HeatherO

Did you make your final decision? I know I am a little late on this post. I did choose the band over R&Y and it has been the perfect choice for me. I have lost pretty close to 100% of my excess weight on the band.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday. I was much too busy to even bother with the computer much, lol. I really can't wait to get "back on the banding wagon" again and am actually looking forward to it :0). Holidays can be roughhhh, that's for sure. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button really looks interesting. We might just have to venture to the cinema this weekend.

Everyone else said it so well. You have had excellent weight loss for six months. December can be a depressing time for most of us. Now that the holiday stresses are almost over, you can rededicate and let your life get back to normal.

I had a large hernia repair as well. I did have stomach swelling after and i did have some residual soreness for quite some time. I don't think my hernia ever came back . . . it just seemed to be part of the healing process. It sounds normal but you should always call your doctor if you have any concerns.

There was no requirement to use a specific one, but just that we needed to use one as we become super fertile with dramatic weight loss. I never had a problem swallowing the pills. The doctor said I could take them as normal but to be sure to drink a full glass of Water afterwards.

I agree 100%. I can't eat what a normal person eats and be a normal size. My husband was eating at least if not more than twice as much as me . . . but he has a muscular, athletic body and I, umm, well, didn't, lol. Everyone in my family suffers in the same way I do, we are naturally heavier people. We eat healthy foods for the most part, fruit and vegetables are part of our diets and exercise. My youngest brother has always been heavy, but he has played football for years, he would run, go to the gym and is physically fit . . . but heavy nonetheless even with good food choices. I have always gone to the gym and have maintained an active steady membership for almost 5 years now but before banding some people would be surprised by looking at me. If I lived in the caveman days I would be very pleased with my metabolic "gifts" but in these modern times it is indeed a cross to bear. The band helped me with hunger. I did the rest myself.

I started having a bout of reflux when I was a little too tight. It started the same way as yours but got to the point later where I was actually waking up throughout the night having to spit out mucus or sometimes the remains of dinner I had many, many hours before. Not eating or drinking a couple of hours before bed helped some. sleeping with more pillows so that my head and upper body were raised higher than normal also helped. A slight unfill cured me completely.

I am not required to have a fill diet either. I was only told to use a little caution. I asked why I am not required to do the post fill liquids and was told that restriction might happen right away or up to a week out . . . they didn't find a day or two of liquids to really have much impact.

. . . and people wonder why the costs of medical insurance go up by double digits every year??? Of course the hospital will never get that much for the surgery . . . insurance only pays certain allowed amounts, the patient pays their portion, and everything else is written off. However, I think that what they charge is so far out of sync with reality that they should be ashamed for even sending a bill for that much. Is it really any surprise that some people go elsewhere for medical care?

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Violets!!!! I plan on staying home all day on Christmas in my pajamas with hot chocolate killing zombies with my husband and son on the new XBOX 360 game I got for my 16 year old, lol. We wont be visiting family until the weekend so we are going to cuddle up and take it easy doing whatever. There will be definitely be no piehole report for tomorrow. I will not overeat but I plan on eating anything I want . . . even a glass of eggnogg. I also imagine a few chocolates may just pass these lips as well. It is only once a year and I have been doing really good lately resisting temptations. I remember my first ever mouse episode. We tried for days to catch it with traditional mouse traps, no luck although we could see it occasionally and there was other "evidence" if you know what I mean. I was sooo grossed out, afraid to get up at night in case I stepped on it or something . . . afraid that maybe it would venture up on my bed, ewwww. Anyway, one night we just sat down to dinner and we heard a loud SNAP. We then heard a series of high pitched squealy whiny noises, the poor thing was screaming to my absolute horror. My DH looks and we caught it by one of the front legs. He took it outside and disposed of it humanely by putting it out of its misery but I never had the heart to ask him how he did it. I will never have the heart to do another trap or ever attempt a glue strip (but I am also the kind of person who catches spiders and puts them in the flower gardens). We did have another episode with a mouse a year or two later, and there were 3 of them. I bought these things called mouse cubes at the supermarket which is a little see through plastic box that they can get in but can't get out. I would give my teenage son $5 bucks to hike out into our woods a few hundred yards and past the little creek and let the mouse go. We lived out in the country at the time and I thought they wouldn't come back if we took them far enough away. They never came back and those are the only 2 mouse experiences of my adult life. The mouse cubes worked like a charm. I had mouse traps setup for days with no luck . . . and every day with a mouse in the house is wayyy too long. The mouse cubes caught them overnight and were really easy . . . they would just be standing in there with their whiskers a twitching. Also they would cause no harm to any other animals in the house so they were a perfect choice. I highly recommend them.

