Jodi_620

That sounds like maybe port pain. I wouldn't worry too much, as long as it is not severe pain I would give it a day or so. If it still hurts after a couple days you might want to have the doctor look at it.

Keeping my fingers crossed for ya...let me know what they find with the gastro.

I noticed the same thing. For me it was the pre-op and post-op diet. I am a carb addict and my pre-op diet was all protein and almost no carbs. Clearing the carbs out of my system curbed my appetite. If the foods you once craved were carbs (potatoes, pastas, breads, sweets) you might want to be careful what kinds of carbs you re-introduce back into your diet to avoid jumpstarting those cravings. Choose healthy unprocessed ones.

I was officially "un-diagnosed" within weeks to a month or so after banding. I no longer need metformin and all of my symptoms are gone.

All of those concerns are normal but If you are a meat and potatoes gal then you should be fine. food tolerance does not seem to be a "one size fits all" feature of the band. And as your restriction changes so will your tolerances. And as time goes by, you will learn to read your restriction to determine what you can eat today. I start the day off tight and loosen up as the day goes on. Sometimes I can eat bread with dinner other times I feel tight and don't even try, I would never try bread in the morning and it is "iffy at lunch time. But keep in mind what one person can't tolerate another might. You will find that the foods that aren't easy are no longer as enjoyable most times so you don't even want them. Several veggies are not easy for me, raw chewy stringy veggies are no-no's for me. Celery, Broccoli (stems), brussels sprouts are out. I had my worst stuck episode on watermelon, believe it or not, and though my tolerance changes with my restriction, I just can not bring myself to try it again. I also don't eat much lettuce; not because I can't get it down but because it sits in the pouch so long for me, it tends to get all slimy and bad and I belch up this nasty "old lettuce" taste, yuk!. Much of the other fruits and veggies I can eat but some are a little more uncomfortable than others. I think juice is fine as long as it is a good quality juice. Because fruits and veggies can be rough and I am tight in the morning I have fruit juices or smoothies or yogurt for Breakfast. I choose the healthy stuff without added sugar or preservatives and I don't see what is wrong with that. It is nutritious and it fills me up, 1/2 bottle of Odwalla juice (1 serving) or especially satisfying and tasty is 1/2 bottle (1 serving) Naked juice smoothie, a good breakfast for me. And I feel like with a small serving of veggies or fruit for lunch and a serving of fruit and a serving of veggie for dinner along I am getting enough Vitamins along with all of my Protein which I think is important for good health. I guess your tastes do change. I was never much of a fish eater pre-band but I remember for several months to a year after banding I would have savage cravings for it. I don't know why but I could have eaten it every day. I don't have those cravings as often now but I do enjoy fish more than I did before banding. Of all the meats I crave chicken most now whereas pre-banding my favorite was red meat. I used to be a Pasta addict but I can take it or leave it now.

Reverie nailed the symtoms. I am almost 3 years out and I still worry from time-to-time. As you go forward you will learn that you will feel different from day to day (heck, sometimes it changes from hour to hour). Some days I am tighter and some days I can eat more. I can't eat much in the morning but manage to get more down as the day goes on. Stress and hormones affect my restriction. In the beginning every time I would feel a change in restriction I would worry. Your worry is very normal and all part of the process. You will likely know if you have slipped plus your doctor will probably do fluoro with a fill from time to time to make sure your band is in place. Just try to relax and if you feel a change, try not to panic.

When you said he used the "water method" you mean he had you drink water, right? When you drank water in the office did you feel restriction then lose that sensation shortly after? Or did you not feel restriction at all before he removed the 1CC? When I get a fill, I have to drink a glass of water. I feel the water sort of gurgling down, there is an instant feeling of restriction. If it doesn't go down then I know I am too tight. I agree with the others- though it took three fills for me to even start really appreciating how the band works, I did feel some restriction prior to getting a fill. If you are feeling nothing after three fills then maybe something is not right in the placement of your band. You should discuss this with the doctor.

Is your port in your abdomen or chest?

There will likely be some things you will not be able to eat but I am sure you will be able to find acceptable foods that you can tolerate. There is nothing that I am "not allowed" to eat just things that are hard for me to tolerate a lot of the time and junk food that we all need to avoid. When cooked properly, I can eat chicken, beef, pork, fish, most veggies (my veggies need to be cooked though), most fruits and even bread sometimes. What sort of food do you eat now?

You sure have had a tough time but you are still 60-70 pounds lighter and that is great! Making the band work for you is still not hopeless. You should discuss getting filled more slowly so that you can ease back into using the band. You say you have the emotional part under control and that is key, it is necessary because as you know the band will not help with that nor would bypass work if you don’t have the emotional eating under control I understand how difficult it is to deal with the emotional part. I gave up smoking, soda and food vices all at once and let me tell you, I was a total mess for a while but I can tell you that it does pass. Whether you choose to give the band another try or switch to bypass surgery, I truly wish you all the best.

Sounds like you may be a little too tight. Being tight and only being able to tolerate liquids and mushies the first few days to a week is normal but after that you need to be able to get enough solid food to sustain you . If you cannot do that then you are too tight. A slight unfill might be the answer.

