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I ordered Bariatric Choice chewable vitaband multivitamins, calcium citrate, and iron. They shipped the order the same day with free shipping. Tasty in flavor.

Bariatric Advantage banana is yummy. I'd imagine any of their flavors are good. Dawnie_doo

I'm so conflicted about this. Sleeve or Bypass. I'm so glad Dr. Illan from Bariatric Team Mexico is calling me when I get home from visiting family back home. I was certain about the sleeve but also have had Gerd for years. I also have Barrett's esophagus from reflux I've had for years. I've been wondering what to do. If I can get the reflux finally solved. Have been on Prevacid and Pantoprazole for 30 years. I'm scared of the bypass because of side effects? Is it always hard to drink or eat from the bypass? I'm so grateful for this forum.

Hi guys, my name is Jennifer and I am new to Bariatric Pal. I was 3/4 of the way through pre-op for the SIPS/Loop-DS/SADI-DS procedure when NC BCBS decided to stop covering it and deemed it an experimental/investigational procedure. My co-worker had SIPS a little over two months ago with the same Dr group and insurance. Talk about frustrating. Looking into regular DS with Dr. Sudan in Durham. He seems to be well-respected for that procedure and the office is still close to me. A little overwhelmed by the Vitamin regimen that the DS will require, but consider it as my responsibility for allowing my weight to get this way. My mom suffers from SMO and co-morbidities and I don't want to be in the same place. I have 4 kiddos, the youngest of which is 13 months and I plan to be around for a lllloooonnnngggg time. I hope Dr. Sudan's office will accept the pre-op testing that I have already completed and allow me to keep moving forward in the process. Thanks for all your stories everyone. You are inspiring. Obese for 20+ years and MO on and off through that period.

The most important reason why a surgeon, and I believe all Bariatric Centers of Excellence, require a sleep study is to determine if you have sleep apnea because it directly affects anesthesia -- it is for your safety. Many of us who are morbidly obese do have sleep apnea, and it is a key piece of information for your anesthesiologist during your surgery. This is not to minimize the opportunity to diagnose sleep apnea and prescribe a lifesaving CPAP or other device -- but prior to surgery, it is a patient safety issue. You WANT your anesthesiologist to know if you have sleep apnea.

Not sure who my surgeon is yet. It will be one of the two docs that are affiliated with the Baptist Hospital Bariatric department. I have my first seminar this Tuesday. I am just hoping that my insurance will approve the surgery = )

@@Rocky1 regarding Calcium and Iron I was not happy to see them combined, as you noted. opurity (unjury) does, too. i did not find any info on the website for studies on the Vitamins. but they are worth further consideration. one of these days when i have more energy i will compare the nutrition facts and route of delivery for the multis across several bariatric brands and the ASMBS guidelines. good catch on the calcium citrate. i did not notice that. The vit D exceeds ASMBS guidelines. What is your issue with it? i have been taking D3 2000 iu twice daily but my labs came back that I was high. so I felt comfortable trying what is in the patch. we shall see! i take a ton of vitamins because i feel better when i do. it would be so nice to reduce the amount of pills i take and just use the patch. but if i begin to feel lethargic etc then it is proof to me that my body needs more.

I've had atrial fibrilation since 2003 and have had 2 ablations. The first ablation helped quite a bit for about 2 years (I still had them, but not as regular) and then they came back more frequently. I had a 2nd ablation in September of 2006. This again lessed the frequency of my episodes but did not clear up my problem. With the last ablation, I had the procedure performed on a Monday morning and wasn't released until Thursday night. The doctor also felt that bariatric surgery would be beneficial. My surgeon was aware of my problem and told me that as long as I wasn't having an episode at the time of surgery that there wouldn't be a problem. I normally go 3-4 weeks inbetween episodes and we scheduled it about 1 week after one. Things went fine. I've concluded that my atrial fibrilation is just something that I'll have to live with. Which many people do. It can be very frustrating. When I have an episode it lasts anywhere from four to fourteen hours in length. I just try and relax and stay down till it passes. Good luck with both your lapband and your atrial fibrilation.

It is soooooo important to STAY HYDRATED. I found that the minimum 64 oz of Water was not enough for me and experienced severe constipation and also dehydration of the discs in my back. Very painful. The high Protein diet is very dehydrating. Keep sipping and sipping and sipping (not during meals obviously). Check the skin on the back of your hand. When you pinch it, is it elastic and bounces back? If not, you may be dehydrating. Be sure to have your doctor check this when you do see him. I understand dehydration is one of the most common reasons bariatric patients are re-admitted to the hospital.

