silly_weasel

So I had a stuck episode and ended up throwing up to get rid of the food. Then I decided to give my stomach a break and do liquids for a few days. I went to the store and stocked up on canned soups. I've been on these soups for like three days now, but my band seems to be doing the opposite and getting tighter. Could it be the salt in the canned soups that's causing this?? Not sure if I should go back to the doctor and get fluid removed or give it more time or try eating something else? Ideas, suggestions?? Thanks!

Hmm...that's interesting. Resting the band makes it tighter? I always thought it'd be the opposite - we rest the band to allow the swelling to go down.

I was always under the impression that as I lose weight, my band would get looser, and I would have to have it tightened to continue to lose weight. However, the opposite seems to be happening to me. Back in March I was having trouble drinking fluids and my doctor had to take some fluid out. Everything was fine for a couple of months. But now again...having trouble sipping tomato soup. I mean, I'm pleased that I continue to lose weight. But I'm afraid it's not healthy for my body....I can't eat any solids, and so have trouble getting protein in. Drinking is not very comfortable either anymore...especially for the first couple of hours in the morning.

So for the past month or so I have been so tight that I couldn't drink till noon, and after that could only eat mostly sliders. I finally saw my doctor yesterday and he removed 1cc from my band as I was obviously too tight. He said I even developed a mild stoma dilation due to being so tight. I felt better after an unfill and was able to eat some real food today...not quite 1 cup of grilled chicken salad (I measured it). Now I have this terrible left shoulder pain, which I have experienced a long time ago...usually due to drinking something carbonated or after having a bit too much to eat? Something about a vagus nerve, I believe, causing referred pain due to stomach expansion. Is it possible that because I couldn't really eat anything for the past month, I've shrunk my stomach so much that now even 3/4 to 1 cup of food is too much??

No beer for me, B-52...lol! But I guess I will try 1/2 cup of food and see how that goes first.

Yep, happened to me too! Had to have an unfill in March due to not being able to hold down fluids. I was soooo scared thinking it was slippage, erosion or something even more awful! But my doctor did an X-ray and said all is fine except band is a bit tight. He took some out and I was fine for about a month and a half. Then, I started getting stuck again. Now I'm to the point that I can't even drink anything till noon. So, going back in for another slight unfill.

That is so strange, Garfield...7 years, really? I hate not being able to drink my cup of coffee in the morning

So I know many bandsters can't eat in the morning. But does anyone have trouble drinking coffee? I've always had a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, while getting ready for work. Now I cant even do that - I feel like a big hair ball is stuck in my throat every time I take a sip. I have been having to reheat my one cup of coffee like 5 times, and it's usually around 10am by the time I actually enjoy it. Anyone?? P.S. Last time I had an adjustment was in March...and it was a slight unfill.

I think I will give it another week or so it see if it improves, and if not - I will get another unfill. I have been having more stuck episodes lately

Back in March, when this first happened, I was freaking out! I researched dilation and slipping. From everything I learned, it seems that I would be able to eat more, not less and also have heartburn. I don't have either. Plus, when my doctor did an X-ray, he said the band looked fine...was just a bit tight. This time I'm trying to remain calm and do liquids/softs for a few days. If it doesn't improve, I will make another appointment. I was just wondering if it ever happened to anyone else.

After you have a stuck episode, it's good to go on mushies or liquids for a day or two, to give your stoma a rest and time for the possible swelling to go down. After that you should be good to go. But if you continue to eat hard food after a stuck episode, it may get stuck again and exaggerate the problem, causing a vicious cycle.

Thank you for sharing your diet "enjoythetime"....what about exercise?

Wow! Truly amazing! Congratulations! And yes, please...tell us your routine.

Who can recommend a really good workout DVD series? I've tried P90X a while ago, but it did more for my husband than me. Not sure if it's due to all the weight training...

