amandacoop

Everyone keeps telling me I will know it when it happens, but I am not so sure. I have always had a really high pain tolerance, I did not take any of the pain meds after my the first night of my surgery for any of my three c sections or my lap band. I had lap band on 3/13/12 and the first fill on 4/27, and I somewhat frequently get uncomfortable about 30 minutes after a meal, but not always, and I was under the impression that you would feel it right away if you were stuck. I have not been able to isolate anything that makes it happen or does not make it happen. It feels a little tightness in my chest but not bad. There have been a couple of occasions when it was REALLY uncomfortable early on after surgery and again after the first fill, that felt like a golf ball in my throat, but again it was at least 30 minutes AFTER a meal. I have never felt tempted to throw anything up. I do have an urge to burp a little during it, but nothing that I would call a PB. If this is what getting stuck is, then I am getting stuck way more than I should, but also, then I would say getting stuck isn't all that bad for me. I wonder if I am just eating too much in general and this is what the new overfull feels like for me, though it doesn't seem very consistent to happen after a certain quantity of food. I want to go get another fill, but not if I am actually getting stuck this much, my suspicion is that this is not being stuck, but something different. What does being stuck feel like for you? How do you know if you are overfull? If you have had the golfball feeling, do you know what caused it? And has anyone felt stuck but not until at least 30 minutes after eating?

Based on what you are saying judych I think that I am probably not getting stuck but rather overfull. I know I eat too quickly, and when I get another fill I will have to be more careful with smaller bites. I don't really feel like I've needed to be all that careful with my eating, since things seem to be going down just fine. I too am at about a cup of food but looking at getting a second fill really soon. I was losing really well, 2 lbs each week for a while, then about 4 weeks ago kind of plateaued for three weeks and then this week down 4, but I doubled my exercise routine to try to break the plateau. I probably should get back on board with MFP for logging meals, to see if there's something sneaking in that I am not paying attention to.

So far, nothing happens when I drink if I get this feeling, the feeling doesn't go away, it doesn't get worse, and it doesn't get better. ( I'm talking about the delayed response pressure golf ball in the throat feeling) but I have heard if you are stuck and you drink to try to wash it down, it can just get jammed worse.

I used it for a long time after my surgery, but kinda stopped about three weeks ago, just got out of the habit, I need to get back on board. It would be fun to join a friend group on there, maybe we could get a group of people from here to do it.

Oh! Hang in there. Hopefully they get you fixed soon. Hopefully they can give you an IV which will make you feel better. You can handle this. Hang in there.

WOW! That was a GREAT article. I understand my band now! I always thought there was a pouch above the band that served as a second smaller stomach and that we wanted food to stay ABOVE the band to keep us full. I am glad I found this less than four weeks in!

I know if you eat too little, then the metabolism will slow down and conserve fats. The way to beat it is to increase exercise or add in more healthy calories or a little of both. Try tweaking something and see if you start losing again. Or go back to presurgery diet for one week and see if you can kick start again!

Sorry to hear you had such a bad time. Hopefully you have gotten all of your share of problems out of the way so the rest of the journey with the band will be smooth.

So I was on 1 week full liquids then mushies one week then transition to normal which is MUCH less than everyone else, which makes me worry. So if we are chewing everything into mush, then why go through all the stages anyway, is there anything about the particular foods classified as mushy . I mean I am three weeks out and eating pretty much anything, in small well chewed quantities. But everyone else seems like they are not there yet?

Jen, it sounds like you need a little unfill, if you don't eat ENOUGH, your metabolism slows and you stop losing. Many people get stuck with their loss because they can't eat enough.

Jen, it sounds like you need a little unfill, if you don't eat ENOUGH, your metabolism slows and you stop losing. Many people get stuck with their loss because they can't eat enough.

Waitingpatiently......there are lots of postoperative high protien foods, I am doing well on eggs, tuna, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, ground beef, beans, ground chicken, high protein soups, and high protien puddings. I love making spaghetti sauce with ground beef and having that sans noodles!

