AGHHHHHHHHH... my dr doesnt fill till 8 weeks out . mine is scheduled for teh 28th .. but i am gainging quick and eating just like before i asm active but not like o want to be due to some pain/infection under my tummy flap . that i cant seem to get healed . i see teh numbers on teh scale rise and i feel awefull and upset and go right to teh food ughhh . i lost soem much before surgery . why cant i get a hold of my eating and my dr is notorious for being mean and having horrible bedside manner( teh best surgeon around though) so now i have built up anxiety about even going to the filll ... for teh first time since i started this process i wonder if i made teh right choice .....

Could you get hold of your eating before you were banded? Probably not otherwise you would have not needed the surgery.

So all you can do is "White Knuckle" it for a while.

Also, sorry to say, the first fill des not mean anything will change. It is just the first of many before they get your band properly adjusted. Could take months!

Don't mean to bum you out, but people need to understand how this all works.

It is common for people to put on some weight after surgery until u get some fills under your belt. How much weight u put on is purely dependent on your own willpower. This time you are in now is called bandster hell and many people get stuck in it till the fills start counting.

This was always going to be surgery that relied on your choices as much as how much you eat which the band will help you with. If you dont buy fattening food how can u snack on it. Look up what others are eating, just eat more of it if u are hungry. Comfort eating needs to be cut out and good healthy food replacing it. Make sure u eat food that makes u feel full, is low fat low carb and full of protein, that way you stand a chance of getting through this time. Log everything u eat, even maybe join weight watchers till u are able to make better choices. I still get hungry now even after all the weight i have lost, but i snack on food that is low in calories but taste good, greek yoghurt, any 0 fat milk products count the calories and dont give up, you went through all this , dont give up on you or the band and start exercising like crazy .. calories burned needs to be greater than calories eaten ( for most of us anyways) some manage to lose weight and not exercise but for most of us we need to burn what we eat ..

I also have a tummy flap with spare skin i always make certain that the skin never rubs against each other. Pad yourself out, its the only way to manage it to stop infections and getting sore. I wear tummy control leggings and no one knows there is padding there. I feel for you because it can be horrid to live with that but lose the weight and it certainly will improve .. good luck and dont give up ..

b52, you didnt bumm me out i posted on here cause i really needed advise i think im freaking out and upset and needed step back and realize how this all works like ou said i did the research and know about how hard this time is like taht being said nothing i read prepared me for putting on weight that i had just lost so quickly that being said i made an apointmant with my therapaist ..cazy that padding idea is a good one i tried gauze there and teh flap is so severe you cant even se eteh padding i even put a hygeine pad there (thats what they did after my c-section .) it just get too looking ...well angry . im gonna see dr again on teh 28 th fro my fuill and ill get some ideas from him . thanks to both of you !!!!

Heather, I'm right there with ya! I was banded on March 1st, and my 1st fill is also the 28th. I can honestly say, THE VERY SECOND I got the ok to eat mushies, I resumed my old ways. I can still eat as much as pre-surgery, and do u know how many "soft foods" u can order from Taco Bell? I do. At the end of my liquid phase I had lost 18 lbs total (including pre-op) and figured it really didn't matter if I gain some back bcuz I had the rest of my life to eat "good". U know, after fills and all that.

So anyway, I went 6 days of overeating myself to a fat bliss, and woke up that 7th day and weighed in, expecting the worst. Much to my surprise, I'd lost another 2 lbs. Idk how, but I decided at that moment that I was gonna go back on my pre-op high protein/low carb until my fill. It sucks, I know. I'm exactly where u are, but I have to suck it up and starve a little to not gain back any weight until I get full restriction. From what I hear, it will probably take a good 3 fills to get there. Good luck! Just move when ya can and TRY to make it thru!

I also wanted to add.....Just bcuz ur surgeon operated on u DOESN'T mean u have to go there for fills. My operation was in CO, and I live in MO. Choose a doc u can not only live with, one u like! This is your journey to choose!

If it's any consolation, I gained weight after my first fill, and till 13 months after my surgery I considered myself a success!

