lessofme

I've taken Phentermine several times & lost around 5 lbs. each time. Usually the Dr. will tell you that your body get's used to it and eventually you would need to increase doses to work any longer. Only time it worked well was as a lethal combo "phen/phen" years ago which caused me 3 leaky valves , a second BP medication & two heart murmors. Watch out for those drugs...even though they say their safe :teeth_smile: I'm just sad when I read about the pre-op diets. That seems so discouraging to me. I don't know if I could have made it through if I had to be on a 6 mo. diet before having my surgery. Maybe the difference was that I was paying for it myself. Good luck, I know it's discouraging when you're stuck! I've been up and down a couple of lbs. for a few months now, yet I've had fills regularly over the past year. Go figure! On 800 - 1,000 max calories a day, you would think one could loose a few lbs. Sorry...I'm venting :drool:

Welcome! What do you mean by a really "bad fill"? Bad as in it was painful...?? I'm from South Jordan, banded a year ago. Who's your Dr. here in SLC?

I've had 14 fills in a litle over a year and always get the same words as I leave the office "liquids the rest of today, mushies tomorrow and solids the day after". I usually stop by Einsteins for soup of some kind on the way back to work, but skip the crackers :blushing: My clinic is famous for small fills though, so maybe that's why the shorter liquid period after a fill.

Any type of meat, usually fish and chicken are the most tolerable after banding and lowest in fat. Tuna, canned chicken, toufu...eggs, Beans, cheese & milk are some other examples of high Protein foods. Peanut Butter is high in protein, but also high in fat...have to watch it. I'm surprised you haven't been given sheets and sheets of info on your post band diet??? Use this site all you can or simply type in "protein" and you should get all kinds o results on the iternet. Seems like someone didn't do their job to inform you of what you need to know to be successful. Good luck!

No real regrets for me. I'm almost to goal, took over a year but it takes much more dicipline than I ever thought it would. Watch out for all those devil "C" foods..cookies, creamy soups, chips, candy, chocolate...etc. They seem to have no problem slipping through our bands! It will take control on your part, believe me!

St. Mary's / Duluth Clinic Health System I am so sorry to hear of your problems. However, I would never had thought a rib could possibly have been broken until I watched the entire surgery. Not for the weak stomach. Reason being the force used when inserting the instruments for the camera's and the tools. They literally shove them into our mid section! Very traumatic looking to say the least. I hope this link works. Every lap band patient should watch it so they can fully realize why we may have the pain or after affects that we do. Good luck.

I hope you were kidding about the spelling...since you spelled "definitely" twice wrong :thumbup:

So glad to hear that you also have to step back and see the big picture athinnerdenise! It's hard when you hear the stories of the really consistent loosers. Easier to just average it all out and ride out the plateaus I guess. I feel pretty confident I'm playing by the rules, but this has not been an easy year. What a learning experience. 60 lbs...wow! You're my inspiration! Thanks!

Didn't mean to ramble...seems like it took me so long to catch on to all of this. As soon as I stopped feeling sorry for myself for not loosing as fast as others, I felt much better about the journey. I had about 60-65 lbs. to loose. Start weight was 189, but at barely 5'2, it felt like a whole lot more. My goal is 130 although for my height, it's a little high. Thing is I've carried around the 60+ lbs. for 35 years. Snoring, backaches, high BP etc. all led to my being banded. Self pay but the newly found self-esteem was worth every penny so far! Banded in Salt Lake City by Dr. Hansen. Anyone else almost to goal and having trouble with heartburn again? Haven't had any for a year, now that I'm finally getting to where I need to be, I'm taking med's to ward off the discomfort. SIGHHHHH....