Yep, I am having the same issue. I go see my PCP on Friday and I'm going to tell the nurses they need to use the same scale every time they weigh me because they have been using different ones AND especially since it is being recorded for bariatric surgery. It's never been 21 lbs off though

Hey, Banders!Thanksgiving is behind us and the holiday season is officially underway! Filled with holiday shopping, festivities at work and spending time with friends and family, this time of year is can be the most rewarding. It can be hectic, too, so paying extra attention to your diet and health is even more important than usual. Use this newsletter as a reminder and some motivation to be extra cautious with your choices so that you can keep seeing the results you want from your weight loss journey. Here’s what’s coming up in this newsletter. Member Spotlight: Meet Mis73! Tips for the Season: Thriving at Holiday Parties! Bander Challenge: Activate Your Party Action Plan! A Big Thank-You to Our Members as 2012 Ends We know the hustle and bustle of this season make your life busy, but we hope you spend part of your holiday season with us at Alex Brecher Founder LapBandTalk.com Member Spotlight: Meet Mis73! Mis73, aka Missy, is this newsletter’s highlighted member! She’s a 39-year-old Michigander who has fought through obstacles to achieve her current weight loss of 168 pounds. Her high weight was 421 pounds, and her goal weight is 160, at a BMI of 27.5. She has multiple sclerosis and knew that her obesity was making the symptoms worse. So, she decided to get the lap-band and focus on the obesity because that’s something she could control. Missy says that the “biggest difference is, I am happy. I am happier than I have been in literally decades.” She’s gone from needing a handicapped parking pass and a motorized cart for grocery shopping to being able to take her son to the zoo and walk around for hours! Other great moments have been dropping below 300 pounds, fitting into blue jeans for the first time in 20 years, fitting in the seat at her daughter’s band concert and seeing her father’s look of pride and joy after seeing her for the first time – 100 pounds lighter. Missy’s biggest challenge right after surgery was to avoid exacerbating her multiple sclerosis, since symptoms can appear after trauma, such as surgery. Luckily, she was able to avoid a full-blown relapse. Missy used LapBandTalk in the early days for reassurance that her experience was normal. She’s grown to depend on the friends she’s made here and she continues to “offer education and support to others.” She has plenty of advice to offer. She suggests meeting with a nutritionist who specializes in bariatric patients and to keep your food to a cup per meal. Also, learn everything you can about the band: what it is, what it does and how you can succeed with it. Missy, we are so glad that you are finding happiness. We know that it will just get better for you as you keep losing weight, and it’s a pleasure to be able to share in your weight loss journey. Thanks for being in the Member Spotlight! Please post in the Protein snack or two for yourself and eat it when it’s time for your regular meal or snack. You can also take a healthy dish for the host to serve at the party. Sip Water. Carrying a glass of water around gives you something to do without adding any calories to your day. Another benefit of drinking water is that you know you shouldn’t eat solid foods when you’re drinking fluids. Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is a source of calories that you just don’t need. Worse yet is that it lowers your inhibition. That means that you’re less likely to resist unhealthy holiday foods. Bander Challenge: Activate Your Holiday Action Plan! This newsletter’s challenge is related to our advice on holiday parties. The challenge is to choose a specific strategy designed to get you through the holidays without interfering with your weight loss goals. You can take one of the suggestions listed above, or choose your own. Some other ideas are to keep healthy Snacks at work so you’re not tempted by unhealthy snacks and to record each treat that you eat in your food record instead of pretending that it doesn’t count. Tell us in the Bander Challenge Forum how you complete the challenge! Was it easy or difficult? What tips do you have for other LapBandTalk.com members? We also want to know anytime you go back and complete an old Newsletter Challenge, which you can find in the archived Newsletter Forum. It’s never too late to try a Newsletter Challenge! A Big Thank-You to Our Members as 2012 Ends As we close out 2012, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank each member. We truly appreciate your support. We value each member, whether you post many times a day and use all of LapBandTalk.com’s many features, or whether you log in infrequently to read just a few posts. You, the members, are essential to LapBandTalk.com’s success, so a heartfelt thank-you to each of you! 2012 has seen rapid increases in the number of members, the beginning of regular newsletters and the launch of mobile apps to access all of the forum’s features. Big plans are in the works for the coming year, and it promises to be an exciting ride. We’re glad to have you on board! Of course, we’re always open to member suggestions, so please feel free to contact any board administrator. That’s it for this month’s newsletter. We hope it was inspirational and helpful. Have a safe and peaceful holiday season, and take care of yourself and each other, Alex. ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: {unsubscribe}

I'd be tempted to ask him on IG if it's true that he is having bariatric surgery. It's not right to frustrate his followers that he did it all without surgery.

as you said, others must be in the same boat. I'm in Elkhart, IN -- I know there are bariatric places within an hour drive -South Bend - but it seemed like a lot of time and $ to go to someone new, hassle with all the records transfer, and the various indigities of medical prodding and disrobing for someone who has no issues for the past two years. Still, the "just in case" idea seems logical. But I'll call the office --perhaps they are referring everyone to the same place --won't know unless I call --on the other hand I did receive a letter about the new doctor and how he won't be doing any weight related surgery . . .

