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sadly yes i can eat!! some days its crazy bc i feel like loosing control

Doctors do not like being questioned. They won't like you giving records to another doctor. They will probably drop you as a patient. New doctor won't like you pointing finger at another doctor. Bottom line is do your research and act as dumb as you possibly can because they are all worried about being sued more than they will worry about you. I am simply saying this is your life and your health so make sure you know what is going on with your body as this sounds serious. You need excellent care to find out the problem. I got antibiotics from the last time I was in hospital doc doesn't think it's an infection. I'm getting my records and getting a 2 nd opinion bc my mum wants one in Tennessee at Erlanger but have to get the docs office to fax them to erlanger. That's going to be stressful.

So I had my lap band done on July 29, 2011. I loved the protein shakes before that, but afterwards the texture literally made me vomit. I tried to put them in soups, shakes, puddings, etc..but nothing was working. I even tried mixing the concentrate stuff with water and that didnt go well either. I dont know if it was the texture or the taste of them..but I couldnt tolerate them. I went to the doctor a few times and told them what was going on and they kept recommending different things, and I tried them with no luck. So eventually I got fed up and just stopped doing them ( I know, I know so stupid, believe me I am kicking myself now). I dont know if I got a terrible case of the "stupids" but I just didnt take my vitamins or anything.I felt great after surgery and kept telling myself I didnt need all of that. Well fast forward 4 1/2 months and my hair is coming out. Everytime I take a shower I have to clean the drain out. Didnt really notice anything too bad until this last month...so naturally I am in panic mode. I know I shouldnt have been so hard headed (scary thing is I'm a nurse and I know better! I know I am sooo stupid, you can all yell at me later!) So, I am forcing myself now to drink these shakes. I literally hold my nose and drink 8 ounces at a time and then wash it down with some water to get the gritty taste out of my mouth. I am taking my vitamins and even went and got some B5 and Lysine ( I have a friend that had the bypass and this is what she took to help with her hair). I call the doctors office again and tell them and she told me she didnt think my hair loss had anything to do with my surgery..??? She said that she had never seen anyone losing hair with the lap-band before so unless it was a protein deficiency then she had no idea. So..my question is.. has anyone else went through this? And any pointers on how to stop all this hair loss so I'm not bald within the next few months???

Recycled, You are an ignorant obnoxious person who has nothing else to do but heckle people. You did not have to reply to my question much less continue your bs.

Yeah. You can get pregnant right away after going off BC. I always did Congrats!

My husband and I are ttc. I've been off bc about a month. My periods were irregular before going on bc, since I have lost more than 50lbs and I thought maybe they would be more regular now. When I came off bc I had my period for 10 days (Nov 1-10). I have been super moody and tired lately and have to pee all the time... I took a test in hopes last week, but it was negative...I don’t know if it's in my head. Could I be preg this soon? How long did it take for others to conceive?

Back over 2 years ago when I began my pursuit of the band, I chose a surgeon, and began the process. Due to crap with my insurance ( I was 10 1/2 months into a 12 month supervised program when I was involved in a car accident, and it interupted my visits, they were going to require everything to be started over---it must be consecutive months---bunch of BS), I ended up opting to go self pay. By that time, I had met with my intended surgeon, and had hoped to use him anyway. His price was way beyond my ability to justify depleting our savings. When I discussed this with him, he directed me to the Dr.'s who proctored him....in Mexico. He is doing my follow up care. Even with that, the surgeon who did my surgery was not satisfied that even he was close enough and had me make local arrangements if I were to need an emergency unfill, so I did....my surgeon, my follow up care and the local Dr. all spoke. I have a surgeon here----he has done my fills, does my visits, checking on me since my surgery. I have only required 2 fills, I have seen maybe a dozen times. He is 6 hours away one direction. I am in a rural area, and he is the closest surgeon to me, that does lap band. Due to the distance, I do not have support meetings, either dietary nor psychological. I do have him on the other end of a phone ANY time I have called day or night. They have told me anytime I need just get in the car, and he will see me when I get there. I agree the scenario you present would be for the best....but it is not always an option. Making a realistic plan for aftercare is a MUST! But, to say that going out of the country will cost her in the long run is just not proven. I could often times catch a flight to my original surgeon for what the cost of gas is to make my 12 hour drive....BUT the Dr/Surgeon I use for fills has done my follow up, and I continue with him, as he knows ME. MANY US surgeons do not ever see their patients once they place the band. PA's do follow up and fills. Read around, there are issues with seeing some Dr.'s or getting timely appointments. It is not simply an issue of where the Dr. is located it is also an issue of who the Dr. is. Simply because some of us chose an out of the country Surgeon does not mean we do not have proper follow up. Preparation, and research can make most things possible if you are willing to do the work to make it happen. I feel my lap band has been a great success. I am getting close to my goal weight, I am off of all my former prescription medications, I feel wonderful! I am able to eat all foods in moderation, and the weight loss has allowed me to be active again. In the end I did not have surgery the way I originally envisioned it. Instead circumstances forced me to look into other options---and I am forever grateful I did! I got my life back! Like you, I do not intend this to be a war of words---I have been around LBT awhile now, and I am not one to argue every little statement. I just wanted to let the OP know my experience was not that aftercare was not available to Mexican banded patients. Your surgery and your aftercare will be what you set them up to be, being prepared, however you do it is the biggie! Kat

My mom had the surgery about 9 months ago.. she lost about 30 lbs and that was it. They keep telling her she has to eat more, but she won't, somehow she has it in her head that if she eats less that she will loose more weight, there is just no talking to her. I found out today she ate.... one piece of bologny, three bites of salad, which she threw most of it up bc the salad didnt' want to stay down bc she just got a fill last wk, and about four bites of potatoe soup... and yes oh yes that's it.. that's all she wrote folks... and that is a typical day and that is if she eats anything at all during the day. She did say that she was taking penut butter to wk with her so she could eat a spoonfull during the day instead of trying to do a whole meal. I don't know how else to tlak to her or what else to do for her. They did the calorie calculation test on her and told her she needed at the very least 1600 calories a day... as soon as she left the office she huffed and said yea right there's no way!!!!! I am starting to worry about her organs.. she is already starting to loose her hair. She is beautiful and wasn't that over weight at all to begin with!!!! ugggg:mad:

But i am feeling out of it and need to hear it straight. I am 4.5 months out, 70lbs down feel great workout like an animal . And am So sick of having these days where im a bottomless pit. I do see that its common wen eating carbs and i have to admit i have days wen im guilty of that ( this morning had a cappucino and a croissant with sweet cheese) that used to be my Daily breakfast b4 surgery. ( since Sx i dont ever want breakfast and Can not neat until 2pm and then its bc im Making myself) And feel so angry with myself that i ate it and although i was full it didnt last long and i went on a carb binge, im pmsing and want everything bad. I can eat Carbs and never feel Full Which worries me that i am Ruining sleeve and then ill have a piece of chicken and am overstuffed. I Dont really know what i wanna hear from u all maybe just that im Not alone and we all have days (or 3) where we can crave stuff and not feel so energetic to workout. I am laying on the couch right now meanwhile this is the time i am alwaysss doing my workout. ( 5-6 days a week kickboxing) also anxious bc im Seeing so many posts regarding no restriction at 6 Months out and maybe worry im cutting close to 6 months and its my turn???? im a mess today help

Hi I have lupus and have a hard time working out bc of joint pain. Therefore I am unable to do strenuous exercise. I'm 7 months post op and stopped losing weight.

so its my turn today to come on here and do some destrssing and try to get some feedback from some people on my life latley. well let me start off by saying that i was banded 2/9/09 and have dropped from 292 to 209 !! i still have a long way to go but i think im doing pretty darn good but i have a few issues my first issue i want to rant about is my family...they are just to darn hard on me at least i think see i still like with my parents and well i just feel like they watch me like a hawk...see about once maybe twice a week(rarley) i go out to eat with a coworker a sibling or friend and when i do my mom totally gets on my case and she goes on about how shes not the one that had the surgury and should not worry but i am the one who had the surgury and then i complain about what she cooks at home yet i go out to dinner with friends that i should know what im soing but shes just saying and blah blah blah blah!!(not to be mean) and im like seriously mom? is it really a big freakin deal that i actually ate out? i ve lost 80 something punds i think im doing pretty darn good i think i know what im doing why should i feel guilty because i ate at damn sizzler salad bar!! or what do you guys think?? then today my dad was like ur belly is getting bigger and pats my belly and youve gained some weight havent you?? i was like no!!(i really have not) and i was like are you kidding me?? your seriously telling me this right now?? then hell gut on my case bc i will eat l.f s.c sometimes or fat free cool whip or a banana and im like really?? your watching what im eating? again am i worng? then my other problem is that all my skinny coworkers are stashing the workplace with snickers starbust hot cheetos apple pies cookies and i obviously dont expect them not to do it because the fat girl cant eat it but how do i deal with them staring me in the face saying EAT ME!!:laugh: SERIOUSLY i ate 4 snickers mini today and hot cheetos...i never eat them unless they are in front of me i dont want to fall back into old habbits so how do you guys deal?:huh2:so im so glad i got this off my chest !! now for some feedback?

