bloom

Thanks guys for your advice. My appointment is tomorrow. I wil talk to the dr. I just hope he doesn't refuse to fill me because I don't want to gain 100lbs with this pregnancy and I could possibly on the track to that. And just so I don't get yelled at, I don't want to starve myself either. I am in my 7th week and I have gained almost 20lbs since my last fill which was 2 months ago.

I just found out that I'm pregnant. I'm guessing that I'm around 5 weeks. I was banded last September. I'm soo excited and I know I need to do some reading on how do manage the band and the pregnancy. Currently I only have 2cc's in my band because I was having problems and they did a complete unfill and I just got 2 cc's in a few weeks back. My next appointment is July 1st and I'm trying to decide either to cancel it, schedule it a little later, or just going and talk to the Dr. I want more put in because I have no restriction an don't want to gain a lot more back. Those that are pregnant, or were pregnant with the band, did you have to have unfill, you stayed where you were at?

I would like to hear others comments on what the nurse said. Do you think that makes sense??

I have been having a lot of problems since really I began getting filled. I had surgery Sept 4 08. First fill a month later and was over filled. Since then, I was yo-yoing back and forth fill, unfill, fill etc. I was having a problem with very large changes in restriction (of course without being filled or unfilled). I was able to from eating a regular size restaurant meal one day not not even able to get down water/soup/broth a few days later. I have problems with constipation, heart burn, a lot of pb'ing, side pains, shoulder pains. In the last 2 months I had went through 3 episodes of almost flu like symptoms: Vomiting, stomach pains when I ate, chest hurt, felt like I could n't breath. This last round started last Thursday and I wasn't able to eat anything, thurs through sat. Sunday, Monday I was fine and then Tuesday it started in again. The times tha I went in before, they kept telling me that I am full of gas. The gas is what is causing my problems. I have tried every type gas of medicine possible. I've tried taking Fiber and it would make the gas worse. I've stayed away from foods that cause gas. I would take beano before I ate. They kept telling me that I just need to find something to control the gas. So, I went to the Dr yesterday and saw one of the nurse. She took a look of the band under fluro and it was fine no slip. The nurse told me that the flap that they fold over to hold the band in place so it doesn't slip. Sometimes you can get gas up into that flap and it almost impossible to get that gas out with medications. I guess the more gas that gets up into that flap, that will push on the band and make it tighter. So anyway the nurse said what happend a lot of time when people have complications that we baby step them back by unfilling a little at a time and sometimes that doesn't work. We have to completly unfil the band and give you a rest from it, let you digestive system get back to normal and them start filling about little by little. Anyway, just wanted to share. Now I have to be really careful not to gain a lot of weight this next month.

To keep it short. I really don't want to get into a discussion about my problems because I have been reading a lot in the complications area and have posted issues that I have. I have around 6 cc's in my band. I have went for several unfills during the 3/4 months. I go from one day being able to eat a whole restaurant meal to not even getting down Soup and Water the next day. Chest pains, shoulder pains, a pain in my lower left side, lot of pb'ing, constipation, excessive gas and bloating, heart burn, etc. This has been going on since November. I have only seen my Dr once since the problems started and he was kind of like well lets just see how it goes. I've only seen the NP and really don't feel that she is taking it seriously. I'm almost to point that I want this band to be taken out but I don't want to give up because I don't want to gain back the weight that I have lost. I have an appointment with my sugeron the 1st part of June and if I don't get anywhere than I am going to see someone else. I actually just called the office to see if I can come in today and I thinki I am going to ask for a complete unfill.

I had the lap bad back in September. Since my 1st fill, I have had a lot of issues. I have been to the Dr office several times and seen both the Dr and the NP, but I don't feel like they are taking me serious. I have an appointment at the beginning of June with my Surgeon to try to get things under control. If I don't get somewhere in the appointment, I am going to go somewhere else. Therefore, I am looking for a someone that has complications and feel that their Dr really listened to them and gave more than just suggestions on ways to correct the complications. Thanks.

I have been trying to get pregnant since the begining of this year. I am really starting to get frustrated becuase I didn't think that it would be this hard. I have a 4 year old and I swear I got pregnant the 1st time we tried. Just wondering if anyone had a harder time getting pregnant after having the band. I haven't been on any type of birth conrtol for over 5 years. Any suggestions?? I think I am going to bo buy one of those ovulation kits to see if that helps.

