Hello Fabulous Fourties!!!

[laphappy40 0]

hey fab fourties, i just had my third fill and i can barely get Water down. this is the most restriction i had. i am happy with it. it's just tough. i still think i want to eat a lot but the band won't let me. good thing. i can't complain. this is what i wanted. just want to get this off my chest.

[bandfan1 0]

Way to go laphappy!!! I am hoping for the same awesome results after I get banded on May 1st.....

Keep up the good work!!!!

[StephC 0]

If you are too tight thats not good either. You can get dehydrated and also make bad food choices. Good foods get stuck and are hard to get down but bad food like chips, candy, Cookies all go down ok. So if you are too tight you should consider getting a slight unfill. If you find yourself drinking protien drinks bc you can't eat Protein thats a real good sign you are too tight.

When you say you have a hard time getting Water down do you mean as in guzzling water down - which a good fill you can't do - or do you mean sipping and having a hard time getting it down? If you are sipping and its hard getting it down then you need a little unfill.

I don't mean to sound so negative but I'm worried about you. Too tight can cause problems. Take care sweetie we dont' want anything bad happening to you.

[bandfan1 0]

Hey StephC!!! Did you take a look at your ticker? We are both in the single digits!!!! Yikes :)!!! I am soo looking forward to this! I am starting to re-review my pre-op instructions to make sure that I am following the doc's rules.

I am a little concerned about a couple of posts that I have read about people who only lose 2lbs in 3 weeks. What do you make of that? I am looking for MUCH better results than that. I think that a good deal is mental preparation in the beginning, but I could be wrong..... Would love your feedback!!!

Your results have been great!! What can you attribute that to???

I'll be thinking about you on the 1st....All the best!!! :thumbup:

[HarleyGirl 1]

Good luck to you guys that are down to the wire!

I'll be thinking about you.....

It's a great ride.....I'm sure happy with how it's been going for me!

[Fanny Adams 7]

@laphappy40: Let me echo StephC's sentiments of concern. I find statements like "i can barely get Water down" to be quite disturbing and am frightened for you if this is the case. Restriction is meant to work to help us feel full for much longer on much smaller quantities of food, not to reduce our appetites to absolute zero or be so tight that we cannot drink water. This is quite a dangerous long term situation to be in. At worst, you will end up PB'ing so much on solid foods that you could cause slippage problems down the track or be so tight that you cause erosion problems. At the very least, you will find yourself eating the "easy" foods that are high calorie/high fat, because they go down while good nutritious low cal/low fat/high fibre foods get stuck often. The result of this is likely to be that you stop losing or even gain, whilst all while "hardly eating anything", still suffering from head hunger because the low fibre foods don't make you feel full and possibly leading to malnutrition problems.

@bandfan1: 3lb in 2 weeks is an average of 1 to 2lb per week, which is right on target for the band. Most people will find that they lose quite a few lb in their pre-op diet and in the first 2 weeks following the op, but after that it slows down substantially. The initial loss is exciting and gratifying but that is not how the band is meant to work long term. The idea is to prevent overeating, not to stop eating altogether, and after the initial rapid loss, 1-2lb per week loss is normal. To achieve a faster rate, you need to either add intensive exercise (a good method!) or decrease your food intake to dangerously low levels (not so good! see above comments to laphappy40).

As many people in this forum are fond of saying, this is a marathon, not a sprint and we should be planning to be in this race for the long haul, not the short term. An average loss of 2lb per week adds up to 100lb in a year, which is a huge chunk of weight to drop and gratifying in itself. If you come into this with the expectation that you will be dropping 10lb per week, every week, you will be setting yourself up for later disappointment and possibly end up trying for more and more restriction and cause problems for yourself.

Good luck to both of you, but remember - slow and steady wins this race!

[ladybugsmom 0]

I had surgery March 3 and turned 40 two weeks later. Lap band has been a great experience for me.

[bandfan1 0]

Fanny Adams: I think that the post that I read was someone who was at the very beginning of being banded. Comparing her to almost everyone else, this seemed to be very little for the beginning of the journey. I understand that the results are not going to be like bypass, and I don't intend to lose all of my 100lbs in 6 months, but 2 lbs in 3 weeks is still VERY little for the segment of her journey!!!

You have done very well. Keep up the good work!!

[bandfan1 0]

Great job Ladybug's mom!!! Now those are the kind of results that I have been seeing!! Very impressive!!

7 more days and I will be right behind you!!!

All the best to you!!!:redface:

[Fanny Adams 7]

Fanny Adams: I think that the post that I read was someone who was at the very beginning of being banded. Comparing her to almost everyone else, this seemed to be very little for the beginning of the journey. I understand that the results are not going to be like bypass, and I don't intend to lose all of my 100lbs in 6 months, but 2 lbs in 3 weeks is still VERY little for the segment of her journey!!!

You have done very well. Keep up the good work!!

Ahhh... I didn't realise that and thought you were commenting on average losses for bandsters in the long term. 2lb in 3 weeks is low for the beginning of a journey and is probably frustrating for the person, but everyone's journey is different, so maybe he/she will just continue on with the steady pattern.

