I live in France and had the band here in November 2008. I've lost about 35 pounds and am dissappointed in the slow weight loss. I am finding that i cannot eat in the morning or afternoon - can only tolerate eating in the evening and night time. Some days i am able to eat alot. Other days, I cannot eat a thing. Almost daily i make myself vomit because when i try to eat it is so painful (even water) that i cannot tolerate the pain and have to vomit. When i tell this to my surgeon, he keeps saying that this is normal and that's just the way the band is. It's very difficult with the cultural and language barrier - his philosophy is just not eat and i will lose weight. He also told me NOT to exercise! (very strange - i try to exercise at least 3 times a week anyway). As i don't have access to a support group here, i really wonder if what he is saying is true. Is it normal to have such a variable ability to eat with the band? I mean - some days i can really eat alot. Other days, even water causes such severe pain i have to vomit. How much damage am I doing to myself with the vomiting - i was never one to throw up before, and i really hate it, but i hate the pain even worse. I also burp all the time. I just realy don't know what to do. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any advice?

thank you sooooooo much!

I really would get a second opinion... That is NOT how the band is supposed to work. Please find a new doc.

good luck,

amy

I have the same problem with when I can eat and when I can't. It is difficultr

Have you tried drinking hot liquids in the morning, like coffee or tea? I've read where a lot of people say they are very tight in the morning and this helps. I'm a little tight in the AM ... and combine that with rushing around trying to go to work, I just drink a Protein shake.

BUT making yourself vomit is NEVER good. Please call your surgeon's office and make an apppoint to go in and discuss all your problems. You need the help and support of your doctor so go get it!

i am often so tight in the morning all i can eat is yogurt or oeatmean. something mushy. i uaually do eat best at night. but constant burping and vomitting could be a sign that you are too tight. water should always go down. if not you could be at risk for dehydration.

Water should ALWAYS go down... If you are having issues with liquids, you need to get a slight unfill. that is NOT normal. Your weight loss is slow because you are only able to eat 'slider foods' and not real foods. People who are too full often have problems gaining weight or not losing. You should be able to eat all sorts of foods, just in small quantities.

Please get the band adjusted I just went to my dr. today because I was sick and throwing up for several days. Even though my restriction was good- from being sick my dr. explained that my stomach was more than likely swollen and she wanted me to feel some relief and boy was she right as soon as she took some fluid out I felt better immediatley. I do feel different from day to day and the morning is more difficult than evening but what you are experiencing is dangerous and not normal. If possable find another dr.

my first couple fills i could eat right after the fill then i relized i was surpose to go liquids 2 days soft 2 days then food,well when i did this after my fill i never got sick,my dr says if u eat right after a fill its cheating stomach is swollen and thats why some people get sick

I'm sorry but your dr. doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. Not just as a lap band surgeon, but as a dr. in general. I can't imagine any dr. thinking that vomiting and not being able to keep water down is normal. Also I've NEVER heard ANYONE who advises not to excersise. I don't know if it's a language barrier or not, but I would get someone to go with you who can translate. You need to get to the bottom of this. Good luck and please keep us posted.

1. Esophagial Cancer

2. Slipped or otherwise damaged lap band

3. Damage to teeth

4. Swollen/irritated stomach

5. Dehydration

This is just to name a few results of vomiting a lot. You don't even have to do it everyday. Point - this is not normal and extremely dangerous. Many people have problems eating during certain parts of the day and yes the morning seems to be one of the ones that often presents itself. Hot/warm liquids help and eating extremely slowly when there is pain. The first thing you need to do is go to liquids until your stomach irritation goes away. Then go to mushies. Yeah, start over. You also probably should have a small unfill at least. Sip your liquids slowly for a while and see if that helps with the pain/burping. Usually pain during drinking (if not because your over filled) is caused by drinking too fast and taking in air. I have an easier time with room temperature liquids or hot liquids. I can drink the cold ones but it can sometimes be uncomfortable. Not a biggie.

While you are on the liquids/mushies it can be hard to loose weight. This is because you will get hungry faster and that can cause you to take in more calories than you think. You can weigh and measure if you want to loose weight but I also suggest you go to someplace like fitday.com to journal everything. At least you can see what's going on.

Also, defining not being able to eat anything is something that AFTER you get your stomach calmed down needs to be analyzed. Mentally and emotionally we can feel like we aren't eating anything but it is because compared to what we used to eat, we aren't. Now I am NOT saying that this is what is happening now. I said to check it out after you get things under control.

Exercising is not only a way to help burn calories but to tone your body. NO doctor should ever tell an otherwise healthy patient NOT TO EXERCISE. I mean lets go back to our basic dieting tips (and all of us who have been obese should be able to recite these by heart) and exercising is right there with eating less calories.

A piece of advice is that if it doesn't make sense then it probably isn't right. Common sense is a biggie here. I haven't met many people who don't possess some so use it. Also, go to the websites for the lapband (suppliers) and they usually can give you the answers you need. The last thing is if you have the ability to go to yahoo.com, there is a wonderful forum there for lapbanders. It is smartbandsters.com. You may have to set up a yahoo account to access it but go into their groups section and look for it. This forum has a bariactric nurse that was banded 10+ years ago in Mexico. She now works in a facility in Washington that does only lapbands. She is so awesome. Her name is Jessie. She has written books about the band and she is one of the originators of this forum. She is a wealth of information right along with the other people on there. I'm not saying sights like this one aren't good. They are. Any information we can get to each other is great but she is there to help.

If you want to, please feel free to PM me. I am not an expert but I am willing to be a sounding board and to give what advice I can.

Good luck to all.

Vicki