For all us Mama's, what if we put all the"bites and such" from our kids plates and snacks that we are tempted to eat in a Tupperware for the day and at the end of the day see if we can figure how many calories it would add to. I think I tend not to count that stuff but I bet it adds up and maybe if I could see it all at once I might think about it more.

Stephy, I feel fine just worry because everyone here keeps talking about damage that could be done to the band if we eat too soon, and what my plan said is soon comparably. Do you think if I am feeling fine and have followed directions then I havn't hurt anything? Or could there be something unknown? Highland... I am following the plan, but the didn't really explain why they do it that way to me which is why I asked here and got some good answers. But my plan seems fast compared to everyone elses but I havn't had any problems and am losing, slowly 18lbs in 5 weeks since presurg diet started. I think the carby stuff is not good either, I try to think of mushies as cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, tuna and such, and my real foods are things like ground beef and rice and well chewed soups etc. What is your weight loss like and how far out are you? JanB23... I have followed directions, I just worry because I am on real foods when most others at three weeks are not. But I havn't had problems with being stuck or sick, do you think that means I havn't done any damage? SageTracey and B52... Thank you for your comments, that makes sense. I think everything I have eaten has been pretty soft with the exception of some hummus chips which seem to go well with everything and I have chewed them to liquid (they dissolve well). Thanks everyone!

I have a little of the same going on. I have been banded only three weeks,but per dr. Plan am on real food, three small meals a day. I do have 2 cc's in the 10cc band and I am not hungry except when I am supposed to be. But I am finding a problem area right after school ( I am a teacher) when my own kids are scarfing snacks I want to eat bits of what they have or another unhealthy food. Yesterday I ate a doughnut because I treated my kids to one. What we need to do is find a replacement behavior for those problem times. When I am tempted to emotional eating I've found that I am usually stressed or frankly feeling sorry for myself, and have found that melancholy or inspiring music is a good replacement, I can brood and then change my outlook too. I even created an iPod album for it. Another thing I did was journal all the reasons I am doing this, so when I am feeling tempted I read that or write in it some. I am a mom of three (8,4,and,2), I work full time and am in the middle of getting a master's degree. My hubby was against my getting the surgery and has not been helpful, so I know all about stress eating. It is incredibly hard for me not to pop a little of my kids leftover snacks or dinner in my mouth and I haven't conquered it but am analyzing my habits and making plans. You ARE powerful and you do not have to succumb to this challenge, just keep plugging away at it even if you only make a little progress at a time, don't give up!

Kathy111, I am not one to talk because i am only in this three weeks. But I would try to give it another go before you decide to convert to bypass or sleeve. Just so you can say you gave it everything you had. In my opinion, it would be fine to unfll for one month, but set an end date so you are not tempted to stay unfilled, and eat healthy during the unfill, don't go hog wild. Then think of it as a DoOver, when you get filled again try to forget everything from before, reteach yourself all the things they tell us to do to be successful. Pretend you are a new patient get yourself worked up with excitement and tell yourself it will WORK. reteach yourself the eating methods, try some new bandster foods, prepackage your portions, etc. Just give yourself another chance with it before spending the bucks for a conversion. Kathy111, I am not one to talk because i am only in this three weeks. But I would try to give it another go before you decide to convert to bypass or sleeve. Just so you can say you gave it everything you had. In my opinion, it would be fine to unfll for one month, but set an end date so you are not tempted to stay unfilled, and eat healthy during the unfill, don't go hog wild. Then think of it as a DoOver, when you get filled again try to forget everything from before, reteach yourself all the things they tell us to do to be successful. Pretend you are a new patient get yourself worked up with excitement and tell yourself it will WORK. reteach yourself the eating methods, try some new bandster foods, prepackage your portions, etc. Just give yourself another chance with it before spending the bucks for a conversion.

