judych

hi... im banded now for over two years. ive just had my gall bladder removed and some more fill put into the band... im now on 3mm. Im just taking things as i eat. I cant eat much at all so im not having to measure. One thing though, im run down... had a lot of stress with death in the family etc, surgery... and now im quite run down and unwell. Im going to start taking in juices as a daily requirement, and i have plenty of protein with lentils and Beans in Soups and stews. i hope this helps

it sounds just like me but i know when this happens to me that ive eaten something that has upset the stomach and brought on inflammation. The best you can do is have more liquids Go back onto Soups, Protein shakes and see how you get on. You can also buy Buscopan which is over the counter and helps a lot. Ive had it, prescribed by my dr when i was really bad. If you try these things you should recover without having any Fluid removed from your band , good luck and keep us informed. Also if you can, sleep with some head and chest elevation.. say away from any painkillers... drink plenty of Water.

Thank you so much, both of you. Its been difficult. Im still numb.. i appreciate you condolences... hugs for you ...judy

thank you for your encouraging comments... today i lost my mum. She passed on about 2pm.... im emotionally exhausted tonight but thankful for her and for the support of my family. What a blessing they have all been...... its less than two weeks now until i have the surgery. Im having the same surgeon take the gall bladder out as i had for the lapband surgery, which is the only way i wanted it......Will let you know how it all goes..... thank you everyone for your input. judy

well...i have a small hiccup on my journey. Ive discovered that i have gall stones. Two at least a centimetre across.. and lots of small ones. So, im having surgery on teh 26th to have the gall bladder removed.. has anyone here experienced some discomfort under either the right bottom rib or the left? ive had periods of discomfort off an on for a long time now.... on both sides. Apparently the right side was the gall bladder... im not so sure about the left side. not the port exactly but around that area.... anyone else had these problems. ? sometimes the level has been 5-6 out of ten.

o.k... i could write just about the exact post you have written here. Youve been banded just after i was.... i was in march of that year . It seems that about two years pulls us up if we are going to have some issues. Im eating quicker as well.. ive had issues with tummy inflammation and have have a gall bladder out as well... but aside from that my experience has been like yours. Its time to stand and evaluate . Write down in two columns... plus and minus. the good things and the bad things.. getting them down onto paper often does help. It certainly sounds like you have a sugar addiction. Have you got any issues, emotional? that could pull you down into emotional eating. It seems that after about two years we have pretty well worked out what we cant eat to get around the band... unfortunately !! if not emotional eating, then you have a sugar addiction.. you can deal with that though. eat normally about five days a week and for two days, not consecutive, only eat 500 calories in 24 hours.. This may help you with your cravings. Its very good for setting a right balance again in your body. Or ? candidia... if you arent sure.. check candidia on line. I would be doing that just to have peace of mind about it all. The 5-2 eating plan is a good one though. Its good for liver, stomach, blood pressure, you name it, its got benefits... worth trying. you can google 5 - 2 online as well. good luck.

hi Stephanie.. thanks for sharing with us all. YOuve not had a good run. I have to say though im really glad you went back to your original dr. i do pray that you will lose the weight that you need to lose from now on. we walk a hard road sometimes. Ive had some bad goes myself. Ive been banded about 2 yrs and three months now. Since Christmas ive been emotional eating because our grand daughter got pregnant and is in full rebellion against her mum. She is only 17. She has lost her banking apprentaceship and i feel now that her schooling will go as well. She isnt living withe the babys father and doestn want to know him. This has been devastating for us as a family and i went into binging on chocolates, you name it, the easy foods.... Well, about six weeks ago i was in severe pain and couldnt keep Water down even. i had lost about 40 lbs in that two years .... i ended up in ER to get hydrated. I had xrays and my band was o.k. so they took out some more saline. AFter six weeks, i had settled down. Then i had a little saline put back in about two weeks ago. Now they have discovered that i have gall stones. Some of them are a full 1cm across.. at least two of them.. plus lots of little ones. So now im having my gall bladder removed. Now im not so sure that it was entirely the band that made me ill.... anyway, im having the gall bladder removed in four weeks. AFter that i will know for sure where any problems are coming from. Anyone else had gall bladder problems after banding?