Darcy.... sorry to hear about FIL, give some big hugs to your DH Kat sweetie... geeeze louise what a mess everything is huh. I'm so sorry for all the bs with the insurance companies but mostly know that you and rick are in my prayers. You know we love you. Where's BEANIE ? Mandy glad your feeling better and your unfil is working. Okay kids...see ya tomorrow.

Hi sara, I have been to 3 of these seminars before I got my band. Each seminar is hosted by different doctors. By going to multiple seminars I learned a lot of different things! First seminar: Met Dr. Marsden, really liked him (so much that he ended up being my surgron). I brought my husband along for support, bc in the beginning he was very against any type of wls. The seminar sold him and he gave his approval for me to move forward. 2nd seminar: was for Dr. Benavides. this time I just wanted to see if I could hear more/different info. the audience asks questions and every group asks different questions. Dr. Benavides didn't show up to his seminar, so I felt that if he couldn't make time for that, I was not going to consider him being my dr. 3rd seminar: Dr. Felts. He was good and would have been my second choice if I didn't go with Marsden. There were a lot of different questions in this seminar. My only suggestion on "what to bring" with you is your calendar. At the end of the seminar, if you want to schedule your initial consultation, you can. I recommend it because they have the open calendars with specially reserved space just for seminars. Otherwise, if you call the office, it will probably take about 1 month to get your first consultation. If you go to AIGB for your consultation, you won't meet with your lapband dr. You will meet with another dr. who will examine you and go over your history. Then they will schedule you for tests (stress test, sleep apnea (if needed), psych test (if needed). The purpose of this stage is to "clear" you for surgery. then AIGB passes it to Lapband solutions who works on getting your insurance approved. My first seminar was in May. I just got banded on Sept 10...so the whole process took about 4 months.

Had just gone for my two-week follow up visit and the doc said I was doing great, but the next day, my blood sugar elevated and I started.with lots of nausea and general ill feeling. Ended up in ER and spent one night in ICU and one night on the digestive floor before they released me. Diagnosed with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and some mysterious infection that caused my WBCs to skyrocket, hence causing my BS to rise causing the DKA. They performed a leak test and said I passed that. Gave me soooo much fluid that when I got home, I weighed 19 lbs more then I went in! Now, it's hard to breathe and I still feel horrible. I also ate some chicken broth in the hospital and 4 days later, I'm still burping it. I'm vomiting pills and even water sometimes. I'm pretty miserable .... Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any thoughts? Thank you!

I'm going to Aruba for 4y nights in August. I've decided to loosen my band a little before bc I'm super tight right now. Currently I am living on cottage, cheese & smoothies. I'm scared to go out of the country that tight & risk potential complications. I'm 16 months out & down 114 lbs

Dont take this the wrong way please.. It is not mean to sound mean or spiteful but honest.. how many other diets have you tried in your life time and been somewhat successful? How many times did you give up ? How many of those times did you gain the weight back? If it were that easy for us morbily obese people, none of us would be here. My take on this and it is my opinion only is that any person who has 100 lbs or more to lose needs the help of a tool like the band. The time it will take to get the 100 + lbs off, many or most get discouraged before they finish, to only gain the weight back again. For me losing 73.5 lbs in 9 months is something I have never achieved any other time in my life and I have tried all the diets known to man. This is the first time in my life that I do not diet. I eat what I want..I do not weigh or measure or have to eat specific foods or count points and I am losing weight, how great is that? Do you really want to follow a prgram for the rest of your life? I sure don't..I ate this Thanksgiving , I ate holiday crap all this holiday season and only gained .5 of a lb, that has never happened in my lifetime and now I have that .5 of a lb gone plus one more this past week. If you have any doubts then I would cancel..but just think about the questions I asked you . I knew I could not do it on my own, or otherwise I would have..I knew if I tried I would get discouraged and tired of following a strict diet I was 100% honest with myself and 100 % sure.. and knew it was time to have the lap band! No more fooling around.I wanted this monkey off my back once and for all!!! best of luck to you on whatever you decide..only you can make the final decision, we are just hear to give our input and support. Your 15 lb loss is great in just a short time, maybe you are an acception and wil lbe able to achieve "permanent" weight loss with the South Beach diet..I did not..I tried it, lost some weight, got fed up with having to follow the program. I gained what I lost back and then some

1.35% with 2 methods is still technically less effective than an IUD, which is over 99%. Please also remember that these percentages don't apply to you after weight loss surgery bc you are more fertile. The increase in fertility comes from hormones, so you should have the most effective hormonal birth control out there. If your goal is to not use condoms, then I would definately get on something besides the patch. I totally understand, condoms literally ruin sex for me. I hate them. You also mentioned that you were new to sexual activity. Trust me when I say that there is a learning curve to managing birth control and we have all had a few scares over the years. (Missing a pill, period late a day or 2, condom broke/expired) Do some research and reconsider an IUD.

