dustout

Since getting banded, I burp a WHOLE lot. Before banding I pretty much never did. Now pretty much after ever meal I burp. Real big ones. Very unlike me. It feels like they are coming from deep within my stomach. It's like after the last of the food makes it through the band that a massive amount of air escapes or something. I have had zero complications with the band other than that... I'm not terribly restricted though since I'm losing weight still like this. I will be very happy to keep this as my only complication though... =) It's just... interesting. Can someone please move this post to pre-op, post-op questions? I posted this in the wrong place somehow...

This poll is for those that have already reached their sweet spot ONCE. I am curious is how much people eat right before their fills once they've gotten to their sweet-spot once. Do you eat just a little more than half a cup before you go in for a fill? 3/4? 1? Two cups? Somewhere in between? I made it multiple choice since it may vary widely, I dont know. If you choose more than one answer, please post so in your reply. Thanks! I think this will be interesting. AGAIN, If you have NEVER reached your sweet spot yet (ie first fills after surgery) please do NOT vote! Before you get to your first sweet spot, most everyone eats a lot. Thanks!

I got approved about a month ago but I figured I would let people know in case anyone else wonders about things with this insurance. I have Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. It took about a month before I was approved. They claimed they were very behind for some reason so it took longer than normal. I only had to show some kind of proof that I attempted other weight loss methods and failed. In my case this included a life long history of up and down diets and I tried phentermine for a couple of months. They are also going to cover the assisting surgeon and the Lovenox injections after. They approved me for same-day outpatient (unless of course there's a complication). Hope this helps someone at some point! Surgery date is October 15, 2007!

I went in to get my third fill recently. I was at 6.0cc in a 10cc AP Lapband and eating 1 cup of food or just a hair more than that at each meal plus Snacks in between. However, I was still losing 2.3 pounds per week average according to them although I could SWEAR they have my previous weight down wrong. I was denied a fill since I was still losing, although that's due to me exercising myself crazy so I will keep losing. While I agree that that's a better way to lose than restricting eating, I'm burning out hardcore and cannot sustain this level of activity. It needs to go down a notch. I just hate to stop losing before I get the fill. I'm now eating about a cup and 1/3 at every meal plus snacks. Right after my second fill I was down to half a cup. This now seems like SO much food. It also makes it very difficult to keep my calorie intake low since the food quantity isn't terribly small. Any slip-ups and I'm done for. I know the band is a tool and all but it sure seems like I'm not getting to use my tool terribly well right now. At the beginning of talking to my doctor, I told them I wasn't getting hungry between meals but that was wrong. I mis-spoke since I was thinking of my in-between snacks as meals. When I pointed that out to my doctor she said "Oh now you're changing your story. why do you want a fill so much?" and she got very mean like I was lying to her. I just mis-spoke. I eat three meals a day plus 2 to 3 snacks. I tried to explain it to her and that I just felt that a small fill would help it from being so on edge with being too much. She said that even a small fill would make me have malnutrition. Does a small fill when you're eating a cup to a hair over a cup really make you go below half a cup? I remember having restriction after my second fill and I was doing great. That's gone now though but my doctor doesn't seem to believe me. I'm very frustrated that my doctor thinks I'm a liar and was very rude to me. She isn't my surgeon. I think she is his assistant or something. I will probably try to wait a couple of weeks and call in to get a fill appointment and hopefully I can get one then. My weight loss is slowing down quickly. I do still have restriction but it's so so so much less than it used to be. So back to the topic title. I'm curious how much food you guys eat when at your sweet spot. My doctor says 1/2 cup to a cup is the sweet spot. I was under the impression that it was closer to 1/2 cup. I just really feel from the way she got hateful and rude that she thinks I'm mis-representing my food intake to get tighter. I dread going back now and I'm really unhappy that I have to feel dread going to get fills like I'm being interrogated and like they are looking for me to slip up in what I say. I'd love to hear from you guy's experience. I'm new to the band and have only had good restriction for a couple of weeks so far. I need some more fill or I'm gonna poop out on exercising. I'm doing far more than my doctor even suggests. Just a little fill is all I want! I want to use my tool combined with exercise like it's intended to be... or so I thought. Thank you guys for any input. It's great here! :eek:

Hey guys... thought you might be interested in this as you start working to lose weight! By filling out a short (like 5 questions, took me about 1 minute to fill out including mailing address) survery Pfizer will sent you a pedometer to help you track how many steps you take! myheartnow | A Guide To Heart Health Good luck losing weight!

