AngelWhisper

I agree. I might get bashed for saying this but I don't think people trying to lose weight should completely cut themselves off from Cookies or anything like that. It just makes it worse when you actually get some and you devour the whole box or something. Allow yourself some small treats once a week, once every couple days, or whatever and Celebrate what you're accomplishing.

Talk to your doctor ASAP. The post op diet is for healing, not weight loss. Your stomach has to move to digest regular food and that can cause a slip or pop the stitches out that they used to place the band. Progressing the diet too soon can cause problems now or they may not show up until a year from now, or they may not show up at all. Get with your surgeon definitely.

I started losing my hair about 2 months out. I started taking biotin and it slowed it down. I stopped taking the biotin and it's back to normal again at 6 months out. It really does stop.

I have the realize band also. I'm down from 318lbs to 266lbs (including preop diet). My surgeon thinks both bands are about equal. The way she chose for me was asked me if I was on the internet a lot. I said yes, she gave me the realize band.

If you're on mushies the one thing that got me through that was crab meat. Crab legs, crab imperial, chesapeake bay blue crabs, anything. If you're on solids I would go with shrimp every night if they had it. I'm a bit of a shellfish junkie.

I drink mixed drinks probably once every 1-2 weeks out with a friend or family. I don't recall how far out from surgery I was when I had my first drink. I don't feel the effects any quicker, as RM said I think it's a mental thing, not a physical thing. Although as you get skinnier you might feel it quicker. Check with your surgeon!

My surgery day was really bad. First the nurse who did my IV didn't do it right. It was painful when any medication went through it. I tried to tell the anesthesia people this, they said the medication burns but it wasn't a burn. After surgery I woke up with the oxygen mask on my face and freaked out. For some reason the oxygen mask makes me feel like I can't breathe. I go up to my room after all of 10 minutes being awake in recovery and I'm immediately bombarded with 2 nurses, a respiratory therapist, interns, residents, etc. The gas was so bad I thought I was going to explode. Trying to get in and out of the hospital bed was an absolute nightmare. They took me down for the barium swallow which was fine. Then the person who did it wheeled me out of the room and left me sitting in the waiting room with outpatients while waiting for transport and never told me was just leaving me there. I get back to my room and the IV really starts hurting. The night nurse looked at it and there was a big bubble on my hand and they FINALLY took it out and put another one in. I was not allowed to sleep for more than 5 minutes without being bothered by someone. Absolutely awful. The same week I got readmitted to the other hospital my surgeon works out of and it was great. I should've had my surgery there in the first place probably.

If it makes you feel better about the dilaudid my mother has the same kind of reaction you're talking about to every single narcotic EXCEPT dilaudid. One of the pharmacists I used to work with said that it happens to some people because dilaudid is synthetic. Just be super careful.

I thought the same thing. I'm wondering if it's not stuck at the opening of the stomach in the esophagus? That's what it feels like to me at least.

For me it takes about 30 seconds and then I start cursing at myself for taking too big of a bite.

I have really bad allergies and post nasal drip. I had to stop taking the zyrtec before surgery and of course after I stop it takes a few days after I start it again to start working right. I was hacking up phlegm for the first week after surgery. After that it was fine again. You can get a 360 count bottle of zyrtec from costco (they call it aller-tec) for about 15 bucks. I would definitely try that if it's allergy related.

I hate them all too. I actually never drank a single one post op and still haven't. The least horrible tasting one was muscle milk light, but to me it's still gross.

I already talked to her Saturday. She's not worried about it. It's not really trouble digesting it's just sometimes when I swallow it'll sit there for a second. I think it's taken care of now.

I'm starting to wonder if acid reflux has anything to do with what my band is doing. I took some tums yesterday and ate at a cookout and was perfectly fine. I ate this afternoon long after I had been awake and I got the same kind of throbbing pain. Took some tums and ate later and I was fine again. It seems like if I don't take the tums it's painful all day.

For the past couple of days regardless of what I eat and how much I chew it keeps sticking for a few minutes and I get a throbbing pain under both breasts until it passes. I called my surgeon yesterday and she said to do what I could and if I needed to she would meet me at the hospital today for a slight unfill. I was actually able to eat normal food again last night with no problem. My last fill was May 20th. I'm wondering if this happens to anyone else? Can the band just get randomly tight like that?

I've absolutely felt this way plenty of times. I gained 8 lbs before my 2nd fill which in the end turned out to be some Water retention but I freaked out! Even now I lose my weight in spurts. I can go for 1-2 and a half weeks and not drop a pound then get on the scale and I've lost 3 lbs. Then I bounce back and forth about 1-2 lbs and plateau again, then I lose another couple pounds. Those times in between losing I'm terrified that I'm doing something wrong and I get a little bit obsessive about it. The thing that helps me the most is remembering that I didn't gain the weight overnight, it's not going to come off overnight. If I make a mistake somewhere I don't beat myself up over it I just take it as a lesson learned and move on. If it makes you feel better it absolutely gets better once you learn the different patterns and cues your body gives now that you're banded.

Congratulations! It feels really great doesn't it?

I would go back for an unfill ASAP.

I eat salads all the time. I generally add some grilled chicken, hardboiled eggs, or both for the protein. Sometimes I add some grated cheese too. Yummy.

Yup. That happened to me 2 weeks ago when I had strep throat. The restriction came back after a couple days.

Honestly no you're not alone. I've seen other people post the same type of thing. However, that said, the post op diet isn't for losing weight it's for healing. Having your stomach move to digest solid foods can lead to problems with the band now or 6 months from now or a year from now. You should definitely call your surgeon and tell them what you ate and see if they want to run tests or anything. Also, have you considered talking to a therapist about the food addiction? You may very well find out why you have that addiction and ways to stop yourself from stuffing yourself. I really hope everything works out for you! Good luck!

Yup. It's used to reduce the risk of pneumonia if I remember correctly.

I had the same thing happen with a stomach virus. I was heaving and everything but nothing came up. I never thought to ask my surgeon about it.

Chew things you don't think really need to be chewed too! I keep forgetting I have "first bite syndrome" in the mornings and I go to eat a piece of egg or a spoonful of cereal or a piece of muffin and it sticks if I don't chew that stuff. Highly annoying first thing in the morning!

I had the surgery over my winter break so I had a good 3 or so weeks to prepare and I had complications so I wouldnt've been able to go back. I would suggest that you talk to your professors and let them know you're having abdominal surgery and that there's a possibility of you missing some classes and see if you can't get some of the material in advance, so you can be prepared if any complications do arise. The one thing that bothered me being back in school was sitting up against the stupid desk. It kept hitting me right in the port site!