bambam

I've tried the papaya. If I take it early on when I first feel I'm stuck it helps, otherwise it just adds to what is on top of the stuck stuff and makes my mucus a pretty orange color. Others may have had a different experience. After a stuck episode such as yours, this is what my doctor's office recommends - Clear Liquids for 2 days, full liquids for 2 days, slowly moving to soft foods, then to solids. They told me returning to normal food too soon is more likely to cause a slip than the stuck/vomiting itself. Give the swelling a chance to subside - it could take several days. HTH!

We are all different and struggle with different things. For me, not drinking at a meal is something that is really easy, but I know others struggle with that. For me some days it is easy to get the Water in. Other days, not so much. If I'm really tight it may be 2 hours after a meal before I feel I'm ready to even start sipping. Like other posters mentioned, add in the 1 hour for each meal when I can't drink and that takes that much more "drinkable time" away on a good day. It just depends on the day and my schedule!

I use Proactiv and wouldn't be without it. I had acne as a teen but didn't discover Proactiv til my late 30s. It can be drying at first so use sparingly until you see how your skin reacts.

Mine was when a friend of ours passed away. He was my age and by outward appearances he seemed to be in better health than me, but dropped dead of a heart attack. I had topped the scale at 301 pounds, my parents were elderly and my family history was getting scary, as well as my cholesterol and blood pressure not being kept under control with my medications any longer. I thought "There but by the grace of God go I." I had looked at WLS before, but always saw all the changes you had to commit to and thought "no way." Even with the LapBand, giving up soda... are you crazy??? After the death of our friend, I couldn't get to my doc's seminar fast enough.

My SIL's band slipped and she had it replaced with no problems. Went in and had everything removed and replaced the same day. Now she is getting back to restriction and doing great! Good luck :wub:

Hi Everyone - I'm hoping you guys can help me out. I've posted on this thread off and on in the past. I'm almost 1 year out from surgery and down 92 pounds. I feel I'm obsessing over my dailyplate.com and protein counts. I looked at some of your meals and wondered if any of you have gotten to the point where you stop the counting, just eat healthy, always protein first, and go about "living." I've logged everything since surgery and am thinking I need to step back from worrying about the numbers (accept that there will be higher and lower protein days). I'm thinking of just letting the scale speak for itself and if that's not showing the results I want I would go back to logging everything again. Any advice? I can't help but think at this point I know how much I'm eating, etc., but don't want to sabotage myself either. I appreciate your thoughts.

Wanjiku- Honestly - I think the mental aspect of this is the hardest. I had my last fill in Nov and lost 8.5 pounds since that time. For me that was slow weight loss - it was the holidays, my job has been very stressful, anniversary of my mother's death, etc., and I'm a stress eater. I am grateful I lost at all, because I ate more than usual over the holidays, and had sweets which I don't do much of. I feel I have good restriction, but I was making poorer choices than previously, exercising less with the bad winter here, and my Water intake was very little. My husband has been off work with an injury and we had a lot of food around the house that we normally don't have, and I found myself grabbing those in the last few weeks when I had head hunger. I had to go for a 3-month followup this week. I didn't get a fill - feel I have good restriction for now, but it kind of gave me a fresh start. I'm taking back control. I've increased my water, quit the snacking (was eating out of stress and head hunger) and already the scale is moving. None of us are perfect, we'll all have times where the head part of this is going to slow us down, but that doesn't mean it has to stop you in your tracks forever. I track all my food, water, and exercise on dailyplate first thing in the morning and if I haven't entered it, I don't eat it (unless we end up going out or our plans change). Every bite I eat is documented. I know I've met my Protein goals and kept my calories in check that way. It's also a great way to see even small amounts of exercise add up. You just have to remind yourself you are worth it - those foods that are tempting will still be around in a day, a week, or a month. I used to eat BBQ potato chips like they were the last bag in the world :confused: Now once in a great while I may have 4.... and I have to wonder what the big deal was! I've discovered it's not so much the foods that I miss - I can have most things if I TRULY want them, but the gorging that comforted me in some odd way. So happy to be where I am now. My relationship with food is not perfect... but a work in progress. Good luck!

