La_madam

You are not a failure, the reason you may not feel restriction is the band doesnt restrict junk food. Try going back to basics, start tomorrow with your Protein, purge all of that crap from your system drink lots of Water and focus on protein. When you eat carbs and sugar all that does is crave more carbs and sugar. I have been there trust me..I had to go back to basics too for the same reason a few months back, I was on a sugar binge. You can do this..get out of bed tomorrow with a fresh start, possitive attitude and protein..NO JUNK FOOD>>NO JUNK FOOD I bet if you ate a chicken breast or some other hard protein in the morning you will have restriction, do a test, take a bite of junk food and then a bite of hard protein and see which one gives you more restriction, restriction does not just come from fills but it also comes from the foods you choose. It is easy to eat around the band and blame it on NOT having resatriction. Junk food goes through way to easily..I could eat a bag of cheetos no problem but give me a piece of chicken and I got restriction.

This morning I am a little frustrated to read some of the posts by members here in recent days. SO I wanted to start this thread to see if Iam the only one who feels the way I do? My questions is , at what cost will you got to to lose wieght with your band? If you know your band is too tight, how long will you wait until you call your Dr.? If you know something is wrong, how long will you wait until you call your Dr. If you can not eat nothing but liquids for months, dont you think something is not right and you should call your Dr.? If you have GERD and Reflux so bad you are choking at night & living on liquids dont you think it is time to call your Dr.? This is so maddening to me to see members here be so foolish about their health, regardless of their wieght loss, is losing wieght in such an unhealthy manner worth risking their bands but more important their lives? I almost lost my life, due to bowel obstruction recently, I knew something wasnt right and I was in the ER the next day and having surgery the next day, if I had not reacted so quickly I would not be here right now posting this thread. I was even willing to give up my band if it meant saving my life. Come on people be responsible , do not be foolish!!! Value your life a little more then this please. Weight loss is not more important then living is it? We are not all medical professionals but Iam sure most of know that living on liquids and Pbing everyday , living with severe reflux at night is not how the band was designed to work, common sesne tell us that much.Some are so obsessed with the weight loss they are seeing living like this that they are not seeing clearly the danger they are doing to their bodies and bands. I know for me I did not get the band to be miserable and not eat but only liquids and have reflux every night regardless of how much weight I lose...my life is so much more important and my kids & husband are more important for me to be around to love them then risking it all for a few more lbs lost then the next person who is not experiencing these problems. So Im not losing 1-3 lbs a week but I am enjoying food and feeling good with no problems. Sorry to ramble because I usually dont let this get to me but it seems to be more evident here on LBT lately more then ever people being foolish and not acting responsible. I'm frustrated to see the lack of responsibiltiy in some people. I'm sure Iam going to get blasted by some with PM hell for this but Oh Well

I have had 4 fills total and one unfill and just got 1'cc put back in. I was at my best when I was at 2-2.5 cc's. I have been banded for almost 5 months..so 1 fill every 3.5 months if I average it out.

Happy Birthday Greg, Hope tou have a great day!

There is a member here, her teenage daughter just had the surgery 5 weeks ago. Her name is KarenB I know if you send her a PM she will glady reply and get the two to connect.

This thread came from another board by a friend of mine and I felt it was such a great thread I wanted to start it over here So many of us focus on what we are doing wrong...how about focusing on what we are doing right For me it is : 1. Eating better healthier foods. 2. Eating smaller portions. 3. Not drinking with my meals and waiting 1 hour after a meal to drink 4. I do not drink liquid calories. 5. I call my Dr. at the first sign of something NOT right. 6. I do not take NSAID's or drink carbonation 7. I eat for 20 minutes only! 8. I take small bites and chew chew chew 9. I drink atleast 100 oz of Water a day. 10. I eat atleast 60 grams of Protein a day and eat my Proteins first, then veggies & fruits. Also instead of focusing on the scale and what the numbers are, how about focusing on all of the great things that have changed for the better in your life since being banded. 1. More energy 2. Doing more things with my children & husband. 3. Smaller size clothing. 4. More social with my friends, customers & co-workers 5. Need less sleep 6. Feeling better about myself then I have in years. 7. No more lower back pain or knee pain. 8. Healthier looking skin, nails & hair. 9. Take time for me ( pedicures/ Manicures/ Hair) 10. Not shopping in the plus size department NO longer!