Heather something like soft cotton from a tee shirt is best and make sure u change it the minute it gets damp. This is a horrid subject but a lot of people are affected by this. Dont use paper type products or things like gauze as they are abrasive, u need softness, raid some old tee shirt draws, make sure its a 100% cotton and make your self like a protective band of cotton under the flap .. if necessary make sure its double thickness .. Use no soap products other than natural ones with something like tea tree oil in it, i know its sounds like a performance to do all this but at 400lbs when i started i had a big area to protect and i never got sore once .. prevention is always the answer

I go for my first fill on the 31st of March...surgery was Feb 27th. I figured out within a couple weeks what having "No Restriction" meant. I initially lost 20 on the liquids but when I started eating mushies I have been fluctuating 2-3 lbs. Right now I am using mind over matter to get through it. I know I can eat more than I do but I am self pay and I paid too much money to have anything go wrong. Admittedly I am not an exercise fan either but again, I'm making myself to something everyday.

Good Luck....I share your pain (hunger pains) but like everyone on this site has said..."This too shall pass" just be patient and keep going, it will come together for ya soon.

Patti

I really needed to read these post. When I went for my first fill last month I was the same weight as my surgery day but last week for my 2nd fill I gained 4lbs. So now they want me to come in every 2weeks till my band is were it needs to be. My first fill did NOTHING but I can say this last one helped but I am NO WHERE were I need to be. Knowing I am not alone in this and other people are experiencing the same helps. I was starting to feel like a failure.

I got my band on 12/22, I went in to get my first fill on Feb 5th, and my port had flipped...so I had to wait 2 more weeks to get my first fill. After my first fill, I couldnt feel anything different. I did lose 2 lbs 9by sheer willpower). I had my 2nd fill 3 weeks after my port revision. Now, with that second fill, I can sure tell a difference. I am only eating 3-5 bites at a time before I get that tight feeling in my chest. I made the mistake (once) of eating another bite after I felt that fuillness, and it all came out!

I am still fighting being hungry every 2-3 hours, but eating just a few bites at a time, I know that I will see a loss on the scale. Its been 2 weeks since my 2nd fill, I go back in 2 more weeks, I think with just a tad more tweaking, I should be at my green zone and see the weight coming off!

I have used an Android app called "Lose It" since the day I came home from the hospital after being banded. Before I had restriction, I used it mostly for accountability. For me, it's harder to justify over-eating when I have to see the numbers in front of me. With Lose It, not only does it tell me my calories but my fat, carbs, and Proteins too. It was very hard for awhile there, I was preoccupied with food and hungry every 2 hours like clockwork. But I religiously logged everything I ate to force myself to "see"' what I was doing and be accountable. For me, it worked.

I've now had two fills and I'm pretty sure I'm in the Green Zone. I am very full after eating very little and can go 4+ hours between meals without any hunger. Honestly, right now I am loving my band and I'm so glad I did this.

It does get easier. Hang in there, it's so worth it and you'll be glad you did

My surgeon told me I probably would gain weight before my 1st fill. He did not require me to be on any special diet after I was back on solids. His feeling was why would he expect me to white knuckle it when the band was not adjusted to help me? With my band adjusted properly, I don't have to struggle to eat right.

• i am so glad i posted on here thanks to everyone .. my problem has always been portyion although i can make bad food choices my bigger issue is how much i eat . i thinkim a real food addict which is why therapy has been a big part of my process.. i mean sure yogurt is great for you but when you eat 5 conatiners ..not so great beforei strated this it was not unusual for oen meal to roll right into the next befor ei was done eating oen thing my mind was already planning what i would eat next . i dont have that issue now the long period of strict pre surg diet cure dthat soo farrr anyway . thank you all i love this site !!!!
  

also i am dyslexic so im sorry if my words or letters get turned around!!!!

I am currently going through bandster hell!!! I am using sheer willpower but it is extremely hard. My coworkers all ate taco bell around me whole I ate cottage cheese yesterday. And today they had Texas roadhouse! It's tough. The hardest thing is, is that I feel like I need to eat more. I am just plain hungry all the time. I was relieved when I started mushies on Friday but I guess healing has brought the hunger back!!!

But we can do this!!!! Don't give up! You are not alone!