In addition to the issues of basic healing time, the prospect of transfer addiction, and "cheap drunk" tolerance changes the other biggie that tickles some docs more than others is liver health - as WLS patients, our livers usually aren't in the best of shape due to our obesity (hence the number of surgeons who put their patients through those "liver shrinking" pre-op diets,) and the extra load that the liver takes in metabolizing that fat that we are burning off doesn't leave it much margin for handling the added load of metabolizing the alcohol, which after all, is a liver toxin (that's not a moral judgement, it's just biology - there are plenty of things that we consume in small quantities that are toxic in larger amounts,) My doc is a bit more anal about this than most as he also does liver transplants in his spare time and doesn't want to see his bariatric patients coming back on his transplant table. His rule (which we sign up to when signing up with him) is no alky while in the weight loss phase; after that, moderation is fine once the liver has regained the ability to do its' job (though in his view, ideally never...) Those are the issues, we are all adults, take if for what you will.

​I have Osteoarthritis in my feet, knees, hips and right shoulder. I had a hip replacement in 2013, that was my "ah ha" moment. I asked my surgeon and PCP about Bariatric surgery and they were both extremely supportive. I need my knees replaced and surgery on my right foot. Though the VSG won't improve the damage already done, they pain has decreased significantly and I can take long walks now. I am 49 and have 70 more pounds to go. I plan on putting off surgery as long as possible. In my opinion, yes, it has improved the pain. I hope this helps some. This forum is an excellent place to ask a lot of questions!

I had my revision from band to sleeve on June 4th in Mexico. I started to have an odd feeling where the port used to be I just thought phantom pain no big deal. Then I noticed on the 15th that my incision felt weird, I had a co-worker feel it and I said man I am going to have a lot of scar tissue she couldn't believe how wide the scar tissue felt. It was almost 3 inches wide and went the length of the insicion. RThe next morning I got out of the shower and I had a pinhole in my incision that was gushing blood and wouldn't stop. I was filling up a 2x2 gauze pad in 2 minutes. I went to a clinic still bleeding like a stuck pig and the PA I seen was thrown for a loop. I was bleeding the color of iodine just dark as could be. She called their bariatric surgeon and he wasn't sure what was going on so they sent me to get a CT scan. Where my port had been had pooled with blood and had made a canal to the surface and pushed it's way out. Luckily it pushed it's way out and not in and caused an infection. The PA ended up cutting a larger hole in the incision and pushing all that "old blood" out. I guess when it turns that dark it's old blood, odd. The PA pushed out 10cc's she figured I had already leaked out 4cc, she then packed the hole with what looks like a shoe lace, 2 feet was packed in there. Twice a day 1 pull out 2 inches and cut it off. On weds I go see the surgeon for a check up and to see why this happened. Has anyone else had this happen to them or heard of this happening??

Once you leave Mexico and if you have any questions, concerns or problems who are you following up with? PCP or another bariatric surgeon in your area?

IDK. I think you are a fairly unique lady and VET. Maybe in the top 1-3% of people/"types". You DID learn your lessons while losing. You DID incorporate your doc/RD instructions and adapted them to work for you long term. And when you experience regain for any reason, you've set a protocol that is inspiring and amazing to watch. And it gives me hope for my future--that I'm not doomed to regain it all without being able to maintain. Because you quickly and efficiently go back to your roots and get rid of the regain. I feel like the OP has not done the work. Or maybe the surgery was the wrong surgery for him/her? We are all so unique, one solution won't fit all. They claim the reason for the regain and for not getting lower to their goal was based on undisciplined behavior. But if you lack discipline before, what will change this time? How will you magically change for good? Any of us can do things for short periods of time. But being "habilitated" sometimes, even more than being "RE-habilitated" is important. Not all of us can do that on our own. Not everyone learns things the first time. Maybe some of us DO need the surgeon revision or the RD new plan/accountability that meetings provide? Maybe we DO need bariatric therapy to discover what is driving us to self-harming behaviors? It usually isn't the short game that's the problem for any of us...it's playing for the long game. It is about changing lifelong behaviors for long term success. And that's a TALL order for most of us (the other 97%). Dunno...just spit balling here.

