CurvyCat

Thanks! I think jrae is right, I am getting some small amounts of acid, but not much I can do aside from getting totally unfilled, for now. I'll go in after the first of the year and have an in-depth discussion with my surgeon about the whole situation. I did get a prescription for omaprazole to reduce any acid for the time being, and I've switched from taking a regular Calcium chew supplement to TUMS before bed as a bit of a prophylactic against possible acid issues at night. I don't know that I could get a revision to sleeve at my current weight. Insurance would probably only cover it if I backslid back to a high enough BMI. Here's hoping I don't have to deal with all that again --- this is my third time to lose this much weight and the idea of gaining it all back AGAIN is really depressing. heh

Thanks, y'all. I do take it slowly, I think I am just sensitive to the restriction sensation, which makes the band problematic for me. I've tried varying levels of fills. Back and forth, filled and unfilled. I'm at 6.5cc now, which might be a touch too much, but 6cc is like being completely unfilled -- nothing stopping me at all from eating as much as I want. So, I'm trying to hang in there at this fill level and figure out something that will work for me food-wise to take the rest of the weight off.Then I can tackle maintenance maybe at a different level without the stuck/upchuck issues. haha I don't think a revision to sleeve would be covered by insurance as I haven't gained the weight back -- I've just been totally unable to lose any more. Thus far, no slipping. The process of the food coming back up isn't particularly harsh or vomit-y -- just kind of like a PB, but I do get tired of waiting for it to decide whether or not it's going to do it and I help it along. Sometimes all I have to do is bend over the toilet and up it comes. If I wait it out through the more uncomfortable episodes, it seems even MORE sensitive afterwards, whereas if I get rid of the offending food right away, it's not so much. I do "help" with a swallow or two of Water if I know it's already going to come back up so it's not trying to push out something thick, so what comes back up is like Soup (sorry if TMI). Otherwise I do follow the "rules" and I do not drink with meals - only when I can feel that it is already stuck and going to make a return trip up. Thanks so much for the feedback. I was blogging, but it was hard when it just became month after month of the same plateau and problems. A girl's gotta vent sometimes, though!

I have such a ridiculous relationship with my band. It hasn't done much for me as far as losing weight goes, but it has proven to be an excellent maintenance tool for me. I lost about 2/3 of my lost weight in the pre-surgery diet and then slowly the other 1/3 or so in the first 6 months after. Since then I've hovered within a 10-12 pound maintenance/plateau range. I was banded because I suck at keeping weight off long-term. Getting stuck and bringing food back up is pretty much a daily occurrence for me, as it seems that "restriction" for me equals anything from "ugh-uncomfortable" to "holy-cr@p-pain". There's no rhyme or reason to it. I can get stuck on cottage cheese and smoothies, or on chicken or tuna. Steak and popcorn can go down fine.... or not. Frozen yogurt or ice cream sometimes come back to haunt me.... and stir fry might stay or it might go. It varies from meal to meal and bite to bite. No warnings, just instant discomfort from one bite to the next. Sometimes I can ride it out and eventually things settle down, but at this point it's easier for me to usually just hasten the food's return trip. Never thought it would take WLS to make me bulimic, but that's kind of what it's come down to for me. At least it's just the food in my pouch, no acid to contend with. My best girlfriend of 20 years was banded with me, and she lost her band to complications earlier this year. Hers slipped and she was unable to keep ANYTHING down, lost too much too fast and ended up on a cardiac unit with emergency band removal. Since then, she's gained back some, but seems so much happier without the constant trips to the restroom after every (partial) meal. Do I want mine out? No, not yet -- I doubt I could maintain on my own. But do I miss being able to eat food and make good choices knowing that I'm going to be giving my body what it needs? Yeah, I do. It's kind of depressing to work on making fabulous healthy meals, only to maybe bring it all back up. I still usually make good choices,but I'm less enthusiastic about it, and less likely to make the effort than I was before. Just a rant, sort of. Wish I could say that this tool has proven as useful as I had hoped. Now getting the rest of the weight off is more of a challenge than before (because lean Protein nearly always sticks/returns, no matter how much I chew).... But at least binging is well under control. Only 35# or so left to go.... but who knows if I'll ever get there.