I was banded last year at NYU; the package included a year of follow-up fills, but I went only a couple of times. Now that I need to get fills, I've discovered they no longer accept BC/BS, and that BC/BS won't cover out of network care. Each fill costs $200. Is anyone going to a provider who accepts BC/BS for fills? Thanks!

April 15!!! Haven't started my liquid diet yet but I'm afraid bc I'm on a low cal diet rn and I'm so hungry

You can print the EOB's off line. I do not like using the fepblue.org to print the eobs but the bcbs for your states website is much better looking and in pdf format. you can register with the state bcbs website as well as fepblue.org. Thats such BS about the skin being broken. If you get a steroid shot or any other kind of shot its a surgery??

My BC/BS required 6 months of supervised diet. I didn't need to actually lose any particular weight. I also needed a psych visit. I don't think that 6 months of a supervised diet and the psych visit is a bad thing. It gave me time to start changing eating habits, it gave me time for research. Once the surgeon's office submitted the paperwork to BC/BS on a Tues they had approval by Friday morning. I had additional testing that the doctor required before I could schedule the surgery- lab work, EKG, upper GI, endoscopy. I was not happy with his office staff since magically 4 different places I had to follow-up with to get the surgeon's office the results. Since the common denominator was the surgeon I think I know where the issue really was. That actually took longer for the surgeon approval of the pre-op testing versus the BCBS approval.

I have heard of this happening, and I'm sorry it had to happen to you! I think it's BS that the fill center didn't want to give you a fill.. ridiculous! That's why we got it to begin with! at my place you just have to be dramatic about "i'm hungry.. i'm looking for food all the time... i've been eating a lot" type thing. that's how they gauge how much fill to give you. I go on Tuesday and I dont' know what to tell them. I can eat a lot, but I'm not hungry all the time. I don't go looking for Snacks, but I'm eating way more than I should. I haven't gained or lost any weight since my fill wore off, which is a plus, but it was nice almost losing a pound a day with my fill. Too bad it lasted such a short time.

Hi Everyone, How did all the Biactric beauties go in their first week post op? I got home yesterday and was happy to be home Please tell of your stories so i can see if we experienced something similar. I went in for the RnY but i came out with the Omega loop bypass. At first i freeked out bc after researching in my hospital bed it was commonly called the mini bypass and i thought instantly oh no less weight loss!!! My doctor assured me that the weight loss for both RnY and Omega are essentially the same and that he can not ell weather a patient has had one or the other until he checks their files so im ok with this. He has also said there is less chance of bowl obstruction or twists but a slightly higher chance of reflux but worse case scenario he can do a very minor surgery to correct this. Also dumping is less apparent with the Omega loop im glad about that and i did not need a band to support my pouch and my pouch is a bit longer and has enough resistance alone without the band. All in all im ok with it. Coming out of surgery in recovery was very bumpy for me and i wanted pain killers STAT. After that was sorted my pain leveled out quite quickly and althought they were giving me that oral morphine pill i felt that Panadol or Tylenol was enough as the hillbilly heroin was making me feel very sick and head floaty (im not sure how ppl become addicted to these pills they make me feel yuck). So im on day 4 evening now and im basically pain free but feeling nauseous wen i eat and i am very very tired often. I think im doing ok but i am very aware of every feeling that happens to me. I am getting over a liter of fluids in per day and seem to be reaching my 60g of Protein ok with the powder supplements and the Optifastshakes. Im very interested to hear how everyone else went Nin

I can see where you are coming from in a sense ... my man isn't exactly supporting and has made some of the same comments. Not everyone is like us and not everyone... fat or skinny... can relate to us. Ide say a crack head who is addicted to crack would be.more understanding bc I look at it like an addiction. Food is my life and its not as simple as putting down the burger and picking up a carrot. I get it... I get you.. and I get where you are coming from. My family has been very supportive of me and I'm lucky for that.... and honestly I think if they weren't on board they know that it wouldn't make or break my decision. Just do what's best for you bc ONLY you know what that is.

dianne, i was not meaning to imply you were ignoring your weight or anything like that. i meant that altho some people, not banded people, think that having surgery is the easy way out, but it's not. just because we had surgery doesn't make it a cake walk. sorry, if you thought i meant you. Also, sadly it is the same insurance i had, but my employer added the diet requirement. and i found out today that my employer is dropping uhc, and i will have to choose from bc/bs and aetna. i do not know what the coverage will be. thank you for the kind thoughts.