It is not too late. If you feel you are ready to give it another try then you really should. I would go slow with fills and retrain the eating process and habits. If your doctor is supportive, talk to him/her about your issues or if you don't think you can handle the emotional eating on your own then see if you can get counseling. Get support from your family and you have the great folks here for support as well. I wish you all the best!

I am with United Healthcare and my fills are covered 100%, no co-pay. I know that according to my EOB reports, my insurance company is charged $200 for a regular fill (a fill with no fluoro)

Could very well be a relationship. I know that I have had issues with a runny nose and even a sort of ice-cream headache after eating. It happened more in the beginning but I still get it on a tight day. I have spoken to others in the past that have had similar exoeriences,

Was on Metformin for 5 years prior to surgery to treat PCOS. It did nothing to help with weightloss, it only helped me to process my insulin better so that my hormones were not so out of whack. Was unable to take the Metformin after surgery (couldn't swallow the pills). Waited until my next visit with endo to discuss it, he did blood work and it turned out due to the weight loss achieved just within the few weeks of pre-op and post-op I no longer needed the Metformin. My PCOS symtoms were gone and I am no longer insulin resistant. I would much rather lose the weight and not need those pills!

I can say that at least for me, that has become a way of life. I can rarely eat solids for breakfast, it is smoothies or maybe some yogurt. But I keep some things on hand just in case I have a hungry morning. As for lunch and dinner, my restriction fluctuates from week to week. But with after settling in with the band, learning to eat properly and just tuning in with the way I feel I have learned to read my restriction and can plan my meals accordingly.

Get the fill. I recently found myself in a similar situation, suddenly found myself almost15 pounds up...went in for a fill and it worked for me!

I don't understand why you see it that way (the might as well not have the band comment). A cup of food certainly isn't a lot of food and you can eat that much and stay within the calorie restrictions. From the time I healed from surgery, that is how much I have eaten and was able to lose all of my weight and keep it off. So that shows every reason to still have the band. In my opinion, eating so little food as 1/2 or 1/3 cup would not be very satisfying. I do not measure anymore but I wonder, how do you even get 3 oz of meat and 1 or 2 veggies to equal 1/2 cup? And are you getting enough nutrition and Fiber with it?

Coming up on 3 years out and I STILL weigh myself every morning! I do it right after my morning pee. I know that many will tell you that is a bad habit. But, at least from my perspective, I disagree. It has helped me to evaluate how what I did the day before affects my weight. As long as you weigh yourself at the same time every day and can understand and handle the fact that there will be some minor up-and-down fluctuations, then weighing often should not be an issue.

I did it that way the first few weeks of solids. But no, I realized soon after that I didn't need to take such tiny bites. I just need to eat slowly and chew well.

I had nausea off and on for several weeks after surgery but I never connected it to hunger, maybe I just missed that connection. I can say that the nausea episodes did eventually go away, which is good because I have always been a big baby when it comes to nausea. I almost never feel the actual stomach growling hunger sensation anymore, I just feel the signals that my body needs fuel.

I was overfilled once and I didn't have any problems knowing that it was too tight. I was not able to even get a sip of Water to stay down and I kept having foamy liquid come up. You don't say when you got your fill, that is important. For the first four or five days you will likely have swelling and you should take it easy with liquids or soft foods until the swelling goes down. If you are taking small bites and chewing and the food is staying down then you are probably ok. Tougher meats are going to go down slow. But if you can't take in liquids go back right away because you can get dehydrated very quickly. Sounds like you have restriction, whether it is too much is up to you. As long as I can take in liquids and get some soft food down, I like to wait a week for the swelling to go away then see how I feel. If it is too much restriction for you then go back.

I agree! In the beginning I chose to watch carbs closely, I never pushed it on others but recommended it for those who found trouble with head hunger and craved carbs, I got jumped on by one or two people here about how wrong my idea was. But my method got me where I need to be. Everyone knows their bodies best and they need to choose the method that works for them. No matter how successful a person is with the band, they don't have all the answers for everyone, it is not a one size fits all process.

20 grams of protein per serving is pretty good though and as a meal 250 calories isn't bad. Plus you have all the other fruit servings and not all the additives which makes Naked Juice a very heatlhy choice in my opinion.

1. Since I have knowledge and I exercise why should I think I will be able to control myself after the band. My bad habits are record speeds of eating and huge portions. I do pretty well with choices. My problem was huge portions and simply grazing all day and into the night. The Lap Band will help you immensely in controlling that . You simply will no longer be able to overeat. Before the Lap Band I lost weight several times but couldn't keep it off for more than a few months to maybe a year. 2. How do I break these bad habits? With the band you are no longer hungry and you can no longer overeat. With that going for you it makes it much easier to deal with your struggles with food. Just follow the instructions that you are given and you and the band will break those bad habits. If you need counseling then go for it. 3. Is Gerd/ acid reflux a lifestyle after banding? I rarely have issues with GERD or reflux. But I can no longer eat too close to bedtime though (7PM is my eating cutoff time for 9-9:30 bedtime). A couple of miserable nights taught me that I can no longer eat at night and it is no longer an issue. I had the same concerns as you do. I worried that I could not control myself. I was/am a carb addict so I was strict about not eating bad carbs while losing weight, that helped me with cravings. I am almost 3 years out and I think the changes have become permanent. I definitely have a much healthier relationship with food.