I promise...it sometimes takes time to kick in. I can't begin to explain it, but for me, 7-10 days later there's usually a big difference. If you've waited a couple of weeks and are still hungry less than 3-4 hrs after a solid food MEAL...can eat more than 1 cup of SOLID FOOD, and have not lost 2 lbs. per week, you should be a good candidate for a fill. Just keep getting them till you start loosing consistently. I think we are so impatient and read all about the very high losses we forget what the "norm" is. For example Kathy719...You've lost 20 lbs since end Nov. right? That's an average of 6.6 lbs per month so far. If you keep up the same average loss (don't worry about the big gaps if you're following the plan)...you'll loose around 60 lbs. in your first year. If you had a total of 139 lbs to loose, then you would have acheived more than 1/2 of your excess lbs. in the first year which is expected. I was told that anything more than that is the exception, not the rule. I say you're doing fine! Don't worry about the number of fills. Remember, you are loosing fat inside as well as outside where it's visible. As you loose fat and inches, the band adjusts. That's why we need the fills. It can become loose or simply shift allowing more food to pass. Most of the surgeons only stitch the band to one part of the muscle, so the other 90% of the band can move around. Picture our band as an innertube slid over the top part of an egg shaped balloon. If you move one side of the innertube up and down, the shape of the opening lets more air go in the top or the bottom. More space at the top means more food can fit, means you'll be hungry sooner. Poke a tiny pin hole in the balloon and innertube will be looser, letting the balloon move up and down more (lets more food slide through). Since we don't know exactly what's going on in there, it's no use trying to compare ourselves to everyone else. I've had 14 fills and will go get another till I loose on a consistent basis. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. You've gone through a lot to get where you are and you want results. Just don't expect more than what was outlined to you before the surgery or you'll feel like it's not working. Keep us posted, I'm sure things will turn around. Think long term!!

I thought it would never go away! I thought I had such as hard time with the port pain because I was a little smaller than most and started with a BMI of 33. Six weeks before I felt better. I thought something was drastically wrong. Dr. said when you're laying flat on the table, it's hard to know exactly where it will end up once you stand up, roll over etc. Bad news is you might always feel the port and it's sometimes sore now (1 yr. later). Good news is, once you start loosing, fat will melt away from the inside too and the port will drop a little making it less painful. My port almost pokes out now. Guess it's my new best friend :tongue2:

Be honest now! Where are the rest of the non-exercisers??? I consider myself to be a slow looser, and who knows if I'd be loosing any quicker by adding exercise. I've lost 45 lbs lost in just less than a year, but I'm only 15 lbs. away from goal. I totally HATE exercise and have not done anything beyone my normal routine..going to work, keeping up a house, 7 grandchildren to entertain and errands all weekend. Not like I do nothing, just no extra exercise. Going in for my 13th fill on Thursday, have 3.0 cc's in my band currently. Just wondering if everyone out there is really working out and if you honestly feel it makes a big difference??

By the way...I totally think running to the bathroom counts as exercise...and to the mall...and to the grocery store... More inspiration for us "non-exercisers"...my daughter also has been banded for over a year now and she's lost almost 70 lbs. (only 35 more to goal)..with very little exercise. She does chase 3 small children around all day though. Guess we might be considered "slackers"...but I feel pretty good about my struggle to keep away from the cookie dough at this stage in the game! Exercise might need to come with time :eek:

John C - by comparing stories with other's banded by my Dr., I think he's just a bit on the conservative side when it comes to fills. First 2 fills were agressive, but since then only .1cc at a time. Since my clinic is close to work, it's not been a problem, but sometimes I feel like "fill-er-up-already"! I make apts 2-3 weeks apart and know I can get in earlier if I felt no restricion. Just wondered how much of my slow progress has been due to no exercise vs. slow fills...?? What do you think?