No judgment, Glad you are asking for help Gains can happen to any of us. (I’ve had one) Weight loss mode and maintaining is work. None of this is easy, right? Reality is its not going to be easy. But you can do some things to turn this around. Therapy and counseling may help you address your relationship with food, why your discipline is lacking and getting back on track. Your surgeon can talk to you about all your options. Doing this on your own or with help is a mental battle. Except that you will feel crappy and have cravings while you detox off the extra calorie’s carbs and sugar. Many go back to bariatric basics, keto paleo vegan. Log your food is the only way you will know if you are eating your weight loss calories and macros. Joining a weight loss challenge can help you stay on track. Keep us updated. Your battle with this is going to help others dealing with the same situation. Many come here looking for solutions and then disappear from the site. I hope you stay around and give people insight from your experience.

I couldn't agree more. He's a great surgeon, and a great guy. His manner is so supportive--and his staff is, too. The relationship with a bariatric surgeon is so different from most surgeon-patient relationships; when you're banded, the relationship is lifelong. I feel SO blessed that my long-term doctor-patient relationship will be with Dr. Lahmann. He's got all the right stuff.

The 5 Day Pouch Test by Kaye Bailey Does my pouch still work? Have I broken my pouch? Have I ruined my tool? These are questions many weight loss surgery post-ops find themselves asking occasionally during their journey. Perhaps it feels like we can eat more food or we know that we are eating more food. Sometimes these questions are asked when there has been a weight regain. This is the 5-day plan that I have developed and used to determine if my pouch is working and return to that tight newbie feeling. And a bonus to this plan, it helps one get back to the basics of the weight loss surgery diet and it triggers weight loss. Also, it is not difficult to follow and if you are in a stage of carb-cycling it will break this pattern. Sounds pretty good, right? Order the 5 Day Pouch Test Owner's Manual The 5 Day Pouch Test should never leave you feeling hungry. You can eat as much of the prescribed menu as you want during the day to satiate hungry and prevent snacking on slider foods and/or white carbs. You must drink a minimum of 64 ounces of Water each day. A reduction of caffeinated beverages is suggested, but do not stop caffeine cold turkey. Weight loss is not the intent of the 5 Day Pouch Test, however, many who have tried this plan report a significant drop in weight. More importantly they Celebrate a renewed sense of control over their pouch and eating habits and easily transition back to a healthy post-surgical weight loss way of eating. Understanding Hunger, Appetite and Satiety Below you will find a brief list of the menu for each day. Please click the "Read more" links for further detail and hints and tips that will enable your success with the 5 Day Pouch Test. Days One & Two: liquid Protein low-carb protein shakes, broth, clear or cream Soups, sugar-free Gelatin and pudding. Read more. Day 3: Soft Protein canned fish (tuna or salmon) eggs, fresh soft fish (tilapia, sole, orange roughy. Read more. Day 4: Firm Protein ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken, lamb), shellfish, scallops, lobster, fresh salmon or halibut.Read more. Day 5: Solid Protein white meat poultry, beef steak, pork, lamb, wild game Read more. Good luck! I believe you are going to like the results when you give this plan an honest try. Cheers! Kaye Bailey

I take Fusion vitamins that I get from my Bariatric Specialist, so I thought the calories were freebies!

Hi everyone!!! I’m new to this sight and need all the help I can get 😩. I’m Pre Surgical for Gastric Bypass, I’ve gone through every test known to man. I see my Bariatric Dr Aug 13th, hopefully I will get a date for my surgery. Feel free to comment, I would love advice!!

I went to my first appointment with the bariatric surgeon today I had my mind set on Gastric Sleeve. The surgeon says well with you being diabetic and African American I would recommend the bypass studies have shown that bypass works better for AA females. She stated that I would no longer have to take my diabetes medication. She said it's my choice but she wanted me to know the best option for me. Has anyone with diabetes been successful with the sleeve?

Hello, I'm new here. I'm getting new insurance starting in the new year. I'll have Medicare with Anthem Mediblue Access PPO (I am disabled with mental illness). I have some questions about insurance approval. These are the bariatric surgery requirements for my insurance: For Part A- I have a BMI of 42, so I meet that requirement. For Part B- I have not had a primary care doctor for about 3 years. I go to clinics and the ER when needed. I have tried various diets, and have been using a Fitbit for the past 2-3 years. I do not know if this is enough for my insurance requirement though. For Part C- The mental health requirement; I do not take medication for my illness because I have literally tried almost all of them and they do not help, I only experience the side effects. Doctors know psych medication isn't for me. One of the reasons I am overweight is from all the medications I have taken over the years. My mental illness is under control and I will be able to handle surgery and follow doctor's and nutritionist's advice. I am also getting a new primary care doctor in the new year. Has anyone else had these issues and had their insurance approve their surgery? Has anyone been denied because of similar problems? Thank you very much for your help. ~Anna