SashaWLS

I'm more than a year out and still constantly over order. Whatever I can't eat, I take home.

Post-op, I barely got enough fluids. I finally called my doctor because it was really freaked that I wasn't getting enough, and he said as long as I was getting in some and it wasn't going on for more than a week, not to worry about it too much. Make sure you're peeing, and that the pee isn't too dark. That's the best measure of whether or not you're dehydrated. Pee clear = hydrated Pee yellow = not too bad Pee amber or brown = dehydrated No pee = call your doc, you may need a drip

Thank you, I'll try the oil! Maybe honey will work, I'll try that first... I definitely don't want anything with carbonation as my whole esophagus feels raw and irritated. Wah!!!

This may sound completely crazy, but have you tried taking antacids? Like 5-6 Tums?

You and me both! I've been in a huge amount of pain for the last two hours, and nothing's working except maybe the 6 baby aspirin I chewed a few minutes ago which has dulled (but not taken away) the pain. I'm close to crying!!!

And for what it's worth, I've had a pack of Reese's peanut butter cups nearly every day for the last 3 months. Good idea? No. Do I recommend it? No. An I losing weight anyway? YES!

Angie, I don't know how to tell you this, but getting the band is the single best thing that I've ever done in my entire life. If I had EVER known how easy this would be I would have done it years ago. It's not perfect, and it's not effortless, but it's not hard. And contrary to popular opinion here, I think it really does do it for you. I'm probably the most rebellious person on the planet, and it's working, even for me. You can't know in advance if it's gonna work for you, all you can do is try. Good luck!

Well, I'm stuck right now nothing is working... But here's what I usually do... First stop, try drinking something hot to listen the band. If that doesn't work, raise my arms above my head and then touch my toes a few times. Sometimes I make myself throw up. Tonight, don't know. I'm just in pain!!!!!! Nothing's working. ;-(

Sounds like you might be eating too fast... I'd try slowing down and chewing your food more!

I'm a year and two months out, and I've lost 70 pounds. I started at a 266, size 24 and I'm now 196 and a size 14. This month I hit Onederland and was able to buy my first ever pair of jeans from The Gap. I have 25 more pounds until I'm able to buy life insurance, and 57lbs to hit my dream weight. That said, if I never lost another pound I'd still be happy.

I'm still in shock that I was able to go into The Gap and buy a pair of jeans. Never in my entire life have I been able to walk into a mass store like The Gap and buy JEANS!!! Tops yes. Dresses yes. But never jeans. I'm still in shock. And they look hot! Happy happy dance. Thank you band!!!

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!

Congrats!!! I'm with you, it's hard now. Overwhelming.

Small reminder why you did this... Today I went to The Gap and bought a pair of jeans!!!!! I have NEVER fit in Gap jeans in my whole life. And I also cut my hair short today, which I've also never done because my face has been too fat. And it looks awesome. I'm a rebel. I don't always follow the rules. I eat around the band about half the time. I've been stressed out and have eaten Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (the full sized package) every day this week. It's bad, but I'm STILL losing weight. I can't binge. And I do try to eat healthy about half the time. I'm probably losing slower than a lot of people, but I'm okay with that. Because today I stepped on the scale after not weighing for two months and found that, to my SHOCK, I'm under 200 pounds! With my boots on!!!!!!! You can do it. The band will get you a lot of the way there without doing a whole heck of a lot. And if you want to get really thin you can take it the rest of the way. You are in control. And you're going to be ok!!!

Hi everyone! I also had Fielding and would be happy for a meet up!

I'm in NYC too, and got my surgery done by Fielding at NYU. Who did you have? So look, I'm not going to get all sanctimonious with you about why you did this--cause you know about the lifestyle changes and your health and the big picture, yadda yadda. What I think you're talking about though, is what it feels like to be an addict who's having their 'fix' taken away and you're freaking out. And you're absolutely right, the nutrition ladies at Fielding's office, while awesome, are nit going to be any help with this... I tried talking to them too. First, Let me be TOTALLY clear about one thing. You WILL be able to eat again. You were banded recently so you're all swollen inside. But at some point that swelling will go down, and you'll need a full to feel the restriction you're feeling now. So much so that if you don't get a fill you'll gain whatever weight you lost back. Hooray. It will eventually be your choice. And if it makes you feel better, I eat fried rice all the time. Doesn't help my weight loss any, but it tastes good. And I can actually eat almost anything i want except beer. One sip of beer gave me horrible stabbing gas pains. But I drink diet coke. I just open the can in the fridge for a few hours and wait till it's flat to drink it! Second, my suggestion is for you to find an OA meeting. The evening upper west side meetings have a hipper, younger and wealthier population than the rest of the city. A lot of 20-something anorexics, actually. Alternately, you could have a few sessions with Dr Habermann, the shrink dude who probably did your psych evaluation. He wrote a book about food addiction. But either way, you need to talk about the "I DONT WANT TO DO THIS" feelings of rebellion so you don't hurt yourself. Because like it or not, you've done it, you have it, and you're gonna have to deal with it. And I would guess that you do actually want this! And finally, all that said, it WILL get easier! Just try to relax and go with the flow for a little while. And trust yourself!!!!! Try to stop controlling it, and go on autopilot. You won't crash. :-)

I like to drink and drink most nights. But beer is out (one sip gave me massive gas pains!) and I can't drink fast, so I have naturally cut down. Usually can't do more than two now without starting to feel drunk, anyway.