I feel you on this. I am almost a year and a half out from banding and have very seldom had what others describe as restriction (i.e. feeling full). I have either I-can-eat-anything.... OR.... I have OW-stuck-and-must-vomit. If it's the latter, then, like you, I can usually go back 5 minutes later and eat anything..... well, except firm Protein - I've had to develop some tricks to get chicken/fish/tofu/eggs/pork to go down. Mine is definitely not at your level of fill, though. I'm only at 2cc, and still get stuck very very often. Just wanted to say you aren't the only one. My band works (at least nominally) because I'm terrified of causing myself pain. Loss post-banding (I lost over half my total in the pre-op diet months), has been EXTREMELY slow, but at least I'm not gaining. So, thinking of it as a maintenance tool for me has kept me from getting TOO down about it. Maybe that's the approach you will have to take too? Hang in there!

I used to be one of those people who would say exactly that kind of thing to someone struggling with the band. But you know what? After eating healthy mushies for the better part of year (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc) because solids won't go down, I have to say that it's a REALLY depressing boat to be in. You're hungry because those soft foods don't offer any satiety, you end up eating more than you should, and you don't lose a damn thing. So eventually you just end up saying what the heck, and eating things you shouldn't too.... like ice cream. I've only recently re-motivated and am just living with the being hungry thing. Which is what I was trying to NOT have by having the band. I can't eat the healthy things I should be eating without fear of pain. I'm sick to death of the few mushy Protein sources available. So I'm trying to work with it, but it's so much harder WITH the band than without it. For me. I'll do it, I'm stubborn like that, but I certainly don't assume anymore that every story of band failure is a failure on the part of the banded person to use their "tool" correctly. It is a great tool for MANY people, but for some folks it just isn't the cat's meow, and it is a real downer to realize that this major undertaking was so unsuccessful. I think for those of us in this position that do manage to take off the weight despite the band's limitations for us, the band has the possibility to be a good tool for MAINTAINING. But man, the struggle to lose when you can't eat what you should is REALLY hard.

Yep, I think there are a few of us that just don't have a sweet spot, and are VERY sensitive to being stuck. I can literally feel my esophagus having spasms trying to unstick me after most meat/egg/tofu/fish/chicken meals. I've been up and down with fills and anything above where I am now (at the 2cc that was in my band immediately post-op) has me stuck on everything solid, no matter how much I chew it. It was very much a mutual agreement between me and my surgeon to unfill me to this point, because this is the level post-banding where I lost the most --- in the 6-8 weeks post-surgery. Over the past 3 weeks, I've been heavily experimenting with more options to lubricate my meals with healthy sauces and salsas, and it's been working reasonably well. I'm just incredibly frustrated that I can't sit down to a chicken breast, grilled fish filet, or an omelet (all of which were staples for me pre-band) without being afraid it's going to send me to the bathroom to come back up. And never mind eating around other people. bleh. I have two young daughters as well, and the LAST thing I want them to do is think that vomiting after meals is normal or OK. I feel like this thing is going to backfire on me in more ways than one. I WILL take the remainder of the weight off, and I do think the band will help me keep it off, but I hope the price isn't too much to pay for the negative impact on my relationship with healthy food and the influence it is having on the perception my children are getting of food/weight/dieting/health.