I hadn't heard of the AP band until recently (after my surgery!) so I figured I would create a topic about it to help spread the information. The AP (Advanced Performance) Lapband was designed to address known problems with the original Lapband and attempt to mitigate them. It's new design is hoped to reduce slippage, erosion, and increase the speed of weight loss by blocking food more efficiently. They also say that they believe the new design will reduce blockages. It's new so they don't know how much these improvements help or if they even do. However, it's believed they will, hence the changes. New features: 1. Cuff - the cuff on the AP band is 360 degrees around, as opposed to about 300 degrees on the prior bands (there was no cuff around the buckle on the old ones) 2. Cuff length - the cuff on the AP band is 18mm longer/taller than on the previous bands, so the surface area in contact with the stomach is much greater, hopefully increasing the speed of weight loss and maybe reducing the risk of slips 3. Cuff volume - the AP small holds 10cc, the AP large holds 14cc 4. "Omniform" Technology. The inflatable silicon portion of the band in contact with the stomach is 'pleated' to reduce chances of slippage and grip the stomach better. 5. An easier release mechanism to remove the band. This increases the ability to use laproscopy should the Lap-band need removal. 6. Softer silicon is used in the new AP band. New band: Older bands: Normal on left; VG on right:

It's been about one year for us October 2007 bandsters! Post here and let us know how much weight you've lost, how many CC's you have in your band (including your band size), and if you've had any problems. Please also share any tips or ideas for sticking to your band diet, staying on track, or healthy Snacks, etc. I'll start: I've lost 88 pounds. I've been at a stand-still for a couple of months since I have been needing a fill but have been putting it off. I'm at 7.4CC in the 10CC AP Lapband and have a fill scheduled for 2 days from now. My biggest weaknesses are crunchy salty things (like chips), and icecream. Ever since the liquid diet, I can't get enough crunchy, salty stuff. I have to fight that, especially as I have little restriction now so I think about food a lot. Icecream is an evil since I live half a block from a Braum's and they have delicious icecream and I can eat a lot of it since the band doesn't restrict it much (still only eat about half of the amount of icecream compared to pre-band though) so I have to be careful with that as well. I really wish I didn't have to deal with a doctor to get a fill. I hate going in since the doctor that does the fills only gives you a fill if you're eating 1 cup or more. If you're still under a cup, you keep losing until you reach a cup, and this is a pain since not losing is why I need a fill to begin with. It's really frustrating. I lose 2 to 2.5 pounds per week when I'm at half a cup per meal and I don't get hungry between meals. When I'm eating 1 cup per meal I'm hungry all the time, snack a ton, and don't lose weight and have to exercise non-stop to not gain. Very frustrating... :tt2: I'm currently walking 30min 5 days a week, cardio elliptical or biking twice a week for a hour, and resistance training twice per week focusing on muscle growth (to help boost metabolism). I really should be losing with all this exercise so I reaaaally need a fill. I can't stand not losing weight. I'm under my one-year goal by twentyish pounds. =( So, please share your status with us including your current weight, fill, lapband size, and any problems or tips!

My port is about a inch and a half below my right ribs and to the left of the lowest rib point about an inch. Feels almost as big around as a quarter and hard. As I lose weight it's getting easier and easier to feel it if I touch there, especially when laying down on my back. It doesn't bother me at all though.

I'm scheduled for a fill tomorrow. I always get nervous before a fill and question myself. That's probably a big part of why I've put it off this long. I know I need a fill, but I second guess myself, especially since my doctor's office is really stressful about fills and give me huge anxiety over it. I feel like I'm being interrogated when I go in. :crying:

How many pounds do you lose between each time you reach your sweet spot and then get another fill? I'm curious about the typical amount of weight you guys lose between going back for another fill. For me it seems to be around 20 pounds between my sweet spot (half cup food, not hungry between meals) and back to eating a cup of food and being hungry often and between meals. Do NOT vote on this if... you have not successfully reached your sweet spot ever.

Dr. Lana Nelson / Dr. Ronnie Keith's office number is 1-405-360-7100. Dr. Keith was my surgeon.

I'm stuck as well. I'm eating around a cup of food for ever meal and snacking in between and have been for a couple of months. I've been TRYING to lose weight eating this amount, but it's just not going to happen even though I'm exercising a lot. I'm scheduled for a fill in two days and I'm going back on a STRICT band diet. I've gotten really lazy on following it... In the beginning of being with the band I would 'cheat' a little, but more and more bad things have been sneaking in. Good luck to everyone else and I hope to get more involved on the forums again. They really help me to remember why I did all of this.

