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NEVER being able to lose with the band would require a complete medical workup with a doc, a detailed food journal, etc... Having a band is a very small part of the journey... my best friend and I were talking about it and she was like "You have it cause it makes you accountable right?" and at the beginning, it does help with that... but as you continue in your journey, for me, it is NOT an accountability thing anymore, cause I just have my full feeling and am ready to stop eating cause I am satisfied... You MUST have a TRUE commitment to the band. A true commitment is NOT just eating till you are full. You have to follow some rules. The most important eating rule FOR ME is NOT to eat and drink simultaneously. PERIOD. I can FEEL the food wash through the band with the drink... Anyone who is trying to lose and is eating and drinking together is self-sabotaging. Whether they want to admit it or not. You also MUST maintain a commitment to do the follow ups with your doc. If you are not losing at the 1-2 pounds/week rate (accepting an occasional plateau) you need to first look at that food diary, and second make an appt with your doc. A fill too much or too little will make it MUCH harder to lose and maintain that loss. I am down 53 pounds and it is NOT a fast journey anymore... but I am doing the right things and losing slowly but surely. I look better than I have in a LONG time... My mom congratulated me and I did that "Aw shucks, I don't deserve it, I had help" line and my mom was like "WAIT! Katy! You DO deserve congrats. You made a commitment to your health and you've done it. Many people go get the band and don't do the work to get where they need to go, but you've been consistent and bought into your success" and that is true. I have. So, every pound I lose, every size I drop, I raise a glass of sparkling water and orange juice and toast myself. Because I DO deserve congrats for doing my work...

<HR style="COLOR: #d9d9d9; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d9d9d9" SIZE=1> Hi everyone!! I've had 3 fills now....the last one 2 weeks ago. I lose well for a few days and I have good restriction but i always seem to overeat on stuff that goes in easy. chocolate, cakes, biscuits, icecream etc and I just can't seem to stop myself. Eating good healthy food isn't a pleasurable experience at all. Yes it goes in if I chew well and go really slow but the pleasure i get from food is in the bad stuff. I don't know how to stop myself. I've lost 28lb but know I could have lost more if I'd been good throughout. Wondering now if I've wasted my money on the band and should have gone for the bypass....would only have been a couple of thousand more... HELP!!! Amanda xx

i agree with everyone else - i had major second thoughts, cancelled the surgery two days prior and ended up talking (and crying - ugh) to the sugeon about my fears - needless to say, he allievated all of them (most) and had me actually smiling by the end of the call. He told me if i came down and decided to not go through with it up to the last second that was fine but it is very common to be scared etc. And, for weeks and maybe longer, on and off i felt like what the heck have I done but that all passed (mostly - ha) too! As long as you have done all your research, and feel comfortable with your doc - try to relax and know you are not alone in these feelings. I also wish I had tackled this problem MUCH younger - You may be able to tackle it 'on your own' but I've learned from banding just how entrenched bad eating behaviors are and they take a lot to change.

Hi Snapplegirl, Thanks!!! I agree wholeheartedly with what Karen G says about avoiding making comparisons and staying on top of your fills. In addition to that here are my three basic keys to sucess: 1) Fills under fluoro always. 2) Track everything you put in your mouth. I started out using Fit Day and currently use Daily Plate. I try to stay right around 1000 calories, but I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to achieve perfection, so some days it might be closer to 1500. 3) Exercise and lots of it. Hope this helps and good luck on your journey!!!!

I am writing this for all those who are struggling with the idea of "am I too tight?", "I'm hungry but I can't eat anything...". I just spent the worst 2 weeks of my lapband experience, suffering from the "too tight" affliction, and let me tell you, NEVER AGAIN! Up until my last fill, I've had a pretty dream run of things. No great post-op hassles, first 3 fills of 1ml each were space 1 month apart and came in just at the right times. 4th fill of 0.5ml 2 months after that also went well - great restriction but not too much. After 3 months, when my appetite was starting to rage again, and I was eating 1.5+ cups of solid food at every meal and fighting the urge to snack in between, I knew it was time for fill #5. The doc put in 0.5ml again and warned me to do liquids for a couple of days and ease back into solids after that. Unfortunately, that night I couldn't even manage thick Soups and ended up PBing half the night, till I remembered my emergency anti-nausea pills. I went back to clear consommes for Day 2 and creamed soups for Day 3 but couldn't move past them for a while. By Day 6, I was managing mushies but had to fly back to work and that, combined with getting my ToM a couple of days later set me right back to clear consommes again - anything thicker and I chucked my ring up. I lived like that for the next 8 days but could never get past soups and on a good day, mushies. Let me tell you folks, that is NO WAY to live! I booked the unfill before I came home (got home last night) and just had 0.25ml taken out today - ahhh sweet relief! This morning, I was gurgling and burping over a cup of coffee. This evening, I had a small chicken & vege thingie in filo pastry - delicious, and FILLING and no burping, no sliming, no pain! Best of all is that now I've eaten it, I'M NOT HUNGRY ANY MORE!! What I noticed more than anything with that overfill, was that even when I was gurgling and burping, sliming and PBing, I was HUNGRY in between and kept trying to push past what I was capable of eating. It was so hard not to just get in the habit of eating slider foods and saying to myself "at least I'll lose weight". Of course, the only solid things I could eat in all that time were cheesecake and Cookies... but healthy solid veges and lean meat - not a chance! If any of you are thinking to yourselves "I'm really uncomfortable, but I don't want to take the fill out in case I start to gain", please PLEASE take a leaf out of my book. When you are too tight, the only thing that goes down easily is crap and you won't lose weight eating crap! Life on the band is not meant to be not eating at all! It's not meant to be living on soups and mushies! You need to eat solid, healthy veges and meat and you won't feel hungry! Stay too tight and you'll be miserable, eat fattening non-nutritious foods and will be HUNGRY all the time! Don't do it!!!