Ok, I have posted this concern before. I just read through the older comments and I am really lost for ideas. I am really suffering here and I don't know what to do. Since my surgery in September I have had a problem with excessive gas. Not that I am going around farting and burping all the time. I do burp a lot, but I can handle that. Twice since October, during my visits, they did a fluro on my and the bottom stomach was full of a huge gas bubble. This does come and goes, but is a problem more than its not. When I am "full of gas" I have a lot of problems including a side ache and problems getting down food. My nurse practitioner said what is happening is that gas is pushing up on the the band which makes it tighter and even at times blocks food/liquids from passing. Ok, I've taken the suggesting from the NP and have tried a lot of different gas medicine and sometimes it helps, but others times it doesn't. I take take mainly gas x because its has the most gas medicine that I've found. I have tried mylanta, beno, and other gas medcines and not one works better than another. I take more than the recommended dosage of gas. I try to take 1 about 15 minutes before I eat and still sometimes that doesn't help. I also was having problems with constipation. I have been able to control that by eating Yoplait plus digestive yogurt with Probiotics and that has made me regular. I have searched this forum and other forums and even the internet and have tried a lot of different suggestions and nothing is working. I've asked my NP if I should go see a regualar Dr for this problems and she said there's nothing that they can do. I've asked about doing a cleansing diet or something and she didn't seem to exicted about that idea. I did do a 2 day solid liquid "cleansing diet" and it did help for a few days and then the gas came back. The only foods that I eat that would cause a lot of gas is onions. I've had fills, unfill, fills and unfills so many times trying to get some releif. I've been dealing with this since October, but its been worse since the end of December. When I can eat, I do feel that I am at a good spot for restriction. I should have just a tad bit under 7cc in a 10cc band. Previous to my last .2cc fill, I could tell that I was too loose. I am loosing weight. I am down 64lbs in 6 months. However, I don't feel that the way I am loosing it is very healthy. I would say during a normal week, I pb atleast 3/4 times. In addition, I would say atleast once monthly there is an evening that I can't even get down Water. Mornings and evenings are the worst. I usually do good during the day. I feel that I am in the banster hell and I have tried everything to get out of it and can't. I will have a week were I'm doing good and then all excited and think I've got it under control, then the next week back at pure hell. I really want this to work. I read stories of others that are haveing a great time with the band, with no problems, and I ask, why can't I have that too. Sometimes I really second guess getting the surgery, but when I get a complement on how I well I look or step on the scale, I think to my self that its worth it. But in my head, I know it can't be a very healty way of loosing. Any suggestions, or if there is anyone out there that I having the same problem, please let me know that I'm not alone.

I'm not sure how much was put in when I had the surgery. I may be a bit off on my fills and unfills. My 1st fill, he put in 3cc and I couldn't even swallow my spit. So I had to go back the next day.

Before this last time, the Dr did an unfill. He was walking out the door and I asked him how much he took out, and he said just a smidgen. I was thinking, ok how much is a smidgen. Last time he told me he took out .5 cc's so that must be more than a smidgen, so maybe .2 or .3 cc's. Nope, I find out by the NP that he took out .5 cc's. Not because I ask, she said well last time dr. took out .5cc's. Let see how much is in there.

I honestly have no clue how much they put in at surgery. I may be a bit off on my fills and unfills, I was doing it from memory. I had no clue how much I had in the band until last visit because the NP took it all out and it measured 7cc, then (I believe) she took out .5 cc. My doctor is kind of weird about telling how much he puts in and takes out.

I am one that has a lot of problem with gas. When I am very gassy I have a pain in my left side right below my ribs. When I am gassy, I have a hard time getting down foods and some times even Water. I take gas medicine every day. The tighter I get, the worse it gets. I had .5 cc's taken out. Right now its bad enough that my shoulder is hurting. I am still really gassy, but at least I can get food down. However, everyone in my family has had the flu, so I hoping that has not helped the gas. I do get constipated really bad. I am going to start eating more Fiber, and eating the activa yogert to see if that helps at all. I see you are at 7cc. That is were I was at before my last unfil. Maybe you need to have .5cc taken out.

I don't know what to answer. I would probably still get the band because of the weight loss, but I have had a lot of problems. I think about that a lot. Knowing what I know now would I still do it? When people give me complements on my weight loss, I'm saying yes, but when I am having problems eating, I'm saying now. I think once I can get to my sweet spot, I think I will be more optimistic. I'm just having a really hard time getting there.

Ok, I was just getting ready to post about gas. I have been having a lot of problems with my eating due to the gas. I've posted before regarding this and more or less was told that its not gas that is causing my problems. My last dr apointment was right before thanksgiving, and the dr took out .5 cc. I was doing really good and amost no pb'ing for about a month. Then all of a suddent I was pb'ing almost daily. It got soo bad. This last Saturday I couldn't even get down Water. I was scard that the band had slipped. During this week, I lost 1 pound each day. Almost all of my symptoms were similar to a band slip. So Monday, I went to the Dr. They looked at my band under flouro and it was fine, then she moved the flouro down a bit and you could see the HUGE gas bubble filling up my entire lower stomach. This is the 2nd time we've see this under flouro (last time was 2 months ago). I do burp a lot when I eat, but I can't tell when gasy. I have been taking extra strength gas-x about 6 pills a day and it would help for a couple hours and then I would start having the same problems again. The doctor took some of my fill out. I was at 7cc in a 10cc band, which I think is pretty close to my sweet spot. But since I have had soo much problems with the gas, we took out .5 so I have time to recover and get rid of teh gas. Now I can eat almost like I did before being banded. My doctor says when I have that much gas, the gas is pushing up on the band and the food has no place to go, that's why I can't eat or even get water down. So now I have to figure out how to control the gas. I have been reading what types of food causes gas and I really don't eat any of thoes foods. I did find a dietary supplement that is to help stop gas before it starts that I have started taking daily. Also I switched from gas x to mylanta to see if that helps.

