2muchfun

Take pictures. You won't regret it.

Bands have a mind of their own. At least mine does. She can be very accommodating some days and even go 3-4 days being nice and then, bam, she gets an attitude. Then I can go 4 days where everything but Soup gets stuck. I do know that I'm still struggling to eat slower, take smaller bites and chew but there are times this doesn't work at all. I've read from others who experience the same. It's our lives with the band I'm afraid. Seriously though, it's got to be the linings of our stomach expanding and contracting to all kinds of influences such as sodium, meds, blood flow, temperatures, time of day and edema. And of course, how fast we eat, how much we eat and how much we chew? I'm going in Friday for a small unfill. I hate to do it since I'm losing weight but I don't like this roller coaster and I'd rather take a few months longer to lose my weight than be so uncomfortable now. tmf

Grannie, that's gotta hurt? tmf

The band is a tool, not a panacea. It won't do it all and it won't do anything till it's adjusted correctly to work with your body. It may take several months for the adjustments to take effect and it will depend on your cooperation. It's just a diet till you find restriction. Don't feel frustrated and don't give up. Most of us have been where you are and it does get better but it may take a while. Will you have to diet? Yes, in some ways you will. You can't eat the foods you ate before the band. If you want to call that a diet, so be it. But, if you want to lose fat and be healthy you can't drink 3 litres of soda pop, eat a quart of ice cream or a bucket of fried chicken even once a month. The band is a tool to help you learn how to eat healthy and if that PA told you that restriction wasn't a factor, he/she was wrong. See your doctor or your nutritionist. Get a fill or two. Learn how to communicate with your band. Your band will talk to you if you listen. And it can be very angry if you don't. tmf

I don't see how you could stretch your pouch if you don't get a stuck feeling? food would have to fill up your pouch and then expand your pouch because you keep overeating and the food has no place to go. Most of us would be so uncomfortable or in pain that it couldn't happen. I suppose in some cases where the pouch had a lot of elasticity you could do this but that would have to be rare I would think? tmf

Go to the top menu and click on your forum name on the aqua/blue band at the top right. Click on my profile and then click on "edit profile". You will find "Change my photo" here and also in the small blue band is another area called photos to add your pics. tmf

Looking at syringe I would imagine .1 cc is about as low as one could see. .2-.3 should do the trick if you're already feeling some restriction. Everyone will be different with how much saline can be added. It will depend on how much pressure the stomach is pushing back with? All stomach linings will be different in thickness. tmf

I researched youtube a lot myself before surgery. You just have to understand that most people don't review a product unless they have had a bad experience. However, I did see many good reviews and good video blogs about the band when I researched. There are many reasons why some fail at the band and it's not always the band that fails. Many times it's situational. Like other medical issues that interact with the band causing the band to not work well or have to be removed. So many obese people are obese for the reason that they cannot control their eating habits. Thinking that the band will change that mental state they go ahead and have surgery. In a small minority of those cases, they find out the band did not make the changes they had hoped for and continue eating or want to continue eating as they did before. I doubt we'll ever see any reliable studies showing how many people failed vs band failures vs failure due to other issues? I've seen many posts on this forum where people complain that the band is not working only to admit as the thread progesses that they've been eating slider foods(and processed sugar) and do not work out. Just be sure that this is what you want and you've tried all other avenues. tmf

Follow your doctors orders. Eat when you get hungry. You can't look at a scale every day or two and expect any change. It doesn't work that way. You may go weeks without the scale moving. tmf

You will need to increase your animal Protein intake. Unless your doctor tells you to drink Protein drinks, you should find something else like tuna, chicken, salmon, hamburger to replace the drinks. Maybe only 2-4 ozs a meal? Are you on any meds that could cause you to retain fluids? tmf

