My surgeon does his own aftercare and I had an appointment with him today for my second fill. We were discussing how hungry I had been and I had to bring up my food journal (never do that again). Anyway, long story short, he identified what he considered a problem, when I drink my Water. My Dr.'s philosophy is that the food needs to sit above the band to keep the feeling of fullness, drinking water before you feel hungry just washed the food through the port. It is better to wait until you are hungry, drink your water and eat. I guess I had never gotten that message before, the nut. certainly did not emphasize it. This will be a challenging habit to change...

Just wanted to share.

I've been told not to drink 15 min before or 30 min after eating

My surgeon does his own aftercare and I had an appointment with him today for my second fill. We were discussing how hungry I had been and I had to bring up my food journal (never do that again). Anyway, long story short, he identified what he considered a problem, when I drink my Water. My Dr.'s philosophy is that the food needs to sit above the band to keep the feeling of fullness, drinking water before you feel hungry just washed the food through the port. It is better to wait until you are hungry, drink your water and eat. I guess I had never gotten that message before, the nut. certainly did not emphasize it. This will be a challenging habit to change...

Just wanted to share.

This just validates the point I have made often on here that I don't think a lot of surgeons know what the hell they are doing beyond the basic surgical implantation of the band. And even then there's room for improvement (left shoulder pain, etc..) They are all over the place with what they require of patients pre-band and post band with regard to eating, pre-and post op liquid diets (if they even require them). how the band works, drinking, Protein, everything.

And what he told you is in contradiction to those who post that you get a feeling of fullness (satiety) from the food in the pouch pressing on the vagus nerve and from that often posted website of the doctor who says the band isn't about restriction and indeed the food doesn't remain in the pouch very long.

Everyone who replies will tell you what their doctor told them about liquids and it will vary greatly. There just isn't a standard of care/rules, etc.. with the band and if they knew how it worked there would be.

I'm with Cleo's Mom on this one. Ask 10 different surgeons you'll get 8 different answers. Mine says don't drink 30 minutes before to one hour after eating. He says don't drink before because it may make you feel "full" and you won't get the nutrients you need from food. Don't drink after because it washes the food through.

I think they have no idea what they're talking about in this particular area, but I still follow it to the best of my ability. However, if I have a glass of wine or a cocktail, I drink it while I'm eating (so I don't get sick or drunk from drinking on an empty stomach) and I can tell absolutely no difference in how hungry/full I feel nor how much food I eat. If anything sometimes I think a glass of red wine with dinner makes me get full on LESS food, but since my bloodwork is good and I get plenty of Vitamins I'm not going to worry about it.

I have to say, drinking enough fluids is my primary challenge with this band. I just absolutely get nowhere near 64 oz a day, especially since coffee is my drink of choice and since it has caffeine I'm supposed to drink even MORE Water to counteract it. If I didn't have to spend so much time worrying about whether or not I wanted to eat soon and thus avoid liquids, this would be a whole lot easier.

A good bariatric surgeon will have a Nutritionist on staff who should meet w/u each visit and go over these finer points. Mine does.

i cant drink 30 mins before and 30 mins after

course i am only 6 days out so not even on food yet

My surgeon does his own aftercare and I had an appointment with him today for my second fill. We were discussing how hungry I had been and I had to bring up my food journal (never do that again). Anyway, long story short, he identified what he considered a problem, when I drink my Water. My Dr.'s philosophy is that the food needs to sit above the band to keep the feeling of fullness, drinking water before you feel hungry just washed the food through the port. It is better to wait until you are hungry, drink your water and eat. I guess I had never gotten that message before, the nut. certainly did not emphasize it. This will be a challenging habit to change...

Just wanted to share.

A good bariatric surgeon will have a Nutritionist on staff who should meet w/u each visit and go over these finer points. Mine does.

Not necessarily. My idiot former surgeon had a nutritionist and they weren't on the same page about what to eat post op.

Yea, basically you don't want the band to be full of liquid when you need to be eating. Since we eat so little.

I haven't seen my nutritionist since pre-op. I don't feel the need to see them all the time... but yes every doctor says different things, but I would think the liquid things is pretty much the most important....

Does food or liquid even really sit in the pouch for that long? When i eat something my band does not like, I feel it almost instantly. If the food were sitting up there taking 30 mins to go down I don't think I would feel stuck instantly. Just a thought I have been having recently.

Yeah I'm with Cleo's Mom also. These surgeons all have a different idea of what to do and how to do it. I know 4 other women who are banded. We've all had different surgeons and all been given different directions about eating.

So I emailed Allergan to ask what their take on it was and you know what they told me???

Your surgeon has been trained to perform the Lap Band procedure. You should follow his directions as to what to eat.

WTH. The maker of the band can't even tell me what their standard is, or do they not know either?

Does food or liquid even really sit in the pouch for that long? When i eat something my band does not like, I feel it almost instantly. If the food were sitting up there taking 30 mins to go down I don't think I would feel stuck instantly. Just a thought I have been having recently.

Nope, it doesn't sit up there that long and I am thinking they are recently discovering this. But, the idea is it goes slower if you don't drink and therefore is pressing on the nerves that gives you that satisifed feeling.

Apparently these surgeons knowledge regarding eating/drinking with a lap band is an antithetical one. My nutritionist's orders (given by surgeon) were that I was to wait 30 minutes prior to drinking to eat anything and wait 30 minutes after every meal in order to drink. Drinking while eating is not an option for me. Nevertheless, my body seems to respond fairly to this practice. Evidently, every lapbandster's experience with water/food intake is different, one just has to experiment and see what works best. In my experience, healthy food choices seem to go down faster for me, therefore the 30 minute rule is obsolete. However, I think that the 30 min pause before/after meal in order to drink anything is a complete exaggeration. My theory is that it takes 20 min or less for the food in the pouch to enter the stomach. Nevertheless, if a surgeon tells a patient drink liquids 15 min after every meal...most patients will drink their liquids 3 minutes after every meal. Perhaps even less.

I think the main thing that they are consistant on is to NOT drink while eating as this will push the food out of the pouch too soon. My surgeon and nutritionist say not to drink 30 mins before, during, and 30 after eating. This way you keep the feeling of fullness longer. I am not sure how long the food actually stays in the pouch but I find that when I follow the program as prescribed I do well and have no problems, its when I try to change it up that I have issues. Really... the band is different for everyone and it is trial and error in finding what works for you as an individual. I have found that some of the suggestions on here that have worked for some either work or don't work for me... but the ones that do have been great.

Some people can still eat things like pizza, tacos, bread, tacos, Beans, chips, crackers, rice, Pasta and the list goes on and on of the things that we are told to stay away from and it doesn't bother them. Then there are others that can't get them down even if we wanted to on a cheat day.

My nutritionist told me at the beginning that this was going to be a lifestyle change and she was right. I have had to change how I think about food and how I eat based on what my band allows me to have. Fortunately for me the healthy stuff is what goes in best for me.

Good luck with your jouney's and remember to just experiment and find own route to weight loss with the band...

I was told no drinking 30 minutes before, NONE during and none for 30-60 minutes after! No drinking with my meal is going to be tough!

I was told not to drink 30 mins before or 1 hour after, it works well doing it this way.