im in Australia.. not familiar with that place ... how late do you eat your last meal? 6pm?... or later ??

i suffer with reflux as well. Ive just had a refill and the reflux is back but not as bed. where did you get that v pillow from ? is it a special v pillow or just an ordinary one? it sounds like you need to sleep with your chest elevated some? have you tried donna tabs or buscupan ?... those tabs are really good for short term management, and bought over the counter. If you cant access these, bi carb of soda is good as well. good luck.

yes, i believe you can start over. I feel for you so much. I have the name of a group that will help you no end regarding the thyroid hormone replacement war... if you want it, please contact me ... chestermanjudith318@gmail.com

hi Sharpie... i think they are marvellous. i have an electric one. Growing up i was frightened of them as mum always told us they could be dangerous. She had one that sits on the hotplate. But, since ive had the electric one ive been so delighted with the results.. and it never fails me. At the moment i have Soup in it as our weather is getting colder now.

Laura... have you considered having a gastric sleeve done?... do you have health issues , like diabetes etc ?.. maybe a sleeve is the best way for you to go. I had a very similar situation happen to me. I developed a major inflammation and was vomiting all the time. sitting up in bed to sleep because it was that bad.I couldnt even keep Water down.( trip to emergancy to have drip to hydrate) i ended up having saline taken out and ive gained about 7 pounds in a few weeks. im due to go back next wednesday and have a fill. i dont know how i will react to that. One thing we found, last week i had ultra sound for another issue and they found gall stones... very interesting. Now im wondering if it was in fact a gall stone attack i had. or if that made things worse?... anyway, let us know how you go.. I will be interested to know . hugs for you .. i know how you feel.

honestly..... for true flavour, retained goodness and great texture, you cant beat a pressure cooker. i paid about 60.00 Aust for mine and i use it nearly every day. its made my meals far easier to digest.

it could be possible that you may have to give up meat..... my dr. talked to me about that. Ive had some saline taken out of my band and im gaining weight. i have a refill in a week and cant wait. i had inflammation of the gut so dr took saline out. Now i have to make extra effort to lose the weight ive gained. I have most Protein with legumes.... lots of good soups etc. they are really tasty and filling. my Iron levels are normal. i dont think you have to give meat up... just eat far less of it. i bought myself an electric pressure cooker and that cooks beef so its very tender. A little bit goes a long way though. Thats fine. So long as i can get a taste.

it could be possible that you may have to give up meat..... my dr. talked to me about that. Ive had some saline taken out of my band and im gaining weight. i have a refill in a week and cant wait. i had inflammation of the gut so dr took saline out. Now i have to make extra effort to lose the weight ive gained. I have most Protein with legumes.... lots of good Soups etc. they are really tasty and filling. my Iron levels are normal.

First of all..... im sorry that you are having such difficulty now. It sounds like you maybe worse of than before?/.... i wonder why that is ?.....how much fill do you have in your band right now? have you been having to make as many trips back and foward for fills and unfills as before??... i cant help you regarding the gastric bypass but im sure others here will be able to advise you..... Im just picking up on the similarities you have had in comparison to me. ive had numerous fills and unfills. ive been banded just over two years now. i lost about 37 pounds. i just had a bad episode with inflammation in the pouch and had to have a drip because i was dehydrated.... then i had some fill removed. Now im eating like theres no tomorrow. i get more fill on about the 8th May. Meantime i have been told after having an ultrasound that i have gall stones. Now im wondering if some of the issues Ive suffered from were in fact due to gall stones? sometimes when having trouble with the band its hard to tell where the pain is coming from...... i do hope that you get some input that will help you out.... good luck with it all.. and keep us up to date on it.

