stephleon

I have the fitness couch. I would highly recommend it! I really enjoy it because it is more like a real group workout. Its not really set up like a game. I really feel like I got a good workout when I use it. I compare it to going to the gym and taking a group exercise class. You should give it a try!

Thank you for the corrections. I did mean 9.75 cm not cc's. :thumbdown:

Here’s my 2 cents worth: Be careful. Monitor how much you are eating. Maybe try eating things that are softer for a few days. If you continue having a hard time getting anything down it may be that you are too tight. Being too tight can cause people to start eating the wrong things or drinking too many calories. This can lead to malnutrition or sabotaging weight loss. If this continues talk to the doctor and let them know. Don’t wait too long. After my last fill I was doing well. Not eating too much and loosing good amount of weight. Then about 10 days after the fill I felt so much tighter and could only eat about 3 bites of anything. I bumped up my Protein shakes to make sure I get some nutrients in. I have not been able to get down enough calories because it is so uncomfortable to eat. I have plateaued on weight loss as well. I am going in for a small un-fill. I wasn’t going to because I had been loosing 2.6 pounds every week. But this is no fun PB’ing and being uncomfortable at every meal. Plus I was told that too much stomach acid from PB’ing and vomiting can cause slippage. I don’t want that so in I go. I sure hope she doesn’t take too much out. So I guess just watch over the next few days and if you are still concerned, call the professionals and see what they advise. Good luck !!

I was able to research my doctor a little before getting the surgery. I did research a lot about what to expect and I talked to their office many times before going down there. I scheduled my surgery for 2 months out and continued to research and educate myself. Then when I got down there, I went a lot on gut feeling. I paid 7K and my understanding is they lowered the price even more due to the economy. The surgeon I had has the best bed side manners and all the staff are soooo accommodating. They made me feel at ease and he came in and explained everything to me and showed me the band (still in sterile packaging) and went over everything with me. He made sure all my questions were answered. He was great. I am really glad I did it. They have followed up with me many times. I thought maybe once I was done and they got my money they wouldn’t give much after care. Not the case. I have talked to them and asked them questions over the last 3 months. They are just as nice now as they were before getting the surgery. I am very glad it all worked out for me. I have talked to others that had it done at this place and there were 3 other people there when I got there. 2 had surgery the day before and 1 was getting it the same day as me. I had the chance to talk to them and it made me feel better about it all. I don’t know much about the Dominic Republic so I am not sure how to get the information. I also get my fills through the fill center. Let me know what you decide. Good Luck to you.

Although it is called a 10 cc band it is actually 9.75 cc and the max fill is 4 cc. I also have this band. I had a hard time because I was reading all these people saying they have a 10cc band and hit there sweet spot at 6 or 7cc’s. I thought my provider was crazy when she told me the max was 4 ccs. So I called the surgeon (in Mexico) and verified. Surgeons office told me most people with this band feel good restriction between 3.2 and 3.5 ccs. I was already at 2.8 ccs at my 2nd fill and was not feeling the restriction. I was worried that I was going to get up to 4 ccs and still not be at the “sweet spot”. I went in for my 3rd fill and got another .5 cc’s. That was just enough to put me where I need to be. Now I am at 3.2 ccs and doing well. When I am ready for another fill, I will have it done under fluoroscopy just to make sure I have the amount of saline in the band that I think I do. I would say the same for you. Maybe have them test you with that barium swallow under fluoroscopy to see what is really going on. I have read a lot of posts about leaking bands and all sorts of stuff and I would think that if you have no restriction or very little at 3.75cc’s that maybe something else is going on. Maybe there isn’t as much saline in your band as you think. Maybe you need to talk to someone about other options. My doctor had offered me a prescription to help me with ravings and portion control. Maybe that’s an option to help you get over this hump. I am no expert, just some ideas of things I would try. I have thought about it a lot as I thought I was going to be in the same spot you are when I went in for my last fill. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

