elcee

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to continue using it. Most stomach ulcers are caused by the H Pylori bacteria so presumably you have been tested for and are receiving treatment for that.

Hi, welcome and good luck. FYI Hypertension is high blood pressure!

I probably don't qualify as long term but here is my story anyway. Banded June 09, BMI 32. No problems after surgery except minor pain and nausea which were easily handled. Lost weight on a decreasing basis e.g 5kg first month, 3kg the second month etc with no major effort on my part. I eat a balanced diet with food from ALL food groups.There is no food that I cannot eat but sometimes some foods won't go down. This is because the tightness of the band can differ from one day to the next. So don't cut a food out of your diet just because it gives you problems once. I now have a BMI of 21.9 which means that I have lost more than 100% of my excess weight. My band is not overly tight (5.5ml in a 10ml band). I feel great and I think I look pretty good too. People are constantly making comments about how skinny I am. I do not think I am skinny its just that there are so many overweight people that our perception of what is normal is warped. I do not have issues with reflux or anything like that. Yes I PB sometimes but that is not a big deal. The only thing I regret about my band is that I didn't have it done sooner. I would do this again in a flash. Hope this helps. And remember support groups such as this one serve the needs of people having problems. That is why you will find a disproportionately high number of people with issues. People that have been banded a while and are happy are busy living their lives and don't post.

That is exciting because if you can tolerate it you will have a headstart. But you do need to be aware that a number of people cannot tolerate the additional restriction on top of the post op swelling. There have been a number of people here that really struggled after surgery, hated their bands, couldn't get anything down including water etc and when they went to see their Dr's it turned out that their bands had been partly filled at surgery. Being aware of the potential problems is probably the best defence because you will know why they are happening and that you need to go back and get some of the saline removed. All the best, hope it goes well.

Laparscopic means that they use a laparscope to see what they are doing. It used to be referred to as keyhole surgery.It means the Drs make small incisions to do the surgery as opposed to an open procedure where they make a large incision and you are left with a large scar. You are confusing it with the SILS procedure. Single incision via the bellybutton. There is no way it can be done through the mouth. How would they get the band around the outside of the stomach. the only thing done through the mouth is the procedure where they implant a balloon in your stomach.

It's a bit worrying that you are finding EVERY man attractive. There are lots of ugly guys out there(yes I know beauty is only skin deep)! i actually thought that the engine said IKNOWICAN..........

You need to remember that the band restricts the quantities of food that you can eat not the calories.Compare a cube of cheese with an apple. the cheese is smaller but much higher in calories. It would be fairly easy to eat a large quantity of cheese wheras apples would be more difficult. The band is a tool that helps to control your hunger you still choose what you put in your mouth. You need to choose your calories wisely. Pick foods that are high in nutrients and dense so that they will fill you up for a long period of time. Proteins are generally the best e.g meat, chicken, eggs etc. Avoid "slider" foods. Slider foods are foods which are high in calories, low in nutritional value and slide through the band easily. things such as chocolate,cookies,cake, icecream,milkshakes. The band will not stop you eating these you have to have the control not to eat them.

WOW!!!! I'm gobsmacked. Cannot believe that you are basing this decision on how many scars you may or may not have. On the one side the op should seriously improve your health, your longevity, your fitness and definitely the way you look but you are prepared to throw that away because of the possibility of a couple of scars. Are you hoping to become a bikini model or something once you lose weight? If you are then you will probably need a tummy tuck and that would give you further scars! Plus they use this thing these days called airbrushing. Seriously how often are you going to be getting your stomach out and do you really think scars would be worse than fat??? Most people have 4 - 5 holes at the time of the surgery. 3 - 4 of these are tiny poke holes approx 1cm long. They are often situated under the bust where they are not seen and they fade so much that they are hardly noticeable. If you have a tendency for your scars to become keloid then obviously they would be more noticeable. The biggest scar is the one where your port goes and this can be in various places. It fades to a fine line which again is not really noticeable. I know everyone is different but I don't think you should be jeopardising your future health over this. You should base your choice of surgeon on experience , aftercare etc. If the more experienced surgeon does the surgery with 5 holes that to me would be the better choice than the less experienced surgeon that uses 1.

I think you should go and discuss it with your Dr. What type of foods are you eating? Maybe with better food choices you could stay full longer without being hungry.I understand your concern with being too tight and there can sometimes be a very fine line between enough and too much. How many times a day do you eat? Does your Dr allow a planned healthy snack between meals? A lot of bandits have been told that they should only eat 3 times per day and not be hungry inbetween but for most this is unrealistic. It can be a very long time between lunch and dinner.

It never ceases to amaze me what people are prepared to share with a bunch of strangers on the net!

Sorry to hear that Stacie that really sucks. Elfie hope your holiday is going well. Christie glad things are going well and that you enjoyed your date. Too many posts to catch up on after being away so all the best to everyone else too. We had a great week in Tassie. We went up cradle mountain, down some caves, on a restored railway, on a chairlift over a gorge just generally had a relaxing time. The weather was cold but it didn't really matter. Ate all the wrong foods - do you realise how easily chocolate mousse cake goes down? But the quantities were small and I didn't gain any weight! I suppose that having cake instead of lunch makes a difference(before it would have been lunch and cake). Been busy catching up with the washing and cleaning. The weather has at last started to get warm and now that daylight saving has started we have nice light evenings too. Had to go and get blood tests this morning. Since my incident in March when I collapsed and got taken off my BP meds I have been monitoring it myself at home.It has been getting higher and higher. Saw my GP twice and he said it was high but not high enough to worry about. yesterday morning I was feeling dizzy,nauseous, shaky and my heart was pounding(I had eaten breakfast). checked my BP and it was 180/100!!!!!! Saw another GP at the practice and she has given me some meds and ordered thyroid,iron,Vit B, Vit D tests etc etc to see if she can find out what is causing it.Have to go back on Friday.

