ohjuly7878

Thanks everyone! Your answers were a big help.

How long does your doctor make you wait between fills? Is there a minimum interval of time that must pass before getting another fill? I just had a fill 2 weeks ago and feel that I need another one. I've had the band since August of 2008 and so I'm pretty familiar with what "good" restriction feels like. I had to have a complete unfill about 7 weeks ago due to too much reflux (it was the right move, definitely, at the time) and now I want to re-fill very slowly. I feel it's better to be a little under-filled rather than a little over-filled (I'm sure you all agree). Of course, the problem is that I'm eating too much now and gaining weight. (Even if I eat the "right" foods, I don't feel truly full). Any advice would be welcome; thanks!

MsDuran, I hope you're feeling better now!

MsDuran, I hope you're feeling better now!

I'm glad your surgery is over and I wish you a speedy recovery! I am sorry this is all happening to you.

Fage 0% plain is my absolute favorite. I love the plain flavor but if I want something sweet, I mix in low sugar jam (strawberry or raspberry). That way I can control the sugar and find that it's delicious with only a LITTLE jam (hence fewer carbs than say Chobani strawberry). If I want something more sweet, I also love Chobani vanilla. Once in awhile for a treat, I'll have Chobani strawberry, blueberry, or peach. But in general I LOVE LOVE LOVE greek yogurt. Protein/calorie ratio is very high!

I just joined the site.... my name there is "ohjuly7878"..... I'm going to request you all as friends, if that's all right

These posts are all so helpful to read. Thanks to all of you who are posting! Rachel412, your links were very useful and your words extremely comforting and inspiring. Katemck, let's decide to not feel like failures together!! What you say is so true.... sometimes I get so frustrated that I just want my doctor to give me a massive fill, and then I fantasize that I will punish myself by only having fluids! (Of course, I would sabotage myself that way as well, by having ice cream.) I grumble to myself about the band sometimes, saying that the healthy foods are the hard ones to eat, while the "bad" foods are easy. (I'm sure we have ALL said that to ourselves many times.) Also, I am sometimes sorry to have the band, since if I could "take responsibility" for my eating, then I wouldn't have needed the band in the first place! I know those statements above are said over and over again by us all. I guess the truth is somewhere in between. Let's put it this way: I've had the band for almost 4 years and although I've gained back some of what I've lost, I haven't gained it all back. In addition, none of us knows where we would be if we HADN'T gotten the band. The past 4 years have been very difficult for me (divorce, etc); so if I didn't get the band when I did, I probably would have just gone steadily up in weight over that time. All I can say is that this forum is an inspiration, and I have huge admiration and respect for all those who are here: posting, helping others, and persevering.

Hi all, I feel like a failure. I was banded waaaay back in August of 2008. I was down about 50 lbs at one point (I only had about 75 lbs total to lose), but now I have gained back 25 of those pounds. I think I am eating AROUND the band rather than WITH the band. As everyone says (and as I am aware), the band is a tool and we have to work with it. Today I am trying to begin "the rest of my life" and work WITH the band. In addition to getting my head in the right place (which is difficult, but at least I have *experience* doing that and I think I will succeed in that, at least for now), I believe I need to start ANEW with working WITH my band. However I realize.... I don't think I have ever TRULY worked with it. It's either felt wide open (most likely because I was eating only the easy, sliding foods) or too tight (even liquids having trouble going down... I've had to have Fluid removed twice in the past few years). I'm thinking that I have to plan to eat the "difficult" foods... chew them well and let them sit in the pouch and be mindful of the fullness. But I'm scared, I don't know if I will be able to do this... I would love to hear the nuts and bolts of how others do it. Also, at night, even the "difficult" foods go down easy.... so my plan is to stop eating at 8pm..... but again, I'm scared that I won't be able to do it. I just feel so out of control and almost convinced that I'm going to slide right back to where I was before, and worse......

I have probably stretched my pouch; talked to my doctor's PA today and she said that my symptoms are pretty classic. So I'm going in Friday for a complete unfill, to rest my espophagus. Am I lucky, or unlucky, that next week is Thanksgiving?

I highly recommend him. I'm his patient but I'm also a doctor myself... I was banded about a year ago by him and have been thrilled.

I've heard folks post about this in the past but just wanted to know how many people have experienced what I'm going through now... I had my third fill on May 18th, and afterwards felt a LITTLE more restriction than I had been feeling (which was basically none). All of the sudden, about 3 weeks following this fill, I find I can basically eat nothing but water/coffee and pudding!! It's the weirdest thing. I don't think it's an emergency since I can get down plenty of water, and I mix the protein bullet with my water; so I am getting fluids and protein. I can even take my vitamin pill. But I would not want to stay this way forever! My plan is to continue with what I'm doing and keep trying to progress my diet slowly. I guess if it doesn't go away after ... how long should I wait?.... I'll have to get an unfill (which I've never had). Any advice would be welcome, thanks to all!

As usual, Jacqui's post is right on. I've personally have been banded since August 2008 and have had no complications... no PBing, no vomitting... I slimed only once and that is the day I came home from the hospital (I had stayed overnight). I also don't follow all of the "rules"... for example, I'm much more of a grazer than a three-meal-a-dayer. I also sometimes drink at the same time as I eat. I just go sloooowwwllly with everything and chew really well. I do try to stay away from the carbs but I have Cereal every day (for the fiber). Good luck to you!

I still have my coffee; although I only have 1.5 - 2 cups a day, and when I make it, I make half regular and half decaf. I drink it with half and half and no sugar. This is how I used to have it before the band, and how I continue to have it. I do find that if I have any more than that; or if I increase the amount of caffeinated coffee I drink, that I can get into problems, either with dehydration (since caffeine is a diuretic) or with gas. But if I stick to the amounts above, I have no problem... and it tastes just as good as it ever did! I guess it's a matter of finding the amount that works for you. Good luck! -Julie

I agree with Heather.... sounds like a stomach bug. But now with the vomitting, you probably have some swelling around the band. I hope you're feeling better now!