Although it is called a 10 cc band it is actually 9.75 cc and the max fill is 4 cc. I also have this band. I had a hard time because I was reading all these people saying they have a 10cc band and hit there sweet spot at 6 or 7cc’s. I thought my provider was crazy when she told me the max was 4 ccs. So I called the surgeon (in Mexico) and verified. Surgeons office told me most people with this band feel good restriction between 3.2 and 3.5 ccs. I was already at 2.8 ccs at my 2nd fill and was not feeling the restriction. I was worried that I was going to get up to 4 ccs and still not be at the “sweet spot”. I went in for my 3rd fill and got another .5 cc’s. That was just enough to put me where I need to be. Now I am at 3.2 ccs and doing well. When I am ready for another fill, I will have it done under fluoroscopy just to make sure I have the amount of saline in the band that I think I do. I would say the same for you. Maybe have them test you with that barium swallow under fluoroscopy to see what is really going on. I have read a lot of posts about leaking bands and all sorts of stuff and I would think that if you have no restriction or very little at 3.75cc’s that maybe something else is going on. Maybe there isn’t as much saline in your band as you think. Maybe you need to talk to someone about other options. My doctor had offered me a prescription to help me with ravings and portion control. Maybe that’s an option to help you get over this hump. I am no expert, just some ideas of things I would try. I have thought about it a lot as I thought I was going to be in the same spot you are when I went in for my last fill. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

I got banded in Mexico. I made the choice to get banded out of the country because of the price. It was the only way I could afford to get banded. So my husband was a little nervous about it. He is from Mexico and said the problem with doing any kind of surgery out of the country is that if something goes wrong, no one will claim responsibility. So I investigated a lot on the surgeon and bought refundable airline tickets in case I didn’t feel comfortable once I got down there. I hated thinking that something could go wrong, but it could whether I do it in the states or not. But I did have to realize that if something serious happens in Mexico it would be very different then in the states. I also realized afterwards that it is much harder to get a fill. Lots of doctors won’t touch people that have been banded out of US because it’s a huge risk for them to take over your care. I do not want to discourage you from doing it, just some things to think about. I do not regret getting banded and everything went just fine. I found out afterwards that there are a few places in the US that do this surgery to close to the same price as outside the US. I am not sure how much you are paying but it might be worth looking into. One place is in Seattle, WA (the name has escaped me) where I was told by the doctor through fill center that it’s about 11k. There are other places too. If you search through Google for self pay lap band in us some things will come up. No matter what your decision, educate yourself. You need to feel comfortable about your decision and be educated so you can ask the right questions. GOOD LUCK!!

One thing I have learned is that every doctor gives different advice. My doctor told me that it is ok to have coffee :tongue_smilie:as long as I have a cup in the morning and I am not “sucking” on coffee all morning. She wants me to limit the amount I have but I can have coffee everyday if I want :eek:. I have also heard that coffee is a stimulator for people’s appetites :huh2: and therefore can cause people to eat more . I guess ask your doctor and see what his/her recommendations are.

My opinion is that I know everyone that is saying “ignore him” and that kind of stuff is trying to help (laughed so hard about the withholding of sex) but the truth is this is a hard situation. I was in this same situation myself. You need the support after getting this done and for me the only person I really have is my husband (kids are too young to understand). He was really against it too. He grew up in a different culture and this is not something you do. You have surgery when it is medically necessary and only if that is the last option. He was totally against me having this done. He was afraid that I might die on the operating table. He kept asking me why I would put my life at risk for this. So what I did was talked a lot to him over the period of 6 months. And I mean a lot. Not pushing it on him but listening to his concerns. I had done enough research on banding that I was able to give him an answer to all most all of his concerns. And when he asked me “do you want to die? Do you not love me enough to value your life?” my response was that I love him and my kids so much that I need to do this so that I can be around for a long time. I told him that I am not doing this because I want to be skinny, I want to be healthy. I told him that in order for me to make him happy, I need to be happy and I can’t do that the way I am now. I told him that a lot of my depression and never wanting to go out is because I am embarrassed for him to be seen with someone like me. I guess what I am trying to say is don’t argue over it because you might not get as far as listening to his concerns and trying to get him to see it from your shoes. Try to get him to understand how much this means to you. I also took my husband to the consultation appointments so he had a chance to ask questions. He was kind of ok with the idea until I had to sign the paperwork that gave permission to perform the surgery and all the possible side effects are listed. He freaked out again. So we talked about it and I told him that this is something they have to list with any surgery. My husband had to have gall bladder surgery last year so I explained to him that Lap band is similar to that surgery in the fact that it’s laparoscopic and the risks of bleeding and infection are the same things listed on the paper that he signed. He was still not 100% convinced but after I had the surgery he was so supportive and really did help me a lot with my recovery. There is hope. I think communication is the best thing in this situation and take time to make sure that you and he knows all the information to make an educated decision. Like I said my husband was never 100% convinced that getting banded was a good idea but he stayed by my side and has ended up being the best support member and that is what is allowing me to be successful. Please keep in touch and let us know if you go through with this or not. Hope this helps

I am up for this challenge. Cinco de Mayo is just 47 days away . I would also like to loose 13 pounds by then :tt2:. Good luck everyone.

