneen............230.........220.......3....... Babs0101...........185.........170.......0....... blesdbyonmzur......159.........148.......4....... BTTRFLI1432........221.........210.......0....... Bunkey1965.........210.........205.......2....... Chocolate_Snaps....260.........240.......0....... Darr5380...........170.........150.......0....... erikadawn.................199..............175............0.......... FloridaGirl........235.........215.......0....... HeatherO...........169.........155.......3....... KarenG.............166.........158.......0....... KathyStrick........305.........290.......0....... Leslie2Lose........224.........209.......0....... Lunabeane..........221.........200.......0....... Luu2008............219.........189.......7....... Luv2Laugh..........232.........212.......0....... luvinke............206.........190.......0....... mamato3............199.........184.......0....... mcgreen............189.........175.......0....... mdgarcia31665......225.........220.......0....... mominlv13..........317.........300.......0....... MSnika3............229.........204.......0....... NANAbanded.........225.........199.......0....... Ollie..............242.........210.......0....... Redtulips..........194.........180.......0....... Renewedhope........176.........155.......3....... ronni_NC...........243.........220.......0....... slgandera..........185.........173.......0....... StartingOver.......220.........205.......5....... want_so_bad........170.........155.......0....... Sadie..............220.........199.......0.......

Because she said you didn't "work" for it, it sounded like the comment was deliberately belittling you and it became personal when it was done in front of someone else. I would talk to her about it, but that is just me. I don't think you need to really explain yourself or how it is or isn't work to be banded. It is more a matter of her making personal judgements about you at work in front of others and it isnt acceptable. It doesnt matter what she thinks about banding, only that it is unprofessional to discuss things in that matter. If there is anything I have learned over the years, some people are hurtful because many people don't say anything to defend themselves. If you never say a word about it, she may just say something else again in the future.

If you are eating slow and chewing well but still suffering, it definitely sounds like you need a little unfill. It may not even need to be 1 full cc, maybe a half would be OK. The point of the lapband is not to be on liquids or be unable to eat. You should be able to ingest solid Proteins without being miserable. I would definitely call your doctor again.

I love sushi . . . but I can't eat the sticky rice at all. I have found the sushi that I like and can ingest without being miserable is a cream cheese roll with smoked salmon, veggies wrapped in seaweed with not a spec of rice attached. Just curious, do you eat the rice with your sushi?

Everyone that has ever said they had a small prefill has had a Lap Band. However, some surgeons decide to put them in empty. This is anecdotal but it is what I have noticed to be uniform across everyone that spoke about it. Realize bands are generally empty (mine was definitely empty), no one has ever contradicted this but please speak up if you have had a prefill with a Realize band.

I know what you mean. I feel like I look great in clothes now. I really dont even look that heavy anymore, just common in size for my age. Off with the clothes and I am really dissapointed in my lower stomach and upper thighs. They are not terrible, but they definitely are not normal. However, as a saving grace I have a pretty good swimsuit that conceals my flaws pretty well so I am lucky . . . except I can't find one that conceals that my skin is as white as new fallen snow and won't tan at all :0). On a side note, I saw a friend on Wednesday that showed me you can find swimsuits that conceal absolutlely everything. They are swimsuits for muslim women and the only items exposed are the front of your face and your feet. I thought they were kind of interesting but I had to laugh at the name. They are called burkinis (a mix of burka which is a middle eastern dress that covers a women completely and even veils the eyes and our traditional bikini). Talk about comparing apples and oranges and then mixing them altogether.

I am afraid to eat that stuff. If it is something new I have not tried as a bandster, I dont like to eat anywhere that does not have a bathroom close at hand for emergencies. I can just see myself eating the "wrong" thing and having to sprint across the football sized store dodging housewives pushing carts the size of small cars while vaulting over a few toddlers for good measure . . . . only to not make it to the bathroom in time and having to hyuck something up between the mouthwash and toothpaste (while in dire need of minty fresh breath). Also, did you notice that the kind of things they have for samples tend to be high carbs, high calorie and high fat. I think that might be one of the reasons they may disagree with my stomach.

Ditto, I am having the same exact problem. It takes about three clicks to get to where I am going and is making me nuts. >>>Calling all Board Administrators & Monitors . . . . please help us to maintain our sanity while browsing posts<<< :0)

There are so many people for and against and even supportive of both surgeries. Everyone has a different opinion. You can easily find surgeons with completely different ideas. Because of this, I think it is best that you do as much research as possible and draw up your own list of pros and cons to make sure you are making the right decision. Definitely look online for clinical trial results for the different options as well. The band was the absolute right decision for me, but i have a friend who chose r&y and said it was absolutley the right decision for her. You have to find the best fit for you.

This is just a prime example of why all statistics must be taken with a grain of salt. It is also important to think critically about what you see and read. You can spin certain facts around to show any result that you are motivated to show. There are probably small kernels of truth in what the article says but it seems to discount appropriate information as a whole to make a point. Myth 1, Genetics and inactivity increase risk factors while exercise is healthy and reduces risk factors - this is true . . . but they blatantly disregard weight loss contributions. Myth 3, dieting can be unhealthy and increase the risk of death - this can also be true if people are using highly unhealthy dieting methods like only eating one kind of food or limiting caloric intake to extreme levels. This is a completely biased view and I would be deeply ashamed if I were the author of such an article. What is worse is that the state of Georgia would post this nonsense. Shame on them for trying to skew peoples opinions in this way. I hope no one that has had the misfortune to read this takes it very seriously.

I am self pay and it was by far the best money I have ever spent. I have absolutely no regrets.