I only lost 12 lbs the first 4 months. Then my fills started to give me the restriction I needed to eat less. I also visited with my nutritionist and she helped me make some changes in my food choices that helped a lot. I'm at 7 months out now and I've lost 40 lbs. It will happen, but you will have to jump through some hoops to get there. Be patient, make sure you call your doctor and get those fills as soon as you can. tmf

I could eat whatever I wanted till fill #6. Fill #3 I noticed some restriction but I could still eat most anything I wanted. You just need more fills. BTW-You can't stretch your pouch if you've never had restriction and trust me, if you stretch your pouch, you will know it. It's not going to be fun. tmf

Yes, that is very normal. tmf

Have you gone in for a unfill? What are you eating? Some days 500 but what about other days? Are you journaling your food so you know how many calories you consume? You could use a session with a nutritionist familiar with bariatric surgery. It's worth every penny. It was for me. I only lost 12 lbs the first 4 months and after my visit I've lost another 28 lbs. tmf

Protein shakes. Crystal light. ss popsicles. Hot tea. Broth. tmf

Honk is right. You should be beyond Protein shakes now. You say you can't eat? Why can't you eat? Stuck? No appetite? Something has to have added 10 lbs? Usually the first 30 days you will lose mostly Water and not fat, unless you have been dieting to the extreme. Have you been consuming carbs and lots of water? Sounds like you are retaining fluids and I know from experience that the food we eat on vacation is loaded with salt and carbs? BTW-Walking is a good form of mild exercise but you'll only burn a few hundred calories in one hour if you walk briskly.

I'm hungry now. tmf

OK, it does sound like you are ready for this. Welcome aboard and look forward to your bloggity blogs. St. TMF

I could have written the same post 5 months ago. And maybe longer? It took me 4 months(3 fills) before I started to feel a little restriction. I too went into this with these rose colored glasses thinking I wouldn't be like so many others who would only lose 2 lbs a month. I was going to lose 10-12 lbs a month. Then reality bit me in the butt. LOL So, I'm down 40 now and like another poster said: "I'm so freakin' happy with how much weight I've lost, I don't care what foods I can't eat anymore"!! tmf

I'm jealous. I only lost 12 lbs the first 2 months. But I'm happy for you. It's a great feeling isn't it? I was walking across a parking lot today and I got this feeling that I'm thinner now. My gut isn't poking out like a watermelon. Awesome. tmf

It is well worth the investment. tmf

Most bandsters did worry at some point I'm sure. Not me. I knew this was my only option. I'd tried everything else. I really only dreaded or feared not being able to pig out with the foods I've loved for years. But, you know, it's OK now. I can still eat them, just not as much. Liquid diets suck! tmf

Check with the insurance expert working in your doctor's office. They've seen this a hundred times and can give you a better perspective on how feasible it will be to be approved. I know $10K or more is a lot of money. And I agree with the others about exhausting all attempts to have insurance pay for this, but wholly crap, some of us don't think anything about dropping $25K on a new car, or $30K on a boat, or $15K to remodel a bathroom. This is our bodies, our future. If we're not worth it, what is? Not a piece of metal and plastic that's for sure. tmf

Good news is you're back on the bandwagon. Bad news is you should lower your expectations of how much weight you will lose per week. In the early stages of any diet plan the body rids itself of excess fluids it's holding back. Fat cells do that you know? Basically, the math won't support more than 2 lbs(fat loss) a week. Here's why: You must burn 3500 calories more than you consume to burn off 1 lb fat. You need about 2000 calories a day just to stay at your current weight. In other words, your body uses 2000 calories a day walking, standing, breathing cleaning house, etc. So, if you eat 1500 calories a day and burn off 2000, you've burned 500 more than you consumed. 500 X 7 = 3500 calories burned a week or 1 lb(fat) lost. Now, add into this some exercise and fewer calories consumed and you can accelerate the weight(fat) loss to 2 lbs per week. But don't slip one single day or it aint gonna happen. Good to see you're happy to be here. Look forward to many updates. tmf

The pain will pass in time and welcome to our community. tmf