Oregondaisy

Absolutely. You need to give your stomach and all the irritation from all this vomiting time to rest and heal. You can get plenty of Protein from Protein drinks, cottage cheese, yogurt, Soups, etc. You might just be very sensitive. There are some people who just can't handle very much saline in their band. I know you have a small fill, but some people have spasms in their esophagus and the fill of any kind makes it worse.

What do you put in this shake?

They aren't refrigerated. They are by the juice boxes in the grocery stores. The are Dole little bitty cans. Unfortunately, I can say that with the band, even if I haven't been stuck in awhile, I know it will happen again. There seems to be no way around it, even if you think you're being careful. Sometimes a food you never had trouble with, all of a sudden the band doesn't like it this time. The band has a mind of it's own.

I think I am going to start taking Miralax more regularly. My dr. said it was safe to take, and so did the pharmacist. I just can't let this continue. It's not good for the body! Miralax is supposed to be the safest one to use on a regular basis. I am going to try prune juice first and see if a little bit of that helps. I did prunes for awhile, and that did not help.

No, that is not what restriction feels like. That is what food getting stuck feels like. You need to take little tiny bites and chew it up until there is nothing left to chew. Then wait and see if it went down. Eat very slowly taking tiny little bites.

I just had a fill today. I am not the least bit hungry. Yet, all I can think about is chocolate ice cream. Yes, it's all in the head. I have to keep telling myself "nothing tastes as good as thin will feel"

They say it washes the food out of the pouch and you will get hungry faster. I have also heard that it will make you throw up. I will sometimes take one tiny sip after I am finished eating and I have never experienced any problems, but don't pick up my bad habits! I will be curious to hear what others have to say about this.

I refuse to even open anything that has the word forward in the topic line. I am tired of telling people not to forward things to me, so now I just delete them. There is only one friend that has a very dry sense of humor like mine that only forwards things to me about once a year. I open those because I know if it came from her, it will be something worth reading.

Julie, you are so beautiful! congratulations. I love your pictures! Thank you so much for sharing so much with all of us!

I have a friend that does this and tells me all the time what she ate and has no memory of doing it. Cereal seems to be a popular sleep walking/eating food. I am so glad I take Ambien and don't have this problem. I would not be able to live without Ambien with my horrible insomnia. The last thing I need is eating when I don't even know I do it. I have enough trouble in the daytime with cravings!

WasA, how did you discover pineapple juice works, anyway? I am getting a fill tomorrow. It makes me nervous. I went to support group tonight and told his nurse that I go from throwing up all the time to no restriction at all. I am hoping for "the sweet spot" since after almost a year, I still haven't found it. I have pineapple juice all ready. I should take some to work. The thing that gets me sometimes is throwing up nothing but foam and then it finally settles down. It's weird. Several times I never threw up the actual stuck food, just the slime. I have had a break from all of this since I had my de-fill and I sure don't want to go back to it either. I'll be on liquids for 24 hours after the fill, but I am anxious to find out if I have restriction since I need my band to work!

Throwing up is not a good thing. It can definitely cause complications down the road. Are you staying on liquids after you have an episode? Everyone recommends liquids only for 24 hours after throwing up. Then go slowly, introducing mushy foods. You should probably give us more information. Are you sure you're taking very tiny bites and chewing until it's liquid? At any rate, stay on liquids and let everything rest inside. Since it's been going on for 3 days, you should probably stay on liquids longer than 24 hours. I am sure you will hear from more people on whether or not you should have some taken out. I can't see how long you have had your band. How long has this been going on ? Is this something new, or have you been having problems ever since the fill?

I don't want any of them to win. As usual, it seems like there isn't anyone running who I would like to see as president.

Does anyone else get bad gas from Benefiber? It's embarrassing at work!

I didn't wait 3 months to do ab exercises. Not even close. I asked my dr. because I was already used to going to the gym regularly, and he said go whenever I felt ready. I specifically asked about crunches and ab work and he said no problem.

I am glad I am getting a fill tomorrow! I don't want to gain over the holidays. I am determined to get to my goal and I am tired of waiting to feel like I have the band again.

(((Kat))) I am sorry to hear about that. I hope everything is okay!

I eat Kashi Crunch Cereal and even mix in a little bit of Fiber 1 cereal. They are whole grain and considered "good carbs" They are super high in fiber, but sometimes I have that same problem. It's really true that bandsters don't get enough fiber. I try to eat high fiber foods but sometimes it's hard to get the Protein AND the fiber in. My doctor recommends 2 fiber caplets 30 min before meals. I have a hard time remembering to take them. I do mix in benefiber in Water sometimes, but I usually get bad gas from that. Someone said to eat baby food prunes, but that did nothing for me. It's definitely a problem.

I eat salad all the time. I wasn't supposed to eat it until 6 weeks post op, but I have never ever had a problem with it. I have had it with all sorts of raw veggies, or just spinach and chicken breast. I never experience any problems what so ever. If there are a lot of raw veggies in there, I make sure to chew them very well. I don't see why anyone would have a problem with it. You can chew lettuce until it's Water.

Did you have any symptoms? A lot of us are afraid of this and wonder how we know whether to go for tests to make sure everything is okay. Did you have a lot of heartburn or anything that made you decide to have a test done where the erosion was discovered? I am just like you- I would be so afraid if I had to have mine removed that I would gain all my weight back. I haven't even gotten rid of all my boxes and boxes of clothes that are too big because I am so afraid someday the band will be taken away from me.

If I go on a binge which usually involves way too much sugar, I go back to the liquid Protein drinks. It's hard the first day, but after that, I am not craving sugar anymore and I start losing very quickly. It's always helped me get my weight loss going again. I can do this for a week, and then go back to Protein first, and a little bit of veggies and fruit.

I think I have lost about half of my hair. I used to not be able to wear baretts in my hair because it was so thick that I couldn't get them to close. Now my hair is so much thinner, that they fall out. Nobody can tell, because I did have really thick hair, but I can sure tell. My pony tail is half the size it used to be. I sure wish I knew when it was going to stop. It has definitely slowed down (thank you God!) but there is still way more than normal when I wash it and comb it wet. I use a very wide tooth comb so I don't pull on it, and besides all that there is in the shower, the comb is still very full. I am SO sick of this. I should have 100 lb weight loss to lose all of this, IMO!

I am glad everything is going so well for you! I don't think that's an unreasonable goal, especially if you get in the exercise. I lost 22 lbs the first 4 weeks, but I started out higher than you, at 215. You still haven't told your husband?

Sorry, I am a Christmas basher. I am sick of Christmas before it gets here. Also, I do refer people to my doctor and get nothing out of it. He is quite reasonable in his price, and I can't see someone from Oregon flying to Mexico when his price is so close. Then they have to fly to Mexico to get a fill? That's just nuts to me. By the time you add in airfare, they don't save all that much and I am sure it's a lot of aggravation to fly. Going through an airport these days drives me insane and I have to go visit my dad on a regular basis. It's stressful.

Yes, it makes a huge difference when you have a tight fill. The funny part is, it's such a fine line between being too tight and being so loose that you can eat practically anything you want. I told him to take out the smallest amount possible, and went from throwing up nearly every day, sliming on a protein drink , to being able to eat bread. Not that I want to eat bread, but I did it just for a test.