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I have been going thru it for about 2 weeks now. I started it in week 2 and I am in week 4 now. I get so frustrated. I was 25 miles a week and I get in all my fluids and protein and it still isn't moving. I would love to not step on the scale everyday, but I do. So I get to feel crummy everyday lol. I am sure it will pass, I am about to up my workouts and cut out any extra junk I have let weasel it's way into my diet. Good Luck, it will pass for both of us I KNOW it...!

I happen to like the chocolate. But everyone's taste is different. Some people swear by the Bariatric advantage I wanted to vomit drinking them. I don't think the premeir protein tastes like chocolate milk though. I also lime unjury and I think their chocolate tastes like chocolate milk when made with milk

Hello post-ops!! Congrats to everyone!! Keep up the great job!! I'm a November 24, 2013 WLS. Seeking advise on what worked for you, did you get weak/fatigue and hair loss, Any suggestions!? My progress: WLS 11/14/13 5'7 Female 47yrs old. HW 268 size tight 20 SW 266 size 18 CW 233 size 14 GW 165 I'm averaging 2 lbs per week, no exercise due to knee injury/pain. Doctor is happy with my progress. I am too, my battle is to have enough energy to function upon getting up to get ready to drive to work and get through the day. Issues I've been experiencing feeling tired, fatigue and exhausted. I eat all my water/ meals/proteins/vitamins/biotin/omega fish oil and average 600 to 900 calories daily, try to eat more to get energy levels up, helps some days. I'm 3 months as of Friday 2/14/14 and I've started losing globs of hair especially after I shampoo. So I'm washing every other day. I was expecting this may happen, but so emotionally distressing and nerve wrecking to see it come out so much so quickly. I'm totally freaked out. Praying it slows down soon. Anyone else feeling exhausted and losing your hair?? When goes the hair loss stop?? Is it growing back??!

My doc was adamant that I could start drinking regular coffee as soon as I felt I could tolerate it. His reasoning: so much is denied to us post-op patients. He can't think of a clinical reason to avoid caffeine, as long as we're staying hydrated and getting enough Protein. Which I am, on both counts. So here I am, 5 days post-op, drinking some coffee with some sugar-free Torani syrup in it, and enjoying it quite a lot. -sacman

Hey mom I had my sleeve on the 25th and I'm there with you. I am tired and gassy barely spoke words the first 3 days let alone feel like typing now. Everyday will get better- every.day. thats whats keeping me going. I chicken'd out 5 mins before the surgery and freaked bad, because I just wanted all this to be over with and DONE. Thankfully I have a supportive family who has my back and a kind surgery team who understood and calmed me. I would do this again. I'm happy its done and know we have a new wonderful healthy life to look forward to. Just one step at a time, one day at a time. Trust me- the head hunger is unexplainably strong but I am a fighter, I gained this weight and I am sure it's going off. You'll feel better when your body changes and feels better. I'm with you. Currently at day 5- I am having SF Jello 2oz 3x a day., h2o and 1 premier Protein shake. The liquid intake is hard but we can do this!

Quote: Too tight because I developed a night cough and acid reflux which I am treating with over the counter drugs and apple cidar vinegar. Too tight because I PB/vomit more than 3 times a day--once on Protein drink with two pills. My question is: Okay, I'm almost too tight, but I've lost more than 10 pounds in less than two weeks. Won't this weight loss (and more loss in the future) "loosen" my band a bit so that I don't need an unfill? night cough and acid reflux are strong indications that you are too tight. Continued acid reflux will destroy the lining of your esophagus and can lead to esophageal cancer. A dear friend of mine is dying because he ignored reflux ... later told us he thought it was "not a big deal". Will your band loosen up? MAYBE; MAYBE NOT. And eventually you may find yourself trying to avoid the PBs and stuck episodes by eating slider foods....and the weight loss will slow down significantly or even stop. I know. I was there for two long months (actually, almost three) where I kept telling myself it was getting looser. But I was getting stuck multiple times per day and PBing at least once per meal. And when it came down to me losing 9 pounds over three months, well, it was time to take action. It took the removal on JUST .2CCS to fix it.