So you've gotten to your sweet spot (oops typo in the poll question! swet spot, lol), but you've lost weight and alas, you've lost it! You finally decide it's time for a fill. How long after a meal before you get hungry again? As in, how long do you stay satisfied for when you need a fill but havent gotten one yet? If you haven't reached your sweet spot at least once, don't answer this. :purplebananna: I'm curious how long people stay satisfied when it's time for a fill.

The first 80 pounds came off like a breeze compared to pre-band diets.... (I was lucky with that! I know!) But then all the sudden I can barely lose at all. I'm currently losing less than 1 pound per week now (some weeks a lot less) and I've ramped up exercising a whole lot in the past month and a half... My current exercise is: 1-2 hours of continuous tennis with my roommate every 2 days at night Full-body exerciser thing in the living room for about 15 minutes on the non-tennis days (you push with your legs and pull with your arms... sort of rowing maybe?) Most non-tennis days I do about 35 reps of 8lb weights in various positions and directions to help maintain muscle tone in my arms Nightly squats while brushing teeth (hillarious if you think about it), about 40 right now nightly I get hungry about every 3-4 hours. My calorie intake hovers around 800, ranging from 700-1000. I try to throw Fiber filled alternatives to things where I can and I add benefiber to things occasionally. I take a Multivitamin daily, and an extra multivitamin every other day (Centrum chewables), Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and B12 sublingual. I TRY to get Calcium... I hate all the sources of it though so this has been really really hard for me. I eat the calcium chews sometimes but they have like 30 cals each so it's hard to make myself do that. I have calcium powder I add to Protein drinks, and some nasty nasty chewable crunchy eggshell things that are high in calcium. I know I'm not getting as much calcium as I should though. Protein is low though; I know, although not sure how much. I ate lots and lots of Protein shakes and meat for a while and got really tired of it. I've been slowly integrating more carbs into my meals... not intentionally but they have been sneaking in. Although I've kept calories in check during this sneak-in, weight loss has stopped. I'm getting around 50g protein. Muscle mass seems to be holding- although perhaps not increasing much?, and I don't notice any hair loss. I used to get a ton more protein. My doctor's nutritionist said 120g protein which seems super high... but maybe that's best? I don't know how I could get THAT much though... I don't think I've seen anyone on here say that much was recommended to them. I'm 5'10" and male. With this diet, and calorie intake, would low protein cause such a halting of weight loss? Is it possible that my exercise routines are gaining me muscle that makes my weight loss slow down? I've been through the nutrition briefings, read the forum, and even took a college level nutrition class, and this stuff is all so confusing. So many variables. It's always calories in vs calories out but I know that basal metabolism can plummet if things aren't in proper order. I know I need to increase protein either way, but it would be great to know if this is what is causing my the hell of stunned weight loss. It's been so frustrating to eat small but proper portion sizes, and exercise a ton, and see no movement. I really could drop all the exercising and eat more and not gain so it's becoming REALLY hard to stick with this, although I'm determined to budge the scale! I could go in a for a little fill to get me back down to eating half a cup (I'm around 3/4th cup right now) but that feels like a bandaid solution to a bigger problem at this point. Before I went in for fills before I really felt like I was eating TOO MUCH, TOO OFTEN.... right now it's just not that extreme. I want to get to losing how I SHOULD be at my current intake before jumping back on a higher restriction. More fill right now also might cause less loss due to increase restriction of whatever I'm lacking, if I am. Sorry for such a long post. Even posting this I'm thinking it's probably the protein, I just would love some more input and advice. It's good to hear it from others as well. Next time I go to the store I need to stick to meat and veggies else I be tempted by the carb demons!

I think my problem right now is my metabolism has crashed. I'm eating the lower amount a bandster should eat and pretty healthy food choices, and exercising, but the loss is just crawling the past couple of months. I'm trying to up my Protein intake. I think since my protein intake was so low it encouraged my metabolism to get super lazy. Hopefully this will help. I'm going to burn out exercising if it keeps not doing anything more than sitting around lol... I know that's a bad way to look at it, but it's hard to not be lazy when it doesn't seem to make much of a difference (although I do feel better when I do it! I got pretty spoiled early on... The first 80 calories basically came off with almost no effort. I followed the diet and the pounds just jumped off of me. If I exercised, they jumped off even faster! I guess those days are gone.

Congratulations!!! I finally hit 198 the other day. I'm 24 now and the last time I was under 200 was like 11 years old so I'm super excited lol.

