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I don't think you are alone. When I used to get a fill I used to go and have an icecream afterwards. I figured that it was a one off as the place near the Drs has the best icecream and being as I had to be on liquids that was liquid. None of us are perfect but we all have to take responsibility. You have recognised that what you have done won't help you to achieve your goals. So look at this as a splurge that is now behind you and focus on getting healthy liquids in from now on.

My experience of maintenance is that you don't actually do anything any differently. The lower your body weight is the less calories are required to maintain it so eventually you get to a point where you stop losing. To continue losing would require you to cut calories even more and that becomes really hard. In fact if anything the level or restriction seems to change after you have been banded for a while, things that were hard to eat become easy to eat, there is not the same discomfort etc so I think you start to eat a little bit more. The trick is to try to keep this under control as there can be a fine line between no longer having the same level of restriction and being too tight.

Wow Lellow you have a LOT of fluid in your band. Is it a Lapband or a Realize band? Seems scary that with so much fill you still aren't really feeling much restriction.

I understand where glove is coming from. She has had her own struggle with trying to decide if she should go ahead with the band or not. Most people when they are making a decision like to have information that backs up their opinion and confirms that the decision they have come to is right. So if we are going ahead we look for success stories. If we are not then we look for stories that support that not going ahead is the right one. It is good to look at both sides of the story so long as you understand the motivation behind a particular side. Each person can then decide for themselves if this information is useful to them or not.

I had most of my fill removed a couple of weeks ago as I ended up in emergency as I thought I had a slip. They took out 4ml and left me with 2ml. I went back to see my Dr 10 days later and he also said that generally they would leave things for a couple of weeks to settle before refilling but he agreed to give me another 2ml bringing me back up to 4ml. I have to see him again in about 3 weeks, that cannot come soon enough, I am always hungry and struggling to "behave" like a bandster. It feels like my band is empty. At meal time I don't think I am eating quickly but I finish at the same time as or sooner than everyone else and sometimes I am still hungry.My weight has been fluctuating up and down by approx 1kg for the last few months and I think that is still where I am. I am terrified that I am going to gain but I seem to be self sabotaging by eating stuff that I shouldn't be. I hope that you are able to stay on track better than I am doing and that there is nothing seriously wrong with your band.

Yes it is. You have been on a preop diet and probably lost some weight and it can take time for your body to catch up. Plus after surgery you tend to retain more fluid etc. And it takes a lot of weight loss before you start noticing a difference in clothes. Don't panic. Just keep doing what you should be doing and the weight will come off. You didn't gain it overnight and the same is true for losing it.

I have a food processor but I didn't use it much to prepare food for my postop diet . I made Soups but I blitzed those with a hand held blender. For mushies I ate foods that were naturally soft e.g tuna, avo. mashed potato. I think the only thing I used it for was to grate veggies to make veggie lasagne or to add extra veggies to sauces. If you will get a lot of use out of it later on then go ahead and buy one, but if you are only going to use it for 2 weeks of post op diet then it is not worth it and you can easily manage without it.

Even with a band if you drink your meals you are still likely to feel hungry soon afterwards. A band is designed to perform best when you eat small quantities of the correct foods. The focus is on solid Proteins and veg and depending on your Dr some healthy carbs. Once you get to a point where you have some fills in your band you should be able to eat a small meal of some meat veg and possibly a carb and not be hungry for a number of hours afterwards.There is a big difference between the not being hungry feeling and the full or stuffed feeling that you get when you overeat preband. The band does not stop non hungry eating and a lot of us that are/were overweight have issues with that. We have to find ways of recognising and dealing with that kind of eating. The band also does not make food choices for you. In order to be successful you need to follow the recommendations given to you by your Dr. If you were instead to choose to eat things that are not recommended such as candy,Cookies,icecream,milkshakes,crackers etc then the band will not assist at all. These type of foods are called sliders as they easily slide past the band, they are normally high cal and low in nutrition so they should be avoided. Everybody is different and everybody loses weight at a different rate, you will do best if you do not compare yourself to others. Some people find that after they have a band there are some foods they can't eat but these foods are different for everyone. Common problem foods are things such as dry meat, doughy foods such as bread, stringy foods such as celery. foods with skin on(especially cooked skin) such as tomatos and peppers. etc.

It could be reflux. Have you discussed it with your Dr?

At that point all I was eating was soup and other liquids so I would have no idea how many carbs/proteins I was getting.

It could be referred pain form the gas or it could be from the way that you were lying on the table or maybe they had to move things around a bit to get the band in. Take the meds your Dr has prescribed and if it doesn't get better then he/she is the person to speak to.

