catfish87

Congrats to those here who have made the decision to better your lives. I started this process over 5 years ago now, and was banded in Sept 2009. I was like most everyone else...nervous, will it work for me, what if I fail, etc, etc..... I would encourage you to go into this thinking longterm lifestyle changes....not everyone will have the drastic/rapid weightloss some of my friends on here have. We're all different and will have different experiences. But this thing works! It's just now normal for me....and I love it! Best wishes to you all. David

FOR ME, when I had some serious sinus/cold symptoms back at the beginning of the year, I tried various OTC remedies.....containing NSAIDS as well as other stuff. I had very similar occurance to what you are describing. I went in and my surgeon viewed my band and he took some out....swelling/irritation/slight signs of reflux....just as you describe. I wouldn't try to suggest what you're experiencing, but your story sounds quite familiar. Now we're tweaking my adjustments back to my green zone....slowly.

Just out of curiosity....have you ever had an adjustment using fluoroscopy? Just my experience, but a small tweak ( I'm talking .2cc's ) in volume can make a BIG difference...once you're close to correct adjustment. And there is NO WAY anyone can guess a blind fill that close.... I'm 5 years post op and have never had any band caused issues....maybe I'm just lucky? But I think it has a lot to do with followup, and fantastic aftercare by my surgeon. It sounds like you've really had a tough time with your original surgeon. Hopefully, whatever you decide on, you'll find what works for you. Best wishes.

5 mile run this morning.... HOT!

I didn't really have much pain post op. Did your doctor prescribe pain meds? Walking seemed to help as much as anything. I certainly wasn't trying to bend over and touch the ground though. You may want to just take it as easy as possible..allowing your body to heal from surgery. As far as drinking, I was on a clear liquid diet for a week post op, and could sip pretty easily within a day. Take it easy! It'll be much better soon. Best wishes.

Congrats on your great beginning! Wishing you much continued success.

VERY good idea Labwalker. I have thought about this at times when I was traveling. In an emergency, I could easily do an unfill if I was away from "trained professionals"....but it'd be better to have the correct needle.

YMCA Race Series Summer Sizzler 10K July 19th Maryville, IL Hoping for a better day on this one!

Great post Bandista...and Congrats on your success.

Congrats Tom on your longterm success!

5K run, followed by a 20 mile bike ride this morning. Here's a little tidbit of info that I observed this past week. I've been on vacation, eating/drinking ANYTHING and everything I wanted. Portions pretty much in check, (thank you lapband) but so much good food...homemade desserts/cocktails/bar-b-que/fish fry's....you get the idea. Picked and snacked on stuff all weekend long. Didn't really do anything that felt like "exercise", although I kept active just enjoying the time, and my weight this morning was EXACTLY the same as it was 10 days ago at my docs office. Years past, I'd have gained 10 pounds and felt miserable.

Good job everyone, no matter what you choose to be your form of execise...It all counts! I spent my weekend swimming. boating,...and learning to paddleboard. That was actually quite fun when the water/wind allowed. Did a little bit of running and quite a bit of trail walking...up and down the hills at the Lake of the Ozarks. Great food and drinks all weekend long....one more day of vacation left tomorrow.

WOW!!!!!!! Look at you go! Congrats! Glad to hear your knee didn't cause any lingering issues...be careful. And I've used K-tape occasionally too. It really helped me in the short term with some "IT" band soreness.

A beautiful evening here, so went on a nice 4+ mile walk/jog after dinner. Headed to the Lake tomorrow for a nice long weekend of swimming/boating/relaxing... and there's a great 5k course with some big hills in it....Hope everyone has a nice 4th of July!

40 mile bike ride this morning. A VERY relaxing ride today! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/532436251

Yesterday was swimming and TRYING to Water ski at the lake....Bahahahaha. I'll have to practice that!! Today got in a quick short ride on the bike. 18 miles... kinda toasty here in St. Louis today! 90° Feels like 105° 14 mph S wind Humidity 71% http://connect.garmin.com/activity/532010363

