Hi, my name is Allen I was banded on april 24th 2006. Some questions I had are the following:

1. After I eat or drink something I feel the urge to burp but can't and sometimes I feel the need to hiccup. Are these normal?

2. What happens if you start eating solid foods before the 2-3 weeks of liquid diet is up? Will it cause a problem with the band itself? Slow down the rate at which you lose weight? etc.?

3. What is "PB"ing?

4.Is it normal to not know if you're hungry or full? I wake up feeling full and have no real need for food. I can stay this way all day and never feel like I need to eat until i feel a little dizzy then I know I have to eat whether or not i feel hungry.

5. I can drink things rather quickly without having much adverse reaction. Just the usual problem of feeling the need to burp or hiccup as in question one. Does that mean my band may not be working right?

6. How do I know if my band slips?

Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. It is very much appriciated.

Welcome to LBT! Congrats on your banding!

It takes time, you'll learn the signals of your body. when it comes time to start real food take small bites and chew chew chew til its paste!

you shouldnt start real food too early because you tummy is still swollen and healing.

I was not hungry thru out the day like your talking about for a few weeks.

PB is productive burping~ Burping up food. normally cause from taking that one bite too much.

From what I've read if your band slips you cant even drink Water nothing will stay down. Others will be able to tell more info on that~

:grouphug:

Thanks for the reply and the welcome to the discussion board. I'm glad this site is available with so many differant types of people on here.

Glad to be here as well :grouphug:

Q. After I eat or drink something I feel the urge to burp but can't and sometimes I feel the need to hiccup. Are these normal?

A. This is normal, yes. You might be eating or drinking too fast. Try slowing down a bit.

Q. What happens if you start eating solid foods before the 2-3 weeks of liquid diet is up? Will it cause a problem with the band itself? Slow down the rate at which you lose weight? etc.?

A. It is very important that you follow your Dr's outlined diet. When the band is placed around the stomach, part of the stomach wall is pulled up and over the band and then sewn to itself to hold the band in place. It is possible to break the stitches and cause your band to slip if you eat solids foods too early.

Q. What is "PB"ing?

A. A PB is "productive burp". This occurs when a piece of food will not go through the banded area of your stomach so it is "burped" back up. In the worst cases, it can be very painful and produce a lot of slime in your mouth as the body tries to remedy the problem.

Q.Is it normal to not know if you're hungry or full? I wake up feeling full and have no real need for food. I can stay this way all day and never feel like I need to eat until i feel a little dizzy then I know I have to eat whether or not i feel hungry.

A. Eating with the band has been a relearning process for me. I can tell when I'm hungry and I can tell when I'm full but they are both very different sensations than pre-banding. When I'm hungry my body just 'signals' me with a new kind of hungry feeling. It's hard to explain. Being full is no longer a full gut feeling. Now it is a pressure behind the breastplate, where the band is located.

Q. I can drink things rather quickly without having much adverse reaction. Just the usual problem of feeling the need to burp or hiccup as in question one. Does that mean my band may not be working right?

A. Nah. I can down a half a bottle of Water with no problems. You shouldn't ever have trouble getting liquid through the banded area of the stomach. If you do, chances are the band is too tight. As I said before, you might just try slowing down a bit to reduce the burping and hiccuping.

Q. How do I know if my band slips?

A. I have not had a band slip, but from reading posts by those who have experienced this I would say there is usually a halt in weight loss, accompanied by an increase in acid reflux. Some people find that they can eat a lot more, while others can eat a lot less. It's a very fickle thing and only happens in a small percentage of bandsters.

Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. It is very much appriciated.

You're very welcome! :grouphug:

Oh, and by the way Allen... welcome to LBT! Glad you found us!

Hi Allen - I just got my band the 27th of April and I too have been hungry all day and did eat a little solid food today. I know they said I shouldn't be hungry but I am. I have no idea what to do about it. Have you found anything that helped?

