Humming Bird

Getting unfilled during flu season does sound a bit crazy to me. That's why they have the flu shot. I am a dental hygienist and deal with people's spit every day and don't get the flu and would never get an unfill like that.

I used equate brand pain patches (Walmart ) and they helped quite a bit.

When was your last fill? It sounds like you may need a tiny tweak.

2 pounds per week .....so, 30 pounds is not realistic

I get a flu shot every year.

Sanction, you sure have a way with words.

You could have something stuck (like a pill you took whole?), or it could be something else like a slip. You can try papaya ensymes or pineapple juice and go on liquids for a few days. Is there any way you can get in to see your lapband Dr. in the next couple days?

I don't go in very often, about one time per year or so. I will try Dr. Weaver first when It's time. Of course I'll go sooner if I have any issues.

Thought all you exercise gurus might enjoy a funny

I should start by telling you I am a dental hygienist and have been for many years. No matter what part of your digestive system the vomit comes from, it is highly acidic and can do some severe damage to your teeth and esophagus. When you are throwing up so often, there could be some pretty bad things going on. When the enamel is gone from erosion, it will never come back. No toothpaste in the world will bring it back. I would tell any patient with the problems you are having to stay away from anything that says "whitening". Many people have found that paying for dental insurance is more expensive than self pay. I don't know what type of plan you will have, but the wait may cost you more damage to your teeth. I don't know what to tell you without looking at your teeth. I can give you basic/general advise as a dental hygienist and as a fellow bandster. You should be able to go talk to your dentist about it for around $45.

I used strawberry banana and it turned out very yummy. My grandson ate some tonight and loved it. The oranges sound good too.

I am thinking about going to Dr. Weaver for follow-up and fills since Dr. K retired. I would love to hear what Dr. Weaver is like.

He should join the site and jump back in! There are some really great banded men on this site. There is "the men's room" where he could start talking to some of them and find new motivation.

I was not required to have a sleep study or any other pre-op testing for lapband surgery. I was self-pay, so that explains quite a bit. I did have a sleep study done in 2006 because I had chronic fatigue and I snored like a lumberjack. The study showed I did not have apnea, so you don't always have to snore to have apnea and not all people who snore have it. I am very happy to say I no longer snore after the weightloss

If it were me, I would call and beg to get in sooner. They need to make time to see emergencies.

I have not counted calories from day one and have had great success. If you are one that LIKES to count, measure and track, then 690 does seem low.

This may post twice ..... didn't look like it worked the first time .... I had to come back and see if I drain the pineapple .......yes. I'm going to make some tonight. How long does it last in the refridg.?

Most of the time I eat Chili, soup, salad or cheese and reduced fat wheat thins. Sometimes a little liquid yogurt smoothie before the cheese/crackers.

It's better to rinse with baking soda Water after you throw up rather than brushing. This will help neutralize the acids, but you will still have at least a 20 min. acid attack on your teeth every time you throw up or have acid reflux even with the baking soda.

Night coughing and night reflux are sure signs of being too tight. It can do some pretty bad damage to your esophagus and to your teeth.

back when I was just starting we were chatting with a lapband doc in a thread "I don't understand". I saved one of the Dr.'s posts because I liked the basic explaination. Here is his post: All weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume). Burning more and consuming less is what causes weight loss. The band will not force you to burn calories. The band helps with the consuming less part. It helps with this in three major ways: 1. Reduced appetite - some surgeons argue that the band is an appetite reduction operation. It has been shown to reduce appetite hormones. Patients say they don't feel hungry - they don't feel like they are on a diet. The band reduces true physical hunger. Some of us struggle with emotional hunger, phantom hunger which is not cured by the band but reducing physical hunger is very helpful at combatting head hunger. Emotional hunger comes from deep rooted emotional pain causing negative emotion that is unfortunately temporarily cured by food. 2. Fullness on small portions - the amount of stomach above the band is small. You will feel full on a much smaller portion of food if the band is properly adjusted. The fullness feeling is not a "pat your lower belly" kind of fullness. Band fullness is a very high sensation - in the chest - the feeling that the last bite of food is somewhere near the base of the tongue and another crumb will not be physically allowed. 3. The impossible nature of overeating - let's say you feel full and not hungry but you decide that you will overeat anyway. A properly adjusted band simply will not allow this. A point will be reached where the system will reject anything more. The esophagus (swallowing tube) is a transport organ; not a storage organ. The esophagus has two buttons: down and up. It will try down first. If that doesn't work, it switches to up and you get to see the food again. We've been banding for eight years and we see three groups of patients in our practice: Group 1 - gold medal superstar patients who lose easily and steadily after band surgery and send us Christmas cards that will bring tears to your eyes. Group 2 - patients who acheive the same ultimate results as Group 1 but it takes longer with more office visits and more education and slower weight loss but we still get there. The race car crosses the finish line but it's on fire and badly damaged. Group 3 - patients that will be three years out from band surgery and only down 20 or 30 pounds. The three biggest reasons patients are in this group are: 1.) unsolved emotional eating 2.) zero calorie burning 3.) Quit, give up, stop coming to the practice for band adjustments, education, etc One of the best books I've seen on emotional eating is: "Shrink Yourself" by Dr. Gould. Many patients have told me this helps. The secret to curing emotional eating is to identify the root cause of this negative emotional pain and work through it. This is the most difficult aspect of successful weight loss.

Sorry to see you go, but I do understand. I have taken several breaks from the site myself.

I'm about 2 1/2 years post-op and still in love with my band. I lost 100 pounds in the first year and the rest came off a bit slower. I was lucky to get the proper restriction level early in the process. I've had a couple tiny fills during maintenance. I have put in very little effort. I still believe this is the easiest weightloss and maintenance of my life. I have been on almost every diet known in my life. None of them worked as well as this has. How does it work for me? I get satisfied on very small portions of food. It is basic calories in vs. calories used. I have not eaten a full plate of food in 2 1/2 years. I do not exercise but my general activity level has increased since I'm not hauling around 100+ extra pounds. I do not count calories, weigh/measure food, or track anything. I'm not telling anyone not to do these things, I just can not live my life obcessing over every calorie and gram. I do have a list of foods I can no longer tolerate, but I do not miss these foods like I thought I would. For the question ,"Is it the fact that you can't eat more without getting sick?" Yes. At first, until I learned, if I ate too much or ate a food I could no longer tolerate, I would throw up. I hate throwing up, so it didn't take me long to figure out my full signal and stop eating. When I get my full signal I do not take another bite even if it means throwing the last bite or 2 on my plate in the trash.

This is on the list of signs of being too tight. I hope your doc gets it figured out so you can get better sleep without all the reflux.

You need to have a Dentist look at your teeth.