hmarko

hey Amanda: Can't wait to look at your pics you are doing great! Our poster child :ohmy: OK you haven't had PB's or slimes? What size band do you have and what are you eating and doing? I am so annoyed at the whole slime pb thing.

There is a whole PCO support area if you scroll to the support areas. Polycystic Ovary Syhdrome too complicated to go into here but it is as Dr Atkins put it (who I saw when he was alive) one of the most severe metabolic disorders)... there are a ton of other symptoms that wouldn't be the one that leads u to suspect pcos but it results in sever insulin resistance, no mentsruation for some; inability to get pregnant; among other symptoms. Met is short for Metformin which is mainly a diabetes drug but it was found to improve PCOS - so it is very interesting the connections.

Loveslady you are doing great! 8 lbs is great for 6 weeks that is what they expect from us 1-2 lbs a week. Unless you will say its been through sheer willpower which you probably will say! I'm a PCO'ser but I didn't understand the question. I take the Met though I have been forgetful about it the last few weeks; I menstruate regardless but the MET totally has changed my metabolism so it just shows you how much PCO's messes it up. On the other hand as we loose weight our metabolism becomes more normal. When I first went on met about 20 years ago the weight just started flying off and I was doing nothing - this ended in about 6 months my body adjusted BUT on a few occassions I went off the met and I gained a good 20 lbs! both times. So I 'm staying on it (though I have as I said not been taking it for about a week or not taking it daily but that is still not what i meant by go off- it that was for months).

Deb how much of a fill do you have? I just tried to push my dec 1 appt but my choices were dec 22 or in Jan w/ my surgeon so I'm keeping my appt she will prob do a 1/2 cc like last time. This would be my third fill but I have been having this happen since the beginning though it does seem to be getting better (maybe I am finally learning). isn't all this pb'ing bad for and risk slippage? I posted at the NYU board but I should prob post here ... there seem to ge what i call gentle pb's and then there are the more 'violent' pbs. which is what I had yesterday. I'm actually on liquids/mushies (ie if I can't do mushies I'll go back to liquids). The gentle pb's i can eat after. But yesterday. It hurt i fought it and coughed and out it came (gee another unexpected surprise!!) Be warned if you are in public and you are trying to fight this and let the feeling pass? It can suddenly come up it seems! I bet my strategy should be to eat out more. I bet THEN i would be extra careful!!!!

hey Gen - I'm dec 1 too but I'm thinking of pushing it back a week or two.. Main reason is that we have people in from out of town for work and I"m sure dinner is involved. PLUS frankly I haven't gotten a grip yet - I have a PB once a week I actually was thinking wow I finally got a grip been doing good and had a bad one today. I think this one was stuck vs eating too fast. But on the eat too fasts - once either the PB or slime happens then I can eat which tells me its not a restriction thing. Its a learning curve thing. This one today I think will require liquids I have some pain. Not to be graphic but there seem to be the 'gentle' ones which just make you feel better (you sort of make it happen) then today - i tried to fight it and then it was a 'forced' thing thus it hurt more. Is anyone else not having these issues? I feel like I'm the only one complaining about this. And honestly I think I am being careful on my first bites and stuff but I must not be. I prob need to wait FIVE mins between bites - ugh.

If the tube were not connected to the port she would be eating like mad and as mentioned they were able to extract saline - they wouldn't be getting saline if it disconnected.

Mari before you go for an unfill try two days of liquids then mushies to give yourself a break - maybe the stuck episode irritated you as the other poster said. I seem to have PB episodes but they are more the first bite thing - a little slime, then suddenly I can eat again... its weird. I've only had two fills I think at 6cc (I'm at 5.2) I'll prob be good and maybe too tight since i do have the pb's now. Then again given what I can eat after them and some other days the pb's seem behavioral. anyway i digress... my brother has said he could never do this surgery he just likes to eat and feel belly full. Me I don't really care being thin is more impt to me... would i like to eat whatever AND be thin yes but that isn't happening so this is it for me. I'm really happy i did this. I've lost more than I have in probably 15 years (I have always been able to lose 20 lbs) then I would regain. I'm close to a weight i haven't seen in two years and 10 lbs lower than that probably I haven't seen in 10 years!

And another thing to add Dee was that in this whole time I was stuck people who hadn't seen me in 3 weeks noticed a loss! So don't despair maybe start measuring yourself as well.

Don't give up I was in the same boat ...you can click on my first diet ticker for my weight history... for one month i was between 214 and 217.... and YAY now its heading south - I hit my 31 lb mark weight loss! If you are weight training that adds muscle which weighs more (the good news is also burns more fat). I do measure and log everything so I can look back at problem areas plus when we get our fills they ask how we are feeling and if I can't remember what I"m eating then that is useless to me. You had one fill if i remember it will get better with more (i am up to second). My next one may be all I need for some time. if you compare my weight to the fill dates you will see also (all on my signature). I eat about 1200 cals a day- 80 to 100 grams protein; no more than 40 grams fat and no more than 50 grams carbs but that can go to 100 when working out heavy (that means my horseback riding training sessions). Mind you that is an ideal day not actual but this week where the weight has been dropping the most I have stuck to this - (and about 900 cals).

agree with keep taking metformin even if your bg's are normal. Anytime I've gone off it I gained a ton of weight. I'm not going off it until I reach my goal.