I started with a BMI of 33, but had high BP, trouble with sleeping, snoring and some lower back pain forever! My cholesterol was also very high. Since surgery last Feb 07, I've only lost 45 lbs. but my cholesterol is down from 171 to 136 and my BP is lower as well. Still on meds though for both, but hoping to eliminate them or at least lower the doses. I'd say the hardest thing about being in the lower BMI group is that people think you should be able to get that extra 60-80 lbs. off all by yourself. Like you...I've carried it around for 35 years and it was driving me to anti-depressants! I say go for it...as long as you're ready to have a new relationship with your most favorite foods...or say bye bye to them alltogether. Good luck!

thanks for all your input! I'm so impressed with the progress you've all made with your weight loss. I too, feel like I'm OK with my progress so far and will probably need PS for the middle section some time down the road. It's just after hours of reading other banders postings, I was starting to feel like I was the only one that hasn't added exercise into the mix. I do enjoy walking and will probably pick that up again in the spring. Right now there's still 1 ft. of snow in my driveway (SLC, UT) and you can't find the sidewalks at all. Thanks again...I love to hear all the different way's people can be successful with the band.

Totally agree with Shortgal...had cereal each morning, 1/2 banana and skim milk..ritual with coffee and the paper. Now, only coffee and the paper only, but at 9:30 at work, I crave my instant Oatmeal or hot Kashi with a bit of br. sugar and some chopped pecans (no milk..stays with you longer). Went from 2 pkgsto less than 1/2 after my 12th fill (11 mon. later). Good news yesterday, my Cholesterol results just came in and went from 171 to 136! Waahhooo!

I'm from Salt Lake City, UT Greatest Snow on Earth!

I just wanted to jump in here...even though the thread's a little dated. I'm from South Jordan, so it looks like a few of us are almost neighbors! Dr. Hansen did my surgery, but I've only seen him twice in 11 months. That's OK though..I really like the clinic and have no problem with fills etc. It's nice to see that I'm not the only one around here who's been through this. Love to chat.

THANKS TO EVERYONE IN SLC!! I've forwarded on your messages directly to Marcia's e-mail and hopefully, she'll be able to get some help tomorrow. She was pretty distraught, but wasn't very clear about what she's facing, just that she wanted the band out, so she can get some relief. I'm afraid there was little or no training as to what she might expect after surgery. I'm hoping to hear that she's OK and going to stay with us for the long haul. Really makes me crazy when people say we've taken the "easy way out" though... Thanks again!

I've had 12 fills over 11 months, none with a flouroscope...don't even know what one would look like. The clinic nurses do all the fills (thousands...) and are very skilled. I've not seen my Dr. since the surgery last Feb. and am doing fine. My daughter also goes to the same Dr./clinic and neither of us has had any problems with them finding the port. Good luck.

I gave up all carbonation a month before my surgery. Thought it might be too hard to do everything at once. I really crave it now and then, I just don't care for the alternates...have you seen what's left in a Coke machine that doesn't have carbonation? Yuk! Summer's easy cause I love sun tea. Hard at work though. Like Christa, I'm always feeling guilty since I hate drinking Water. I was told the carbonation can stretch the pouch out even more, and I decided it wasn't worth the risk or a larger pouch. I want it small..so that I feel full quicker Each to his own though...whatever works I guess!

Can't leave us hanging, why would you want to remove the band already? Are you from Utah?

Grace Utah.. You have lost 108 lbs. since July? Unbelievable! Way to go! What do you contribute to your success?? I've had 12 fills in 11 months, lost 42 lbs. with 15 or so more to go...much slower weight loss than most, but I'm not working out either...

I'm told after the first 2-3 initial fills, they'll go very slowly until we reach the point of eating no more than 2/3 cup of solid food. Since I've paid for this myself and 1 year of fills is included, it's not a big deal to go in every 3 weeks or so for a fill. They'll do a fill every 7 days if I'm not loosing and can still eat too much at one meal. After Feb. my "free fills" are up and I'll need to pay again for another year's worth. I've had .1cc put me over the top for a while, but then things loosen up and I need another. From what I understand, the fat around the edge of the stomach is finally shrinking, thus the looser band as you loose weight. And that's a good thing. I'd rather have more fills with my Dr. being close by than to struggle with un-fills etc.