LisaMc

I have totally handled this WRONG! I had started to think that maybe I had irritated my stomach. From what you all are saying, I think I have! One bite of food and I am starting to feel sick. Instead of just stopping all food, I kept trying different things. All of that probably aggravated the situation further. I can't tell you how many stuck episodes I have had or how many times I have thrown up in the last 2-3 days. MANY. Should I just drink Water or should I just have liquids (as in Protein drinks). How long should I continue the liquid regimen? Thank you all so much for the help! I would really HATE to pull any Fluid out. It is such a long climb back when that happens.

Great! That is exactly what I was afraid of. Thanks for the post. I have struggled to get this band to the right place including having all of the Fluid removed once too. Everything makes me sick! I can keep Water down fine. I am not violently sick like I was when I had to have all of the fluid removed. It is nothing like that. When I can't eat 3 bites of mushy mashed potates without throwing up, indicates a problem to me. In your case, once it gets too tight, does it ever loosen up slightly on its own? I started thinking about it, I had the last fill about 6 weeks ago, not 2 months like I stated. :thumbup:

I had my last fill about 2 months ago. I thought I had finally hit the sweet spot. FINALLY! I had good restriction, could eat just about what I wanted to, and I was losing! For the last 2 days, everything I eat gets stuck. Once that happens, I am pretty much done with the meal. Because I am not eating much, I get super hungry. When I eat, I get sick! Could it be that this band is too tight 2 months after getting a fill? How could that be? Here is my example for today. I had 2 cups of coffee like I do every morning. I was starving for lunch. Aware of the problem, I tried to think of soft and mushy things I could eat. I warmed up 1/2 a cup of mashed potatoes. That's it. I had 2 small bites, it got stuck. I threw up, and I still feel super nauseous. Help me please!!

This is a question I was wondering too.

I could not have said it better myself. This is EXACTLY my take on this process--quality of life/control over the quantity of food.

Aha! That makes sense! I don't know how long I stay full. I bet it is 3-4 hours. Do you have any words of wisdom on the struggle to start eating? Thanks for the help, Cathy!

Wow! We live paralell lives....and my name is "Lisa" too! How about that! I had my surgery on 8/28 and went through the same exact situation you described. After 3 days, I went back to the surgeon's office in a heap. He told me that it is a "guess" at best how much Fluid to start you out with. There is also swelling. Some people swell more than others. The swelling acts as restriction too. When you have swelling and you add too much fluid, you have double restriction. They took out all of my fluid (I had 3 cc's) in the office. I felt better immediately! I walked out of that office feeling fine after being so sick I could barely walk in there. I will warn you that taking all of the fluid out of the band can be a problem later. It has been a very slow process for me to get some restriction after being sick. When the fills are .5 cc's at a time, it can take 6 fills just to get you back to where you started. Get some fluid taken out. You will feel so much better right away. Good luck to you! I feel (or should have said "I have felt") your pain! :thumbup:

I have STRUGGLED to get enough Fluid in my band. After getting sick the weekend after surgery, they removed all of the fluid in the band, and it has been a S L O W process to get any restriction after that. As of last Thursday, I now have 5 cc's of fluid in a 10 cc band. This is the first time I have ever sensed any type of restriction....or is it restriction???? Whenever I eat, the first 3-4 bites give me a problem. They seem to land hard in my stomach. I don't know how else to describe it! It is like the food is trying to get down, but it feels kind of stuck. :thumbup: If I give it a few minutes, the feeling generally goes away. After the hard start, things tend to be fine. I try to chew well and take small bites, but those first few bites are tough! Sometimes I throw up and that helps ease the discomfort. Once I get past that initial (3-4 bites) struggle, food goes down easily. Now to the subject of the amount of food......Again, up to this point I have had ZERO restriction. I could literally eat anything I wanted, as much as I wanted. I never felt like I had a band at all. Now, after the last fill to 5 cc's, I am limited somewhat. I eat MUCH LESS than in the past, but not the 1/2 cup of food like suggested. Could it be that I am nearing the "sweet spot" but not there yet? I have an appt for another fill next Thursday. I am just afraid that any more fluid will make those first few bites even harder! Any suggestions or thoughts?

It is essential to get the right restriction. Until this happens, you essentially don' t have the help of the band. This has been my experience. Everyone on this board told me the same thing I just told you. I just couldn't get any restriction....until last week. FINALLY! FINALLY! Geez, I didn't think we would ever get there. I now have 5 cc's in a 10 cc band. I have some restriction FINALLY. I had ZERO up to this point. I'm unsure if I have enough restriction. I can still comfortably eat more than 1/2 a cup of food. It is just such an improvement over the first 2 months! I also understand that as you get closer to your "sweet spot", the adjustments to your fill level will get smaller and smaller. For example, the difference between the sweet spot and not enough Fluid could be .2 cc's! It doesn't sound like you are where you need to be restriction-wise. Keep after them until you get what you need in your band. I did that. It was a long process (they would do a fill every 2 weeks) from 0 cc's to 5 cc's. Good luck to you!

I have tried a BUNCH of them, and I couldn't find one that I could endure until........Smoothie King! I buy the smoothie King chocolate Gladiator powder. It has 48g of protein per serving. It does not taste bad at all. I add a few ice cubes, oa little almond milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, and 2 packets of Splenda. It is very good in my opinion. If you have a Smoothie King anywhere near you, go give it a try in the store. If you like it, they will give you 20% off and a free smoothie too! Good luck!

I have no idea, I'm kind of new to all of this too! I will be interested to hear what people tell you. Good luck!

You guys are all absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! Could it be that I have stumbled upon people that think like me? That would be a first in my lifetime. I am starting to slowly realize that it is HARD. It is NON-SENSICAL. It is FRUSTRATING. It is INFURIATING, and it is a NORMAL response to the war in my head. I can't tell you all how much I get out of reading your responses. Wow!

Thank you all for your kind and supportive posts! I feel like I am blind just feeling my way through these tough times. This has absolutely been the easiest AND hardest thing I have ever done. The actual "diet" is the easy part. The hard part is everything else!! Once I truly admitted to myself that I was an addict, it all kind of fell into place in my mind. It is a different battle to fight now. It isn't a matter of "just do it" or "willpower." It is a constant dialogue that has to go on in my head....everyday.....every hour.....every minute. I had no idea that it would be this hard. This realization and corresponding fight has absolutely nothing to do with the band. This issue was with me long before I ever heard of a lap band. I do know one thing for sure.....I am going to have to have the help of the band to get through this.