I went in for my second fill yesterday and my doctor didn't want to give me one because I have steadily lost 2 lbs a week since my last fill a month ago. I had to explain to him that the band hadn't totally done that--my willpower had! I seem to get restriction when I eat but the fullness only lasts one hour then I'm hungry again. The only thing that has kept me from eating more is the willpower I have learned from years of dieting! After I explained this he gave me a half cc fill. Does this make sense? Have any of y'all had similar experiences?

I have been on a lot of different meds for the last three years following the death of my Dad. Currently, I take 300 mg of Wellbutrin. But honestly the thing that has helped me the most with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder is....drum roll.... a rockin' therapist and a lot of self-examination. It is hard and painful but seriously rewarding. I'm really lucky to have a group of friends and some family that know my true potential and kick me in the butt when I'm doing falling back into old habits or ways of thinking. I'm hoping that with the band, I can feel better about my body. I would HIGHLY recommend a good therapist who will keep you honest. For me, I just didn't want to realize that, for the most part, I was in control of how my anxiety affected my life and the people around me and that I part of me actually liked being in crisis. Did I want to admit that? NO! But is it partially true. Yup. Final thought: I am NOT saying that depression and bipolar disorder are not medical illnesses. Both my parents have responded very well to medication... ironically the same medication and the same dosage. Obviously genetics plays a significant role! I am saying that WITH the right meds and a trained professional (a therapist, priest, social worker etc) real recovery and maintance of symptoms IS possible. Thanks for reading the long rant. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted with your journey. 30 pounds is 30 pounds is 30 pounds. Go to the super market and pick up one pound of Crisco. Now multiply it by 30. It's great progress. You're doing great. With love, Sheila

Has this happened to anyone else. My surgery was all set. Pre-op is tomorrow. Dr. Mejias office called THIS morning... ONE WEEK before surgery and said that my portion (the part insurance won't pay) is due before surgery. I had to cancel and they seemed to care less. Just said "ok". The end... my dreams dashed... Patty

Dear Tammi, Your pain is very normal. I had sever pain for the first 2-3 weeks and then very uncomfortable pain for antoher 2 weeks. I was banded on Aug 7th. If you want to get rid of the pain, WALK, WALK and WALK some more. This is the only thing that kept me from crying. As you walk around the gas starts to move and slowly move out. Most people experience this only for the first 2 weeks. I guess I was one of the lucky ones to spend numerous sleepless nights! Heating pad helped me somewhat but really it was the walking that saved my sanity. Good Luck, Mary

Congrats to you Jason. Happy Birthday. That's awesome for a birthday present. I got my 1st fill on my birthday last week and that was a great gift.

Hi Mom! It wasnt until week 7 that I could eat something like chili, it has a tendency to be VERY gassy on our new formed tummy's. So be patient, you will start on regular foods soon enough! FYI: this is one food that I MUST eat slow - it clog's the stoma easily. And one more bit of info about chili that I JUST found out; to add MORE protien to it, order a small meat patty along with the chili (Wendy's sell's just the patty's for .60 cents) then break it up and stir it into the chili. It helps fill you up AND you get more protien!!!

as everyone knows my band was removed due to erosion on 11/28. I know that my band is not there but it sure feels like it is.... This is weird! I have PBed everyday for a week and I can only eat a small amount. I have also lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks.. I have not lost any weight in months... My band is gone,now I am losing weight... what is up with that? Am I just loosing my mind?

I would recheck your instructions. 2 weeks of clear liquids seems impossible to do. I only had to do it one day before surgery and just recently one day after my first fill. That one day was tough. :omg:

No you can't feel the band. My port is on the right and yes I can feel it but that's cuz I'm three weeks post op and its still a lil swollen.

Just an FYI, for the first 2 weeks or so after the surgery, you will find sleeping on your back to be the most comfortable. I am a side/stomach sleeper and I couldn't sleep either way until about 2 weeks post-op. The soreness from the surgery and the 'pulling' feeling hurt and made is difficult to sleep any other way than my back. Today I can sleep on my stomach and side no problem; but as mentioned above, when I lean back, lean over something, or am laying on a hard surface I can feel my port.