I discovered an evil delicious food: Cajun Sesame Sticks. Oh. My. God. I call them Cajun Crack because I swear they put illegal drugs in them, they are so good. Granted, not all that healthy. I thought I would just eat a few ever so often for a few sticks of crunch. Sadly I ate a lot of them and they caused 'burns' in my mouth with tiny bumps on my tounge and made the corner of my mouth raw and it ended up splitting. It was awful! That was about a week ago, and my mouth is pretty much healed. A couple days after eating that though, eating has started being a big uncomfortable. A bit of pain, but very slight. I'd describe it like feeling like I have the hugest burp ever, but burping doesn't help. Also swallowing Water seems to be slowed down- I used to be able to gulp just fine. I can eat fine but things feel like they are going down slowly. I also seem to be able to feel things going down more than normal. I think the cajun sesame sticks of crackdom irritated not only my mouth, but also my esophagus. I'm probably going to go liquids for the next couple of days and see if there's any improvement. I've had ZERO band complications except sliming once for a few minutes when I was stupid and swallowed some tough meat instead of spitting it out. My biggest band problem is my roommate eating lots of icecream products (he is skinny) and he always keeps it around so it tempts me sometimes. But other than that, things have been great. I hope the spicy stuff just irritated things...

For insurance to pay for my banding, I have to get a referral from a general doctor to do this. Did anyone else have to do this, and how hard was it? Most of my dieting has been on my own. My doctor did give me Phentermine for a couple of months a couple of times but it was awful. I was really hyper but I feel high all the time and it made me unstable emotionally. I've always been fine emotionally but it messed me up horribly while I was on it. I'm a bit worried that my doctor may not referr me since my diet attempts have been on my own. I know a 'doctor assisted' diet won't any better. Any weight I lose will just come back. When I diet I usually lose about 10 or so pounds then gain it back over the next few months as I cant stay on a diet any longer as I seem to platue and I'm miserably hungry. I eat too much. I'm 23 and have tried losing weight so many times. I've tried Atkins for 6 months and lost 20 pounds but I couldn't stay on it and gained most of it back over the next few months. That was my most successful weight loss attempt. My highest adult weight was 300 and my lowest is 280 which I am now. Any suggestions on things to say to the doctor to help him realize that this is for me? My doctor is associated with my insurance so I'm worried they may try to avoid surgery if they can since that will cost them more... I have high blood pressure, Multiple Sclerosis, and diabetes and heart problems run in my family. From my point of view it seems pretty obvious that this is something I need to get and will be in my best interest. Thanks!

You NEED Protein. You are recovering from SURGERY! Get some healthy protein shakes and sip on those all day. You need nutrients and protein to heal. Living on broth, Jello, and Water is a recipe for poor healing, feeling like crap, and harming yourself. That's just not healthy at all. Water down the Protein Drink if you need to, but get those nutrients in! Diarrhea will also dehydrate you and throw your electrolytes off like crazy! Post-op is not the time to lose weight, it is the time to heal. Coming out of surgery healthily is the important thing. There is plenty of time for losing weight after you have healed. Good luck to your journey and take care of yourself! Be careful with your doctor's suggestions. His diet seems extremely unhealthy. Broth, jello, and water do not have the nutrients you need under normal circumstances, let alone recovering from having holes poked in you! Keep us updated! I hope you get better!

I'm 6 months out and still burping. It probably depends on your fill level, your own stomach, how well you chew, what you eat, etc... I think the stoma helps trap air when you eat and it builds up until it unleashes a massive burp of air.

That's great news! I'm so glad things are going better for you so you can enjoy the band and food better again.

no problem :ohmy:

Do any of you have the newer AP Lapband? I'm going to call my surgeon tomorrow and ask him if that's what I have. I hope so. Reading up on it, it seems to have some nice improvements over the older models of Lapband.

Anthem covers Lapband. Check this link for all the details to see if you qualify under their terms. Note that your employer may have opted to EXCLUDE this, but it is there by default. Check with Anthem on your exact policy to verify. You can quite this policy and make sure you dont have an exlusion. SURG.00024 Surgery for Clinically Severe Obesity They covered me 100%. I was 41 BMI, no co-morbidities. There is another thread I started on Anthem here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f8/approved-anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-42639/

Anthem BC/BS covered my surgery 100%. They have TOLD me that fills ARE covered also on two occassions. They gave me this reference number: 0207589397001. I will be using this code with my doctor to file for my fill in two days. I will let you know how it goes.