cduval04

I am giving this a bump b/c I still find it to be true and am curious if anyone else has had the same experience.

I know that my bariatric NP told me that for most who lose a bunch of weight, the bad usually gets looser by itself & requires a little fill. However I remember one girl from my local support group who said the opposite was true, as she lost weight her band actually got a little tighter. Now w/ my 3 yr ann'y approaching & down 85 from heaviest & 65 pre-op I am starting to notice this as well. Does anyone else share this? Requiring slight unfills w/ weight loss as opposed to the other way around? Thanks, Carlie

At least u can toot lol. My gas often gets trapped for whatever reason & causes me pain. I have found gas-x to work very well. Also anything with peppermint helps, and fennel tea also helps. Hope this helps!!

hello,

Dec 20 will mark 3 years since my LAGB surgery. I lost about 40 lbs and stayed the same for sooooooo long. Got my last fill in June. And within the last couple months (started school, started going to gym more, activity level increased greatly, less time to eat) I have really started to crawl out of my slump and start using the the band to it's full potential once again. I have lost about 25 lbs in the last 8 weeks or so.

My problem is, I always had a bit of GERD issues, but the past month or so (and even more the past week or so) have been having a lot of it-I usually start coughing when it starts, and can't stop coughing until I take zantac or pepcid.

I can take tums for a lot shorter period of relief. (I really have an issue with PPI's and will not take them) I do not want to get an unfill b/c I am losing weight for the first time in years and am very happy with my new, improved body. Also, I can eat anything, just small amounts, and have had no trouble keeping anything down when I take small bites and chew. Reflux is mostly in the AM and when I dont eat for much more than a couple hours.

I have vomited, but only 3 or 4 times since I got the fill in June and it was because I was stupid and ignored my signals. I have an appt with my Bariatric nurse on friday,

any advice/anecdotes/words of wisdom would be appreciated.

-Carlie

you know, I was watching extreme weight loss on ABC last night and I cannot believe not only the lack of family support, but the downright sabotage so many people have to deal with from their own family! What is it about food? if you had a drug addiction would they sit right there and light up in front of you? Or worse, would they try to encourage you to as well? Food is no different and I don't understand why family, the people who are supposed to love and support us can't understand that? I am so glad my family does all they can to help me b/c if they didn't I probably would have ended up much heaver than I ever have been. Younger people teens and children deserve a little slack because they can't quite fully conceptualize things even though they can think they know it all! You daughter may just be scared about the actual surgery, going under anesthesia, etc. Also if you just told her the day before it may have just surprised her! Good luck! And this is about you, and don't let anyone try to wreck it!!

Well, my husband and I are both testing as 3+ on dairy products for allergies. So we are staying away from ice cream and all dairy. I must admit, I too am an ice cream addict! Staying away from Dairy Queen and McDonald's frappes, and Starbucks Frappachinos, is one day a t a time!!!

Best luck to all of our addictions! I believe in a Higher Power!

how interesting....was that one of the metametrix igG tests? I tested as a 5+ for milk, but can't completely give it up! I'm not much of a meat eater,so it'm my Protein source! I LOVE greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, milk (the only thing I have done is switch my milk to almond breeze, unsweetened, coconut flavored. But I also have a 3+ to almonds peanuts oranges and garlic...ahhh can't win lol

If I had to pick one food that was a major trigger for me it would be ice cream. I was actually gonna post on here about it...Quahog I think you may have given me the strength to try to start qutting!

Pita crisps or Triscuts

As others said, anything pickled will do for a salt craving

Nuts (almonds have the good Omega 3s)

Lunchmeat (Protein & salt-yeah)

cheese is pretty salty too.

thanks everyone. I am ok. I chose not to go to the ER. Now wait - before you judge, I recovered late friday evening, and i have felt ok since. My mom is a nurse, my vitals have been ok, BP, pulse, o2sat, and no more vomiting, my fingernails are pink, not white,appetite has been fine & I have had one BM since friday and it was not black. Also, I need to go for a physical anyway, so I will bring it up then, make sure they get a BMP, & CBC at the least.