Hello. I had a fill on Oct. 9th that is currently kicking my butt! I can tell that I am almost too tight, if not too tight. Almost because I can eat--very little, but still, I can eat. Almost because I can drink--very little, especially in the morning, but I can drink. Too tight because I developed a night cough and acid reflux which I am treating with over the counter drugs and apple cidar vinegar. Too tight because I PB/vomit more than 3 times a day--once on Protein drink with two pills. My question is: Okay, I'm almost too tight, but I've lost more than 10 pounds in less than two weeks. Won't this weight loss (and more loss in the future) "loosen" my band a bit so that I don't need an unfill? I really don't want to get an unfill primarily because it entails a lengthy drive in DC traffic! BTW, when I called my doctor's office last week (only about 5 days after the fill), they told me to wait two weeks before thinking about getting an unfill. At that point I was more uncomfortable than I am now. Will weight loss alone do the trick?

I like the premier products better then any whey products. and you can't beat the protein bang for your buck.

Everyone has given you some great advice; I only have one thing to add. Make sure you do some resistance training i.e. weight training. When we try to lose weight our bodies will preferentially burn muscle because it is more metabolically active than fat. Your body is fighting to keep the weight on. But if you lose muscle your metabolism is lowered and you have to eat even less to lose fat. So get your protein and build some muscle to rev up your metabolism.

Everybody is going to lose at different rates. Try logging everything you eat, just to see if you calories may be on the high side. Are you getting your protein and water in? Have you added exercise to your day? The holidays are very hard...do not give up hope. You may want to consider going to a nutritionist and see if they can't come up with a plan customized just for you.

well first of all we all have eating problems or we wouldn't be here. If you have eating binges is it controllable ? If not I think you should at least start counceling to try to understand your relationship with food. I am not saying you should stray from your deceision to have surgery I would think it would help you. It is true that you will not be as hungry after surgery. Some say that they have to remember to eat at all. It is true that the surgery will change the way you think about food. You have to understand that this is a tool and your success is up to you.. Can you fall back to slider foods..yes can you eat the wrong things? yes It is a powerful tool but you have to make the right choices when you eat after surgery..Proteins first and vegetable seconds.. There is not a lot of room for carbs left. Can you get full on carbs?? yes you can but when you do this you will have malnutriion issues and gain weight .. If you slide back to bunches of carbs or graze you could gain some or most of your weight back...I was sleeved about 5.5 weeks ago. I had trouble with foods all my life I love to eat. I will tell you right now if I had to do it all over again I would have the surgery 100 times over. It has gave me the strength to eat right . It is a wonderful tool that I don't want to do without..

The sleeve does NOT fix head hunger, compulsive eating habits. None of the surgeries will. The sleeve does immediate and permanent restriction, but I can eat 6 Cookies in one sitting if I want to do it. I always tell people that if you have compulsive tendencies, or major food demons, do not think surgery will fix it. I had to do the work to change my relationship with food, did the sleeve help? Sure it did to an extent, but to this very day, if I want to I can eat an entire huge slice of red velvet cake, I can do it with zero issue. I can still suck down a 2000 calorie milkshake. I never dealt with compulsive eating issues, nor was an emotional eater so I never really struggled with these specific feelings. I can tell you the people that do have these tendencies typically need behavioral modification counseling along with surgery to be successful long term. Surgery will only work when you head is in the right place. Early out, you'll read on here that restriction is great, and you're so focused on getting in Protein that there isn't room for anything else. BUT, if you're food demons are bigger than your willpower, you will find away to eat around the surgery, and it's not difficult at all. And, as time progresses, and the months pass, you will be able to eat more than what you could at 2-3 months out. It happens to every WLS patient, it's normal. I have a max capacity, but I can turn around and eat 2 hours later. I hope this makes sense. Long term success is going to be a struggle if you do not tackle these issues. Some of my "old" habits have come back and at 21 months out, almost a year in maintenance, I can tell you that the head issues are just as present as they were pre-op. I have to still make the best choice, I still have to stay out of the fridge when I'm bored or I'll gain weight.

Interestingly, I never really understood how that band worked until I came to this website. I have an excellent surgeon, along with his excellent staff. I was told what to do and what NOT do do, but never really understood the mechanics of the band. I did as I was told, and had great success. Congrats on the reboot! I think you will see a huge difference now PS: My doctor told me that the Protein bars are really more like candy bars. For that reason, he's not a big fan of them.....other than eating ½ "if" hungry between meals. But he also tries to drive home the fact that I should eat some veggies instead of the bars. But I am strung out on the Quest bars, and have one most every single day. And for me, the reality is, a Protein Bar a day has been instrumental in me staying on track. Baby carrots don't quite do it for me - LOL!