I had a partial unfill (for the first time ever) a few months back. (End of Jan/begining of Feb if my mind remembers correctly) I THINK I my problem was I had gotten sick, took some cold medicine (with NSAIDS in them) and found it a struggle to even get down liquids. Possible inflammation in my stoma area?? Third day of that and I called my Doc...He did the usual fluoro and HE DECIDED I needed "some" removed. He said the fluoro showed signs of some slight reflux. I didn't ask how much he took out as I just figured he knew best. IMMEDIATE relief...no problems whatsoever, except as expected, HUNGRY/eating too much and of course started gaining a few pounds....actually about 15 over the course of the next two months. I went back in Aprl, and discussed with him my eating habits, and then found out he had removed .8 cc's. He added back .4, and said see you in a couple of months. I was still eating too much (although better) and finding it somewhat of a struggle to not snack, especially in the evenings. I went back last Thursday and had lost 4 pounds, discussed my eating/etc with the surgeon again and he checked everything again and added .2cc's this time. He did say my band looked PERFECT, so that was the best news. Then he started chatting about other things, running/cycling and life in general....almost as though he wasn't even concerned in the least bit about my band. I guess that is a good thing... So for me, as others have said, it's really about the restriction being tweaked until everything just "feels right"..... and it doesn't take much one way or the other to make a substantial difference once you're close. Best wishes Labwalker and congrats on your successes, both on and off the scale!

I took two weeks off, then "light duty" for a couple of more weeks. I work in an industrial setting (climbing/lifting/etc) and have a LOT of paid sick time....so I wasn't in any hurry. I had a pretty easy recovery IMO.

@@dlmyvette I'm not sure if you're aware, but this is posted in the Gastric Bypass forum? Maybe @@Alex Brecher can help relocating it to the lapband forum? I'm also coming up on 5 years post op (lap band) and I'm always interested in long term band topics. My question is: When you go to get adjustments, does your fill Dr/PA/whomever do your adjustments using fluoroscopy? You said something that really caught my attention "It was tough and it didn't seem like I had control over my eating"..... I think most all of us on this forum have experienced this at some point....thats why we're here to begin with. For me, only when I get my band at correct adjustment, does the band provide that control. I can't do it by myself either. And it's a small tweak here or there that really makes a big difference!

@@parisshel Glad to hear you're getting back to close adjustment. Hope this one is the "sweet spot" I went last Thursday myself. I think he put .2 this time, getting me back real close to where I was before having a bit taken out in Feb, due to my irritation.

@@Leepers Nothing really ever determined as to the cause. I had many test ran. Blood test, Heart ultrasound, Brain MRI, Holter device, etc. Everyone just always suggest it's dehydration.....I can't hardly believe thats all it was. I haven't had any more serious issues, but will occasionally still get lightheaded when standing up after being seated for a while...and its USUALLY after I've been exercising quite a bit beforehand. My blood pressure is "normal" to low now. Last time I had it checked it was 116/70....so who knows. I can certainly be scary when it happens though. I hope you find what caused/is causing your issue. Take care of yourself!

Cheering up a Sweat "10K" local race today. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/530116307 I was hoping for under an hour when I looked at the race conditions. I'm not fast by any means. My personal best at 10k is 58:27. It was VERY humid this morning at the start...100% humidity according to my garmin. I just ran by HR. There was a guy I ran with the entire race....actually, he'd run/sprint some then walk. We probably passed each other at least 10 times during the run... back and forth, back and forth. I figured he was in my age group 40-49. I ran the entire race without walking, grabbing a Water bottle at the halfway point. He passed me with at the 9.5 K mark and I just didn't have much left. As they announced the winners, I ended up 4th in my age group....7 seconds behind 3rd place, and we were about a minute and 20 seconds behind the 2nd place guy in our age group. Kinda wishing I'd had pushed a little bit more....as I don't have a 10k medal. I was less than minute and half from getting the 2nd place medal....oh well, there's always the next one. Happy Saturday all! Edited to update the times after they posted the official results.

Now thats a good way to start the weekend! @Mikee57 Congrats on the NSV....there will be many more to come!

@@Lady Lap Band Congrats! I remember when I first started on this site wanting to read from people who had "experience"....and success, JUST LIKE YOU! Here's to the next 5 and many more happy years to come!

For me, I know I needed another fill if I was eating too much at once, or was eating too often. I'm not referring to eating because of boredom, but actually feeling hungry before next meal time. My band solves BOTH of those problems when correctly adjusted for me. My surgeon nor nutritionist have ever given me any calorie "goal"....except eat less to lose more. He did tell me at least 80 grams of Protein per day (after initial post op diet phases) and lots of Water. And it works well that way for me....less net calories = more fat lost. Depending on your exercise routine/calories burned, and BMR, your calories needed to lose weight could vary a good amount. I've read people saying they need only 600 all the way up to 3-4000....depending on activity level.