Sai

People like you Alex make a difference in the world. A sincere Thank you.

I smoked the entire time, over three years with the band... I quit last November though for band unrelated reasons.

I like fitday.com. They have wonderful reports that other places don't offer, and I can go back years to see what I ate or how much I exercised. For example, I just recently looked up the average calories I ate when I first got the band in 2009. I really like myfitnesspal and sparkpeople, but I stay with fitday for the better graphs and analysis, and the long term data it provides. Many are not into that so it all depends what you're looking for in a calorie diary.

I would go see the doctor asap. Symptoms of slippage sometimes include vomiting and reflux. Feel better soon!

Just the fact that you are staying pretty close to your pre-op diet without the lap band, a big congrats is in order. Luckily, my doctor didn't have a pre-op diet. Before I got my lap band, I was at the point I couldn't stay on any diet at all.

Ahhh I love PB2 in my Protein shakes.

I had a terrible time the first week as far as not being able to sleep. Mine was due to slight port pain. I love sleeping on my right side, and my port was placed on the right side. Also due to gas pains like you said. I took GasX strips, and it really helped. Hope you get some zzzzs soon!

My favorite is Muscle Milk chocolate light (1 scoop), 1/2 c frozen blueberries, 10 frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, a handful or two of spinach (you can't taste the spinach but you get all the benefits), 1/2 c greek nonfat yogurt and 1/2 c almond or soymilk. Add whatever amount of water you want to make it the consistency you prefer. Blend in blender till smooth. Sometimes I add a small green apple and/or 2 T PB2 and/or 1 T Chia seeds depending if I have it or not. It's delicious!

When I was banded back in 2009, my doctor did not give me my first fill for a month, and then after that it was an adjustment every month. I really wanted him to hurry up grrr lol... But he is conservative and he wanted to make sure I healed from the initial surgery. I understand it's better to be careful about things than rush in and have complications. For me, I did not feel any restriction until ~7 mL fill so until that time, it was like not having the band at all. It didn't take me one month to get to 293 lbs so I figured I could wait a few months to get some restriction to finally help me lose the weight. congrats on your band and good luck!

I can't see how you can blame a product (i.e. evil contraption) when it sounds like it was medical malpractice on your doctor's part. You can have a IUD put in wrong or any product and if the doctor makes error, you can't blame the product. P.S. If you really did your research like you said, um.... you would have known that the lapband doesn't work with liquids. lol That's pretty basic stuff that you didn't know from your research. (Your quote "Third major problem: (was not told this ahead of time either) weight gain is guaranteed if you DRINK liquids with your meals")

No, I am not but this reminded me of a conversation I once had with my surgeon right after I got the surgery. I asked him if he thought it would work on me since nothing else ever has... He said "many" of the people who get the band, never come back for fills. They get the surgery and that is it. If I wanted to be successful, I need to constantly stay in touch with him until I reached my sweet spot (or green spot) and then check back in once a year. So since he said many of his patients have been like that, I don't think you are alone. Congrats on the 51 lb weight loss!

What really helped me was GasX strips. It worked miracles for me during that time. Congrats on your band!

It's been awhile but I remember my main discomfort was feeling very bloated. I had read back then to take some GasX strips and that really really helped.

8 ml in the AP band (10 ml)

He's wonderful, isn't he? He does my post-band care. I had moved to Florida a few years ago. My surgery was in California.

True enough. I admit that during my journey I have become complacent from time to time... After the 100 lb. mark especially. Where I slide the most is never solids, it's always liquids. Being close or at my sweet spot for some time, I generally can't eat more than a cup of solid food but oh man, do I love coffee with cream, frappuccinos, mocha lattes... etc. I have been at a plateau this past year, and it's time to go back to restricting the type of beverages I love. Thanks for the reminder.

Have had the lap band for a little over 3 years. No serious complications, still love my band. Lost over a hundred pounds but after being too tight for awhile, it had put strain on my esophagus, so my current doctor had taken half the liquid out to give my esophagus a break for a month. I had regained 20 lbs during that time and had to begin the journey to find the sweet spot again. I'm at about 1/2 to 1 c a meal food right now so I think I'm okay for now. Just taking it more slowly this time and am always wary of being too tight.

After a month of having half of the liquid in my band, my esophagus has recovered well. I didn't have to go on a liquid or soft food diet. Removing half the liquid caused me to gain during that month, and have been going in every month for fills to get to my green zone. Now I'm at or very close to my green zone and began losing weight again.

Absolutely worth it! I went from 293 to 162 currently. I wish I did it sooner. I've had very little problems and lost weight without much of a problem, and before the lap band, I had felt total despair. Good luck!

Hi, I went to the doctor's today and had a fluro done, and it showed I also have an enlarged esophagus, roughly 2x bigger than normal. I had been overfilled for over a year, and my esophagus was enlarged due to nothing being able to pass. He removed 1/2 of the liquid, and told me to return in a month. According to him, it will return normal, and then he will begin filling again. Only lost 2 lbs/month the last few months, and it was because of the overfill, I was far too tight and most of my calories came from a liquid source. I hope this helps.

please add me to the list i've lost over 100 lbs. thanks

I had a fill about 2 months ago, and I've experience a lot of throwing up, foaming, sliming, you name it... Especially when I laid down to sleep. The moment i'd fall asleep, it would come back up. Either undigested food or saliva. I couldn't sleep unless sitting upright. Yet I felt more hungry than usual so I didn't think I was overfilled. Well, I had an upper GI done, and it showed that the barium wasn't going down, it just sat in my esophagus. What I learned was being too tight isn't a good thing, it doesn't allow the food to go to the stomach and therefore you really don't get "full", you just get miserable. At first, I really fought not to have a slight unfill, I had thought that it will make me lose more weight. I was wrong, I had hardly lost any weight. So, in the end, I had 0.2 removed and I feel so much better, and the weight loss will begin again. I can actually feel the food in my stomach (versus sitting in my throat) and I can get the signals of being full after a little bit of food.

I've had the band 1 year 10 months. I haven't had trouble eating pizza or most foods, as long as I chew thoroughly and eat slowly. Just recently, I was too tight and I had to have a 0.2 unfill, during this time I had problems with just about everything.

Hi all, so far I have lost a little over 100 lbs. I got my lapband on June 17, 2009.

Yes, about 80% of my meals have been some type of soup. The majority of the times, I make my own soup. Occasionally, I'll go to Chili's or some restaurant that serves soup and salad combination. My daily intake is about 1250 calories this past year, however, I do find when I don't eat soup, I eat about 1000 calories/day which is on the low end.