So Karri, What's up with that much baking? Holy cow!!!! That's a terrific loss - congratulations! I'm pondering whether another fill is in order this month. My doc gave me the option of skipping and just coming in Feb for my 6 month postop, but I do have something scheduled, in case I do want to go in. I don't think my problem is really restriction though - it's my noshing and grazing! I'm taking it easy today but tonight we're going for Indian food and I may allow a bit of flexibility before the new year begins!

I got my first fill on Tuesday. It did hurt a little. They didn't numb me, but it wasn't nothing to bad. Mine was under fluro, and I got 4.2 cc. The worst part is going back on full liquids for 2 days. I hate protein shakes (well just the EAS ones).

We will have to hang together. I am six days post op. A couple of days ago I thought I was starving to death, literally. Then yesterday I found some old Metafast soup and mixed it up. It had 13 g of protein and 3 g or carbohydrate. I made it real thin and I lost my appetite. Today I called the surgeons office and they said that is a good choice because of the protein. They told me that I could have anything that is runny and doesn't have chunks but keep it light. In other words, I can't have a runny steak. I am doing so much better at this point. I was so tired of sweet.

congrats on getting a date. I am getting sleeved on 4/10. So excited and nervous. The liquid diet is hard, first week I crashed and burned then realized I HAD to make it work. I feared I'd be that one person that gets on the table and the doctor says nope, can't do it because my liver is too big. I think the first 3 days are the hardest then your body kind of adjusts. I've found that even when i do palm sized meal in the evening I'm full. I do one Protein shake for Breakfast and lunch and in between Water. If I get the case of the munchies I eat sugar free Jello. I find sipping shakes (EAS AdvandEdge) and water with a straw helps me savor it more and I take longer to finish it. Can't wait to see our progress. See you on the losers bench

It's good to hear you were pleased with them. I'm waiting for approval from my primary Doc. I've had the psych and dietary approvals but when I went to my Doc. appt. my BP was higher than he wanted it to be. He put me on a new med. and said as long as it's down when I go back on Aug. 30th he'll give me the approval. As we all know high BP is a co-morbidity but I'm at his mercy. He wanted me to go to a seminar on Gastric Bypass as he's had alot of patients with success by going that route but I told him I know it's not an option for me. I'm crossing my fingers my BP is down so the authorization process with my insurance can start.

My experience is similar to yours. I had my lap band put in six years ago. Did great for three years then hit a plateau. The photo of me here is at my lowest weight after having lost 98 pounds with my band. I never could get the two pounds I needed for 100 pounds off ...and I wanted to lose around 25 - 20 more. Over time I started gaining weight and having problems with food getting stuck, reflux, etc. Doc took some fluid out of my band. Still had bloating and abdominal pain. This has been going on for more than six months. After having a barium swallow, 2 endoscopies, a CAT scan, MRI, and colonoscopy we have pretty much determined that there is nothing else wrong so the band is most likely the culprit. I will be having surgery to remove it on Wed, July 31. Hopefully that will end the abdominal pain and I will be able to have revision to another weight loss surgery in a couple of months. I am still down 40 pounds from where I started which means I gained back 58 that I need to lose again and still want to lose that additional 15 - 20 pounds to get to my goal. I wish we could do it all in one surgery but my doc wants to make sure the removal of the band solves the problems I've been having instead of doing additional surgery now only to find that the pain issues are still there. I'm 99% sure the problem is the band so I'm researching other surgical options now while I wait. ****For those of you who have had their bands removed , did you have internal soreness from the surgery or just the soreness from the incisions ? Did you have to follow any special diet while healing from the removal of the lap band ?

