Wow, I have been reading these forums for weeks and this is my first post. I have a few "is this normal" questions. If anyone can help, I would so appreciate it!!

1. Gas- I did not have shoulder pain like most, but I seem to still have gas. I wake up in the morning fine, but as the day progresses, I get bloated and gassy again. Is it something I am eating? I am only on liquids.

2. From what I understand, I have no restriction. How come when I drink, I sometimes feel pain in my chest as if I have swallowed to much?

3. This might be TMI, but did anyone have a problem with diarrhea at this stage?

I was banded on 9/23. I guess I am in this bandster hell. I am feeling better now, but was seriously having bandster remorse the first week. The gas, the discomfort, the hunger, ugh! Will I ever feel completely normal?

Hi Laura,

Im day 2 post op and i feel like **** at times. The discomfort in the stomach, the gas, the swallowing. I am prayong that it gets better. Are you walkimg?

I am not walking around the neighborhood, I have 2 small kids, so I am up and around all the time. Believe me, the first few days were horrible. But I do have to say that there is a point where you do feel better. I am not feeling normal yet though. That is why I am wondering if that ever comes.

I tried to go back to work on the 4th day, but ended up doing half days till the 8th day. That was the first day that it was not totally uncomfortable to sit in my chair all day at work.

Hi,

Ok so at this point you feel gassy during the day and it gets worse as the day progresses into night. I was told that was completely normal and to expect it!! The best way to combat this is to walk as much as possible.

As far as the restriction, I would highly question this. My doctor did put some saline into the band when it was placed during sugery. I have a sneaky idea that your doctor did too! I was told that it's usually done because they need to see if the band is working properly. I would call your doctors office and see if they did put some saline into your band, and how much. And yes there is going to be a feel some pain when you swallow a big gulp of liquid. The band is placed around the top of your stomach and stitched in. It is healing and so there is usually some type of swelling due to your surgery. The swelling in that area can then be felt by you when you try to drink too big a swallow of anything, not just the liquids. When you start on those pureed foods, be careful that you do not swallow a big gulp of that food either. You do not want it sitting there in that area where the swelling might be and making you feel horrrible. I was told to SIP everything, NO big gulps of anything after surgery. Sip all day long. Sip only about 5 ounces of liquid an hour, nothing more. They even gave ma chart of what my day should look like sipping as the hours went by. They had me sipping liquids pretty much all day long, except for two breaks (around 1 and 9 p.m. at night where I was to not drink anything for about an hour. ) Needless to say it was a very interesting day chart to look at

As for the diarrhea, look out. Was told that if it continued for more than one day to then go to the pharmacy and get something to stop it. (pretty much anything over the counter I wanted, as long as it was in liquid form.) If you are drinking a lot of milk products, they said that might cause some of the diarrhea issues too and if you are you eating/drinking a lot of milk products that you might want to cut them out for a week or so. You can make the Protein shakes with just Water, add some Fiber to them too! Clear liquid Soups like broth were good to add the protein too as well.

Remember to call your doctor and see what they recommend. You paid for the to be available to answer any and all questions you are having about this process. Do NOT hesitate to bug the heck out of them, day or night. Believe me you will not be asking anything anything they haven't dealt with in the past. They know what to advise for these issue and maybe even have something you can get from them to help with any issues that arise. Good luck on your journey!

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling crappy...I feel like there's a fist below my rib cage. And the HUNGER!!!!!!!

I love the support here!! I was banded on 9/27 and EVERY TIME I sip something I feel like there is a knot in the center of my chest. I am relieved to hear other people are feeling that, too (is that evil of me? ) I have found warm, herbal tea is a nice relief.

I don't feel hungry at all, unless I see a commercial that reminds me how delicious KFC is . In fact, I am FORCING myself to down at least one Protein shake a day. I know I am not getting enough calories, protein and fluids just because I would rather go without then feel that ache in the center of my chest. I am working on that.

22lbs down since my pre-op physical on 9/15!

so as an update, I am feeling soooo much better! I do not have the gassy bloated feeling anymore. and there is only a slight discomfort when I sit since my port is next to my belly button. I just find it so strange that I get that pain in my chest when I swallow too fast. Dr swears that I have no fill. He claims that there is a small amount of air in the band. Just thought I would update those of you that might be in the bandster hell. It does get better.

I was banded on 8/22 and ohhhhhh can I remember those first couple weeks like they were yesterday. Bandster Hell is indeed the feeling. I remember being upset because I couldn't eat anything but mushies and I almost felt resentful seeing others eat like normal because I couldn't. I even had some times that I cried. The good news is that this will pass and you will start feeling good again. Although I am no doctor, it doesn't sound to me like what you are feeling is restriction, but the stomach healing. It is swallon and sore right now so when you drink large gulps of water it is most likely going to hurt. You should be drinking small sips all day. Take it one day at a time. Best of luck!!!

I think all your issues are normal. Are you drinking Protein shakes and eating sugar free things? All of those things give me terrible gas. The Protein Shakes make me so gassy. I'm not against them, I would just rather get my protein from meat or "normal" as opposed to drinking the gassy shakes :-)

You're 10 days post op? You're most likely still swollen from surgery which is why you can feel that discomfort in your chest. Honestly, you'll always feel things pass through your band if you take too big of a bite or gulp your drink.

Diarrhea is sooo normal. Once you start eating solid foods it should get better. I had the same problem.

Life will get so much better. I didn't feel normal for a good 2 weeks. My recovery was long. And I regretted the surgery a few times. Now, I'm not looking back! The weight is coming off and it makes everything worth it.

Hey there. I am 2 weeks out and felt (feel?) all the same things as you. Gas, pressure in my chest, the runs...all of it. Everything is slowly going away. My BMs are regular now, gas pain is gone. My dr said that the feeling in the chest is from swelling. Just be sure you are getting lots of Fluid.

J