To clarify, I not only dislike doctors, I despise the disrespect a lot of them have shown me when diagnosing and "un" diagnosing me with various illnesses. My brush with depression, anxiety and a previous history of psych issues, has made many doctors judge me when nothing is immediately wrong, I have almost died (had I not sought a second opinion or had someone in my family know to) at least once that I can think of right now.

I have had doctors that look only at tests on paper and tell me I am fine, making no effort to concern themselves with how I might be feeling. I also don't trust the medical system as a whole in this country, believe that there is enormous amounts of corruption, and that a lot of health professionals make their decisions at the mercy of insurance and big pharm, and not based on their better judgement, for fear of putting their careers in jeopardy.

So no I am not going to see something scary, and go running off to the ER at the drop of a hat. I know in a way what I am saying sounds crazy, but the only one who has made me not only dislike, but distrust doctors, unfortunately is, doctors. And if I go for my physical, and turn out to be really sick, the only one I will have to blame is myself.

Thank you so guys all so much for expressing genuine concern, it is more than I could expect, especially from most doctor's offices.

Ha! Big yes..in fact it varies so much that it can be sort of annoying..I think for me stress & anxiety are biggies and also the weather...my doc described it as the stomach is a muscle and just like our other muscles tighten with stress, so does the stomach. Also allergies and "that time of month" for women can affect restriction as well.

hello,

I had my surgery 19 months ago (to the day actually), and yes I am a slow loser, but am not going up and do continue to lose, albeit slowly, I have lost about 42lbs since surgery and have gone from a BMI of 47 down to 41.

and here is my question: I hardly ever drink booze, I maybe imbibe once or twice a year and try to take very good care of my stomach. but thursday night was one of those nights where I decided to break that personal rule.In addition I did everything else that is ill advised if you want to reduce your chances of feeling like death in the am. I had not eaten anything since about 6:30=empty pouch. I did not drink Water in between drinks. Then from the hours of about midnight to 4am I drank 5 nips of 70 proof vodka with punch, 1 nip of whiskey with cola and a hard cider (my friend works at a liquor store and gets free stuff), I proceeded to go to sleep at about 4am, still with nothing in my tummy and the spins.I ruffled around in my purse to try and find some of my zantac or pepcid but I had forgotten it. Large mistake. I woke up at 11am and when I sat up almost instantly puked. It was black, and granular. I puked like this 2 or 3 more times over the next hour. On the way home my friend stopped and got me a gatorade, I took one sip, and about 15 minutes later that came up too, it was gatorade with little black flecks in it. That was the last time I puked.

My friend said I was fine, and that what I was seeing was the cola from last night, Except I has only had about 6-8 ounces of cola, but that was 7 hours previous. I have a history of ulcers and bleeding in my family (my dad had his first bleed when he was 18, bled in the same spot when he was 43, 50, and 55). And almost died once. I overuse nsaids, although since surgery I take about half the amount that I used to and try to take them with zantac or pepcid b/c my bariatric doc said that's ok. I had an endoscopy about 8 month before my LAGB surgery and it showed mild erosion in the antral area of my stomach. I do have GERD but refuse to take PPI's regularly (I am against them for several reasons) and use zantac and pecid as needed, and was told this was ok by my doc

Problem is, I hate the doc and the hospital, and I am a very anxious person especially when it comes to this because I watched what my dad went through, which means I can over-react a bit. I have felt a little woozy and like butterflies in my stomach, but that could just be anxiety, because I'm thinking of what ifs. & My BP runs very low anyway .I guess my main question is, Would I have thrown up cola 7 hours after drinking it? is that even possible? one would think it would be way past my pouch by that point, but is that even possible? I am posting here because I really don't want to go running to the doc unless absolutely necessary. (I once peed pink like 10 years ago and freaked went to the ER, and then realized I had eaten beets lol). AM I over reacting about my black/dark dark brown, somewhat granular vomit? Could it be anything else than blood? Please help tell me what I should do..thanks!