I know we're not supposed to drink before or after meals for a certain time period (my doc said 15 minutes before, 1 hour after). My question is this: do we consider protein shakes a food or a drink? :ermm

I was struggling to find a protein drink with enough protein to fulfill my post op requirements yet not be so sickly sweet that it made my already queasy stomach worse but I've finally found it! I went to GNC and they have a line called Isopure that has a whopping 40g of protein, 160 calories, zero carbs. It comes in several flavors, grape, mango/peach, green apple, coconut etc but what is best is that the flavor is very mild, not super sweet at all. I wish I'd had these right after surgery. Love them! I also found the sub-lingual b12 and biotin chewables

Hi, I have had the band for 7 years and I had a slip. Thanks for writing about surgery. I was wondering how that would go. I'm having lapband and port removed. How long did it take you to get ok from Ins.? I have been waiting a month a still have not heard. I've been thinking of getting sleeve but I think I have made a decision Not to have it. Ugh! it so hard to make a decision because I did not do well with band. I did lose 70 lbs.. Gained 30 through the years and just lost 17 because I can't eat much with the slip. Mostly I drink protein shakes. I vomited a lot with band and I'm afraid it will be the same. You can still gain your weight back so I'm dealing with the same thing. I'm 65years old and I don't want to look for trouble. There are so many things that can go wrong. Thanks for listening. Guess I had to get this off my chest.

I usually mix my cold brew concentrate with a scoop of Protein Powder, and then unsweetened almond milk, equal, and/or water over ice. Shake shake shake. Enjoy. I make a big one cause i sip it while working. Almost 3 years out

First, GOOD LUCK! I am 5 days out from my overnight, my robe was the most important to me. They will have you walk in the halls and sitting up as much as possible and the hospital tends to be chilly. something to read, and the usual toiletries. Pull on pants (loose), button shirt, slip on shoes/slippers. Many say a small pillow for ride home but my husband bought the big one so I didn't use it. Get what ever pain meds doc prescribes (if you can) at the hospital pharmacy. For home, chewable vitamins, sugar free Popsicles (great for fluid count)this helps with the dry mouth, get some of the one ounce cups from your room for sipping. Sipping was hard to learn for me. I am on liquids for a week and can have Carnation Instant Breakfast (no sugar) with skim milk, HIGH PROTEIN Slim Fast, Sugar Free Jell-O, strained soups (not creamy). I also got a heating pad, ice bag (used neither), liquid Tylenol and GAS-X. They pump gas into you for surgery and it moves around inside feeling like you swallowed to much air:tt2:. I can burp so that helps but move often, if I sit for more than 10 or so minutes I get a big bubble; so I just go from room to room. I would also make sure I had any meds I take on hand for at least a few days. Again good luck! Niterun

Hi Ya'll -- thanks for your kind replies. Gator27, I'm so glad to know that your insurance covered the removal -- have you had it out yet? If so, I'd love to know how you are feeling now and also if you've been able to keep the weight off -- also your recovery time from the removal. Band_Groupie - to answer some of your questions, my band is one of those that had 3cc's of Fluid in it from the beginning. I have never had a fill at all -- the removal of all the fluid was the only thing I've had done since surgery to the band at all. As of now, I have no fluid in my band at all and there's still restriction. It feels like where the band is placed there is a pinched nerve somewhere that makes my back hurt terribly. I sleep with a heating pad every night and have since surgery. The port site is painful all the time, especially if I have to bend over or lean sideways and that egg-shaped bulge has moved down right under it. Because of the dehydration, my Iron and Protein are down some so my energy level is horrible. Doc said eat spinach and red meat -- I'm trying but the red meat is so heavy that I can't eat much of that at all. I went back on the prilosec today with the hope that maybe some of this pain will subside. I have a very high acid level in my body that makes me ache all over if I don't keep it in check -- stress aggravates it and the pain and the economy have driven my stress level up very very high right now -- so no doubt that's a big part of the problem. It will take a couple of weeks to get that back under control but I'm really hopeful that it will be better soon. I am truly worn out. I know a lot of people who have had the band put in and they've all done fine -- I really thought I would too -- I guess I'm one of those who just hit the bad part of this lottery. If it's not better soon, I'll be having this thing removed. I don't want to be thin bad enough to live in pain the rest of my life. I just wanted to get healthy -- and this isn't healthy. Even my surgeon said that of all the patients he's seen over the years, only about 5 of them have had to have all the fluid removed from their bands -- and he thinks I may be one of those people who just may not need much restriction -- I know this -- I sure don't want that huge needle stuck in me ever again if I don't have to. That removal was awful -- it hurt for days -- and I have a HIGH pain threshold.....so much so that I don't get novacaine when I have dental work done -- if that tells you anything -- so if I'm in pain -- you know it's BAD! Thanks for the encouragement. I'll give it a few more weeks and we'll see what happens. Amy