Honestly, I'm surprised there is that much in my band. I haven't had any stuck episodes and can eat pretty much anything. Since I went on solid foods (3rd week after surgery) I stay satisfied for at least 4 hours between meals. I thought that was because I'm eating too much since I haven't been measuring my food. I've been measuring time. I wait 1 minute between each bite and eat for 20-25 minutes. I guess it's been the band the whole time. I haven't lost as much weight post op as I wish (about 14 lbs in 5 weeks), but I guess that's decent. I'm going to stop eating what I want (in small doses) and start doing low carb. Hopefully this will make the weight really drop off.

I'm only 6 weeks post op so I haven't lost any hair (but I know it's coming.... Ugh). My sister did the surgery last October and started losing her hair 3 months post op..... And let me tell you, she lost A lot of hair... However, once she hit 6 mo the, her hair started growing again and now it's super thick!!

Hi Cloe, I'm doing the tiny plate, tiny fork thing. I only put approx. half a cup of food on the plate. I know I can eat more but my fill is a couple weeks away and I want to exercise a modicum of self discipline. I even put wine in a liqueur glass.

that's weird. Also, since my AF is so irregular that might never work for me, especially if I have it for 2-3 weeks at a time! Anyway. I have had 2 out of 4 fills while on AF and had no problems.

Hi Sheryl, Congratulations on your release!! Honestly, I can't imagine being on Clear Liquids for two weeks. Full liquids, maybe. Clear? Nuh-uh. Anyway, I think all recent bandsters have the same experience. I know I did. When you start with the soups and so forth and you're surprised at how much you can take in. That's because it just slips right past the band down into your lower stomach, and there's virtually no difference in the amount you can drink now vs. the amount you could drink before. You won't do any damage if you're sticking to liquids. Since it's not solid food, your esophagus and stomach don't have to do any work to get it where it's going. So there won't be lots of movement that can interfere with the healing; that's the point of liquids. No matter when you start mushy foods, go slowly. You'll be several weeks out by then so you may not have any problems at all, but it pays to be cautious. You may not have any swelling or restriction at all but don't assume that until you've taken a small bite of something and swallowed. You don't want to find out the hard way! :cool:

Yup...I made it through the Clear liquid weeks. I am now to be on full liquids for a week...Thank God I can have a latte again!! I do have a question...I am pretty sure that I have NO restriction, and I am afraid that I still eat too much, and/or too quickly. Are we supposed to take 30 minutes to eat 2 Tbsp of Malt-o-meal?? I can go through it pretty quickly, the same goes for cream Soups, yogurt, pudding... What type of potential damage am I doing by eating too fast? Also, I am still unfamiliar with what it feels like to be full. Still, I am down 13 pounds in two weeks, even during the healing stage!! Sheryl Dr. Wetherille 244/231/140

I am having my port replaced by Dr. Matthew Weiner at Harper Hospital in Detroit in two weeks. Does anyone have any bad experiences with him? He seems like an experienced doctor but I haven't heard anything about him, good or bad. Can anyone give me any feedback on him? Thanks.:laugh:

Wow, your lucky.... I wasn't allowed to eat cottage cheese until my 4th week out (I had to do liquids for 3 weeks)... hang in there.

Hi Kimmiechelle, Congratulations on getting your lapband! I had trouble with Water the first week or so after being banded. I couldn't seem to get much down at a time and gas always seemed to immediately follow. Be patient-- it goes away. Why not try SF popsicles once in a while, or switch off with warm drinks like hot tea? Have you tried something like Gas-X? I lived on it the first couple of weeks along with my heating pad. Here's what I figured out about the constipation -- yes, lack of fluids can contribute to constipation as does the pain medication but the real culprit was there was not enough "mass" in the digestive system to move things along until I got onto mushies. No duh! Liquid diets don't leave mass! When I called my doctor's office complaining about the big C, I was told to eat fruit. By then I was on mushies, so I took my fruit and put it into the blender and blended it to death. That and walking, finally moved things along. Every single one of us is obsessed with seeing how much weight comes off after we get banded. Some people lose a lot and some hardly any. Everything I've read on these boards is to view the first 4-6 weeks as healing time. It's about getting the band seated properly and learning how to manage yourself. Any weight lost is a bonus!! Most folks get on the weight loss bandwagon after the first or second fill. Be kind to yourself and try not to let your whirling brain make you crazy. This part will quickly pass, but it must be endured. Check back in and let us know how you are doing. Jo Ann

Hey lilmis and brigida! I was banded by Dr. Marsden on May 6. I too have had sticky situations. It's like you can feel every inch as it goes down. Do either of you have trouble with cold Water? Sometimes i can feel that going down too. Brigida, have you gone for your first follow up at True Results yet? I'm going in a couple weeks. Still don't know if I want a fill yet. Sometimes I can go 4-5 hours before I'm hungry and other times it's 2 hours. Lilmis, I read that book last summer and did it for a couple months. I lost like 12 pounds. It's really a good diet. Not as restrictive as Atkins. My problem was my cheat day got out of control and then I stopped losing weight. That can't happen anymore because of the band. The EXACT reason why I'm happy I did it!