I'll have to chime in from the other side. I don't *hate* my band, but I don't love it either. I seem to be one of those people who is particularly sensitive to getting stuck, so it's been rough for me. I love healthy food, but unless I am almost completely unfilled (like I am now), I get stuck on almost every solid form of Protein there is available -- no matter how much I chew it. So, I'm back to losing again, but my near-empty band doesn't do much for me in the way of helping me control my portions. That said, it DOES keep me from big binging pretty well. I can eat more than I should, for sure, but not the WAY over the top benders that I could do pre-band. Mostly that's from eating slower and giving myself time to feel full (lower in my stomach), not from restriction. So, it has been working for me as a good maintenance tool. But NOT as a weight loss tool. Most people, it seems, are not as sensitive to being stuck. A few of us are. It's impossible to know beforehand whether you would be one of those or not. The odds are in your favor for *not* having problems, though, I think. So, would I do it again? Maybe. Would I have gone for bypass? No. Sleeve? Maybe -- I like the idea, but not the reality of having portions of my internal organs removed. The choice between the band and the sleeve would have been more difficult had I known how uncomfortable the band would be for me. The forums seem to have a whole lot of people who are VERY successful and a whole lot of people who have BIG problems, but not a lot of folks who are somewhere between those two things.

Hi I thought I would join this thread too. I was banded 14 months ago and am down 36# from my weight the day of surgery (I lost 44# pre-surgery). I hate looking at my week-by-week journal and seeing myself basically exactly where I was last year. But I'm making the best of things and re-motivating after a summer of basically giving up. I saw a gain of 16# from my lowest point as a result of slacking, but that is MUCH better than the typical gain I would have had pre-band. I've taken back off 5# of that in the last few weeks, so that's something. I think the band will make an awesome maintenance tool for me someday, but it certainly isn't what I had hoped for as a weight loss tool. Following that "hard protein" rule, even in my mostly-unfilled band, leads to stuck pain, sliming, and vomiting, so matter how small my bites are or how much I chew. So I'm working around that the best way I can with fat-free sour cream, salsa, etc, as lubricants but it's a real trial --- especially as I LOVE the healthy high-protein sources I'm supposed to be eating. I'll get there, eventually, but in some ways it's harder than it was before being banded. At least I have this tool that does keep me from quantity binging, and that's a very good thing.

I'm right there with you too. I've lost a little in my year+ post-op, but more in the 6 months before my surgery. I know I'm not too tight --- I've been filled and unfilled and am currently unfilled. No restriction that helps with satisfaction, just this thing that sticks and causes pain and vomiting any time I eat any sort of solid Protein (including the aforementioned canned tuna, etc) unless it's mushy and/or "lubricated" with something wet. Like you, if I wanted the vomit-after-every-meal diet, I would have just gone bulimic. This is the pits.

Argh, I just typed out a response and hit something wrong and my browser refreshed. (new-to-me-laptop, grrrrr) I lost 44# in the 6 months of my pre-approval, pre-surgery diet. I was eating lean meats, fish, egg whites, tofu, canned tuna, etc. All the things I have not been able to eat well since getting banded. I DO eat them, I just have to make them wet or mushy, which makes them very slider-y. And so they slip right through my unfilled band and I am not full or satisfied in any way. When I am more filled, I have even more trouble with being stuck on ANYTHING not pureed (heck, even split pea Soup will stick on me sometimes). I was more successful in the 6 months before getting banded (44#) than I have been in the 10-14 months since (47#, current 35#). My TOTAL has been over 90# at my lowest point, but half of that was BEFORE the band. Despite spitting up all the time and being in pain nearly every meal, I was "on track" and compliant with the rules for the first 10-11 months after banding. It's only been over this summer that I've been not as compliant. And I HATE it. I was never a junk food junkie, even at my biggest. I have been hooked on healthy foods since I got pregnant in 2003, I just had problems with portion control (even too much of the good stuff will make you gain weight). Eating less healthy fare over this summer has made me feel horrible. Which is why I'm back on the good stuff again, but because it needs to be wet/mushy, I am far less satisfied with it than I was before getting banded. Yeah, I can do it, but I'm really starting to wish I had just done it (again) without this not-so-helpful (for me) "tool". If I'm going to have to rely on my own willpower to this degree, I would certainly prefer to be able to eat the healthy things I need to eat, should eat, could eat, and DID eat before getting this thing. Thanks for your encouragement, though!