I'd like to point out that posting here, you actually have ALREADY made your first step. You didn't have to come to this board and read posts, much less post your own. So first of all, kudos to you for making it this far! I know (I'm sure we all do) what a viscious cycle the feeling bad/eating bad thing is. I'd love to say it will disappear but we all know it never will. We just have to deal with it the best we can; knowing it's always two steps forward, one step back. Sounds like you made your two steps forward, and your one step back. Now it's time to get back onto the two steps forward cycle once more. Probably the first thing you should do is find a surgeon you like/can trust who can advise you re: fills (eg, are you at the proper level now?). Also, through the surgeon's office you can probably find support groups. I am sure that you will find lots of people exactly with your issues! The good thing about the band (in my opinion, although I've only had it for six months) is that it's adjustable. I don't think you can ever say the band "didn't work". The other thing that is "adjustable" is our attitude. Sounds like you're in the process of adjusting yours! Good luck to you and don't give up!

I totally agree that we should know exactly what is being done to us/for us/inside us, and why. I guess I was just saying that I don't think the numbers (of the band) per se matter. Even in an emergency, I think all you'd have to tell them is that you have the band... I don't think the treatment would vary depending on the capacity of the band or how much you have inside the band at that moment. I believe even if you had an emergency un-fill by a doc who didn't know your particular numbers, it wouldn't be hard to just take out all the Fluid, even if he/she didn't know the exact amount you had inside at that moment. (Of course the trick in an emergency would be to find a doc who even knew how to access the port, etc. This might be a problem whether or not you knew your "numbers") Being a doc myself, I always, AlWAYS, advocate to patients that they should know and understand exactly what is happening (to them, for them, etc). Everyone needs to find a doctor that will answer *all* of their questions. However, I think the capacity of my band and the amount I have inside are not things I necessarily need to know (for the reasons above). It would be like asking, "What guage needle are you using for the fill?", or "are you using sterile saline or contrast material to perform the fill?" It's a level of detail that may not be necessary to know for one's own health and well being. I'm only trying to explain what I said up above because I in no way would advise folks to just blindly follow their doctor's advice. All patients (no matter what the problem is) should fully understand everything that is going on. Thanks for listening to my ramble! :thumbup: -Julie

My doctor also doesn't like to discuss numbers with me. (And I'm also a physician! So it's not like he thinks it's "too medical" or something!) I think his point is that folks can get "hung up" on the numbers. I believe he is doing this for his patient's own good. He knows that every "body" is different and a number for one doesn't mean the same thing as the same number for another person. I think he feels that if we get too focused on the numbers, we might experience unnecessary worry etc. Yes it is a bit paternalistic. Also, if I really asked more than once, I'm sure he'd tell me. But I decided to trust him and just report to him how I'm feeling; for example for this last fill (I just had my second) I told him how much (or how little) restriction I felt and let him adjust me accordingly. (That is, I wouldn't want to go in there and say "please give me 2cc's" LOL .... ) He's an excellent surgeon who pretty much ONLY does weight loss surgery, and I trust him. He does his fills under fluoroscopy so he can actually see what it looks like after he fills it (he has us swallow the barium and he watches it go through). So I think he bases if it's "enough" based on the images and the patient reports. To this day I don't know if I have a 4cc or a 10cc or a 14cc band, and I don't know how much I have in it. But I'm okay with that. Of course I'm not trying to say how everyone *else* should do it, I just wanted to chime in about what the situation is for me.

I had my second fill two weeks ago. I was fine for 5 days, and then I started getting really bad gas pains! At first I thought it was a bug... but it lasted more than 24hours. After about 2 days of on and off REALLY bad pain, I put a call in to my doctor. Of course, before the doctor called me back, I began to feel better! Actually what happened is that I realized I was probably dehydrated, so I began to REALLY push Water. I think that helped. I had to call my doc back and tell him not to bother to call me back :confused: By the way I had NONE of this after my first fill. So my advice is this: Really concentrate on getting the water in. Also, when I was in the throes of the gas pains, I found that a heating pad worked wonders. Of course, knowing that others have had the same thing (and hence it's probably nothing serious) really helps too; the worst part of the whole thing was worrying that I was having some kind of weird serious complication. Good luck!

I've also been struggling; I was banded on 8/12/08 and have only lost about 25 pounds so far. I just had my second fill about 10 days ago though... so hopefully things will start to speed up now. Let's keep encouraging one another!

I was just thinking that... it's very evenly spread. I'm sitting here reading this board instead of going to sleep (as I should be) because I feel I've eaten too much today... probably about 1350 calories. I know it's not that bad but I'm feeling a LITTLE bit of a failure since I got banded last August but have only lost about 25 pounds since then. (I'm grateful for those 25, believe me!) Over the holidays I gained about 4 pounds... but I gotta say, I really had to WORK to do that! I truly mastered the art of "eating around the band" and sneakily got all the bad kinds of food in. In a way it's a victory that I only gained 4. I've just had my second fill and about to re-start real food; also back in the gym... just so wanting to get back on track... worried because today I felt a bit hungry (which I really haven't felt since my fill) and don't think it was just head hunger. Anyway thanks so much to all on this site for posting and giving encouragement. Happy Groundhog Day to all!

Flaky fish is a good bet as well.

You'll love Dr Nusbaum. I also used him (got banded last August 2008) and he and his staff are wonderful. Good luck to you!

You go girl!