You do deserve credit. You lost 48 pounds before surgery... you did it, no one else. I got banded 3 days after you and have lost almost the same as you have since being banded. It is not easy. I have struggled with depression and lots of personal stuff as well. But no one promised me that it was going to be easy. You are going to have bad days. This is normal. Please stop being so hard on you. You are doing it. Some people have an easier time then others. I had lost very little weight until recently getting another fill and I think this time it is closer to that sweet spot people refer to. My last fill was only ½ cc and I thought to myself “what a waste of time and money. All of this for ½ of a cc???” But it was just enough to put me over that hump. It got me to a point where I feel the restriction and the fullness that people describe. So stop psyching yourself out. Keep trying and stop stressing over it so much. I can say this because I have had to swallow my own medicine recently and do the same thing. It will all work out. But it is work and you have to keep going. You have come so far!! Please add me if you need someone to talk to. I really do understand how hard this is. It has not been an easy road for me either. Take care and keep in touch. -steph

I agree 110%. I got the body bugg a few weeks ago and it is unbelievable how motivating it is. I set the goals and will do extra things to make sure I hit the daily goal. It makes me want to do more and be more active.:biggrin: It takes the guessing out of caloric intake vs. output. It really does make me want to do more and be more active. I don’t know how to explain it. I was having a hard time paying the hefty price tag but like my husband told me…. If you spent XXX amount of dollars for the surgery then you might as well go all the way. So I did and I don’t regret it.

I have always craved dairy, even before getting banded. Now I am being told that I need to stay away from cow’s milk. I love milk!! I was told that the extra fructose in milk will sabotage the weight loss and that I can have low fat cheese and yogurt but all puddings and anything else that calls for milk needs to be substituted for soy milk(including cereal):biggrin: I hate soy milk:frown: I want to know if anyone else has heard this and is this true? I have been drinking skim milk for years and did not realize that this was not acceptable This is a huge issue for me. I can not express how much I love milk and eating string cheese as my only source of dairy is not going to cut it for me:crying:

I bought the wii fit for myself for my b-day a few weeks ago. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! i get my kids up at 5 am and we do it together. It is soooo much fun and they beg me every night to wake them up in the am to “play” on the wii. I also invested in the fitness couch “game” for the wii and that is one tuff trainer. You don’t have to have the wii fit to do it but it is like having a personal trainer. Best part about it is comfort of your own home and it reminded my kids and husband about my b-day and kept asking them if they had gotten me anything for me (BONUS!)

Thank you GND for starting this and thank you to everyone that responded. I was able to feel better about where I am at and I was able to relax this weekend. So thanks everyone. I am so glad I found this place. :rose:

I am also confused on fills. I was banded 12/13/2008 and had fill #1 of 1.8cc and #2 was 1cc. The person that fills me said she can not fill more than 4 cc in my 10 cc band. I feel some restriction but I am still hungry during the day. I am wondering what the max I can have for fills is and what happens if I get too close and I am still not feeling tight and full?? I am trying to get in my protein and eat low calorie foods. Help!!!

What about if you are working out all the time? Then how many calories should I stick to? The NP that filled me said no more than 1000 calories but I am working out 5 days a week and most days 1000 is not enough. I am eating closer to 1300-1500 on days that I work out. Is that too much? I am burning about 2500-3000 calories a week in exercise. Please help. i too am stressing over how much is too much when it comes to calories. :frown:

Same thing happened to me. First I thought it was a reaction to the abx but it turns out I was allergic to the adhesive from the bandages. I took benadryl and that make a big difference. I also had a reaction to the Neosporin hat I was using, so I stopped that. I guess I’d say call your doctor to make sure but probably taking any kind of antihistamine would help (i.e. benadryl, Claritin, zyrtec ,ect)

First I want to thank you girl next door for posting this question, and thank everyone who replied. You have all made me feel sooooo much better. I was banded on 12/13/08. I have lost 20 pounds. I was told by the NP that filled me on 1/27/08 that I should be losing 3 pounds a week. I have been working out 5 days a week and still I am losing 2 lbs a week. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong but now I feel better. I don’t want to lose the weight too fast because I don’t want the droopy skin. But at the same time I thought I needed to be losing at least 3 lbs a week. So I was starting to obsess over it. Thank you all for putting my mind at ease.