Banded X3 weeks tomorrow. I think it's all going well. Down 17 lbs. Despite having to be pretty active, more than I had hoped, I feel pretty good, Tired a lot (can be attributed to other things too though), but otherwise good. I have one question though, after I eat, ANYTHING even liquids, I have a light to medium pressure in my chest and feel like "fake" burping a lot. I don't think I am getting stuck, I think that would hurt more, and things seem to be going down just fine. After two weeks of pre-surgery liquid diet which went very well, I was only supposed to be on full liquids PO one week, then mushies one week, then normal but well chewed, which I am doing mostly, with mushies still too. I have been able to eat everything I have tried and felt fine, can eat quite a bit still too, about half to 2/3 of what I could eat before surgery. Just wondering if that is normal, or if I should be worried. This isn't the post surgery gassy tummy which I had and has subsided, nor is it the stopped up bowels which I had and have resolved, it's been there since I got banded and is there pretty much constantly, and gets a bit worse after surgery, feels like it is at the bottom of my throat. Just makes me want to pretend burp....SO WIERD. On another note (and here's where any Men or otherwise squeamish folks might want to tune out). I had read somewhere that the presurgery and post surgery diet induces a sudden drop in estrogen which can cause emotional symptoms similar to baby blues (which I havn't had much of) and other cycle issues. I have severe PCOS in part due to my weight (or my weight is due to PCOS who knows which) and havn't had a natural period in YEARS. So on day 4 presurgery diet, I started spotting. Stopped 2 days post surgery, and started again today. ANYONE ELSE HAVE THAT ISSUE???

Responding to some of you feeling emotional breakdowns. I read that this happens often int the first few months po. This is in part due to a huge estrogen drop caused by the high protien low carb diet, similar to Baby blues after birth, and many people feel irritable and regretful during this time. I happen to believe the estrogen drop thing because after a week on the preop diet I started my period which has been absent for years due to my weight.

My hubby had to stay home with the kids and my surgery as in a town 3 hours away. I drove there alone, stayed the night at my hotel. Walked 20 blocks to the surgery center by 6 am, had surgery at seven, had an old friend I hadn't seen in 17 years pick me up at 4 pm and drive me to my hotel, stayed the night. Stopped pain meds at 10 pm, drove myself to my barium swallow test and back to the hotel to sleep for 4 more hours then drove myself 3 hours home, picked up three kids from daycare (ages 7,4,&2), went home made dinner and did dishes before finally getting to take my pain meds again at 6pm day 2. My point is, you can do anything you set your mind to. I am three weeks out and feeling really good. On solid foods and ready to get my groove on with exercise. First fill is4/21 and I have to drive 3 hours to get there. So we have to get the fill right so I don't have to drive back the next day.

My friend who had WLS said that pretty much everyone goes through a "what the hell have I done" phase, and that it DOES pass. I have been having those thoughts from time to time, especially since my hubby didn't want me to spend the money to get the surgery and hasn't exactly been supportive. It helped me to journal all the reasons I wanted to do this in the first place and all the benefits I expect to gain. I was saying just this week that I thought the weight would come off faster and hubby said" IT is a marathon, not a sprint." Hang in there, take care of yourself emotionally, and the down phase will pass.

I had a red bumpy diffuse rash all over my belly the day after surgery. I think it was from the betadine they swab you with before surgery but couldn't be sure. It itched a tiny bit but not too bad, went away at about ten days. Not sure but it can't be the oxycodone because I am still taking that at nightime only.

I had a really hard time too, literally. I resolved the problem with stool softener, but my surgeon recommended milk of magnesia. You will feel SO much better after!

Felt like that a lot for two weeks and even still on occasion. But it is definately less now. I think I can feel the band when I bend over to reach something on the floor. Or with sudden movements. Weird but I am getting used to it. I was banded 3/13.

I am 16 days out. I have always done really super well with surgery, had 3 Csections hardly took any pain meds and normal activity within a week. So this was no different, I had to travel 3 hrs away for surgery, I went by myself, stayed alone in a hotel that Night and drove myself home the next day without pain meds of course. Have been taking care of my three kids and doing normal household chores since day 2. I have felt fine. But suddenly after reading on here, I am nervous that I could have screwed something up and not know it. Dr let's us move to full liquid on day 2 and soft foods on day 5. But that seems super fast compared to most of what you are all saying. I havn't cheated on that, but have progressed to really chewed up regular foods now. Plus have been occasionall having to lift my 2 year old (it is unavoidable). So do you think I would know it if I have pulled stitches or something, or can you mess things up without knowing?