parisshel

Love tmf's response above. I found 6.5 to be quite tight at the beginning. I waited it out for two weeks, and I still couldn't do solids until dinnertime. So I got .5 taken out, bringing me down to 6.0 total in a 10cc band. That is usually my sweet spot but as I lose weight, I can sense that I'd like a few little cc's more. For me 6.5 was too tight 10 pounds ago, but may be ideal at my current weight. My test on a fill is if I can eat my small bites and small portions of solids for lunch and dinner two weeks after the fill. (Breakfast is not a strong marker because I'm always tight in the morning anyway.) If I can, then I've got the correct level of fill for me.

I've done a blogpost on my Lapband Chronicles blog (link in my signature) for those interested in more than the pics. Thank you all for being my ever-present support group. I give all of you credit for my transformation, as you all keep me motivated, educated and you continue to show me that what I've always wanted---to eat like a normal slim person--is indeed possible.

I had exactly this problem with an overfill. The esophegal spasms were super scary and horribly painful. I could feel them coming on, peaking, and going away. Very similar to labor contractions! I wrote about this in my blog (see my link in my signature)--the post is called The Unfill and it was last January. They only had to take out .5 cc, taking me from 6.5 cc to 6.0 (in a 10cc AP band). Now I'm at my sweet spot. I waffled back and forth whether to wait out the fill for a month...but once those spasms started I knew I could damage my band...it was clearly too tight...so I'm glad I didn't try to brave things out. You know your band. Listen to it when it speaks to you. Let us know how tomorrow goes, and baby your band for the next week after the unfill. If you can take Prilosec or Nexium, do it, as it will help with the irritation from the too-tight restriction.

Proceed with new foods carefully. Try a few pieces of the popcorn...wait 2 minutes to see if it passes the stoma. If it does without discomfort, continue with small bites and slowly. This is my advice for anything new and kinda bulky/dry (like popcorn or chips).

Thanks everybody for the buoying comments. I deeply appreciate each one. Love you all et merci!

I am fascinated by stories from different cultures. I also can't imagine how difficult it must be for her. I had no idea that clothing only goes up to size 12 there. I suppose buying clothing online is certainly an option. The stigma regarding obesity must be overwhelming. Is bariatric surgery even something people know much about? There are certain shops that carry plus size...which means up to size 18 here. The styles are just awful...like plus size used to be in the States 40 years ago...huge flowery drapey caftans. Yes, there is an open stigma against anyone overweight in Paris. It's better looked upon to be an adulterer (see the French President, or Dominique Strauss Kahn's story) or a smoker (no stigma whatsoever) than to be fat. Especially female and fat, because beauty here is highly valued for women. I'll never forget the time my sister in law (French) was pregnant, and she went to see her OB/GYN. She wanted to quit smoking for the future baby's health, and the OB/GYN told her to keep smoking, because it was better to not gain too much weight during her pregnancy, which she certainly would, if she cut out the cigarettes cold turkey. Can you imagine? There are several centers of bariatric excellence here in France. They serve the French of course, and also other europeans who come here for the surgery. I know they do not do lapbands in Switzerland, for example, so the Swiss come to France if they want a lapband.

This is a timely article for me to read. I've always kept my band a bit looser, not so I could overindulge, but because I had a deep fear of ever getting stuck. Having a "looser" band allowed me to choose from a variety of foods (I still did not eat bread, Pasta, rice or potatoes, as these were poorly tolerated by my band and in fact I didn't need them in terms of calories). I greatly enjoy my salads, raw veggies, etc...things that bandsters with too-tight bands avoid. I never once had to reach for a Protein shake, Soup or other (except after a fill of course). Now, due to an ill-advised course of anti-inflammatories that made my stomach swell immensely (the organ, not my tummy), I am living the way-too-tight experience. I cannot for the life of me see how someone would want to live this on a daily basis. I cannot even drink Water without PB-ing (unless it is warm, and unless I take tiny sips). I'm living on yogurt (takes 2 hours to eat a little pot of yogurt), hot tea, soups (again, two hours to drink a bowl) and right now I've been staring into my tuna fish since noon. (It is 2:30 pm and I haven't made a dent in it). I went to get my band unfilled but the radiologist who read the fluoscopy said my band is fine. It's not my band that is tight, it is my stomach that is swollen. With double doses of Nexium over the next weeks, the swelling should go down so he suggested I just tough it out until then rather than get an unfill, and then a refill...etc etc. This episode has given me a real taste at what some people opt to do with their lapbands and I just can't understand why they'd do this by choice. It's certainly not enjoyable, nor no way to live in the longterm.