HI I WAS BANDED 26TH APRIL SO I AM ONLY 4 DAYS INTO THIS BUT I HAVE ALREADY FOUND THAT IF I GET A SICKLY FEELING IN MY TU.MMY I AM HUNGERY

I AM A BIT FRIGHTEND TO EAT MUCH MORE THAN A CUPPA SOUP OR A YOUGURT OR RICE PUDDING (low fat of course)PhtoNut are yougarts ok at this stage TAKE CARE ALL GOOD LUCK

TRACYLOU

photoNut

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I was banded on the 20Th of April and from the day I was banded to now I'm always very hungry! Which is just the opposite of the way it used to be before the banding. In the prebanding days I was not very hungry throughout the day (but that didn't stop me from eating! That's why I'm so big now) and now the post banding days is that my stomach growls so much all day long that it can be rather embarrassing. And it's getting really old being so hungry all the time. This goes to show you that everyone's experience is just a little different.

Hi Allen - I just got my band the 27th of April and I too have been hungry all day and did eat a little solid food today. I know they said I shouldn't be hungry but I am. I have no idea what to do about it. Have you found anything that helped?

Since you are a couple days behind me as far as surgery date goes, I'll tell you what I did on my 3rd day after surgery:

It was my second day back at home and they had told me I should be on a clear liquid diet for a week and then a regular liquid diet for 2 weeks. This however wasn't going to work for me at all because I was dizzy and needed to get some real food. My doctor told us that gooey or untoasted bread can block the stoma but that very toasted (crunchy dark brown) is ok is small amounts. So what I did was I got about five Ritz crackers and bit them off in small pieces with Kraft singles cheese. This greatly reduced my appetite as I need some "real food". Don't over do it though because I went a lil too far yesterday and had pain in my chest for about 30 minutes or so. If you get those dannon fusion smoothies (I suggest getting them at Sams club because of price), they make a great Breakfast goes down easy and has lots of Vitamins and 5g of protien. Mashed potatos have also been a good way to get rid of the hunger you won't want very much of it and it will give you a boost. I would suggest finding juices that you like and to sip on them when you feel like you dont want to eat but need a little something. Milk is also a great snack I found because it gives you energy, protien and is very easy on the swollen stomach of someone who is newly banded (remember to drink slowly). Jello and pudding are good ones as well plus its fun to eat! Lol. They say to get sugar free but honestly I dont. I dont want to be a bad influence but seriously...you feel more satisfied if you enjoy what you've just eaten.

I hope this helps and you find anything that works well for you I'd like to hear about it :eekB:

Kelley B-

I don't know if all the rumbling is about hunger....I think that it's normal for the gut to go crazy after the type of surgery we had.....the rumbling settles down after you start mushy food....at least it did for me!! :eekB:

God Bless,

Melody

Banded 3/20/06 -37lbs

Hi, my name is Allen I was banded on april 24th 2006. Some questions I had are the following:

1. After I eat or drink something I feel the urge to burp but can't and sometimes I feel the need to hiccup. Are these normal?

I felt this exact same way after I was banded and worried that I would never be able to burp again. Thankfully, this is not the case and after my body healed up a bit I was able to burp again. What a relief! As to the hiccuping, it happens to me occasionally but that has slowed down a lot too.

2. What happens if you start eating solid foods before the 2-3 weeks of liquid diet is up? Will it cause a problem with the band itself? Slow down the rate at which you lose weight? etc.?

You really need to stick with the diet your doctor gave you. The VERY LAST THING YOU WANT RIGHT NOW is to PB or vomit. The violent action involved with vomitting is the most common reason for stitch breakage which can lead to slippage or a complication I've heard referred to as 'pelican pouch' where part of your stomach slips up through the band creating a larger pouch. The larger pouch defeats the purpose of the band and your weight loss will be very slow or not at all. Your band was placed in a specific location and oriented in a particular way, if you lose stitches the band may move in a way which could increase your chances for erosion, which will ultimately lead to band removal. You've spent a lot of money and/or risked surgery with a general anesthesia. Don't mess yourself up before you've even had a chance to succeed. For more on this topic see a thread titled "Why not CHEAT!". It's kind of a free for all and there is some bad advise there but you'll see all the arguements for post-op compliance.

3. What is "PB"ing?

On LBT that's how people refer to vomitting. Productive Burp just sounds more refined I guess! LOL You really don't want it to happen. Find more on this topic in a thread titled - PB? Worst Experience of My Life - I think that's the title. There are lots of threads about PB's but this one is quite graphic - to the point of comedy - and you'll definitely want to avoid a PB after reading it! You can find it with a Search - Search button located on the blue bar at the top of the LBT home page.