She just talks quick don't let it get to you. Just sit there and ask your questions.

I agree w/ Shauna - Carbs AND FAT are BAD for those of us w/ PCO's the REASON we have such difficulty losing weight is because all we can basically eat is Protein. Our metabolism is very screwed up. How many of you lost weight like crazy on the liquid Protein only diet. You should stay as low carb and low fat if you are PCOS. To the last poster sorry I forgot the name - i would be careful about accidental pregnancies as you start losing weight yes (though I don't speak from experience).

Hi Paula -did you go tonight? I got stuck at work :thumbup: what did you think? Did you ask your port question - they are usually very helpful with these things. I'm finally more or less getting the hang of this thing. Though I still have occassional mini slimes or pb's. Its because of those first bites being too fast.

Brighton Belle how much are you at now? I am at 5.2cc w/ my second. I feel restriction. Only if I am having drinks it works against me. Can definitely eat more then. And after exercise.

it is harder to lose weight with lower bmi's because you weigh less thus your 'maintenance' calories are lower THUS to lose a lb of fat you need to spend more time trying to get to that deficit (of 3500 cals). example someone who is 400 lbs has maintanane of roughly 4000 cals they can practicallyh lose a lb a day if eating 1000 cals. BUT if someone is 120 lbs and eating 1000 cals a day it will take them 2 weeks to lose that lb (1200 maintenance) - I did the math quick but you get the idea.

So even though I haven't moved a lot in the last 3 weeks people who haven't seen me in 2-3 weeks are noticing a change so that is good! NSV!!!

for whatever its worth my practice advises eating when hungry so that could mean skipping breakfast. I said REALLY??? isn't that bad for you? In any case they are ok w/ 2 meals a day. I end up doing 12 noon 5 pm then 8 or 9 pm they just tell us to listen to our bodies. sometimes i will do a protein shake in the AM. I am gettiing enough protein

same here its slow going. One minute i'm down 3 lbs then for the next 3 weeks I bounce up and down no further than the original 3 lbs. I seem to have good restriction though probably not at my sweet spot.

they prob are not having you do liquids because they don't sound aggressive in their fills. My first fill went nearly to 50 pct of the band capacity - after this second fill .50 cc because I was having some trouble when I ate fast. I'm finally getting a grip!

Hi - i am prob going to the next support group meeting. Actually I felt it a bit yesterday after doing very heavy resistance on the elliptical at intervals (just 2 mins). She has been different with me maybe because when I walked into my consult w/ her my eye went to the horses on her wall and I own horses. Rather I owned two but the baby I delivered (my horses baby) - was extremely sick for the last couple of months and that was what got me to that high BMI that put me over the edge, so I walked in there and started crying about him. He died the Tuesday after (I had to put him to sleep). I wear his bracelet daily and I think that if any good comes of his death this is it. I haven't met Anne which is she but I like the Cristinas both nurse and nutritionist. Gaspar was very rushed the first and only time I saw him. Granted he DID squeeze me in because my appt got mixed up. My name is Helen - we should ask in the group about the port too.

Its better today... I did two days of protein this evening started mushies (including lemon sole flaked) no probs. A little extra saliva right now but haven't had this all day.

In general yes I need to chew more I'm still figuring this thing out :biggrin: But today I have been only on liquids and it has been happening. Do you think it could be that there is a tiny piece stuck from yesterday? Its actually getting better now after a full day of liquids (the salivating).... so I'm just wondering if I just got tight from the PB episode yesterday or if there is in fact a tiny amt stuck since yesterday... any ideas on how to tell the difference? I've been doing the papaya plus other enzymes tablets too>

Thanks Jacqui - just had the fill on Friday so it usually loosens up.. (I'm still a newbie). if i can't keep food down I'll go to doc by Monday.

HI I was banded by Dr Ren too. I replied above that I don't have issues... but also as an FYI I went to the last support group and they had this guy who weight trains a bunch of the NYU'ers and he hits them hard w/ weight work outs to muscle fatigue (but only 5 exercises and 20 mins) so its very intense but short. Then again he did mention that you don't actually need to do ab work. I do serious core work with riding dressage. Haven't had a problem. Let me know what she says.

Hi all: Ok i'm having a new experience. Monday I got a little stuck started salivating for the first time (it went down on its own was some dry salmon) on my 2 mile walk home. Tuesday - had a bad stuck episode two hours and partly due to my own stubborness of continuing to try to eat (ie I was hungry but my band wasn't). So today wednesday back to the salivation, not sliming... but its been going on all day. Just excess salivation just enough to notice that its not entirely normal. I'm on full liquids because I'm thinking i'm too tight??? But i wasn't tight until now (btw I did get a small restriction, only my 2nd, this past friday but I had not problems until really on Tuesday. Liquids are going down but I can tell I have more restriction today than i have since this fill. Can anyone share if they have had this saliva thing and why it happened? Is it irritated esophagus, swelling from the PB thus I'm too tight (so 2 days liquids, 2 days mushies i'm thinking). Thanks!