2muchfun

You may still be swollen so drink cold water to help reduce the swelling. You may also have to call the ER if you can't keep water down?

You shouldn't be looking for a full feeling. You can get that if you eat too much just like before surgery. You're looking for the satisfied or satiated feeling. That's the feeling where you feel like you are no longer hungry. It's an elusive feeling for new bandsters and can take some time to understand the difference between cravings and true hunger. Jean McMillan posted earlier today and you can see her magazine article on the right side of this page. She stated: "NO WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY OF ANY DESCRIPTION WILL KILL THE EATING DEMONS IN YOUR HEAD" This is so true! The lapband can temper those cravings but it's up to you to discern the difference between wanting to eat more simply because it tastes good and eating less due to less hunger. Good luck. tmf

I believe if you drink it in moderation you should be fine. Some people don't do well with artificial sweeteners but if you have no reaction go for it. I have no reaction to sweeteners but then I usually only have one package with my coffee in the morning.

No, why do you ask?

"NO WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY OF ANY DESCRIPTION WILL KILL THE EATING DEMONS IN YOUR HEAD" Darn!

I understand that asthma thing. My wife also suffers from exercise induced asthma. It's taken her years to get in shape and struggles even now to stay on top of her exercise regimen. She rarely ventures far from her aspirator

I do know what plication is and there are several here who have had much success with it. Sort of wish I would have known about it before my surgery but I'm OK with what I've got. You should do quite well.

Don't rock the boat. Be happy, don't worry. tmf

Then you are doing quite well. But to answer your concern regarding the stuck episodes, try the slider food test to see if you might be eating too fast, too big and not chewing well enough? If you have no problem with slider foods then maybe you aren't eating like a bandster? tmf

LOL, yes you did! The point I try to make about hijacking is this: When you start a new topic, hundreds of people see that topic and can reply to your concerns. Jumping in a current topic and asking questions about your own journey will only be seen by a handful of people, so you won't get the exposure you would get if you started your own topic. Having said that, I don't know what imbrication is? Questions? Anything that you're curious or concerned about should be asked. tmf

Missy said: "Band or no band, weight loss boils down to basic math. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight" So, Stephanie, this is what losing weight boils down to, always. You will read here people who still use Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, atkins slimgenics etc. But the vast majority of us simply eat less because the band allows us to feel satiated/satisfied with less food. The reason we are/were fat is simply because we ate too much. The band does not stop you from eating too much, it allows your mind and body to need less fuel. Oh, the cravings may not all go away, but for many of us they are diminished to the point where the addictions are more manageable if not eliminated. So, there is no fad diet unless you want to consider eating healthy food a fad? I can still eat what I ate before surgery but I now eat less and I'm happy to eat healthier foods. Me, my stomach and my mind are so stinking happy with the weight we lost, we don't miss the pies, cakes, fried foods, fastfoods of the old me. It's definitely a life change. If you think you can leave the junk food, crap, fried and processed food behind, you can be successful and not feel deprived. tmf

Seems like most women have their band deflated during pregnancy? Might be something to think about till the baby's born?

Don't take this the wrong way as most people usually do? You've hijacked this thread. No problem, we all do it but for you to receive good advice and comments on your situation, you should start your own topic. That way more people see it and more people will respond. But, It sounds like you've never had to learn to eat like a bandster to me? 30 lbs since June is not a lot. It's not bad but not great either. Learning to eat small bites, chew them to mush and do it all very slowly is one of the most difficult challenges of the banded. Try this? Eat some Soup. Something like a slider food? Maybe even a few crackers. Do they still cause you to throw up and hurt your stomach? If not, you're not eating properly. tmf

A little more clarification. When you have surgery, most surgeons don't fill the band. Your opening(stoma) is large. food can pass right through. For most of us we could eat anything we wanted but having the band seemed to peak our hunger during this period before getting fills. I was in bandster hell for 4 months. it was awful. I lost 12 lbs the first 2 weeks and then nothing for the next 3.5 months. But, my 4th fill gave me enough restriction that I left bandster hell and my 6th got me to the green zone. tmf

