donna12

Oh Emily just let me tell you, yes it is!!! I was diagnosed with IBS 4 yrs ago with constant diarrhea everyday and had to take medicine to stop it, now I'm off the medicine...I stay constipated. We are not eating as much in quantity and we are not eating high fatty foods anymore. Stay hydrated that helps, eat plenty of veggies and be sure to get your protein in too and I take a laxative/stool softener. Good luck, welcome to band land.

thank you all so very much for your encouraging words of kindness, it touches my heart like no other. I'm not bitter towards him for cheating, the fact still remains and I know what you're going to say, I still love him so I'm still healing. I think it would have been better had it been a sudden death, I could have moved on, instead we live in a small town of 45,000 and I do see him or them out often and it is so hard. We are cordial to each other, thank God and he was good to me during the divorce with needing extra cash etc. and finally getting the settlement. He is a different person now and I can't imagine being with him again, just not the man I met 28 yrs ago, he's wild and parties all of the time, I think he's going thru his mid life crisis. Guess I will always love him and care what happens to him and his well being. The things I miss most is his extended family and family gatherings as I come from a very small family so at Holiday's it was such a treat to get together with his family, not that it's not with mine, I love my family but with his there were kids running around and such as we never had kids and I loved the entertaining part of it and all my sisters-in-law and oh how I loved my mother-in-law. Miss them so much. Thanks again for your comments.

when I go I split a cheese quesadilla and refied beans with my mom and allow myself 3 or 4 chips with salsa. I don't go that often, maybe once a month. Love it tho.

Not the most low fat way but I can handle toast buttered and toasted on both sides in a skillet and toasted, can't do bread raw though, no can do, no no no.

PBing is called Productive Burp. It's when well kind of like throwing up. When I get stuck I salivate, slime and finally start PB'ing or bringing up food, the feeling of like a burp but only food comes up without trying, does this make sense? And yes sometimes it results in me finally throwing up because I'm gagging at the sight of it all. During a stuck episode some people salivate excessively, pass a slime mess or thick spit, gross I know but true. Hope this helps. Not a pretty sight but it's what happens.

We've all been here, being obese, just not a subject talked about but I got to vent and get some answers. I have a rash under my once "DD's" breasts now "D's" thank you Lord and a rash under my apron and it itches like crazy. Being overweight and obese all my adult life and never have I had this under my apron yes my breasts before and its cleared up on its own but this is driving me crazy and is getting worse. Is it yeast? Anyone??? thx

wishing you the best! Do you have canned tuna or chicken around? Beans? and like someone else mentioned Peanut butter. At least you have your house and your life, this too shall pass and will be short lived. hugs

I got stuck on broccoli not too long ago and I was stuck for 5 hrs, it was horrible. Such pain and the slime and PBing to go along with it. I finally threw it up after someone on here suggested sipping some Sprite, only a couple of sips to fizz it out and sure enough it came straight up whatever was lodged. This went on till almost 3 a.m. one night and luckily someone on here was still up to answer me with ideas. Hope you feel better. I got stuck tonight on a chicken sandwich from Wendy's, never again. Don't know if it was the bread or chicken but not again.

I do have 100 lbs to lose however most of my weight is in my hips/thighs and I never did show it in my face and neck luckily. I am somewhat heavy up top too with boobs but moreso down below. Please don't feel disheartened. We all are here to lose. I currently weigh 254 and I'm 5'2" so I have a long way to go before I hit goal.

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions and concerns. I see my surgeon next week and I think I will talk with him about this and see what he says. I do get all my Water in during the day. Thanks again. Donna

I thought when I had lap band surgery I'd start to feel better once I got some weight off, well, not so much. Althought I'm only 4 1/2 months post op and down 40 lbs I still feel the same. I literally could sleep around the clock. I am fatigued constantly, really bad. No energy to exercise or do anything. I stay cold, I mean I freeze and I weigh 254, I mean someone that size ought to be hot natured but not me, not even in summer, I still freeze. My blood pressure at the dr's office 6 wks ago when I went in for blood work was 95/56, he didn't seem too concerned about that and the only thing my blood work showed I was dificient in Vitamin D. I'm sick of feeling like this. This doctor is an internal medicine doc in Nashville TN so pretty reputable and I like him but why can't anyone figure out why I feel like I do? He check my thyroid, my iron and all was normal. I'm 46 and falling apart it seems. Open for suggestions.