hi Bobbie... i hear you ... and i know how it feels to be angry because one cant eat the best tasting foods. ive been banded now for two years, just over. I lost about 36 pounds.. i had another 16 to go. Ive been up and down with fill and unfill for the whole two years.. its very touchy with me and the balance between eating without trouble and having trouble is very slim. i havent reached the green zone yet. i went through a period of pain and acute inflammation (gastric) a few weeks ago , became dehydrated and ended up in emergency. AS a result they took a lot of saline out of my band and now im eating like there is no tomorrow. I do have some saline in, not much. Im feeling desperate right now myself. Have you had any unfills with your band? how much saline have you got ?... how long is it since you last saw your dr?... Im like you, without the band im hopeless with eating. I couldnt do without it either. somehow you need to reconnect with yours. See your dr and talk it through with him. I have an appointment for a fill in a few weeks. i reckon i would have put on about 7 pounds in six weeks. Not good enough. Im starting to panic now. I hope you get it sorted... it sounds like you need a small amount of fill taken out.... let us know how you get on. incidentally, i have two knee replacement and arthritis through my spine and feet as well. I cant exercise all that much either.... it sucks.

hi .... im just over two years banded. i had a nasty episode about two weeks ago where i ended up in emergency on a drip . i had severe inflammation and couldnt even keep Water down. The dr took a lot of saline out and told me to come back see him in six weeks. i had xrays done while swallowing the 'barium meal' type drink that they use. All seemed to be in its proper place. 'but, im eating more now than i ever thought it possible to.. i still have about three weeks before i see dr again. ( im assuming i will have a fill then) its so hard, im thinking about food a lot more as well.... Im having more Soups but even so its all calories. Im finding it hard to stay positive as i see myself putting on weight again. im ashamed that i cant even keep myself disciplined for six weeks. I honestly thought i could do better than I have so far. I think i only have about 1 ml of saline in now.

i would say that your blood sugar levels definately were low... after midday i would be having a small amount of glucose in a drink .... see how that helps. Apart from that, you are going to have to read up a bit. Forums are good though, ive had a lot of help from them. Have a look at the links that were given to you here.. I was dehydrated a couple of weeks ago and ended up in hospital with a drip. Im fine now.. had some Fluid taken out for a few weeks. Losing control of your bowels like that can sometimes happen as well. I did just once. It shouldnt happen to you anymore.. its very unpleasant though. Keep up the thin liquids.... have a small amount of ice in a cold drink. that helps a lot with inflammation. suck an icypole if you have to. that would take care of the sugar hit and the cold will help settle your stomach. good luck. let us know how you go with it all.

i think its worth another try. the alternatives are involved with more surgery, more pain... all that . If it were me i would just pick up and try again.

So its back to the beginning for you now?? now that the tube has been shortened, are you willing to give it another go? after all, from what i read , it was just the tube that gave you problems. YOu did lose that weight initially. ......

Did the dr shorten the tubing from the band when he operated on your small bowel?... how much saline have you got right now, do you know?

thats awful.. youve had a rough time of it. So the surgeon put too much tubing in? the chances of that happening again are very rare.... but if you are determined have you spoken to a dr about the sleeve?... perhaps that is the way to go. ive had some issues which landed me in hospital the last week... dehydrated and ill. Inflammation. It took about ten days to come right and that was after i had saline removed from the band. .... so, things do happen. I guess everything we do has its risks but i know that the lapband is the only way i will keep weight off. Ive gained about 6 pounds.... ive got another four weeks until i have a fill.... i know i wouldnt succeed with weight loss if i didnt have the band.... let us know how you get on.

Yes, ive done the same thing myself. ive been banded two years now, this month. Ive lost about 2/3 of the weight that i needed to lose.. but for the last three months ive not moved at all. In fact ive put on a couple of pounds. I had to have a small amount of saline taken out last nov. Also, i had a bad run with inflammation in the pouch which saw me end up in emergancy for two days last week. I ended up having more saline taken out. I see the dr again in six weeks. Im not happy that ive stalled, in fact gained a little. I need to get moving again.. I havent stopped to work out a strategy yet. It was only last week that i was so sick with inflammation .. i need to get serious now and do something. I cant afford to be complacent for the next six weeks, i will put on more weight.