desertmom

I would definetly consult the dr's first.The problem is that you still have quite a bit of weight to lose and there is still high risks with pregnancy and overweight......eg.bloodpressure problems....ect...... Just make sure that everything is well controlled.......

Hi Kathy No,my dr just dont think it is serious....I'm going to South Africa on holiday in December and will go for tests there.I actually know of a very reputable dr there that does banding ....so let's see what's up....Yip weightloss is ok but I do the self sabotage thing a lot....could be faster....

hi Well,I had more to lose from the beginning so I suppose I am slow too.I have lost 63 pounds since the operation but 95 since 21 Feb which is fine.........I lose 5 pounds gain 3 back lose it again and then stall for a while....then I repeat the proses again.......so not bad for all that...... Still,reflux and pain drives me crazy some days......still not sure where it comes from.....but at least I am losing weight........7ml in 9ml band

Even though my band is a bit different it certainly does some things for me. I gained no weight while on summer holiday......huge....previously I gained up to 6 pounds a week on holidays.... I cannot binge to the extent that I could before but to outeat this band is so easy....I went through a bad patch a while ago....I constantly grazed soft junk for 4 days and just couldnt stop myself.... Had another fill and for now that is under control.. The person that finds the remedy for head hunger will be the most successful person that will ever exist on this earth...... When I have little restriction I want to eat.I still obsess about food and I still think about food a lot... The bad habits can only be changed by ourselves.....the band can only help with portion size and only when restricted.... It is hard work everyday.It is self control and all those things that most of us dont have. Mostly it is the decision to get thin that will ultimately work with the band.... Long preachy but really neccessary to hear when pre-op.

hi Little unfill in order, it seems.I have a 9cc band and maybe just a .5 or 1 ml unfill will do wonders for you....all the symptoms you describe seems like to tight fill.My dr is De Bruyne and when I am to tight I have the same symptoms....

OK,found it....

What Funeral Post?

hi I have one of the bigger bands.As far as I can see,if you are very small you might have problems with restriction if they put one of the bigger bands (that takes up to 9 or 11mls...)They often have to be filled to capacity and beyond for small people to get propper restriction.That is only one of the negatives of it.Positive that I know of is it is softer and shapes better around the stomach and is said to cause less erosion....but that still remains to be seen as the bigger bands have only recently become popular.... Just my 2 cents......

Hi Just a quickie.....2 days after I got out of hospital I thought I would weigh myself and sure,I was surprised....I weighed exactly what I weighed before I started my pre-op liquids for 2 weeks.....14 pounds heavier in 3 days.......I was devastated......I thought I would die.....It took me about 2 weeks to lose that weight......and then I started losing slowly.....it was mentally very hard..... But I have now lost 52 pounds since the op and if I applied myself better and made better food choices I would definetely have lost more.....I now (since I started feeling a bit better,little reflux....) cheat a lot and make really bad choices a lot...... Just be patient.I also thought I'd made a huge mistake with this operation but now I know I will lose all my weight before my band have to be removed..... Keep the faith,you will lose...

Hi I had the band 30 April and have had a lot of abdominal pain and reflux since then.I have lost 50 pounds.Gained only 3 while on holiday this summer (miracle I should say!!) I am frustrated because at this point I am living with the reflux and outeating the band......meaning grazing to much carbs during the day...BUT...even though I am having problems I think the band can work really well if you dont have complications.....

hi I think a lot of us ask the same question while on liquids but it really gets better as far as the eating's concerned..... Just keep the faith and stick it out,it is really going to be ok. Get some slim Soup.Low cal and very satisfying.Also, Optimel liquid yogurt is great.Dont torture yourself at this stage by not eating enough "nice" liquids.... Hope you feel better soon..

