Kels

I have had occasional episodes similar to that. I've discovered that my band gets really tight during certain times of the month when I'm retaining water. I have to go on liquids for a few days. My dr said as long as I can get down water and lean protein it's ok. But if you are vomiting water, that is a sure sign that your band is too tight. Even though your fill was a month ago it can take a couple of weeks for you to feel its full effects.

My doctor recommends 3-5 days of liquids then soft foods. I typically do 3 liquids and 2 soft.

I am really freaking out right now. All my life I've been overweight. I've always identified myself as a "big girl" or "curvy" or "full figured/goddess sized", and I sort of owned it. Being bigger than everyone was just who I was and I accepted it. When I first got banded I was a size 18, now I'm in a 12. I never remember being this small as an adult, it's like I went from kids clothes to a size 14 overnight when I was around 13yrs old. I've come to realize that I don't know what it even means to live life as a thin/normal weight person. All my friends are overweight and I've come to realize that a lot of the lifestyle choices they made (and I made too) is what causes it. They always invite me out to eat and I used to say no because I knew there wouldn't be any healty choices. Then it got to the point to where I was getting a feeling that they thought I was being snobby so now I go but only eat a couple of bites and box the rest up. Which only causes every one at the table to give me dirty looks. Now I'm on the outs with girls I've been friends with since high school. Instead of being happy for my weightloss they seem resentful. I feel like I'm losing who I am. I want to lose weight, I know I need to, but I never imagined it would cause these kinds of changes in my life. I'm at the point to where I'm afraid to lose more weight because I don't want to lose any more friends and most importantly I don't want to lose my identity. Am I crazy? Has anyone else experienced this?

I went through True Results in Bedford also and agree that they are really great. My surgeon is Dr. Snow whose office is right next to their office so it's super convenient. Dr. Snow is great too.

I'm updating my original comments. When I first got my fill last week up to 4cc I didn't really notice anything. But since yesterday I've noticed that I am fuller longer. For example, I ate 3/4c of cheerios and 1/2c skim milk for breakfast around 8am and I wasn't hungry until well after noon. Usually that will only keep me satisfied a couple of hours. So maybe it takes a few days to feel the results of a fill. I'm just glad to finally feel like the band is doing something!

I got some relief by taking Pepcid AC.

Yep me too. It was a very sharp pain that came and went but I mainly noticed it when I hadn't eaten anything in a while. I assumed it was a combination of gas and maybe some acid reflux but don't worry, it does go away in a couple of weeks.

Wow, that just goes to show how unprofessional that doctor and/or his staff is! Of couse we all have 'attitudes' when we come in because we are frustrated and this is the last resort for most of us that have spent a lifetime struggling with our weight. If a patient had unrealistic expectations, a good doctor would have discussed that with the patient BEFORE they cut them open and slapped a lap band on them when the already felt the patient didn't have the right mind set to be successful. And then to top things off you post this patient's real first and last name to an open internet discussion board and discuss your doctor/patient interactions? You had no right to do that sir! I know that's got to be some violation of HIPPA laws.You just confirmed all the negative things she said about you.

I'm at 4cc. I started at 0 after surgery, 2cc on my first fill and 2cc on my second one yesterday. I have another fill on 2/1/12 and I'm praying they give me more than 2cc at a time because I'm still not in the green zone after 8 long weeks!

Shap - I will say that for me the benefit has been that during these first few weeks when my band is not in the 'green zone' the plication has kept me from overeating. I know many people can eat normally and sometimes over eat until their band is properly adjusted which may take months. It's been 8 weeks for me and my band is still not giving me much restriction. But the good thing is that I cannot physically eat a large meal despite this. For example, I was really hungry one day and found myself at the Taco Bell drive thru. I ordered 2 beef burritos but before I got three quarters through the first one I as uncomfortably full. So I'm thankful for the plication or I know I would have had them both. I ended up throwing the other one away. My doctor says that he sees that the plication mainly helps by giving us that motivational boost and keeps the scale heading downward even in these first few difficult weeks. It's still in the investigational stages so keep that in mind, I mean there's still no long term studies on its effects. But so far I think it's great so if you're the adventurous type I say go for it!