Wow that is a lot of fill.What size band do you have? Also 2 weeks on liquids after a fill is not what is normally expected. I think that you are probably too tight and need an unfill. You say you have never got the feeling that you are supposed to get after fills. May I ask what feeling it is that you are looking for? It may be your Quest for some feeling that does not exist that is leading you to be way tighter than you need to be. I for one do not get any special feeling after a fill. I have to eat slower and chew better etc but that is it. there is also no magic full feeling. It is more a case of recognising when you have eaten enough(of the correct kind of foods) and then not getting hungry again for a couple of hours. You will never feel full the way you did before you were banded. It is different. Generally there can be a fine line between having eaten enough and overdoing it and being uncomfortable. The signal to stop eating may need to come from your head rather than from your band.

Where does it feel like it is sitting? If it feels like it is in your stomach then you are not stuck. If something is stuck you will feel it at band level which is in the centre of your chest more or less between your nipples. If something is stuck at this point you can trying coughing it back up,waiting for it to pass etc. It all depends how uncomfortable you are. You may not be stuck but have some swelling from something that was stuck, the best cure for this is sucking on crushed ice as it helps to reduce swelling. If you are feeling it in your stomach then I don't think it has anything to do with your band and am not sure what to suggest.

LOL. Yes straight to hell for you. I discovered yesterday when I took my son to movies that popcorn is a slider food! I suppose the only good thing is that I ate it instead of lunch not as well as lunch. Love reading this thread but rarely contribute. Some of the things make me laugh as I have been there, done that. e.g. Having to urp on the side of the road. Not fun. I recently switched Dr's as I am scheduled for a hysterectomy at the end of Oct. 1hr+ drive each way is OK for an unfill but I decided it was going to be a problem to get refilled especially as I will be restricted from driving for a while. Was lucky enough to find a Dr that would take me on that is closer.He unfilled me to see how much was in my band and I was surprised , apparently I had 5ml but have no idea how. Previous Dr's didn't like giving total fill amounts but if I added up what they said they put in each time it should have come to less than that.He added another .5 so I am now sitting at 5.5ml. Pretty comfortable and can eat most things but at least I am not getting hungry as quickly as before.He is going to unfill 2 days before the op and will visit me in hospital to refill. It is school holidays here so we are going to Tasmania for a week with friends, we leave tomorrow. We have recently had some really good rain which is great considering we have had a drought for goodness knows how many years. Of course as they say "It never rains, it pours" and it did just that. Had nightmares that my house might float away. The dam in our front garden did join up with the one next door but luckily it didn't reach the house.Our local golf course was amazing though. the river burst it's banks and the course was turned into a lake. It was an amazing sight. All the best to everyone. hope the holidays, teeth, fills, marathons etc all go really well. Lynn

You were lucky it only lasted 5 minutes.

These are classic symptoms of hypoglycaemia(low blood sugar). Have you been tested for things such as diabetes? I cannot see that the band will stop you feeling like this. It will still be important to recognise when you need food and eat appropriately.It is also very important not to let yourself get too hungry as what happens then is that we tend to eat too fast , take bites that are too big , not chew properley and we get stuck which can be painful or at the very least extremely uncomfortable. It is a good idea to carry a healthy snack in your bag to avoid getting too hungry. What the snack is will depend on what your Dr recommends. I normally have a muesli or nut bar in my bag.

I agree that most 14 year olds are not responsible for what they eat. It is their parents that plan,shop, cook etc. I would imagine that the whole family need help in instances like these in types of food, cooking methods etc. To band a 14 year old would probably make no difference as her parents would still be buying and cooking the wrong foods. It would make banded life really hard.

I do belly dancing classes but I am not a belly dancer.Too unco! Bit confused as to what you are concerned about? Can you explain further?

I can't feel mine either! It's not generally something you can feel. But once you have had some fills if you eat too much,too fast,take too big a bite etc you may get stuck or feel uncomfortable. other than that not feeling it is normal.

I have also lost more than 100% of my excess weight. I am now sitting somewhere in the middle of the healthy weight range.

I would make an appointment to see your Dr urgently. So soon after surgery it is possible that it could be a DVT and that if left is serious. Hopefully it isn't and is something really minor but just in case see your Dr ASAP.

I subscribe to realage.com who have some really interesting articles. I just received my newsletter and it has an article in it on a carb that you should be eating as it is really good at helping to prevent strokes. Eat This Carb to Prevent Strokes - Health Tip - RealAge No prizes for correctly guessing which carb it is!

I take OTC medication. Pills not liquids.

I'd be a bit concerned about Dark chocolate being a green food. I know its supposedly good for you but i still don't think you should be able to eat this freely! i think they need to revise that. What works best for me is eating something from all food groups. My dietician actually recommends that you should have protein/carb and fruit or veg at each meal if you can. Breakfast can be hard but the others it isn't generally a problem. Foods tend to be more satisfying when eaten together rather than seperately anyway. Curry and rice rather than curry then rice. Eating Proteins with carbs lowers the GI load of the carb food. Eating carbs with proteins helps to satisfy you longer than eating proteins on their own often for less calories. An egg on toast is more satisfying than multiple eggs or eggs with added cheese/bacon etc. The most important thing is to find out what works for you.

I just did a quick search for the satiety index. This is a list that has been scientifically developed which shows which foods keep you full the longest. The higher number foods keep you full longer than the lower numbers. Obviously when it comes to nutrition and science it seems to change from one day to the next so there are probably studies out there which prove something different. Satiety Index The foods with the highest satiety rating (by far) are potatoes.The second most satisfying food is oatmeal.