I think this is a question of time. I predict that WLS will become the gold standard for weight loss and maintenance for obese people in a generation or two. More and more of us are having a WLS, and our results will be collected into databases which will show future practioners, especially when they compare our results with the results of non-surgical dieters (if they can even access them...hello Weight Watchers, I'm speaking to you!), and see that this will be the standard of care for those who seek to get to a healthy BMI and stay there. WE ARE TRAILBLAZERS!

My heart has always felt a pang when I saw a very obese person out and about, and now even more so, when I know (think, perhaps, is a better word) there is a sustainable way for us to get to a healthy, mobile size. It was an odd coincidence, but last Tuesday, afterI had my one-year band consult with my bariatric surgeon, I was taking the bus back home and a massively obese woman got on. It is very rare to see 400-500 pound women in Paris (I'm not sure where they put them!) and I just speculated on what hell her life must be here. She easily filled the two bus seats and spilled over those. She had obviously just come from the bakery and was carrying a fresh baguette (which I imagined other people thinking "That's the last thing she should be eating."). I wondered how she bought clothing here, where the largest size is a size 12 (and that is considered a plus size). Being just fresh from my one-year appointment, where I got so much positive feedback from my surgeon, I wanted to tell her there was a way out of the Obese Ghetto. Of course I didn't say anything, but I so very much wanted to convey this hope to her...that she should not just throw in the towel. I watched her struggle to get up and off the bus at her stop, and then shuffle/walk into her building. It was just so sad...this lack of mobility, lack of being able to move freely in the world. Now I'm depressing myself and will stop here.

I'm so sorry to read this happened to you. I feel so badly for you. You made a huge decision thinking it would restore your health, get you to a good weight, etc...and then this nightmare! I feel very lucky that I live 15 minutes from the hospital and the bariatric service that did my lapband. Your story really underscores that it is essential to know where the nearest and most-informed bariatric practice is should an emergency situation arise. Again, I'm so sorry you are living this, after thinking that this option would be the one to bring you back to health.

I can imagine that it is bittersweet for you, Donna. I'll be thinking of you, and I'll take this opportunity to thank you for your posts which I've always found valuable. Wishing you a smooth and uneventful de-banding and a rapid climb back to good health.

One thing I find that is helpful for my mind is to really live this WLS in the present moment. When I would do the "traditional" diets, I was always about weight loss x time = goal weight. You know, "if I lose 2 lbs a week, I'll hit my goal in a year!!!!" I don't do this at all, thanks to my lapband. It really keeps my mind in the here and now, the day to day. Maybe because it's always there? I'm not sure how this tool altered my old way of thinking, but it did. Not hitting the gym on one day (or several) no longer makes me want to go off the wagon (because I can't anyway, with my wonderful band), but also because with WLS you have an auto-reset each second of the day. With traditional diets, you don't....the reset is up to you. Which relies entirely on will-power alone, which, for me, was not easily summoned up. You are early out, but my sense is with your continued success, you'll also be able to release some of these old fears that you won't be able to do this or maintain this. Those fears were legitimate, because it is true that very few people lose lots of weight and keep it off when using a non-surgical method. But it's a whole new empowering ballgame when you bow down to WLS. My advice is live this fully in the moment, renew it every 24 hours, and you'll be able to let go of those fears for the future. What you are doing now, with your WLS, is doable and sustainable. Keep it up!~

I agree with the above answers, and will add my own, short answer. One of the main reasons I got banded was to release myself from the On Program/Off Program mentality that diets such as JC, WW etc imposed on me. This On/Off way of thinking was unhealthy and never successful in the longterm. In fact, it just led to seeing foods as "good" or 'bad" and always always always led me to binge on the "bad" foods once I deviated from the structure of the "diet", This is why I see a red flag in your statement: And I can eat off plan occasionally and still be safe. I totally understand your reasoning, don't get me wrong. But I think it would be a great exercise for you to truly reflect on why you got WLS, and what you want, mentally, from your band. We all want weight loss, of course, but the true and essential value to me from my lapband is the mental change of how I approach my eating and my food. I really value that I'm never on or off a program, because my lapband is always there...dimming my appetite and controling my portions. What I wanted from my band is for it to turn me into a "normal" eater. A normal eater who chooses sensibly from an array of all foods. I am very grateful for my weight loss, certainly, but even more grateful for the release from the "diet" mentality that I had before I got banded. I hope this helps you.