Hi I definetely know that my dr uses something different than saline.I forgot to check the name of it.Will find out what it is when I go back.

hi My dr put me on a fat free diet for 2 weeks.Everytime I said I would do liquids for that time he said no,no.... fat free only.Fasting 12 hours pre-op.

hi Nexium and Zantac and bob's my uncle......I feel one hundred persent better at the moment.If I eat to late at night or eat to much still have heartburn but if I behave the medication helps a lot.Also no calsium channel blockers for me....changed my bloodpressure meds to and that has helped as well. ok,just thought I'd say.....at the moment I love the band again....I losing weight and feeling ok......

hi It is so good to hear that you are doing so well. Yo-yo dieting, losing and gaining 100 pounds every 2 years for like the past 15 years have changed my size.I started at 318 pounds pre-op and am 273 now.Size started at 30 and is now 26.Age of course also plays a big role....... Keep up the good work!!!!!!

hi I take prevacid everyday.I also got the reflux when I would try to exercise.Now I swim a little but no real exercise....bad bad.....I tried for about 6 weeks (after the initial 3 weeks...) and well,reflux reflux. Prevacid and less Water.....I know this sounds strange but drinking to much water seemed to make it worse.And I chew sugar free gum and that helps for the reflux and heartburn....I dont know why....I read about it on a website..... Hope it goes away......

hi Dont underestemate South Africa.There is more band dr's now than we realize.I am from the capital Pretoria and depending on where you are going (big city versus small town..)there will definetely be fill dr's,dont worry about that. A lot more weightloss surgery there than before.Even an operation where they just do the lower limb malnutrition switch of the RNY and people lose a lot of weight and keep it off.(I was still to scared for that...) Good luck with having your band replaced.Relax and dont worry.SA as far as being banded's concerned will be a breeze.

This band is just the strangest thing.I can eat any type of meat cooked any way but all vegetables and all fruit gives me heartburn and reflux. When I eat only meat the heartburn seems way less.......

My best friend in this country.For 4 days after the operation she visited and then 2 days later asked me to go for coffee (we go out a lot in this place)I said I wasnt feeling up to it yet.The next day she phoned to say we should go to a movie,I wasnt feeling up to that.Then we went over for supper and I couldnt eat,was still on liquids and that was that. We have been excluded from our Friday brunches (Friday is Sunday here and everyone goes brunch buffet at hotels)Even when having cookouts at home we havent been included.Everytime she needed to talk about something I saw her and finally she didnt even say goodbye when leaving for summer...... Must say she is a very spoilt person and everyone dances a lot to her tune.I never minded it because I could still keep my distance when I wanted but well,enough is enough and that is not friendship. You never know the people you call your friend for long because everyone is only here for a few years at a time and then move on again... Anyhow,people that I didnt consider my friend actually showed more friendship in the past 3 months than I knew possible.So this is a good learning experience as well. I must say what with heartburn and reflux in afternoon we havent been social like before and dont entertain like before.That will surely change after summer.

I just cannot understand that more of his patients are not experiencing the same symptoms that I have.Some are on Pariet and Nexium but I couldnt find one that had this "bubbling liquid" in the throat like I have.I dont really think that the problem is only food related.Sometimes when I havent eaten anything it is as bad as just after a meal. Anyway,I will definately do something about this after my holiday.Summer here is just difficult.I dont think he even does operations here in summer.I have made contact with more of the local patients and will start a support group later this year.Then I suppose one might see if anyone else have the same issues. It is just no different with liquids.Even when my stomach is empty I sometimes "gurgle,gargle,dont know the right word....fluid.. Not having a pouch doesnt make any sense to me.I just wish it was different.I didnt have the other ops to not have complications.who knew that I would have these problems. I will go to another local dr that does the band and see what he says about it.Point is unless I am willing to pay another 12000 dollars what is my options?And having experienced this,who would pay that much to take another risk of not knowing if it would be different (my dr says even if he moved the band my body would most likely react the same to it again.....) Anyhow,no use crying over spilled milk as they say.....Life goes on.But this has really changed my outlook on things a little.A stupid thing like swallowing or not being able to can really ruin one's day quite easily.