I know what it feels like when you are stuck. Plus how can I be stuck when I haven't ate anything yet? The nurse practitioner told me that gas can cause you to have problems getting food down because the gas is pushing up on the band. Also, like I said, if I take gas x then the Water will go down. I don't know why I am soo gassy. I don't drink from a straw, I don't drink carbonated drinks and I don't chew gum. I'm gassy now and I had chicken Soup for lunch. The nurse said to go to liquids when I am having gas problems.

I don't eat a lot of veggies. I can't handle a lot of them. I can't eat lettuce, corn, tomato (because of the skin), broccoli, peas, celery. I do eat cucumbers, potatoes, onions. I can eat Beans, but that does not help with the gas. Like I said the pb's is a lot better than before. I usually go a couple weeks without pb'ing. Honestly I think the pb's now is coming from the gas. See the problem is I can't tell when the gas is bad. I do burp a lot, but I do that all the time. I can only tell when I am really gassy is because I can't eat or drink hardly anything. The other day I couldn't hardly get down Water. I hadn't ate anything yet. When I drank water I could feel it in my throat and then i would start burping. I could tell the water wasn't going down. I would take some gas x and then was able to drink for a couple hours and then the water wouldn't go down again. I have the gas x strips and on average I take about 6 a day. I don't like taking medications, so I was hoping there was something else I can do. I have my next appointment next week, and I will talk to the doctor regarding all of this. I wanted to try other things to see if the gas gets better.

Gas Does anyone have a lot of problem with gas? I had my surgery Sept 4th. At one of my fill's they had the fluoroscope and the nurse said that I had a huge gas bubble in the lower stomach. Anyway, since i had the surgery I have had a lot of gas. I take gas x all the time. However it gets bad enough that I can't hardly get down Water when its at the worse. What can I do to help the gas? Spicy food I can not eat any spicy food. Just a little spice gives me really bad heart burn and it makes my gas worse. The problem is that I really like spicy food and I am married to a Mexican that does most of the cooking. I just 2 weeks in Mexico and had a hard time eating a lot of the food. Not because it would get stuck, because it gave me really bad heartburn. I never had this problem before. Does anyone else have this problem and if so what do you do? Sweet Spot I can't decide if I am at my sweet spot or if I need to have a a little more taken out. I don't know if the gas and spicy foods are from being too tight. On average I am loosing about 10 pounds a month. I can eat about a cup or little more of food at each sitting. I am satisfied for a long period after I eat. I went from Pb's a lot (almost every other day) to only doing it 1 a week or two weeks. Previously they had put in .05. Before the .05, it wasn't enough, but when they put in the last .05 it was too much. Since the .05 fill, they took out a smidgen (that is exactly what the doctor said). So if I take out another smidgen, I worried it will be too much.

Everyone is different and can tolerate different foods. I was naive when I had the surgery because from what they tell you the only food you can't eat is bread and a few other things. I have never tried bread. I don't miss it at all. However, I seem not to be able to eat all those other foods that people don't talk about, like lettuce, ground beef, tomatoes. . . (gosh lots of other thins that I can't think of right now). Also (others may correct me on this) the tighter that you get the more problems that you have. Once you get to your goal weight and you unfill some to maintain your weight, you may be able to tolerate more. Because I can tolerate a lot before my last .5 cc's that I can't tolerate now.

My dad is so anti chicken, he rarely even eats it. Anytime we are out at a restaurant together and we order chicken, he makes some comment about we should order beef. So I highly doubt that is a possibility.

I can't not eat ground beef or even a hamburger patty. I've tried several times and it always comes back up. Last time I tried I chewed really good because I really wanted it to go down, but no. The sad part is my father is a cattle farmer and I get all the free beef that I want. I haven't even tried steak yet. I need to make a roast and try that, but just haven't. Anyone else that can't eat ground beef? and if so why can't we?

I have been having problems lately. I had GERD before surgery. I didn't have a problem until about a couple weeks ago after getting a fill, it came back the tighter I got. The Dr. took a little out today and I just ate something spicy and I can fill the heart burn. But I am hoping its just because of irritation.

I am in the same boat. After my 1st fill, I had to go back twice for unfills. Then a couple weeks ago, I had .5cc's put back in. I am still in doubt about this fill. I feel that the tightness of my band changed daily. Some days I am fine and others I am too tight. I have my next appointment on Wednesday and I am still don't know if I will get a fill, unfill or stay where I am. I am going to have to have a long talk with the dr.

Also remember the more you eat sweets, the more you are going to crave them. I notice this big time. I can go a long time without craving sweets, but the moment that I have some, I start craving them.

I never loose any weight 2 weeks before my TOM. I always loose my weight the 2 weeks after.