P.S. Sry for the long post, I tend to be quite wordy :-)

Wow brebre I thought I was reading about myself! You are not alone. I am 2 years out (as of 12/20) and started @ 238 and am now 206..and the scale hasn't moved in a LONG time. I too often make wrong choices, take bites too big and eat too much, and then end up in the bathroom, regurgitating loads of that same clear mucus you describe. One of the issues is I think my band is too tight because I am getting discouraged with that lump in my throat feeling and "wet burps" sometimes after just a few bites so I am eating slider foods which is very bad. But I have been afraid to ask for a little unfill fearing I will still make the wrong choices b/c I often get cravings for sugar/salt/fat and if I get a little unfill then I can eat more. On the other hand if my band is a little looser maybe I would be able to eat the appropriate foods high in Protein and then I wouldn't crave the junky food. I have resolved one thing tho even if I cheat on wrong foods, DON'T drink my calories-EVER-it becomes wayyyy to easy to get wayyyyy to many calories. Frappes, Juices, smoothies, milk etc. You will put on weight faster than you can blink your eyes and it is easy so you will do it more and more.

Anyway brebre, I know EXACTLY where u r coming from and I hope you can conquer the mental thing and I hope I can too!!

any thoughts as to why I have been having mad itching directly on my port incision, 22 months post op? it is so weird no place else on my abdomen itches at all...I don't even know where to begin on this one.. coming from inside or outside? Has anyone had gallbladder issues after surgery? I have noooooo idea. Suggestions?

-Carlie

It's def not my port..... I can feel my port also though...it is a good inch and a half above my port...I can still see the mark from the needle where she filled me on Monday.

hello,

I am 4 months post banding & I was massaging my abdomen today (yes, I have IBS it helps sometime) and I felt this hard lump about the size of a ping pong ball maybe...it is not as defined as a ping pong ball though....

I was really worried so I asked my mom to feel it cuz she is a nurse & she said she could feel it...but then she noticed that it was directly under one of my laproscopic incisions, which led her to strongly believe it was scar tissue and not something "bad", then again she did admit that is what she wanted to belieive, but that she did really think that was what it was....& if it had not been right under the incsision she would have been way more concerned...

just curious....has anyone (esp. with sensitive skin) had a buildup of scar tissue below an incision post op? I dont know if it has been there all along & I just didn't notice it, or if it just "appeared"

thanks in advance!!

hello all,

I was banded 16 weeks ago. I have had 3 fills. the first one they put in 3 cc's the second they put in 2 cc's the third they put in 2.5. The month following that fill I lost 7 lbs! I was so happy. So when I went to see the NP, I told her I felt restriction, but I didn't feel "quite there" yet..you know in that green zone...so she put in another 1.5 for a total of nine.

After getting that fill, it is very hard to take pills, but they go down if I take them 1 at a time, and I noticed my weight loss has halted, and after reading similar posts on here, I think I know why. I am resorting to crap because it goes down easy, and am probably getting little, if any Protein at all in. crap being all the crap I'm supposed to avoid, graham crackers, oreos, chocolate, and frozen yogurt and Cereal, I have been living on healthy cereals, but yet still cereal b/c it goes down so easily.

So maybe I was in my green zone at fill #3 and I just wasn't familiar enough with my new body to realize it. I mean I did lose 7 lbs in 24 days thats over 2 lbs a week so maybe I was in my green zone,

Also, does anyone have problems with fluids going down? Seems to me Water would just go right through the band, but for some reason, i can only take really small sips, and I feel like this is hindering my Fluid intake. Sometimes on school days, I will go till 4pm and realize I have only had about 12 ounces of water. It doesn't make sense why any amount of fluid would have trouble going down. Is this a sure sign that I am too tight?

I don't spit up or froth much, but that is because I have been avoiding any foods that would make me do that (although it has happened about 3 or 4 times just since my fill on march 25th) but I do get the "stuck" feeling a lot and that pain in my chest before the bolus of food travels down to the stomach.

I dunno, it seems to me that if the 7.5 was working, and the 9 is not working as well at all, I should get unfilled, but I just wanted peoples experiences. Did people who went "one fill too many" have the same experience? did you have trouble "recognizing" your green zone when you first got there, or did you just know. I know they give you all the criteria for when you are in the green zone, but if you have never been there, isn't it hard to judge when you are there and not just say, i think I need another fill?

I guess it boils down to, if I'm finding it so much of an effort to eat the right things that I have to eat around the band with the wrong things, then I;m probably overfilled? or maybe just lazy? I have no idea, please offer some insight.

thanks,

Carlie

Ya good lord I don't care if you weigh 400 or 4000lbs 130lbs Is a HUGE chunk of weight.