Here! Here! I DO have a lap band and consider myself a lap band patient. I go to a lap band center (True Results) and had my procedure done by a Lap Band Doctor so I think this is where I need to be. The only difference it that I am part of a research study so I have plication in addition to my lap band. And as an update - I still managed to lose 1 pound despite the fact that I've had some hunger and made some bad food choices these last 3 weeks. I had another 2ccs added yesterday for a total of 4cc's. I'm hoping to get to my green zone soon!

Ok, thought I'd post in update. I am going into week six post surgery and I am friggin' starving! I had my first fill 5 days ago of 2cc's but I cannot tell a difference. I didn't have any fluid in my band before that. The one thing that I notice is that I eat a lot less than I used to because of the plication but I'm still hungry. I had a moment of weakness and went to taco bell 2 days ago. I ate 1 beef burrito and was so full I could barely breathe afterwards. I was so dissapointed in myself but I weighed this morning and was still down 1.5 pounds for the week. So I guess the plication does help in that it is keeping me from really blowing it until I can get an adequite fill to stop the hunger.

Sorry to hear that. Try my doctor, Robert Snow in Hurst. He is awesome! He is truly one of the most fun, upbeat and attentive doctor's I have ever known. And is staff rocks! I wish I could make him my PCP. He takes other doctor's fill patients because my friend goes there and she had her band done in Mexico.

Careful with the Mylanta/Maalox, it has magnesium in it which is a laxative! It worked great for my gas too but after a couple of days it gave me diarrhea!! ( I know, TMI!) I did best with GasX and Tums for the awful gas pains and Pepcid AC helped with the heartburn.

I just had my first fill a few hours ago. It was a little uncomfortable when the nurse was pressing around on my stomach looking for the port. Mainly because my incision is still healing. After she found it there was just a needle prick and it was all over in about 30 seconds. Afterwards I had to drink cup of water. It went down OK so then I was free to go. I had a protien shake for lunch and feel OK. I can't really tell if there is restriction or not.

I had the Iband done on 11/22. For the first week or so I had terrible heartburn. The second week it was better and I had zero hunger. By week three the hunger started to return but I noticed I could no longer eat full portions like I used to even though there was no fluid in my band. I'm guessing that was due to the plication. It's week 5 and I got my first fill today, 2cc's. So far so good. I don't really feel any discomfort. I drank an 11 oz protien shake for lunch and I'm not hungry 2hrs later so we'll see how it goes...

I only had to do it for the 5 days prior to surgery and the week after. But the week after all I wanted was liquids anyway and I barely wanted that. I have heard from others in my support group that their surgeon did not make them do the liquid pre-op diet or they only did it for 2 days.

Luckily I only had to do the pre-op liquid diet for 5 days. I purchased one of those Magic Bullet mini blenders and survived mainly on smoothies. It's great because it makes single servings so you don't end up with a big blender full of smoothie. I soon became the queen of smoothies! They were actually really good and I still drink them. Some of my favories are: chocolate banana smoothie - Chocolate Protein powder, milk, ice and 1/2 a banana, stevia (also try adding 1 T of Peanut Butter for chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie, yum!) pineapple Smoothie - LF vanilla yogurt, ice, pineapple chunks, stevia and a little Water and benefiber strawberry shortcake Smoothie - LF vanilla yogurt, ice, strawberries, stevia and a splash of vanilla extract Hang in there! It does get better!

All the material I was given from True Results and my doctor both said that I could have 1 drink per day if I want to. I've been banded for almost 3 weeks but I haven't tried drinking anything yet.

Hey I got mine w/ Dr. Snow on 11/22. He's and his staff have been super! The first 2 weeks I had zero hunger, I had to force feed myself. Now in week 3 I am experiencing hunger but after I eat a few bites of food I'm usually satisfied. I'm eating 4 small meals a day. I go in for my first follow up next week. I'm down 15lbs since my initial visit on 11/1/11 Also wanted to add for the OP that my doctor assured me that plication IS reversible.

I was also banded on 11/22 and my port incision is still really tender. My surgeon told me this was normal and to put an ice pack on it and take some children's ibuprofen for the pain.

I'm getting it done with my lap band on 11/14/11 and my surgeon said he highly recommends it. He said that no only does he see a more significant weight loss but it all but eliminates the possibility of slippage. He saids they are using it on all the patients now unless they opt out. I am getting mine done through True Results.