Pepper28

Eat a teaspoon of sugar. Not Equal, Not Splenda, but the real Emperial Sugar. Stops those hiccups in their tracks!

I've been taking 5,000 Biotin daily for about 8-9yrs now. Does wonders for my nails. For my hair it stopped shedding. It doesnt grow fast but at normal speed and also with a ton of greys. The texture comes out really course but unbreakable as I relax frequently and still minimal shedding so im able to retain fullness. The worst side effect ive found so far is awful acne that i treat daily w/silicilic acid face washes and cremes.

Swallowing anything was pretty easy early on especially outta surgery. Now im starting to feel the Fluid sit in my pouch and seap thru, forcing my gulps to become sips. I think ur fine right now tho.

First I got those remarks about just dieting & exercising and if i allow my past to be the lesson that weight never stays off by my birthday ive gained it all back again. Then after the weight didnt come off right away i got "you wasted your money" 6months in & 16lbs down im dying to get more of the weight off just to rub it in all their faces!

Which ever decision u make, just know it also means eating Hot Foods, Cold and Cold Foods, Hot! Ive reheated my egg white omelete twice so far. I hate throwing away food especially when it was bought for me but i think its going in the trash now. Also Soups, i have to pour exactly 4ozs into a bowl if not, the rests will get reheated until its not good to eat anymore. Even all my Ice creams melt on me..i maybe scooping portions that are too large tho. Old habits die hard! W/Lapband, 10lbs a month is a reach. Especially if the intestines arent rerouted like with sleeve and gastric. They get the benefits of having the small pouch like us AND a portion of the intestines that absorb calories taken out. But with alot of working out & dieting it cld very well be possible.

Ive been "knowingly" (no bones about it) too tight for 1 week now. Im talking Night Coughs, sliming from drinking Water, unable to swallow spit. This week alone ive lost my very FIRST 11lbs in 6 months. I paid outta pocket & let me say again, my first 11lbs & Ive gotta be this miserable to do it??? Today is the 8th day w/this fill level & I feel a lot better. Im onto Soups & Protein shakes for now until this band's swelling subsides some more. I walk walk walk the stuck pain away until the sliming stops & walking also forces the food or liquids thru. So does warm showers & heating pads until this thing loosens on its own.

Yes in the first 3-5 days after a fill ive had problems with cold liquids. If im at work, i drink warm tea or coffee. At home, i will lay a heating pad across my tummy/chest to get more things like Soups and mash potatoes grits or oatmeal down. Also walking the food/liquid down or having someone pat u on the back or urself on the chest to shake the food down. Imagine feeding a baby, after the feeding u burp the baby if u dont the baby burps it all back up if u dont get the food shaken down and allow it to just sit in the pouch & cause nausea. (Just my philosophy)

Ive been getting night coughs for only a week now since my last fill bringing me to 7.9cc's in my 10cc band. Ive slept in a recliner for the past 2 days and its taken that nasty nasty cough away. Tonight I will also try not to eat 3hrs before bedtime to see if that works. Ive got 2 neighbors w/the sleeve who complain about the exact same thing who also sleep in recliners. Sleeves are non-adjustable, which makes me glad I chose lap band now.

I've been having these night coughs since my last fill a week ago. I sleep in a recliner now so its not as bad as lying flat. I have 2 sleeved neighbors who've got the same night cough issue. Since the sleeve isnt adjustable theyre stuck w/this which sorta makes me happy that I chose lap band instead.

First thing I do when im stuck is unbutton my bra and my pants! So i really dont eat out anymore until I learn those foods that gives me problems. I try to do the can Soups that u heat up and drink or a Protein shake during work hours and home is where i introduce new foods But the pain is normally dead center of my chest. Sometimes I slime for an hour sometimes not. But it does take my breath away its not anything u can get use to.

Way to go Sleevers! Just realized Im in the wrong forum

U felt restricted in the beginning outta surgery because of the internal swelling. Now once it subsides, the band opens up & hunger returns. This will continue until u've been filled to the proper fill level.

@debravasquez And that, my friend, is the lapband in a nutshell. Couldn't have summed it up better myself even down to the dieting woes! Your observation of this weightloss procedure is correct.