B-52, on good "non-addict" days I feel exactly as you do. No particular interest in food, effortless, controlled. What I have though, and I'm guessing you don't, is a serious addiction problem on the bad days. Not a "food" addiction per se, but straight up compulsive twitchiness... And I've realized this since access to my "fix" has been interrupted. I find that I play a lot of computer games now, have insomnia, could understand how someone smokes! Overeating for me is not about food, it's about filling a need to compulsively think about something.

Gosh this is a great post! I had my surgery last April 2012, and I'm down about 60ish pounds. I probably really need to get myself back into the doctor for a fill, but I'm pretty close to good restriction and I've been super busy, so I missed last month. I'd say, most mornings I can't really eat breakfast, but I could drink a large coffee. Over the last few weeks I have found that I can eat some eggs or oatmeal or bacon, which to me says I probably need to go in for a fill. By lunchtime I'm still usually too tight for a real meal. So I often have soup. I can have one cup of a chunky soup like a turkey chili, or about 2 cups of a thinner soup like a cream of broccoli or tomato soup. On a tight day, I absolutely can't have more than a cup. On a looser day I can sometimes have piece of bread with it. dinner is tougher… I'm a binge eater, which is why I got the surgery. If I order something carb-like, like fried rice or Pasta and meatballs, then I can Usually eat a normal size dinner. That's definitely more than a cup. I say maybe 2 to 2 1/2 cups if I eat slowly and let the rice go down as I eat. I guess these are slider foods, and I guess by eating like this I am eating around the band technically. If I order "band diet" then I find it probably can only eat about three quarters of a cup. Last night I went out for sushi, I was able to eat 6 very small pieces of sushi (four were fish roe, so smaller in physical size) and 4 super thin slices of sashimi. I was STUFFED. All told, the meal was about the size of my fist and maybe an extra finger. But again, I feel like I need a very slight fill. The last few times I've been getting .1 added at a time. When I'm tighter, I don't think about food. When I'm looser, I think about food constantly. But I never, ever feel like I have a good sense of how much I can eat in advance. I still always over order.

Also, it sounds like maybe you were never tight enough. I was stuck and throwing up a lot until my last few fills. I'm MUCH tighter now, but I don't have the expectation of eating anywhere close to normal, so I've slowed down and chew more. Haven't thrown up in 3 weeks!!

Yeah, I've been getting .1 for the last few months!!

It sounds like you're not using the band. It's like saying you're on weight watchers, only you don't go to meetings, weigh in, or count points? What do you expect?? Just go get a fill. Go every month.

I went in asking for the sleeve (I was freaked about the idea of having a foreign body in me) and ended up getting the band anyway. Here's why: 1/200 people die from complications with the sleeve. It's 1/2000 with the band. There are potential complications with each surgery, but the ones with the sleeve are much more serious and painful. 1% of people who get the sleeve have leaks because the stitches/staples at the top of the stomach doesn't fuse right. Those people are in agony for months. You could be in the hospital for months. There's no way to know if you'll be that 1%. And even if all goes well, the stomach can stretch over time leaving you with no other option but to diet or get a band over the sleeve. I decided to try the band first, since it was less invasive, and hope all would go well. Knowing that if it didn't, I could switch to the sleeve later. So far so good. Got the band in April and have lost about 60lbs. 50 in the first 4-5 months. I'm slow because I've had a hard time adjusting and am rebellious and I've been scared to have as much restriction as I need. Im a hardcore food addict!!!! But I look fantastic. 5' 2" and started at 266, almost at Onderland!!! I feel amazing, ran up the train station stairs today without getting out of breath. And this last fill was a big deal and I'm suddenly not hungry!!! Good luck to you whatever you decide.

How much can you eat in one sitting? If its more than your fist you need a fill.

Well, I'm frustrated to say that I've only lost 6 pounds since November. Up until now the band really has done all the work for me and I've been losing steadily getting to -50 with very little effort... But now that I'm at reasonable restriction (yes, I could probably be a little tighter, but I'm pretty tight) I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers and see if that helps. WAKEUP CALL!!! OMG I had no idea I've been eating this badly!!!!! I had a 50 point day over the weekend with absolutely no effort at all. I'm hoping that having a few weeks of conscious eating will get me back in the groove where I don't have to try as hard again, because I badly don't want to be on Weight Watchers. What do you long-termers do? Does the band do enough of the work for you where you don't need WW? Or are other people doing diets of one sort or another? How hard to you have to "try" to lose or keep the weight off? Thanks for any advice.