You have lost 520 sticks of butter off you my friend-way to go!! (sry I like butter + I like math )

I was wondering what the purpose of going back to liqs for first 24 hours then mushies for next 24 hrs then back to normal after every fill is? is this standard, or is it that kind of depends on your doctor thing?

I was just wondering becuase I "cheated" and ate solid food during first 48hrs (I know it was bad) and I was just wondering if there would be any permanant consequenses becuase of my actions.... (i hope to got that answer is no)

so, any idea why they "prescribe" this plan after every fill? is there anyone who doesn't have to do this?

thanks. 5cc's in an 11cc realize-c band and still no restriction....fills not done under flouro

I had similar issues, took forever to find center. doctor was so frusterated she was cussing . I was laughing at that. she moved the thing for like 5 min and then she said she bent the tip of the needle so had to stick me again....second needle took her just as long...finally she said she found it but she didn't have me leaving very confident...its not the stick that hurts it when they move it around every which way in there that gets you kind of woozy after awhile.....of course the fact that I still have no restriction doesnt boost my confidence either.

If your Dr. knows where your port is and is sure there are no issues then going in blind may be fine. But the first 2-3 fills should be done under fluoroscopy. It's the only way your Dr. will be able to see

But doing them under fluorscopy allows your Dr to see issues before they happen like port flipping, band twisting, band slipping, too tight a fill etc.

Considering how many times I've read on here, and heard from people, about their tubing getting caught up, about their port flipping, about their fill being too much, about their band slipping after an appointment, and on, and on, and on... doesn't it make sense to pay a little more to have the reassurance that everything is fine and you won't be paying for surgery to fix a problem or for an unfill? Or if you do have to pay for something you can find out before it's a huge issue.

For those with insurance there are ways that your Dr. can bill so insurance covers fluoroscopy completely.

I tend to agree with acadia, my office does all their fills "blind" even fill #1 and it does not make me feel confident. they should at least do fouro on the first fill to resolve questions like: did everything heal correctly in place? did the port flip? etc......I dunno, to me it's kind of like driving somewhere where you don.t know how to get to and not using a map/gps

I went for my second fill cuz I got 3ccs and was feeling nothing, and I asked my PA if it was possible the NP that filled me last time could have "missed" and she said "not probable, but possible" I wasnt comfortable at all with that answer......I had 2 more put in then and I am still feeling NOTHING.....sux

I am having this same type of pain by my belly buttons (slightly below), except its on my right side. my port is on the right, but the pain is lower and further to the right than my port. I have heard that the pain receptors in the belly are really bad so a lot of times when belly pain happens, the source of the pain is not always exactly where we feel it. i believe the term for this is called "referred pain"

hello. was banded on 12/20 went in for first fill on 1/31 where they put 3 cc's in my 11cc realize-c band. (not done under flouro). I am not feeling much restriction and have only lost 1lb since the 31st (13 in total since pre surgery weight) so I am going back on friday to have it filled more.

my question is about..well..my colon to be frank.....don't even know if it's related to the surgery, but a few weeks ago I got a pretty localized pain in the lower right side of my abdomen sort of next to and below my belly button. It seems to be getting a little worse every week, and appears to be positional, and related to whether I have eaten or not. ok.....sorry this is sorta gross but worrisome to me.....my bowel movements are ENORMOUS and when I say big I mean like 16-18 inches (no I didn't measure it but I have an 18-inch ruler at home and it looks just about the length of that) and my last one was probably the diameter of my entire large intestine (yes I did look that up lg intestine is 5 ft long 3 inches in diameter)

I had these types of BM's a couple times before surgery, but they happened rarely. But now, my last 4 BM's have been like this, and they are usually two toned, half light brown half dark brown. Usually happens once a day. My mom has been a visiting nurse for 30 years gone into probably thousands of peoples homes and she looked at one and said she had never seen anything quite like it in all her years of nursing...now that scared me because the stories she comes home with...well let's just say I thought she had seen everything there is to see when it comes to gross. Before you call me an obsessive poop looker with too much time on my hands, keep in mind poo can be a huge indicator of your health, just as your pulse and temperature can be. (yes I also am a daily Dr. Oz show watcher ok there I admit it after all, he is the doctor who taught america to look in their toilets)

all kidding aside though, this along with the pain scares me. I am going to GI and GYN on friday, but does anyone have any words of wisdom for me or shared similar symptoms? Bowel obstruction or something?