There is a problem with some people in that they do seem to encourage others to blatantly disregard instructions because they did it and they are fine(or so they think). They really annoy me too. I like to try to point out why the rule is there and the reason a person should be following it. You cannot stop these people posting you can only try to show others that what they are suggesting is wrong and what the right way should be. Above all a person should trust and listen to their Dr and if for some reason they disagree with their Dr's instructions then they should discuss it with the Dr. But I believe that you are probably quite close to the truth when you compare all these posts to the posts that say Help I'm not losing................

Great that you have nipped your problem in the bud and got back onto the losers bench.

Congrats and welcome. There are lots of experienced people here that will be more than happy to support you and help answer your questions. Glad that you are feeling so good and hope you achieve all the success that you hope for.

It sounds as though you were not educated about how the band works prior to surgery. Having a band is not a magical cure for obesity. The band is a tool that you have to use to achieve success. It will not choose the correct foods for you, it will not stop you putting chocolate and other low nutrition, fattening foods in your mouth, it will not force you to exercise. You are the only person that can do those things. I think you need to go back to basics. Eat what you should be ating in the recommended amounts and move more than you are currently.Having your band tighter will not necessarily help. If it is too tight you gain weight and set yourself up for all sorts of complications.

Probably because your band is too tight and the food couldn't go down. You need to go back and discuss this with your Dr and possibly get a little fill removed. Being too tight is not good.You don't lose weight and it leads to all sorts of serious complications.

That is what I always though and it is listed as a contra indication on the lapband site. I have noticed lately however that a few members on this group do have Lupus and have been banded. As to whether or not they are successful and whether or not the band has caused any of their lupus symptoms to worsen I don't know. I would do lots of research, speak to the band Dr and then speak to your immunologist as well. You don't want to do anything that would make your Lupus worse. You may find that in your situation it would be better to have a gastric sleeve or bypass. See what the experts say.

I am surprised that you were able to be banded with Lupus as it is listed as a contraindication on the lap band site. I hope that everything goes well and that you soon start losing.

You need to watch this. As you are already aware the reflux may be because you are too tight and it can have serious consequences. Sounds like you have worked out how to deal with it for now but I think you should plan on getting to see your Dr as soon as you can to check that everything is Ok and maybe have a little fluid taken out.

And why would you want to settle on a BMI of 32? That is still obese.

Fat cells never stabilise. They always have the potential to expand and multiply. Yes something may go wrong but most of the complications of the band are minor and easy to fix. If your band slips you either get it unfilled so it can settle back into place or they can operate to remove or replace it, no big deal. Port problems are probably more common early on but if at some stage it needs to be replaced again no big deal. The plan is to keep the band forever. If something goes wrong then it can be fixed or the band can be removed and some form of revision done. And who knows what they will come up with in 10 or 20 years time - they may have even invented the perfect weight loss pill by then or chocolate that doesn't make you gain weight or maybe we will be like astronauts and live on food pills and special liquids. The thing is at least there are options. If you had had a hip replacement would you still be worrying because it does not last forever and chances are you will need another op in 10 or 20 years time. Or what if they replaced a faulty heart valve - would you think you shouldn't have done that because it may need to be replaced again in the future. Very few things last forever, especially body parts. I would say you should stop stressing, relax and if at some stage you need another op deal with it then. No point in wasting time and energy on worrying.

I agree with Jachut, that everyone with a BMI of 40 had to at one point have a BMI of 27 so I don't see a problem with a person with a low BMI getting banded. What does concern me though are your expectations. A band is designed to help a person lose their excess weight not to ensure that a person reaches the lowest end of the healthy BMI scale. Even with a band that is probably going to be hard to achieve. As you work within the fashion industry I am sure that the pressure to get to that ultralow weight must be huge. What are you doing currently to try to lose the weight? Are you on a diet, are you able to stick to it? What are your particular diet demons? Do you have issues with portion control,are you a grazer, an emotional eater etc? If you are struggling with portion control and hunger then yes the band could assist you. But if you are already managing to stick to a "diet" then a band may not be the answer. It may be a case of extra exercise would benefit you more. The thing you also need to remember is that even with a band weight loss is not guaranteed as the band is not a magic wand, but if you are committed and follow the rules, eat the correct amounts of healthy food and exercise then it is an invaluable tool. If you think the band is for you then do lots of research first so that you know what to expect and ask lots of questions. When researching check what you find e.g your photo of a fill is nothing like any fill that I have had!

It is common for them to be quite deep and hard to find, especially at first. As you lose weight it should become easier.The thing is they not only have to find the port but they have to hit the membrane on it in the right spot.

No I feel fine. Not sure what is making you feel so yucky.

I have never had a problem. My Dr doesn't use fluoro or numbing shots. Sometimes I have been poked twice and sometimes it bleeds a little as it is possible to hit a blood vessel.