SashaWLS

This was the first time I've thrown up gas (second time throwing up anything) and the band is not too tight... I can pretty much eat anything, seldom get stuck and I opted to only get a teeeeeny fill last time because I'm going on vacation soon and don't want to get stuck while i'm away... And in fact, I even had an upper GI done about a week ago because of this... She said the band is perfect, the fluid flew down with no problem, and in fact, there's not even a pouch I'm open so wide... But she did see an unusual amount of gas, and said that some people just swallow more air than other people...

slider central for me, I eat very sparingly

Hi Donna, you were banded a few months after me and I only two weeks ago finally got up to 4.5cc... It's really possible that your body is swollen inside, and that the opening in YOUR 4.5cc band is much tighter than someone else's 4.5cc... Based on this post, and another one you made a few days ago, it really sounds like you're too tight... DEFINITELY don't get another fill, if anything I'd get .25cc taken out...

I haven't had this, but I hear that coughing at night might be reflux and/or your band too tight... Do you take reflux meds?

For me, it's when someday I will go to bed without my left side being cold... Cause my husband falls asleep on top of the covers ALL THE TIME and what's left of the blanket doesn't totally comer me!

Congrats!!!

It alters my opinion of that stupid bite of apple i took on the way back from the bathroom on the way to bed. Cause now I'm sitting on the couch at 2:30am waiting for food to pass that I never really wanted in the first place, and I will think twice about eating 1/2 asleep again. So, I think you could say I love my band.

As anyone had it? My doc thinks that may be the cause of my chest pain, but not sure that sounds right...

I'm the interactive creative director for a big CPG corporation...

I recently fit back into my engagement ring after 4.5yrs... It's the best!!!

That sounds fun. I may do the one in NYC

right there with you. I LIKE to eat a lot!!!

You might consider asking to have a bit of fluid removed from your band if you're that tight... You can still lose weight without being so tight you can't tolerate regular food.

this morning I was rushing out so I had a small carton of blueberries and grabbed a Protein shake (I keep some in the fridge for exactly this reason) Now for lunch I went to one of those huge salad bar places and got a chicken drumstick, some avocado salad, Brussels sprouts and some rice & Beans... But it's the SMALL container, not the large one like I used to have. last night for dinner we ate out and I had a cauliflower Soup and ate the rest of my daughter's mac & cheese (didn't feel like paying for two meals) lately I've been having sushi cravings, but can't do the seaweed so well anymore (gets stuck like a little flap). I usually get 4 pieces of sushi (2 tuna, 1 yellowtail, 1 salmon roe) and have one or two pieces of my daughter's california roll... yesterday lunch I went to Hale & Hearty and got two small Soups (one creamy, one gazpacho) Same stuff I had before the band, but less of it. And I seem to have lost my sugar craving for the most part.

Hate to say it, but I'm 4 months out and still having major gas problems. I burp constantly (it's so lovely!) and just now had to eat 4 Tums because my stomach was distended and aching with gas pains...

Last week I went insane. I guess because i had my period, but quite simply i lost my mind and ate a whole bag of popcorn (slider-city for me!!) as well as 2 snickers and Mexican food (chips!) twice and drank whiskey at least 3 nights... Somehow miraculously I still lost 4lbs in the last 2 weeks. Don't get me wrong, you simply cannot do that on a regular basis and still lose weight. But you can still be human, and you can still have insanity. And if you're good for the most part, you will lose weight. (for the record I do still have chocolate sometimes, but I don't seem to really want it or need it anymore. In fact, other than last week, I can't remember the last time I had some, and I have a 4yo daughter!) (oh wait, not true, I got attacked by a bag of Hershey's chocolate chips not too long ago when my daughter wanted to make chocolate covered strawberries. Note to self, if you keep an "extra" bag of Hershey's chocolate chips in the house "just in case", at least acknowledge that it's just in case you want to eat it, not just in case you want to bake...)

Was banded April 18th and I'm down 40lbs today! No exercise or dieting, though 80% of my food intake is healthy.

I don't know what to do long-term, but I would take some liquid Tylenol to ease the discomfort, maybe that will buy you time while it heals

I was the opposite! I only drank GNC lean shakes in chocolate, had herb ox no-sodium chicken broth packets and 1c salad or veggies every day... No variety, no thinking, just got in the zone...

If the sleeve goes well, it's great. But if the sleeve goes badly, it's much, much worse than a band that's gone badly... For what it's worth I originally wanted the sleeve (badly) but after doing a lot of research, the decision came down to a numbers game... -- The mortality rate for the sleeve is 1/200... Mortality rate for the band is 1/2000. -- Sleeve complications are MUCH MUCH worse than band complications... 1% of the people who get the sleeve have a leak, and those who do are in agony, in and out of the hospital for up to 5-6 months at a time, and say they regret the surgery (search leak on verticalsleevetalk.com and see what that's like for them...) -- roughly 1/3 of the people who get bypass or sleeve gain it back with no other option afterwards than to get the band on top of their cut-up stomach (i.e. carny wilson) The sleeve seems to be a fabulous option when it works! But the risk that it could turn out to be a total disaster is also much higher. I have a 4-year old daughter and don't feel like I have the right to gamble lightly with something that might take me out... If the band works, then I'm done with only a minimally invasive surgery and no cutting up of my organs. People do have problems with the band, and if I were one of those people I might consider the sleeve as a revision. But a lot of people are also successful with the band, and for me, it didn't make sense not to at least try it and hope it works!!!

I started 266, but if I had waited another year or two I would've started at 366... It's just a number. And we all need help. And I still like to go out drinking with my friends. In case that has anything to do with your life stage. Three of my closest friends are 26, and I'm really good friends with a couple who were in their 60s. Interests and immaturity keep us together, I guess! Anyway, welcome.

I'm not 23 anymore, but I was, and I probably still act like it most of the time!

Not sure if you remember hearing about that horrible Christmas house fire where Madonna Badger lost her three young children and both parents. It was an unimaginable tragedy, and I found myself obsessed with following the news. How do you go on after something like that?? I assumed she would kill herself. I imagined that I would... But then the even more unthinkable happened. Madonna stood up in front of 1000 mourners at the funeral and told stories about her three little girls! She was of course crying, but she somehow picked herself up, using sheer force of will and inner strength, and found a way to put one foot in front of another. That kind of strength ASTOUNDED me. It shocked me. And yet somehow I also remembered. Deep inside myself also lurks that kind of strength—though it's been soooo many years since I saw it, I had genuinely forgotten it was there. If only I could only find a way to tap into that strength, to speak from that strength... And then I said, out loud: "If I were to speak from that place of strength now, I would say 'I should have the weight loss surgery.'" And then I put one foot in front of another.

I've been thinking about you a lot since you first posted about your slip... I'm having some chest pain, and I'm really scared. I've only been banded since April, so I havent been "bad" for long, but in the last couple of weeks my old habits have been returning. Eating fast, larger portions, etc. I don't thnk I'm in the green zone and probably need more restriction because I can pretty much still eat whatever I want. I've never PBd orthrown up, but if I get real with myself, I have to admit that my portions are closer to restaurant size than band size, and I fear that my chest pain is my own fault... I called the doctor today and am going in Friday morning. They think I probably have food stuck in the pouch that's irritating me. But my worst fear is that I have prolapsed my stomach, have a slip and will need to have the band removed or revised. I feel like such a failure and REALLY identified with your POV on the band, i.e. not dieting, eating mostly what I want but not as much, etc... Thank you for posting... What do you think is going to happen? I want you to know that I have so much empathy for your situation!!! Wish I could give you a hug. Maybe I need one too. :-(