thanks in advance,

Carlie

I called the office and found out she put 3 in my band.....what is up with all these people having it done under flouro, at least the first time it makes sense (like to see if everything healed in place before they go blindly shooting saline in there, and frankly I'm a little upset that that's not the way they do it at my hospital....it would ease a lot of my nerves to know that everything healed where it was supposed to.

about the delayed action thing, I was only told it by my NP and then I saw it in the sticky at the very top (first thread first post) of this fills forum...and then a few threads below mine was one titled 'delayed action fill' here.

I dunno I guess everyone is just a little different, my worst fear of course being that I will never get true restriction or that something in my band is mechanically wrong, leak, kink etc. but it is said that 90% of what you worry about never happens, so I will keep worrying!

am week 7 post op but just wanted to say that soy Protein tasted awesome going down, but about 1 hour after I got super nauseas, I bought the one with Spirutein and I think that may have been the ingredient that made me feel sick.....after that I gave up on the protein b/c I had tried so many and there was only like 4 days left in my clear liqs so I called the doc and she said I could add skim milk and carnation instant bfast. other than that I survived on broth, Jello, gatorade and sf popsicles. My family had ham for christmas dinner...I had red and green jello yay....<img class="bbc_emoticon" alt=":ack2:" src="http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/default/colorful/ack2.gif">...but thats over and I've lost 12lbs since 12/20.....I kinda expected to lose more but my first fill was only a week ago yesterday...so before that I was spending time in bandster hell....felt restriction with fill for like 48 hrs but now it has gone...I hope it comes back I know fills can have that delayed action thing....we will see...I forgot to ask her how many cc's she actually put in stupid me<img class="bbc_emoticon" alt="" src="http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif">......is there a protocol for first fill on the realize-c band?? maybe that should be a question for a new thread kind of getting off topic here....<br>

I just had my first fill on Jan 18th. I felt "tighter" or "restricted" for a few days, then back to normal. It wasn't until 2 weeks later that I really felt the full effect of the fill. I can't eat as much as before and I can't drink as much in one sip as I did before my fill. I even feel tighter at certain points of the day. I can't eat heavy foods for Breakfast or else it will get stuck, so I stick to Protein shakes. That has been my experience so far. it's odd how this thing works sometimes.

victoria this is exactly what happened to me, I had my very first fill last Monday and felt restriction for about 48 hours (during which I lost 2 pounds!) then it was gone and I was so confused...needless to say I have gained about 1 of those 2 lbs back...but my fill was only a week ago today, so it was nice to hear how your story worked out...I hope I start feeling some restriction sometime in the next week or so.

hi all,

I was banded on 12/20 and had my first fill on 1/31. it was an experience...took her a good 10 min. to find the center of my port...the first needle she actually bent..so I got the pleasure of being stuck twice. She said I had something called a seroma...a little "sack" of serous Fluid that commonly develops after abdominal surgery so she was trying to get through/around that.....

she was very repetitive in saying that I would not feel the full effects of the fill for a few weeks, because the fluid had to take time to distribute evenly..at the time I am writing this, the post directly below mine is titled "delayed action" fill so I guess I am not the only one with questions about this.

I am worried though because instead of feeling more restriction, every day that passes I actually feel less. (I think I was playing it extra cautious the first couple days). She said to me that usually if patients call crying for another fill sooner than 3 weeks, they will not do it, she said she did it once and ended up over filling that person because the first fill kicked in after the second and then her band was way too tight.

but I am thinking of calling anyway, because of the fact that I am feeling less restriction as time passes. I don't know whether the lack of restriction is because I have not given it enough time, or simply because she did not fill it enough, as they tend to be conservative on fill #1 because everyone's different

Should I call, or is this normal and I should just wait a little while longer to see if I feel any "delayed" restriction?

How many of you on your first fill ended up having the delayed restriction and how many of you ended up just not having enough fluid in there.

So hard "getting to know" your new stomach! btw I have a realize-c band.