My favorite are Supreme Protein bars (the Peanut Butter and the caramel nut are my favorites). They are about 200 calories I think and have a small amount of sugar (some sugar alcohols). My nutritionist approved them. I have them for breakfast when I'm loose enough, along with a yogurt mixed with a little fruit - other mornings I need to do a smoothie. These have a great taste - not the taste a lot of Protein Bars have. The peanut butter is my top choice, easier to chew than the caramel nut some days. I live in the Midwest and get these from my local grocery store, Hy-Vee. HTH!

My last fill seemed to take about a month to really "kick in." I got it in mid November and about mid December I felt like I was fighting my band. I would try to eat what had been a normal meal before and would end up only eating half - with the bite too many syndrome or not chewing well enough and sliming. I'm really struggling mentally to "accept" the smaller portions and to realize I'm done eating sooner than I used to be. That may sound bizarre, but I had just gotten used to the smaller portions I was eating (what I call diet portions) and now suddenly my meals are about 3-4 ounces max, sometimes 2 ounces. Part of the delay in my feeling the restriction could have been due to the holidays and eating different foods than I normally would (lets face it those sweets were slider foods). I'm glad the holidays are over. Time to get busy and get reacquainted with my band and my new restriction.

My band is Lucy. It's a nice discrete way to let my husband know I'm full or hungry just by saying "Lucy is talking to me." (Although I just realized people around me may think I'm hearing voices.) My husband even calls it Lucy! My port is Ethel. Good pair and they keep things entertaining, never know what to expect from them - the same as the TV duo. Steve killed me - the people who live behind us have a dog named Steve! Still laughing at Ben and Jerry - think I would have ice cream on my mind constantly if I had those names!

For me the chest pain (that radiates to my right shoulder a bit) means I've taken 1 or 2 bites too many. I'm still struggling to eat slow and take small bites at times, so I find myself with the chest pain before I realize I'm not hungry any longer. I was doing well until my last fill which really gave me good restriction - now I'm trying to mentally adjust to the smaller amount I need at each meal.

Breakfast smoothie 3 oz pineapple juice 3 oz skim milk 1 Activia vanilla or strawberry yogurt 1 scoop vanilla Protein powder 1/2 frozen banana (thawed for about 30 min) 3 frozen strawberries (ditto) handful of fresh blueberries (Add more milk if you want thinner) 280 calories, 7 mg cholesterol, 151 mg sodium, 41 grams carbs, 31 grams of sugar, 5 grams of fiber, 29 grams of protein With this I have half of my protein for the day as well as my fruit and dairy for the day. Leaves me the rest of the day to concentrate on solid Proteins and veggies. I struggle with getting solids in for my first meal so this works great.

I'm no expert but I'll give my 2 cents here. My guess is that your food IS going through the band because it is so liquidy. If I were you, I would check with my surgeon's office and get their input. I know sometimes it can take a while to adjust to a fill (I had one in Nov and am still getting used to what and how much I can eat), but find out from them if they think you may too tight,or if maybe you just need to try more solids. You should be able to eat solids - life on liquids isn't what we signed up for! Good luck and keep us updated!

I do the same after a bad stuck episode, a day of liquids, a day of soft proteins, etc. My doc's office said we do the most damage by rushing back to solids too quick. I can be sore in my band area as well for a while after a bad episode and like you, I don't want to see the food that resulted in it for quite a while - even though it usually wasn't the food, but me! It's definitely aversion therapy.