So I'm using MyFitnessPal to track all my calories , water, exercise, and progress. My goal is 1,100 per day according to my fitness profile due to my weight, my activity level and wanting to lose 2 lbs per week. I have been within or under my calories every day, working out (treadmill, elliptical, or outside running) for 35-65 mins six days per week, drinking water (probably could drink more). The stupid scale won't budge in 4 weeks now!!! I did have a slight (0.5cc) unfill a few weeks ago due to being too tight and not being able to even drink fluids. But I'm ok now and thought as long as I'm staying in my calories and exercising I would continue to lose, but no...I'm stuck...4 weeks now . So frustrating!!!

Good news...I lost 2.5 lbs!! I know it's not much but it made me happy since I've been at a complete standstill for the past 5 weeks! I think I was exercising too much and not eating enough. I scaled it back and viola! Sooo happy!

Hi, does anyone know if it's common for bandsters to have elevated WBCs? I felt tired, so I had a CBC done because I thought I maybe anemic. The good news is that I'm not anemic, but my WBCs were elevated (15.8), which means I have some kind of infection. My family doctor and I could not figure out the source of this infection...I feel completely perfectly fine and nothing hurts. Just had a check up with my Bariatric doctor a couple of weeks ago to get a slight unfill and he said everything looked good. My family doctor was thinking maybe the "infection" and high WBCs are due to having a foreign body inside of me?? Has anyone experienced this??

I didnt get tested a lot, but I'm sure I had all the required labs in July 2012 before my surgery. The doctor didn't say anything about it, so I assume everything was ok then.

I am pretty sure something is not right, and I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday morning. But I was just wondering what it could be since I couldn't find anything concrete when I looked up my symptoms. I'm kinda freaking out and having to wait the whole weekend is making it even worse. I can't eat anything . Even sliders feel stuck....takes me an hour to eat 1/2 cup of soup and it feels like I have to burp all the time. I can't even drink coffee till about 11am...it comes back up. I have a sore throat too, but not sure if it's related since I've had a bad cold for the past 3-4 wks, which turned into a sinus infection. I have not had a fill since September...but these symptoms just started about 2 weeks ago, getting progressively worse. When I was sick, I vomited several times, and so I stopped solids and just started to eat sliders thinking maybe it will help my band that was irritated due to vomitting. But sliders aren't sliding, even soup is hard to eat now. I just feel like a giant burp is stuck is my throat and I can't get it out. My only savior is hot tea....unfortunately it has no calories. I've been managing to get 300-600 calories per day between yogurt, soup, and thin protein shakes. I will be lying if I said I wasn't scared right now...

Thank you for all your support guys! I'm doing so much better after my 0.5cc unfill. I don't even feel the "hair ball" in the back of my throat anymore (I posted about it a couple of months ago). I just hope i can continue to lose weight ????

Good news...nothing was wrong with my band or pouch!!! I did the barium swallow X-ray and I was simply too tight. The doctor took out 1/2cc and I feel so much better already! I was a bit perplexed since I always thought that the band may get looser with time, especially if I lose weight. I never expected it to get tighter. Nonetheless, I feel sooooo relieved! Thank you everyone for your support!

Thank you for your concern guys. I forgot to mention that I currently live in Germany. Things are different here. The doctor I'm going to see is not the actual surgeon that performed my surgery in Texas. I've been sipping hot tea all weekend and managed to get some yogurt down. Can't wait for my appointment tomorrow to find out what the heck is going on. I hope it's nothing serious like a slipped band or erosion ????.

So this maybe a silly question, but do most bandsters have some liquid taken out after they've met their weight goal?? Because it would seem that if you continuously loosing weight, it would keep going and going past your goal and past healthy weight, and then you would become underweight and maybe even sickly... But if you do have some fluid take out so you can maintain instead of lose, do people tend to gain weight back? Or maybe that's how you know too much has been taken out and then you would get a slight fill again?? I'm not at my goal yet...another 30-40lbs to go, but I was just wondering what the future holds for me. Thank you

How did you guys know that you had band slippage? Did you feel something wrong?

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad you've started over and got back to basics, which I myself have done several times. Stay strong and committed...you can do this!