Bandster Hell VS Green Zone! Bandster Hell is the period of time between surgery and when you get enough restriction that you feel you are not starving or constantly extremely hungry. Usually a few fills will temper the hunger cravings. Green Zone is when you're band is adjusted to the correct point for you and you feel satisfied/satiated for up to 4-5 hours after a meal. This is where you should be losing the most fat. tmf

Deli turkey. Most Soups. Click on the link below and I think what you want is on page 26? Also, didn't your doctor give you some kind of manual or guideline? http://www.peachtreebariatrics.com/docs/Gastric-Band-Patient-Manual.pdf

Not gaining weight is more of a success than your failure to follow through. You've done so much better than some others who bailed. Alex, our moderator, posted the link below. This is a string of videos from one of the most renowned bariatric surgeons today, Paul O'Brien. I highly recommend you watch each one, especially the four 9 minute videos. This will re-acquaint you with how the band works and includes some of the newer insights with banding. http://www.lapbandta...n/#entry1960883

John, that's a story we sometimes see here but your honesty is so refreshing. Here's a quote I read on another forum and thought you might get something from it: "In my case, the most fearful thing I had to do in order to succeed with my band wasn't switching to skim milk, surviving a liquid diet, or giving up bread. The most fearful thing was giving up my emotional attachment to food. In the nearly 5 years since I was banded, I've made a lot of progress with that, but the attachment is still there. It forms one of the innermost layers of my turtle shell. Working on that layer will probably be a lifetime job for me. At times I'm not even sure I truly want to get rid of it altogether. At times I'm afraid that if I shed my shell completely, I won't be able to survive. On the other hand, I seem to be doing fine without that thick old b***h layer. So I'm going to pay attention to my dreams rather than my fears and pray for a miracle. And why not? It can't hurt to try!"

It's when you eat too fast and put too much food or food not chewed well enough into your pouch and it backs up into your esophogus. It feels like a golfball under your sternum and can be very uncomfortable. It usually passes in 30-45 minutes unless it's a large piece of meat or something that just can't go through your stoma.

Sure is.

It is normal. If you're still taking pain medication, oxycodone can slow your GI tract to a complete stop so you might want to stop the pain meds if you take them? tmf

I have stuck episodes often. Don't panic, it happens. Don't try to throw up or you can cause a slip. Most stuck episodes last 30-50 minutes for me. I don't try to drink anything as that only exacerbates the problem for me. I get a lot of pressure right under my sternum. Like a soft golfball. I can feel when it passes and I take sip of Water to make sure all is OK. I'll usually stop eating and drink cold liquids to help to reduce any swelling. I'll also eat slider foods for the next 12 hours to make sure I didn't do any damage. Good luck. tmf

You'll be in "bandster hell" until you get the fill that gives you enough restriction for the band to work it's magic. That may be 1 fill or 6. No one knows. Till then, like our esteemed forum member B-52 says, "Until there's restriction...It's just another diet" And yes, nearly all of us have gone through what you're going through. It sucks and I don't recall any nutritionist or doctor or seminar warning me that it would take me 4 months before I got a fill that took the edge off. tmf

Learning to eat small, chew big very slowly is one of the biggest challenges of being banded. You need to chew more and take smaller bites. You have what we call restriction. Pay attention to your hunger now. It's also a challenge to learn if it's truly hunger or is it a craving? Once you start to feel restriction you should start to feel satiated much sooner. Pay attention to the stop signals, like hiccups, runny nose and disinterested in eating. tmf

This is a common question but how many CCs in someone's band is irrelevent. We all have different anatomys, different surgeons, different shaped stomachs, different stomach lining thickness. We have people here who have no fills and no CCs and some with 14 CCs and over a dozen fills. For the record, I have no idea how many CCs are in my band. I don't think my doc even tracks it. I'm probably unique though. tmf