For myself, I lost 15lb in 15 days, counting from the beginning of my 10 day pre-op diet up to 5 days post-op. After that I regained 3-4lb, whilst still on thick liquids and only taking in 4-500 cal a day! My body played around with those 3-4lb for the next two weeks, losing and gaining them over and over, and drove me utterly mad. I think it was a combination of several things - the initial weight loss included a lot of Fluid loss, which eventually evened out causing me to regain, the common body reaction to greatly reduced calorie intake causing it to hang on to every calorie it can find, my bad habit of putting a lot of salt on my Soups in a desperate effort to get more flavour to assuage the hunger pangs after I healed, and that old friend ToM :hurt: It was after Xmas (15-20 days post-op) before the scales finally dipped below the 15lb loss marker again, but since then it has been going down reasonably steadily. It still likes to drop a chunk almost overnight (like 4-5lb) then regain 1-2lb and play around with that for a week or more before it will drop the next chunk, but I'm learning to accept that and trust that the losses will come in time.

So are you on a pre-op diet? If you are, how are you coping with that - it is HARD eh? Good luck with your surgery and your journey :redface:

[Chris61 0]

Bandfan1 I hope that you are doing well with your CPAP machine. I got mine 3 weeks before surgery. I had the nose item and had a lot of problems with it the first few months with the band. I think part was do to the stting on the machine. I did notice that I swallowed a lot of air. But Iam 7 months now and doing a lot better. The machine is at the lowest setting of 4 and most time Iam at 7.5 to 8.0. Went from a setting of 12. I also now have a dental retainer called the herbest appliance and do not have to use the machine as much. I have found that I am getting more time on the machine now when I wear the device. I have gone from 2 hours a day to almost 4 hours. One thing I have notice now is that I burp and toot a lot. I hope this helps you out. Good luck next week with getting your band. it will be one of the best things you have done for yourself. I was at peace with myself when I went into surgery and had no problems.

Chris

[StephC 0]

Bandfan - getting excited!? Me too! I'll be thinking of you and say a prayer for you while I'm praying for me. :thumbs_down: For those of you who don't know, I'm getting a Tummy Tuck aka the flatlands, May 1st.

I'm jumping in on the conversation about how much weight loss is average. I had my ups and downs, and I usually found when I wasnt' losing I needed to track my food and hunger and get in for a fill. But on the average I've lost about 5 lbs per month. It doesnt' sound like much and it wasn't until this year that people were REALLY noticing, it took a while but its gone and thats all that matters. Never let the slow weight loss frustrate you. I've never really gained but like someone else said , I'd lose a couple and then it'd hover around those 2-3 lbs for a while then I'ld lose a few more and hover again.

[bandfan1 0]

Chris61: I am doing pretty well with the machine so far. It seems like I wake up at 3am and at that time it starts bothering me. I sometimes feel air leaking, so I try to adjust it. 9 times out of 10 I get fed up and just take it off. I figure I had at least 5 good hours of sleep with it. I will keep trying to keep it on all night. I have figured out how to manipulate the tube so that I am comfortable...I am now one with the tube :thumbs_down:

Did you take yours to the hospital? I will be in the hospital overnight. My surgeon said to only bring it if I am comfortable with it. He doesn't want me to have to worry about the mask in addition to other things while I am in the hospital. I am still on the fence, but will make that decision closer to May 1st.

A couple of times I have woken up because I think that I swallowed come air, but it doesn't happen very often. I started using the chin stap to keep my mouth shut...it was completely useless. I have pretty much trained myself to keep my mouth shut!!

I definitely feel the difference when I use the machine. I have more energy than I ever knew I had. Also I feel like my memory is coming back!!!

I am totally at peace with my decision to get the band!! My nerves will be frayed, however because of anesthesia, recovery, etc....

Congratulations on your victories!! I'm hoping that I will be able to not have to use the CPAP machine eventually and get off of all of my diabetes meds!!!

[bandfan1 0]

Bandfan - getting excited!? Me too! I'll be thinking of you and say a prayer for you while I'm praying for me. :thumbs_down: For those of you who don't know, I'm getting a Tummy Tuck aka the flatlands, May 1st.

I'm jumping in on the conversation about how much weight loss is average. I had my ups and downs, and I usually found when I wasnt' losing I needed to track my food and hunger and get in for a fill. But on the average I've lost about 5 lbs per month. It doesnt' sound like much and it wasn't until this year that people were REALLY noticing, it took a while but its gone and thats all that matters. Never let the slow weight loss frustrate you. I've never really gained but like someone else said , I'd lose a couple and then it'd hover around those 2-3 lbs for a while then I'ld lose a few more and hover again.

Thanks StephC, you'll be in my prayers too!! I can't wait to hear from you when you feel up to using the computer again!!!

[laphappy40 0]

steph c and fanny adams, thanks for the heads up. i called my doctor and had .2cc taken out. feel sooo much better. what i thought was great restriction was indeed to much fill. you ladies are the best. i can now drink Water without feeling FULL. i am back on my protien shakes and had some mushy lima beans.( great source of protien). i am back at the gym and i lost 1.5lbs last week. thanks again for the backup!!!:crying: