spoiltmom

My doc said it's fine as long as you track points AND protein. Make sure your getting your protein in even if you have to have a shake or 2 a day. Most shakes are only 2 points each anyway if you make them with water.

Is Designer whey a good brand to use or not? I know my surgeon is very against the Wal Mart brand stuff. He says that's not good quality Protein. So then how do you know if something is a good quality protein? Does Designer Whey fit that bill?

Put a call in to your surgeon and let them know. They may want to call you in some Phenergan.

Okay. I never knew that. I've been wondering what the difference was for quite a while now. I'll be so glad when I hit my goal weight. My knees hurt even years ago when I weighed 155 but they didn't hurt nearly as bad as they do now that I'm in the 190's. I'm hoping weight loss will equal less pain.

Thanks for the suggestion:) Now that you've lost the weight do your knees hurt less? Also I know this is sort of a dumb question but is there a difference between a spin bike and an exercise bike?

The new forum loads so super slowly for me. Am I the only one with this problem? The old forum loaded up much faster. The new one is so slow that I hate to even bother with it anymore:(

I know exercise isn't supposed to be comfortable but for me it actually kills me. I have patellofemoral knee pain- basically my knee caps don't track right, they rub against my bones and cause horrible pain in my knees. I also have a pinched nerve in my back that causes pain in my leg. Most times I can't get through a 30 minute walk without being in extreme pain and when I try to really workout I end up with other pains. A few years ago I joined a gym. I worked out consistently and saw results but then I had to ditch the gym and start going to physical therapy instead. The exercise had made my knees flare up badly and I had illiotibial band pain- basically I couldn't move my leg/hip without it hurting horribly. I really want to start getting fit though. I'm starting to think my best bet may be to hire a personal trainer. What do you think? I mean that would be a huge expense b/c I would have to hire a trainer and a babysitter b/c I have no one to watch my kids while I workout but I've got to do something. Any tips/advice for me? Every time I see my surgeon he gives me heck about not working out:(

yes with time it did go away. I don't have it at all now.

Actually my surgeon doesn't want to give me another fill until the end of January!! I'm gonna call next week though and see if he will change his mind. If I could lose weight without a fill then I wouldn't have gotten banded in the first place you know?

I think everyone just handles pain differently. I only had gas pain and I didn't need any pain meds for it.

I'm not doing good at all. I have no restriction and I'm starving all the time. I haven't gained any weight but I haven't lost any in weeks either. Right now I'm very discouraged. I know it will happen eventually but right now I'm so unmotivated. It sucks to be hungry all the time but at the same time have trouble eating certain foods.

Out of the additional $60K my insurance paid an extra $46K and wrote off the rest. That's ridiculous! I can't believe they charge that much for this darn band. It took them this long to process it though. They kept going back and forth on it.

Congrats!!! He probably took it b/c most insurances pay about $2K even in network. That's probably the average of what he gets anyway.

This is the first time I've been on in a few days. I'm lost.

Congratulations!!! My friend had one done. She said the first 3 days were horrible but after that things improved every day. She said she definitely does not regret having it done and would do it again if needed. She said the results are awesome!!

Wow!! My cousin's doc is the same way. He does huge first fills. Just be careful and once you start eating again taking it really slowly!

I agree. Also if you have some before and after pics print those out and post them on your refrigerator also.

Band Groupie explained it very well. Constant Reflux causes damage to the esophagus and over time that can cause changes to the cells in the esophagus. My older brother is not banded but he's had horrible reflux for years now. He now has Barrett's Esophagus. He has to watch his diet closely, he takes prescription acid meds daily and he has to have an endoscopy once a year.

It's approximately 1250 calories a day. For me I'm actually physically hungry. Taking a look at my menus over the last few days though I noticed I was hungriest Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. Tuesday we had Purple Hull Peas for supper and I had them again for lunch on Wednesday. On Monday all 3 meals were more solid foods that all had to be chewed really well. Could that have made a big difference?

So is that not really normal? I mean should my restriction have come back by now?

Yep. He pulls back and measures at every single fill.

I'm newly banded. I've had my band for a little over 3 months now. I got my first fill in September. That brought me to 4 cc's total and I had great restriction from that for 2 whole weeks. During those 2 weeks I got full on a cup of food 3 times a day. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't having cravings and I was loosing weight. Then after 2 weeks my restriction left and I started being able to eat a more normal amount of food and I was hungry again. Then in October the doc said well it sounds like we're close to your perfect fill level so he added 1 more CC for a total of 5. Still nothing changed I was hungry all the time. Last Tuesday I got my 3rd fill that brought me to 5.5 cc's. My weight is not budging and I'm hungry all the time. My surgeon said it's b/c I'm not getting enough Protein. So Monday I said to heck with it and I went back on Weight Watchers. I get 25 points a day for my weight. On Monday I had 25 points and 76 grams of protein. Yesterday I was even more hungry. I ate a total of 30 points and 92 grams of protein. Today I woke up STARVING. I've been starved all day. I had my coffee like normal and a low point Breakfast and I was still starving so I had a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and still hungry. I waited an hour and was starving so I gave up and just ate some high calorie leftovers. I'm discouraged. I know I'm over my points for the day. The added protein doesn't seem to be helping. I'm scared that my restriction may not come back but it will won't it? Why did I have such great restriction for a couple of weeks and now none? I'm beginning to feel like I'm on another pointless diet. My health insurance paid for my band in full but I'm starting to think I should have paid cash and got the sleeve instead. Do you guys have any advice or words of wisdom? I know I've already lost a little over 30 pounds and that's great but I'm still on high blood pressure meds and I'm still battling my sleep apnea and knee pains. I'd like to get my loss going again. On a side note: The last diet I committed to was Weight Watchers. I followed their points guidelines and I got down to 174. But I was starving all the time and gained it back. Right now I can't get under 194.

Congratulations!!! That's great news!

Good luck!! I hope they cover it for you. From what I've read the sleeve sounds like it will be a great option for you.

Do you have a copy of the eval? If not I'd get one and see what it says. As for the 5%, I'm not sure about that. You're doc is right though your BMI is borderline so I wouldn't lose too much if I were you.