Amanda sorry you're sick. I would call a pharmacy and ask the pharmacist if it's ok to take your old prescription. In my opinion it just may have lost all its potency (sp?). Do you have someone that could get you some Dramamine for the meantime? My surgeon gave me a prescrip of Zofran to have on hand in case something like this ever happens so luckily I have some. Some pain meds can cause nausea. I hope you feel better soon. Def would call your dr in the morning. Thankfully mine is on call 24/7 365 days a yr, I think I could call him Christmas Eve and he would respond. )

Anyone in Western Kentucky near Hopkinsville that has been banded?

I finally had to drink a little of Magnesium Citrate the stuff they give you for a colonoscopy. You can buy it at Walgreens or any drug store. It will move you. After my surgery on June 13th for the first week I was constipated for 5 days and couldn't keep anything down not even water because I was so constipated and impacted so my surgeon suggested drinking a little of this and sure enough after stool softeners, laxatives and then this, I was moving. Now 4 1/2 months out I still have my bouts of constipation and on 2 occasions I have drank this to move me along. We have changed our eating habits and are not eating high fat foods and as much food as we once were. Good luck.

Well, where do I begin! For starters my new birthday began June 13th, 2012 when I was banded and I thank my surgeon and God everyday for saving my life because I was eating my way to a slow death, literally. For the past 3 years I've gone thru a separation and divorce after being married for 25 yrs and boy was it heartbreaking and depressing. I was in a deep depression and threw myself into a feeding frenzy. At the time I lived alone and at night I would sit and watch TV and eat and eat and eat, anything. I was out of control and getting bigger by the day each day and knew it but didn't care. How could someone you loved for so many years have this affect on you I wondered but he did. I live in a small town of 45,000 and it's nothing to see him out in a restaurant with his "new" woman that he left me for and yes she is skinny for those of you wondering. Anyway, I got out of my funk and in May of '12 I picked myself up and went to a Lap Band seminar and let me tell you if the surgeon would have stayed late that night and done the surgery I was ready...lol. I called the next day and got a letter from my physician, got an appt witht the surgeon, called my ins. company (they covered it and since my BMI was over 50 I didn't have to do a 6 months diet) so I was well on my way to being banded. within a few short weeks I was being wheeled into a holding room and being prepped. Some friends came to the hospital that morning at 5:30 and prayed with me, had my mom with me and I was set to go. Surgery went well and came home same day. First few days were to put it bluntly HELL! Painful, I threw up a lot but come to find out it was all from the pain meds and constipation, go figure! Now after being banded 4 months and 2 weeks things are settling in. I'm still learning, oh yes, I'm still learning my band and how to eat and chew. Had my spells of being stuck several times, not pretty! One lasted 5 hrs, broccoli, never again!!! I think I currently have 5.5cc's in and eat about every 4 to 5 hrs or 3 times a day. My only weakness, sweets. I currently live with my mom and she keeps candy and Cookies around. Not to tempt me, please don't speak bad of her. I can limit myself to one or two pcs of candy a day or one cookie a day but the fact remains it's still there. She is my accountability, when I want to graze she reminds me, "you don't need that" or "it's too late to be eating" and I'm thankful. Though my weight loss may be slower than some of you on here, I'm down 39 lbs so far, I'm proud of that, it's coming off slow and slower now than before like right after surgery. I'm not up to exercising yet, just don't have the energy. I seem to feel zapped all of the time. I plan on calling my physician this week and seeing if he will order a blood test to check my Ferritin levels since I am always tired and fatigued and always stay cold. For my life right now, I'd do this all over again in a heartbeat. My only regret, is that I didn't do it years ago. I've go to many things I want to accomplish yet only as a healthy and thinner me. Heck who knows maybe even get remarried some day. Ha. This forum is wonderful, lots of you have been great support to me in times of need and I thank you! Taking back my life! Donna

Thank you so much for your kind words and your words of encouragement. It means the world to me for people like you to take the time and tell me stories like this and to also have faith in me. thank you again. God Bless Donna

As some of you know and have read my posts I'm still learning to eat and chew, yes chew, I'm 4 months post op and today I was craving a devil food, yes a devil food and gave in to it, I ate 10 potato chips. Knew I shouldn't have because the Devil took over, He did, literally, in a few mins I started PB'ing, I was sick to my stomach and I did it several times. Now I'm paying for it tonight, I hurt really bad between my breasts, in the middle of my chest, is this normal? I'm sore. Almost like if I were to do a sit up or a crunch it hurts really bad. NO MORE CHIPS, Devil's food!!!