I would agree. I said that Gas-X might give you a little relief . . . but for some reason it never really helped me with this. I felt the same before and after so I stopped taking it. I thought maybe there was just something in my physical makeup that made this an ineffective med for me. Tylenol is kind of the same as well. I can't really tell much of a difference after I take it either.

It is still possible to have gas pains at 8 days out that will flare up. Gas-X might give you a little relief. However, for your own safety and well-being you should call your doctor. If it is anything other than gas, there is no way we would know for sure what the issue could be. If you felt like you were having a flare-up that was significant enough for you to think possible heart attack, it is better to be safe than sorry by keeping your doctor informed.

I would agree about being overly full. Those are symptoms that you would have from overeating. Also you might just have a tender stomach right now that might need to be babied for a couple of days. If you are already sore or a little swollen inside, it helps to let your stomach rest. Going back to more liquids and mushies for a day or two is an excellent idea.

I like the idea of being partially deflated as well instead of letting it work its way out naturally. If heated and moisturized gas helps it would be worth it. There is definitely gas pain and anything that can minimize the pain safely is worthwhile.

Are you getting in adequate fluids . . . that can make a big difference, especially since you are only 1 day out.

I am partaking in holiday goodies as well. I have kept it fairly well in control and stick to 1 sampling of something and not half a dozen like I would have done before. The good news, the Holidays are almost over, lol. For most of us it will only be a couple more days of temptation and then we will be back to normalcy.

Liquid tylenol, or tylenol in general is allowed but it didnt relieve my pain very much.

I agree with BamaGirl, trial and error is best. If you don't know where to start 1000-1100 is as good a place as any. I know I could never hope to lose on 2200 per day though, that is wayyy too high.

I have to agree completely. I might have 4 hours in between but after being banded for such a long time, I eat when I am hungry. Sometime 3, 4 or 5 times a day. I still lose weight but don't stay hungry this way.

Ooops, I missed your last post so disregard my previous post. It seems like you have bypassed your sweet spot completely and went from way too loose to way too tight. You can easily gain on Soups and ice-cream . . . liquid calories defeat the purpose of the band. You should be able to eat normal foods without too much pain as long as you are chewing properly and eating slow enough. It sounds like you will need a small unfill in order to get back to your sweet spot. Sometimes .10 or .25 cc's of an unfill is enough to put you back to being reasonably comfortable again.

Just hang in there, you will notice all the difference in the world once you get some decent restriction.

I agree with everyone else. Both group therapy and individual therapy might be helpful, especially if they are done together. This isn't a healthy lifestyle choice and if it continues indefinitely he may risk his band later.

I used Slimfast Optima for a while when I was really tight in the morning so I could get something in. When I told my fill nurse what I was doing, she said that it is the wrong approach to banding to lose weight by drinking Protein shakes or shakes in general to lose weight. I asked her why . . . she said that you lose the benefit of the band by taking in liquid calories. You won't get the feeling of fullness or satiety that is really what helps you to lose weight with the band. With appropriate restriction, Proteins first and healthy foods keep you full and satisfied. I still use them if I am too tight, I need to take something in and I am always really tight in the morning and loose at night so it works for me. I am never hungry until well after lunch time with normal restriction. You can lose weight on Medifast . . . but that feel quite a bit like dieting again. All you need is some restriction and to choose healthy foods . . . then diets can be a thing of the past.

One other thing, when you are hungry post banding, you are HUNGRYYY, at least it is that way for me. I have to be careful sometimes in that when I finally have the urge to eat, I can sometimes eat too fast because I am overly hungry. Instead of hunger creeping up on me, it is just there in full force.

With good restriction I am good for 4 hours or maybe a little more. You will probably not have that at first. You may want to build in a small band friendly snack at that time that fits your diet plan.