Flowering man

I'm 3 weeks in so early days - but I did wonder what I'd done immediately after the op - but it does get better

Once a day at the moment - I don't find it discouraging - I find it motivational

I was banded 11/1/13. I didn't have any shoulder pain but I'm still a bit bloated and windy 8 days after the op, but its greeting less and less - I feel so much better

I think I'd prefer to live in Las Vegas!

I'm Patrick from Peterborough. Not sure how many banders are on here.

It's day 5 and I still feel crap. I ate some mushroom Soup on day 4 that badly agreed with me. I'm back to just liquids now. Still really swollen and bloated. Haven't moved out of bed all day. The good news is I've lost 24lbs since I started the pre-op diet on the 1st Jan

I'm day 4 post surgery and I still feel pretty ****. I've been out and to be honest I shouldn't have. My advice is that to make sure you don't feel completely **** the next day don't do the party. I can't really walk more than a short distance to the shops and back and even then I need a sleep! I certainly couldn't do a party and I was actually quite fit pre-op (marathon and half marathons). They'll be plenty more party's, but at day 5 just chill. But as people have said here everyone's different so that is just my experience based on me. You could be different.

Thanks all. I've asked my Doc and she says after the stitches have been removed. Thanks

Hi, I like running and swimming. I understand that you can't run for 4 weeks after surgery but how about swimming? Thanks

Hi, I travel a lot on business and eating with business colleagues is also important. So I eat in restaurants a lot. Sometimes 3-4 times a week. I'm just about to have a band and this is the only major thing I'm worried about. I'd really appreciate some advice on what I could eat and how much if I go to a 1. Indian restaurant 2. Chinese restaurant 3. In Spain - it's all just meat, meat, meat! Also how can you eat in a restaurant without business colleagues noticing that I'm not eating all my food? Also how to you know how much to eat when you're in a restaurant? Sorry for all the questions I hope someone can help

Thanks everyone for their advice? What's MSG and how can you avoid that in a Chinese?

I was a BMI of 38. For many years I was constantly told by family and work colleagues ( rarely friends ) that I was overweight or putting on weight. Why do people think its ok to talk about other people's weight?? I've been slowly developing weight related health issues over the years. The death of my father and the discovery that men in our family have heart related early deaths spurred me to do something. I was very aware that I was obese for many years and that I needed to do something drastic to really get to a healthy BMI - 25 I'm not going to tell many people that I have had a lapband fitted - including my family. Even though they constantly go on about my weight they won't approve of a lap band. There is a big stigma in the UK, i think, about lapbands. It's not that I don't exercise - I ran a marathon 20 months ago - I just ate far too much and found it impossible to control the quantity I food I ate. So yes, I've also had people say I'm too thin for a lapband. Actually it was 2 staff in the hospital. It did really pee me off because they have no idea of the reasons why I had a lapband fitted and I really don't need hospital staff telling me that!! People have a perception that you have to be so overweight that you can't get out of bed before you have a lapband fitted. The fact is that these people would need to loose a lot of weight before they have a lapband fitted. They should probably have done some about there weight much sooner. Personally I think it's better to get a control of your diet before you get so seriously overweight. I tried hard to do this by running 10k's, numerous half marathons and a marathon - but it wasn't enough.So why not get control of your weight when you're a BMI of 38?? I don't give a flying FCUK what people say about how I've lost weight - it was my decision, its my body. But i'm not going to give anyone the opportunity to comment about my lapband because I'm not going to tell anyone. The people who criticise the use of a lapband will be the first to criticise your weight - so bollocks to them I say.

I was a BMI of 38 before my lapband (yesterday

Yes I had stonkng headaches. I was told I could take paracetamol, which really helped. Headaches are really common because apparently it's your body getting used to less food and the toxins etc coming out. I found that 3-4 days in the headaches disappeared.

I was told I had to do a 10 day per-op diet, which was basically 2 low fat yogurts and 3 pints of milk a day. My problem was that on my third day in I had a 2 day job interview in Spain and the Spanish do business over a meal. So I had to go back to normal food but I was allowed 2 days off the pre diet by my dietician. I'm now 7 days back into the prediet - I had to go 2 Czech on business but I was able to stick to the diet. I had the milk and yogurt in my hotel room fridge! I haven't found it too hard - I did get raging headaches but nothing paracetamol couldn't handle. The biggest challenge was when I was at home and my wife cooked sausages - the smell was torture! But I've developed willpower I didn't know existed. If you really want the benefits of a lapband, then I don't think a prediet is such a big deal.