4.Is it normal to not know if you're hungry or full? I wake up feeling full and have no real need for food. I can stay this way all day and never feel like I need to eat until i feel a little dizzy then I know I have to eat whether or not i feel hungry.

You shouldn't wait until you're dizzy. If you can't yet tell when you're full, set up a schedule for your meals and stick with it. If you do this now and make it a part of your routine you'll have an easier time later on. That's JMPO - just my personal opinion. You'll see lots of little abbreviations like this on LBT - you can find a list of them on the Frequently Asked Questions forum located near the mid to bottom of the LBT home page. Or just ask - people are always willing to answer questions. It's a nice place.

5. I can drink things rather quickly without having much adverse reaction. Just the usual problem of feeling the need to burp or hiccup as in question one. Does that mean my band may not be working right?

Your band is working just fine. I know when I first got banded, every little thing made me think - is it OK in there? It's OK. There hasn't been enough time to cause any problems yet! Well, I guess it's possible but I seriously doubt it - you haven't PB'd have you? Either way, I don't recommend drinking quickly. It's a bad habit to get into, I understand from people who have had several fills that if you drink too fast it may come right back up. Just sip, sip, sip throughout the day and you'll be fine. Don't worry, the burping and hiccuping problem will resolve itself. At least, it did for me.

6. How do I know if my band slips?

This one is a bit more tricky. Some people can't get ANYTHING down - not even Water. If that happens you have to have surgery right away or you become dehydrated and that's a bad bad thing. Doesn't sound so bad, but it really is very serious. The only other alternative is to have an IV to keep you hydrated but that's really only in case you develop problems on a holiday weekend or something and your doctor is not available to perform surgery to correct a slip or remove the band.

Some people with a slipped band don't even know their band has slipped. They can eat and drink too much, but generally it takes a while to figure this one out!

Here's to no slipped bands! Cheers.

Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this and answer my questions. It is very much appriciated.

My very great pleasure! Nice to meet you Allen. Welcome to bandland and LBT. Visit often, we're a friendly bunch.

Thank you so much for your responses! I feel so much better knowing that I am not the only one to feel this way and to have eaten something solid. I ate a meatball (mushed it and chewed the heck out of it) and I did ok with it - no pain. I was just so worried I was abnormal for being hungry and wanting to eat solid food.

How would one know if they have ripped their stitches? I keep reading about slipped bands and that seems hard to identify too. Has anyone here had either of the two happen?

photoNut

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I just saw this! :eekB:

Go back to tickerfactory.com, select weight, then click next, change your current weight, then click next, copy the updated code in the bbCode box like you did the first time. Then delete your current ticker in your signature and paste in the newly copied one. That should do it!

I swear I'm not a band Nazi - I totally understand the need to have something good to eat - but I just don't understand it when people go through having this surgery and then don't follow their doctor's orders AT LEAST UNTIL THEIR BODIES HAVE HEALED COMPLETELY. After that, bad choices can usually be overcome by making better choices the next meal or the next day.

Would you press on your port wound a week after surgery just to see if it will still bleed? I don't think so, but by eating the wrong food so early in the game that's exactly what you're doing to your stomach where the band has been stitched - you're pressing on it and straining the stitches. Just because you can't feel it, that doesn't mean it's not causing damage.

I kind of feel like this eating solid or even semi-solid food before your body has healed is a little like driving drunk. You may have gotten away with it today but the odds are that if you do it again and again, you're going to get caught and possibly hurt someone. In this case the person you hurt is yourself. Why would you do that?

I don't understand.

Please don't flame me for this post. I just don't understand and I don't think any amount of explanation will convince me that 'following your instincts' and 'listening to your body' is a good idea IN THIS SITUATION. You don't have nerve endings in your organs. Your body has nothing to 'say' that you'll be able to 'hear'. Besides, with regard to obesity, listening to what your body tells you to do has gotten you . . . where? Hasn't following your own advise up to this point caused you harm? Isn't that likely to continue? This band changed the configuration of your stomach, not your brain.

Having said all that, I do make poor choices on occasion - I'm not perfect and I don't know anyone who is. I just wish you'd all give yourself a chance to heal before testing the waters.