Here is a great piece of info directly from the Inamed Handbook I got from surgery that may help you Kansascitygal Page 7 Q- How would I know if my band is"too tight or "overfilled" A- If the adjustment results in too tiht of a stomach opening, you could have a hard time eating most foods. Sometimes this causes people to avoid solid food. They may drink liquid meals. This may result in weight gain especially if the liquid used is high in calories. A band that is too tight can cause reflux symptoms particularly at night.It can aslo cause frequent vomiting. The opening to the stomach can become completely blocked. This would result in not being able to keep any food or liquids down. Should you develop these symptoms, please notify your surgeon at once. I hope today you have called your Dr. for the sake of your health and the longevity of your band

Tell your surgeon to go and read the Inamed Handbook Page 3 where it clearly states and I quote " solid food is more important then liquidfood. The Lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid foods Liquid food passes through the stomach outlet very quickly anddoes not make you feel full"

Hi Karin & Welcome to LBT..Pick away We will all help you in any way we can ...glad you found us

More protein in your diet will help curb hunger... check the lean cuisine for carbs, Carbs crave more carbs and sugar craves more sugar so if your carb intake & sugar intake is high it will make you hungry quicker and more often I start each day with stirctly protein and that stays with me most of the day, I eat breakfast at 7 since Iam at work at 5 up at 3:30 but do not eat again until about 1 or 2 but if I eat a single carb in the morning like toast or oatmeal.. forget it, Iam starving all day long and have a bad food day.

Warm liquids will help open me up and cold liquids tighten me up

Hi Jim & Welcome to LBT, Best of Luck to yu on your upcoming surgery I wish you lots of success with your band

Bella..good luck to you:) Cant wait to hear all about it, we are all going to live vicariously through you with this TT experience.

Here Here Carol! Very Well said!! Sorry ot hear of your unfiill, but if Ican be unfilled for 2 months and lose 5 lbs you can do it too I'm so glad you were responisble and called your Dr. right away. You acted very responsible, . What a great example you have shown for all of those who are on the fence about calling their Dr. in time of distress

1. Is It Easy To Just Go Back To Overeating/not Exercising And Not Lose Anything With The Band? Or Do You Actually Feel A Difference With The Band...more Restriction? The band is not a Magic Wand, there are ways to eat around the band, if you eat the right foods you can not over eat if you have proper restriction, if you eat the wrong foods you can definately over eat. There are certain foods the band does not restrict no matter how tight you are ( junk food, ice cream, chocolate) 2. I Have Heard With The Bypass, People Can Have Alot Of Excess Skin Due To How Quickly You Loose The Weight...has Anyone Experienced This With The Lap Band? it all depends on your age, how long you have been morbidly obese, genetics, exercise etc...my saggy arms are my only concern at this point.

We are all so different with our fills and how much your individual Dr. will fill you but if it were me, I would wait until I got home from vacation to ever get a fill. I would hate to be too tight and miserable on vacation and not be near a band Dr. in the event I was to tight and needed help. Besides vacations are meant to enjoy yourself a bit. Go and have fun and worry about the fill when you get back, it will still be there

I have never had any of my saline disappear or evaportate

Kansascitygal Is losing 110 lbs in 14 months worth your life? The band was not designed to work like this. If your band is this tight without a fill, you NEED to call your Dr. immediately.

Becuase you are normal

Trish, for me it depends on what I ate. I notice if I eat hard proteins it could be hours before Iam hungry again, if it is a softer protein, it could be alot quicker, alot of it is mental. I usually wait until my stomach is growling. Even if I think Iam hungry doesnt mean I really truly am hungry.

Hi Diane & Welcome to LBT Glad you are here, this is a very informative site. I'm sure all of your questions will be answered here Not to worry about that with the band, thats the great thing about the band, you can lose weight and still enjoy food! ( you just wont be eating as much

Iam a very happy Ortiz patient, I do not regret my decision to use him as my surgeon one single bit, he and his staff have been there for me every step of the way and then some.However I have heard great things about Dr. Kuri also. Best of luck to you with whomever you decide to go with. They are both experienced band surgeons. I was not confused about going with Dr. Ortiz, he came highly reccomended by the Lap Band surgeon here in my area, he actually trained him, and since I was a self pay and could not afford the cost here in CA, I was referred to Ortiz.

Monday June 27th Starting weight 172 Waist 34 inches Bust 40 inches Hips 41 Clothing size 10

There seems to be many different opinions on this. For me I was told by both my PCP and my band surgeon, my hair loss is from not enough Protein, since I have reaaly been eating more protein, my hair loss has stopped. This is just my story.

Christine, I had a recent unfill due to gastritis.My gastritis was cused from complete bowel obstruction.I almost died from it but with the fast acting I did in contacting my Dr.he was able to preform emergency surgery and save my life I had NO symptoms of gastritis but it was detected through enoscopy so I was completely unfilled for 2 months. You need to call your Dr. do not be foolish. You need to do the responsible thing here and call your doctor, you are risking damage to your band but more important you are risking your health and possibly your life This is serious. Please Please call your doctor. I am begging you to get help. Nobody here is going to bash your Dr., we all just want you to get help with this serious problem. PLEASE P.S. There is a possiblity that it is not GERD but Gastritis, they are very similar but very different. this is why you need to be seen to make usre you are treatingthe right condition with the right meds