Yes! You describe exactly what was going on. I dreaded having to get up from the bed and "perfected" a similar move: like log rolling...I'd s-l-o-w-l-y roll over onto my side, grasp the headboard, push myself up to about 45 degrees (this is when the pain REALLY took off and I'd have to self-talk my way through this) and drop my legs to the floor. Then I'd reach for crutches and slowly lift myself up off the bed with my crutches. My crutches served to kind of separate my vertebrae so I could get up without full impact on the pinched nerve. I thought about dropping to the floor but wasn't convinced I could get back up again...like if I could do a movement that didn't trigger more pain. I very much envied men who could just pee in a bottle from the bed...because seriously, the only reason I was even moving from the bed the first days was because I had to go pee...and that was another whole story of pain. So much pain I braced myself against the bathroom walls just to sit, and had to tear the TP off the roll with my teeth. Oh lord thank you for modern medicine. And my work stop, so I can get the full benefit of this shot before I have to go back to the office. Have a great day and stay painfree!

Gosh, I hope mine lasts long enough for the disk to slip back into place. It really is the difference between heaven and hell for me right now. To be out of that teeth-clenching pain for the first time in weeks was just....transformative. I have such empathy for those who live in chronic pain now. Crossing my fingers this will give me relief until the "mechanics" of my problem reset themselves right. Glad you get some relief from the meloxicam...and once you get disc surgery, you'll be right as rain.

I've been posting a lot about this topic over the past month on this forum because I've had relentless pain since early February. Here's what my experience with NSAIDS (specifically Advil) was: On Feb 3rd I slipped a disk in my back. Long story short, I could not get out of pain with Lapband-compliant painkillers, which included Tylenol with codeine (in very large amounts), Valium (as a muscle relaxant, not for the fun of it), and tramadol, which is just a pain-masker. What I truly needed was an anti-inflammatory. So my GP put me on the lowest dose of Advil for the shortest amount of time, hoping this would do the trick. Please note my GP is obviously not my WLS surgeon. My WLS surgeon had already told me no anti-inflammatories without getting an unfill, since the anti-inflammatories not only provoke ulcers, but make your stomach (the organ itself, not your tummy) swell and press into the band. We all know that a stomach pressing into a band is not a good thing...not only because you'll be so tight you'll suffer, but for the potential of band slippage or erosion. I could not follow my surgeon's advice because I was in so much pain I couldn't get to the radiology clinic to get unfilled. I could not walk five feet, let alone get in a car and up on an exam table. So I did three days of Advil, dosed at 400 mg twice a day. And alternated with the Tylenol with codeine and the Valium. (Thankfully I was put on work stop and did not have to drive...man, I was a loopy mess.) The amount of Advil was not enough to get the inflammation down and I was still in excruciating pain. But my GP said she really could not in good faith let me continue with the Advil, since I was already displaying signs that my band was getting too tight--it wasn't bothersome, but I could tell my stoma was becoming more restricted. Oh, and I was on Nexium at this time, too, to protect my stomach. Finally I bit the bullet and leaned into my pain, and went to the hospital where I got a scan done to see precisely where the problem was. The protuding disk was identified, and 24 hours later I got an epidural steroid injection (and let me take a moment here to thank all the Bariatric pals who responded to my question about steroid injections.) This was absolutely the way to go and I wish I had not suffered for 5 weeks uselessly trying to get rid of a pain that clearly needed large doses of anti inflammatories to go away. The injection is totally compliant with a Lapband, as the steroid stays localized and does not effect the band or the stomach in any way, shape or form, contrary to oral anti-inflammatories which work systemically (as the above-posters say...the medicine goes all over your body, and does not only target the area where your pain is, so of course your stomach is involved.) The point of this post is actually to share with you what my experience with three days of Advil provoked. Even though I "only" took 2400 mg total over the three days, my stomach eventually swelled up to the point that I PB all liquids (even hot tea doesn't pass) and have not been able to eat any solids---even yogurt---for a couple of days. And to think: I stopped the Advil on February 20th and it is almost one month later but the side effects of that low dose was enough to have my stomach swell up and make me unable to follow my normal band compliant way of eating. I go tomorrow to get an unfill, done under fluoroscopy thankfully, because I don't want a complete unfill, but just enough so that my stomach can recover and I'm not risking damaging the band. As soon as my stomach recovers, I will refill to my current level, which under normal conditions is my sweet spot. This may not be your experience, and certainly sounds like it is not the experience of the above posters who do use anti inflammatories for other pain-related reasons, but this is what I experienced and just want to put it out there for information purposes.

