Jodi_620

I get the hiccups and the nasal drip too but I also sometimes (glad is it not too often) get another goofy one...a "brain freeze" type headache! No, I am not eating ice cream for dinner, just a typical meal then suddenly that stabbing pain, like an ice-cream headache...it doesn't last but a second or two but it definitely makes me put the fork down!

I eat more than 1/2 cup per meal, more like 3/4-1 cup. Is that all you can eat or do you just stop at that? I am just wondering if you are not too tight. If you are chewing well and taking small bites you should be able to get most lean meats down. Can you give an example of a typical day of food? (what , when and how much)

It took nearly two weeks before I was able to lie flat after surgery. Getting in bed was fine, but getting back up was just too painful. In bed, there just wasn't anything to grab and brace myself with--like the arm of the sofa. I couldn't use my ab muscles to sit myself up or roll myself over-if I tried, it felt like my entire stomach area was ripping apart. I do not own a recliner so I used cushions and pillows to prop myself up on the sofa. That was best too because I didn't disturb DH while dealing with movement and pain meds. The first week I was in an almost seated position and I was able to lower myself slowly through the second week.

You need to try and see if you can figure out what is triggering this. Is it emotional...boredom...hormonal? Contintuing to eat that way could at the very least hinder weight loss and at worst cause damage. Stick to three meals a day and when you want to eat between meals stop, try to drink a bottle of Water or do some cardio or even a small walk. Tell yourself that you can have what you want but not until your next meal. Watch your white carbs. Things like bread,crackers, chips, Pasta, potato, rice and sugar will trigger cravings for even more carbs. It is hard but if you stay strong it will eventually get easier. It may help to get counseling or talk to your nutritionist. If you are truly tummy rumbling hungry when you eat then you may need a fill but because the food is coming back up, it sounds like you are eating when your pouch is full, eating past full or eating too fast.

Went for my abdominal ultrasound this morning and was lucky to have a tech that didn't mind letting me in on what she found...my gallbladder is shot and I have several stones. :cursing: So it guess it is back under the knife for me. I did ask why I am not experiencing severe pain and she said probably because my diet is better now. She said that a bad gall bladder does not hurt all the time, only after eating rich and fatty foods. Because my diet is good I am not having the severe pain but I am getting the discomfort from the stones moving around in there and blocking the passage...just thought that was interesting enough to pass along.

I was on two weeks liquids then two weeks mushies before I moved to soft foods-then solids. I don't know when Munequita was banded, there is not mention of that. But it appears based on doctors orders Munequita is to follow the soft foods stage right now. My reply was only to answer the OP's question on how much and how often to eat. But doctors do vary on what should be eaten how soon.

teacherica, After a fill I go have liquids the rest of that day and the next day then go to soft foods for two days then back to solid food on day 4. If I can't get solids down then I know I am too tight. I might wait it out for a couple days to see if it corrects itself but I wouldn't go too long. You should go see your doctor. Any time you are too tight you should have it corrected ASAP. If the doctor is not available right away then schedule an appointment to see him. Being too tight can cause slippage or erosion. My doctor would schedule a fill appointment and do a fluoro just to make sure everything looks good. He does fluoro every six months or so but also when anything out of the ordinary like discomfort or sudden loss of restriction happens. You probably just need a fill but I would have the band looked at too.

You are welcome Carolyn. Honestly, I don't use shakes anymore and never used powders. I eat high protein foods like eggbeaters with meat for Breakfast and lean meats, Beans and dairy for lunch and dinner. I feel like that is the healthier way to go. I don't care to drink those processed canned shakes too often. But I did supplement between meals during the height of the hair loss. I bought the Worldwide Pure Protein Shakes. They are dairy based and taste a little better. They have 35 G of protein per shake and the sugar content is not too high. You can get them at Vitamin Shoppe if you have one local, they also have a website: Pure Protein Shake Frost Choco by Worldwide Sport - VitaminShoppe.com I would sip on one of these between breakfast and lunch. I just take the Flintstone chewable daily vitamins. I tolerate them well. For Calcium I take the Viactive chews and they are like a daily treat to me (chocolate is good but my fav. is caramel).

cee gave some great advice. I would add, make sure you are giving yourself enough time to heal. I listened to people at the seminar and on this site that said they bounced back from surgery and were shopping the same day or the next day and back to full duty at work in a couple days. Having a high tolerance for pain I thought for sure that I would enjoy the same luck. It took me almost a full week to be able to go back to work and I still had to do two 1/2 days. It took me 1 1/2 week to be able to lie in bed. Don't get me wrong, I can't begin to relay how very much it all was worth it. But I think that it would have helped if I had been better prepared and not overly confident about recovery. That is the only "unknown" there was for me.

This is the beginning of your learning process. Take very tiny bites, chew well, give the food time to go down before you take your next bite. It should take you 20-30 minutes to finish a meal. I was told to eat as soon as possible in the morning. Wait a minimum of 4 hours for lunch and the same for dinner. The idea is to eat until you are satisfied but not too full. So of course, it will be a learning process. Start out by measuring 3/4 cup of food. Eat it as directed above. Note how you feel and how long it takes until you are hungry again. If you are still hungry or get hungry soon after (tummy rumbling hungry), add a little more for your next meal. If you feel the food in your chest or feel uncomfortable then eat less for the next meal. Understand that since you probably have not had a fill yet, you will be relying on some willpower to keep from eating too much. Eventually, once you get a couple fills, you want to get to the point where you can eat a fixed amount of food three meals per day and stay satisfied at least four hours before you take your next meal and of course are losing weight.