I'm not sure if I can answer this or not for you. When I PB food is lodged and it usually makes me salivate a lot, slime a lot and several times food comes up automatically then sometimes I will vomit forcefully eventually to get it all to come up at the end but not always. That's about all I can tell you about my experiences.

thank you all so very much for your kind words and words of encouragement. To Lozjacko, yes in some way maybe he did do me a favor in leaving me with him being an alcoholic. I had gotten to the point of not handling it very well emotionally. The late nights of his drinking, not knowing whether he would come home at all or whether he had had an accident and was dead, the worrying so yes, it is a relief. The hardest part for me, well, we were high school sweethearts and I still love that person, but he isn't that person any longer, he's changed. If only I could go back about 8 yrs...I came across my video camera today that had a video of Christmas '08, our last Christmas together, happier times, we were laughing, extended family was in it, it was a good trip down memory lane but sad. I pray every night that he seek help in the Lord and come to his senses that he realizes he needs help with his drinking. Such a waste. He's college educated, had a very important corporate job that he lost, its just sad. Now is the time for me. Me to get healthy and instead of getting my big girl panties on as they say, I'm gona get my skinny girl panties on someday...ha Here's to ya'll.

I've heard a lot about these I may have to give these a try, thanks for posting. I don't drink my calories often but on occasion like Sundays on the way to church in a hurry I will grab a shake instead of eating.

To this day I still drink GNC's brand Lean Shake Swiss Chocolate. If you go in they should let you sample them. They come in Strawberry, Vanilla and Choc but I didn't like the others, just the choc. I also could tolerate, and I use that term loosely Isopure from GNC in grape flavor, it's like Kook-aid but has an after taste.

you are too funny! Thanks. Yes, it will be funny to bump into him in about a year from now when I'm down 100 lbs and show him!!! Do I miss him, yes, but I miss being having that "person" in the house. I must add that I watched him become an alcoholic the last 4 yrs of our marriage and he is still to this day. 2 yrs ago he got a DUI and just this past Feb got arrested for public intoxication, so he has gone downhill. Lost a corporate job over his drinking. With that being said, I'm glad its over from that aspect. He was never abusive, just was out drinking every night and it led to an affair which devastated me. I didn't have the surgery to get skinny and show him by no means, I was tired of feeling sick and tired all of the time and knew something had to change or I was going to die! I watched my dad die of heart disease from early obesity, his latter yrs he had lost his weight on his own but I didn't have the will power. I treat this Lap Band as a tool to help me. And your 3 yr old, wow, I doubt very seriously if I could haul her around, lol. Heck a sack of potatoes is hard enough, ha ha ha.

I awoke this morning fighting off a stuffy nose, sore throat and cough and has progressively gotten worse in the day and now the night. Really coughing now and stuffed up. Am I mistaken or misread somewhere but doesn't the drainage tighten the band? I promise not to spread germs.

thank you Stephanie for the prayers. I didn't make it to church this morning as I didn't want to make everyone else sick. My coughing has gotten worse and I had to go back to the clinic last night and get a shot for vomiting because my antibiotic was making me sick, so they stopped my antibiotic and gave me a shot for nausea and a shot of Rochephin (sp?). I am feeling somewhat human tonight other than my coughing. Hope to feel like getting out tomorrow. My eating has been out of control today for some reason. Started out with a Fiber One bar, then a small Wendy's chili with 4 crackers, 4 pcs of white chocolate bliss, dinner was about a half cup of fresh turkey salad and 4 crackers and one triangle of low fat skinny cow cheese spread and just now I had a low fat string cheese. I feel like a cow seeing what all I ate now but I'm hungry as I'm typing this. sheesh. But it's been almost 6 hrs since I ate. Guess I will head to bed and forget about eating...lol

Hi Titans fan, I'm down the road from you near Ft Campbell KY. Had my surgery June 13th. What a ride! It's the best decision I've ever made. Good luck.