Yes, no question about it for me. Even hot tea is not going down for me. I've got an unfill scheduled for tomorrow (Monday). My stomach swelled up due to taking 3 days of Advil for backpain. Even though I stopped the Advil on February 20th, and even though it was a short course of a small amount, it was enough proof to me that anti inflammatories + stress of illness (in my case, pain), makes a band close. I tried to wait it out, but PB'ing Water, tea, all liquids, and an inability to swallow anything solid is no way to live, and can cause a lapband slip or erosion. So I'll unfill what is necessary tomorrow, let my stomach heal, and get refilled when everything recovers. I'm glad you are doing this with a barium swallow, as they will get an accurate reading on how restricted you are, and be able to adjust the band accordingly. Love that my place ONLY does fills/unfills this way.

Look at you...so beautiful and confident and smiling all over! Love that form-fitting beige dress...a perfect choice to show off all your hard work. Not just Miss Pearlie's work, lady, but yours as well. Take credit as credit is due

Yuck. That's a bad feeling. Probably the pill just dissolved right there and now there's some irritation left. Should go away in a couple of days, but just don't eat anything rough or really spicy...baby your throat for now. I'm sure you won't do this again! (My band doc told me to always take my pills one at a time and allow them to pass the band before putting in the next one.)

I've asked my surgeon this question but he is out of the country and his secretary is not answering...so I'm putting it to you all in the meantime... I've been on a work stop for 2 weeks due to protruding disks in my lower back. Because bandsters can't take high doses of anti-inflammatories, my GP has been trying everything else to get my pain level down. I've done: Advil over a period of three days (now my band is super tight due to the stomach swelling effects, but that's OK; it will go down); high doses of Tylenol with Codeine, Valium, daily massage by a physio therapist who comes to my home, and bed rest. I finally was able to get out to get a scan which showed the problem. The doctor who did the scan suggests a steriod injection at the site. He says the cortisone stays locally and does not circulate systemically, and as such should pose no problem in terms of stomach irritation and band complications. Has anyone on this forum had a steriod injection (anywhere---knee, foot, shoulder, lower back) and is what the doctor saying accurate? In other words, I don't have to go get a complete unfill before getting the injection? Thanks in advance!

Yes, it went away with the cortisone shot and had self-resolved by the time the shot wore off...around 3 months, I believe. I later had a heel spur that also got treated with a shot, and that also self-resolved by the time the shot wore off. There are great exercises on the Mayo clinic site to keep plantar fasciitis away once you've gotten rid of it. I still do them each morning, and my spell of PF must have been around 16 years ago, and it never came back (knock wood).

Thanks, everybody, who responded. I just came back from the hospital and the injection was done so easily! Less stress than a band fill, imho. I'm already in less pain and will take it easy for a few days to get the full benefit going. Leepers, I had that steroid flare up too, when I got a shot years ago in my foot for plantar facitis (sp). I also remember that it really hurt a lot the next day as the cortisone "set up"....it was like sparks of pain. I asked the rhumatologist if I could expect this same thing but she said the lumbar steroid injection is not at all like what they use for plantar facitis. That seems odd to me, but at least I know that if I do get a sunburned back, or if tomorrow the pain sparks, it's totally normal. Thanks again, fellow bandsters...love you all and will love you all even more once I'm painfree!