Pain in the abdominal area for the first 4-6 weeks is normal. Just take it easy, don't overuse your ab muscles and don't do any heavy lifting.

I agree with others. You need an unfill. The idea is to get to the point where you can eat real food comfortably, stay satisfied and lose weight. Sometimes it takes some tweaking with fills to get you to that point but you should never be sick or unable to take in proper nutrition. You should be able to tolerate solid foods. It is more natural, it will fill you up better and keep you full longer. You should NOT be getting sick on solids. My docotor didn't tell me that I have to eat "X" amount of food. Only to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied. I followed that guideline and based on that we guaged my hunger and weight loss and fills were done accordingly. I don't measure but I know that I have been eating more than 1/4 cup per meal since being on solids. My band and pouch are checked regularly and they are fine and my weight loss has been steady.

Yes, you both need fills.

No reason why you shouldn't be able to, are they large pills?

Couldn't agree with you more Plain...

I understand exactly how you feel but just remember, there are a lot of us out here who are living proof that it can be done. I can't tell you how many times during that month that I whined "I just can't wait to chew again". I dreamed of which foods I would eat in the mushy stage. Not sure if you've tried it or if it is allowed, but popsicles were considered liquid for me. I would bite and chew them and it did help me mentally. One week down and one to go!... You can do this, if I did it anyone can and it is so rewarding when you sucessfully get to that last day!

I felt restriction with each fill. The first didn't give me much restriction The second and Third gave me temporary restriction. Then I lost weight rapidly and the band got loose again. The fourth gave me even more restriction than the first three and lasted a couple months I am going on three months with the Fifth fill, no sign of needing another.

It probably will be the most painful part in healing but once you are healed you should rarely feel it inside you. Sometimes if I twist my body in a weird way I will feel a faint pinching and now that I have lost the weight I can easily feel it with my fingers but you should generally feel no discomfort.

It depends. I had an extremely hard time with the pre-op diet. I was starving, moody, had headaches and even cried a couple times. But I did stick with it and I consider myself to be a success with the band. It is okay to be having a hard time at it...it is NOT okay to give in.

For me it all depends on my restriction. I can swallow most smaller round pills. So, for pain relievers I go for tablets. The capsuls and caplets go down most of the time but if I am tight like just after a fill, I avoid them. Gel caps slide down better than the coated capsuls/caplets. I find that breaking a caplet before swallowing is even harder to get down, the uncoated broken edge gets stuck. I get chewable vitamins because they go down easily and so I am more likely to keep up with them.

Is your port that high?

I donated them to Goodwill, first my size 18's, then later my size 14-16's, then a third load of size 10-12's. It was a huge tax deduction! Add the medical deduction I was able to claim this time (adding up all our regular doctor visits, prescriptions, plus my share of surgery costs helped us be elligible for that deduction) and my tax return is going to be a good one for a change, first time in years that they will be paying me!

Without actually being able to see you it is hard to know for sure but it sounds like the sensation is happening in the lower part of your esophagus or the diaphragm. The band would be just below and to the left (your left) and behind your liver. At any rate, getting a new style bra probably would help but I would mention the discomfort to the doctor, you can point it out to him/her and they can verify where the pain is coming from and why. Not sure of your size, I was a 40DD when I started out and I wore a wireless minimizer soft cup bra (still do sometimes) although with weight loss, my size went down a little (36D) and the girls have are hanging a little lower so I've recently started to wear underwires for some lift, and with no discomfort. Hopefully I'll be able to get them reduced and lifted someday.

Your stats are very close to what mine were: 39 yo female 5'4", 234 pounds. Do I miss food? Not exactly. There is really not much that I can't have now that I couldn't before, I just eat less. There are a few items I miss like pizza from a particular local restaraunt that doesn't offer thin crust or having a beer or two when DH and I go to a hockey game or a Redskins game (besides Water, there is little I can have at events like that). I have to plan ahead when we eat out, there are just a few restaraunts that no longer work for me (for example, one we went to only serves Pasta and bread-like items-foods I avoid). Sometimes when we are having a particularly delicious meal I fill up quickly but wish I could eat more. Sometimes (rarely now) I get in a rush and eat too fast then get stuck which ruins my entire meal. But none these incoveniences make me sorry I got the band. You adjust. The way I feel now far outweighs anything mentioned above. I had a lot of food addictions. Ate fast food and sweets a lot. Once I started my pre-op diet and cut out all the processed foods and white carbs I kept that stuff out of my diet. It was hard at first but once I got it out of my system for a few days it got easier and 10 months later I rarely miss these foods. Having the band keeps the hunger away and forces me to eat my food properly. All of this made it much easier for me to deal with the self-control issues.

Allow the abdominal area to heal for six weeks before you do anything too strenuous (heavy lifting or major abdominal exercise). Otherwise, being active as soon as possible is best. Just listen to your body, if you feel pain or pulling stop what you are doing.