:think Hi I've had 2 fills.4cc in 9cc band.First fill didnt feel much...second fill lasted for 2 weeks and just like that all restriction gone again..... We are going on a yacht cruise in 3 weeks time and I am scared to go for a fill before then.But I can eat a lot again and when it is physically possible I seem to struggle with my head a lot............gained 4 pounds this week...... How long does restriction last after 3rd fill? Thanks

hi I am doing better.The very bad heartburn seems to be gone.I still have lot of Fluid in my throat and real difficulty swallowing at times.Sometimes starts in morning even before I have eaten anything and some days only starts at 16:00. It seems that one can learn to live with everything though and seeing as there is no answers for me, that is what I am doing.It is not comfortable and I dont by any stretch of the immagination feel normal or even like before but I have run out of options about this.It is still very disapointing to me that I have to live like this now but again,options?I drink Pariet,Librax,Rennies and anything else the dr feel I should to try and relieve this. My frustration is that I dont have restriction and I need to make this band work and lose weight so I can have it removed again.Yes,that seems to be the dr's answer for my problems but I am not going to let him do that until I got some value for my money from this band. I have lost a huge amount of centimeters already and 43 pounds so all was not in vain. I still hope that whatever is causing this will just dissapear one day and I will be like all the other bandsters. Thought the band helped one lose weight.Never thought it would be heartburn and reflux and not being able to swallow that would make me lose weight.Oh,by the way,how do you skip a fill?

ok stop!!!! I have done exactly the same the past week and for 4 days have eaten "normal" amounts and food.Still same portions than my 4 year old. but I kept on nibbling stuff all the time.Yip,diet ice cream (2) crisps low fat (2) yogurt full fat.....little block of chocolate (havent done that since banding) even had 2 slices of toats...... And everyday the scale just moved up and up... Today do something drastic.Sit down and decide what you are going to eat for the day.Plan it and do it...drink your Water.Look at yourself in the mirror.... If all else fails do the cabbage Soup diet (LOL)I am......and it sucks but Protein with veg seems like heaven now.... OK,I am doing therapy for myself in your threat,sorry........

hi Rene, I have side effects.And yes one can manage it but it would have been prefrable not to have to....Had these problems since the first day after banding.Never had it before.Am a model patient.Hate the idea that people think one does this to yourself with wrong eating or drinking.I have "cheated" with food twice in 10 weeks and in my previous life that would have been considered a small snack. Heartburn and reflux.Im not very restricted but only able to eat 90 grams of either fish or chicken breast most days twice a day as I am restricted in the morning.(Physically Im able to eat a lot more though...but reflux dont allow it...)Almost anything else gives me heartburn. I am losing weight fast because I really cannot eat a lot and dont.i cannot drink anything but water and havent for almost, heck I dont even know,more than a month... It is not easy but when everyone mentions that I am losing weight it is worth it.I just dont know the long term selution to this problem.I also know that my experience is not the rule.Most peoples band is positioned differently and works just fine. Just read and see how many people,after about 4 weeks,say I dont even know I have the band....until I eat to fast...... Good luck

-has it gone away? -how long did it take to go away? -do you take meds everyday? -everyone says you need to go get tested, etc. how long do you wait before you go to your doctor? -can a prescription usually cure it? Hi No it hasnt. Taking meds everyday but on good days I tend to want to not take it but like today I have. Got tested after 8 weeks.Barium swallow (band is placed high-dr says that is his method..)H Pylori,negative....dont know what else to do.... Prescription keeps it under control for a lot of people.Most people in fact. Keep the faith,it might just take a while to resolve.Start taking Prevacid.I take it now and it is much better than anything else before that.I still have bad days when nothing helps.Then I sip luke warm Water all day to just help me keep my voice..... What does Aloe Vera do?