Elfie - I'm so sorry you have had so much to go through recently. My thoughts and prayers are with you too. I'm so glad I found this thread. I've been AWOL from the site for a while - felt I was too obsessed with all the odds and ends and just wanted to get back to living life again without every thought being about my band. But I came looking for support and encouragement and your thread was just what I needed. I had my last fill in Nov - and it has really made a difference -in fact I am still adjusting to it. However, with the holidays I have eaten more sweets than usual (not bonkers but too many). In addition, it was the anniversary of my mom passing away one year ago, and I won't even go into the stress associated with my job lately. Anyway, I've been hard on myself for not losing at the same speed I did before. I did go back and look and I have lost 7 pounds in the last 2 months - not a huge amount, but boy in the past I would have easily gained 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I think we really have to be kind to ourselves and not beat ourselves up for being human. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that life is going to happen regardless of Lucy (my band) and that I will have days where I am stronger and make better choices than others. I have been a stress eater for 25 years and that isn't going to change overnight, or in a year for that matter. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I'm motivated to get back to band basics, listening to Lucy, cutting out the sweets and occasional Snacks, drinking my Water more faithfully, and exercising more again.

Danimal - Give it some time and you'll figure out your body's signs. It just amazes me that at age 48 I feel I'm having to relearn my body's functions and signs all over. There's a whole new "normal" and it's making for an interesting journey!

I thought I would have to crush pills forever, but at about 10 days postop my doc's office said to take pills whole. Of course if they don't go down well they would need to be split, but I've had no problem taking Vitamins, Calcium (my largest pills) etc. I think some docs vary on this so make sure you check with your doc's office regarding this. I have discovered if I have a headache in the morning I can't take Tylenol right away - I need to drink something hot first and let things loosen up. So the same goes for my morning pills, I drink something hot and take my pills about an hour later.

The only advice I have is to check with the nurse at your doctor's office and see what other patients have done in the past. If this is his usual technique other patients would have experienced the same thing I would think. My highest incision is below my bust line right in the middle and my bra never interfered with it so I'm afraid I'm not much help.

When I'm full (the new full of being satisfied) I've discovered I sometimes hiccup, give a little burp, have a little gurgle in my throat, or sigh. Those are signs to me to stop. If I try to take a few extra bites I get the discomfort (pain radating to my left shoulder). Are you drinking something hot first thing in the morning to loosen your band? That may help you eat a little larger Breakfast. I have to do that. I also take the portion size that usually gives me the full sensation (about 3 oz of meat and a small side item) and have found if I stop with that, then I can forego the feeling of one bite too many - sometimes that perfect full sensation can be hard to detect until you're in the one bite too many stage. Sometimes it is easier to sense with the above signs my body gives. Talk about a learning experience! Hope this helps!

Another idea, if you are not already doing it, is to drink something hot or warm first thing in the morning - it really helps loosen my band up. My doc's office said if needed, to do it again before my next meal where I experienced tightness. When I skip the hot drink, I struggle getting pills down, eating, etc. I am still able to do solids, I don't do protein drinks.

I use tickerfactory.com and copy and paste the whole link (the one that is for boards) to my edited signature on this site. Hope that helps!

Sorry to hear your mom is having problems. I hope things go smoothly for her. My sister-in-law's band slipped after 7 months and when they took her to surgery they removed the old band and port and placed all new. Her recovery was great and she is doing well again. Keep us updated on how she does. That has to be a worry for you!

I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to, but after a fill I usually feel bloated and crampy (similar to the TOM feeling). If you experience anything you feel is abnormal, make sure to check with your doctor's office for reassurance.

When I am on liquids (right after surgery, right after a fill, after a bad PB) I usually order soup of some sort - and ask for mainly the broth. I realize that probably isn't an option in a coffee shop. I loved coffee shops while on liquids because I could treat myself to a decaf skinny vanilla latte (sometimes extra protein added) and I still felt I "fit in" with the others. It didn't compromise my calories or my protein. I guess if I felt I needed more protein than what that supplied I would have had it later after leaving the coffee shop as most places do frown on people bringing in their own food or drink.