@B-52 Interesting...wonder why bypass and sleeve patients loose more weight per month.... Gastric patients only absorb half of the calories eaten because the part of the intestine that absorb calories have been cut out along with the egg sized pouch. So they've got a double bonus! Sleeve patients entire stomachs (not just the top portion like lap band) are cut into the shape of a long tube, much like a paper towel roll all the way down thru to the intestines Lap Band on the other hand, all we have is the egg sized pouch, we still absorb 100% of the calories eaten.

Sounds like even some of the medical staff are delivering these exaggerated #'s and this increases our weight loss expectations when in all actuality, I've not found any of this to be so. I've seen 10lbs+ a month with the gastric bypass and sleeve patients. 10lbs a month with lap band has to come along with a 1,200 calorie diet, no carbs, and a ton of cardio. Just my observation from my last 5-6 months being banded.

@bluegudren I'd KILL for 10lbs a month! I think at the right fill/cc level, diet and exercise its obtainable. I did that once with Weight Watchers. I stayed under my points and I worked out. I lost 35lbs in 3 months. Then I quit WW...and every single pound came back. Maybe this time w/the band, it won't let me quit as easily this time around.

@terrydumont46 So did you decide to get the fill? Did your Dr agree to giving you the fill? How much did you get? I do struggle with this dilemma as well. If I judge between the green clean unprocessed foods, I can not tolerate another fill. 1-3 bites is all it takes of any meat or any vegetable, steamed or uncooked. However, if its junk food, ice cream, chocolates, anything processed or liquefies in my tummy, yes, I need a fill, because those things will never fill you up. They only satisfy the craving, not my hunger, so you'll end up hungry within the next 30minutes to an hour.

@Buddy567 I know what you're feeling....you're following all the doctor's orders and you're not getting the results you thought weight loss surgery would provide. And its so difficult to accept the fact that you've not lost a considerable amount of weight in all this time. And its even more difficult trying to explain to family and friends why when they see you, you've not transformed into this thinner person they all anticipated. I'm right there with you. I can't explain the lap band process to those who do not have lap band. I have a girlfriend who ask me the same questions every time she sees me.... Sooooo...why aren't you losing weight...they don't understand the fill/adjustment process I tell them I'm following the doctors orders and they can't help feel I've wasted my money. And I honestly hate to admit it as well. I should have gotten the sleeve. It was a couple grand more than the lap band, and I didn't think it would take 6 months to finally get some restriction or assistance from this 'tool' Needless to say, I'm stuck with it for now and I have to keep all my fill appointments until the weight loss finally happens. And all anyone wants to tell you is "put in the work" "follow the diet" eat your Protein first, stay away from sliders, workout, eat 1,200 calories, and you do ALL that, with no assistance from the band, and then you think so now what? Where's my weight loss???

Ive been banded nearly 6 months now & only 3x have i, had to "cough something up" because of the restriction, or eating solid foods too soon after a fill, or from just not chewing &then swallowing whole bites, & it causes such pain in ur chest, & the sliming, & sweating isnt pretty. But it taught me several lessons on what the band will not allow. Clean, green, unprocessed foods are the most difficult to get down so proceed with caution when eating these. Only the junk foods aka sliders go down with ease, i find & almost no discomfort. Also, bands in 2008 were a little different. They only held 4-6cc's (not real sure, but its a single digit) so they are almost nearly restricted immediately right out of surgery. The allergen bands now days can hold up to 9,10,11,& even 14cc's so they require fills to provide the needed restriction to minimize our meal portions

@GoWalking, I cldnt have said it better myself. What they dont tell us in the LapBand Consultation is that restriction doesnt come right outta surgery the way it does w/gastric & sleeve. First, the band is installed, like the gentleman stated up top. Then, you move into the MONTHS of maintenance, experimenting with fills and adjustments, gaining, losing, breaking even, etc In the meantime, any weightloss will be on your own accord until the band is filled enough to restrict your eating and minimize your meal portions. Its taken me literally 5 months (8/1-12/26 to be exact) with no loss, just breaking even. Ive lost 8lbs with my latest fill & then being too tight comes with problems of its own but thats for another topic!

1) To eat slowly, to chew chew and chew again, wait to see if that goes down, to measure the discomfort, (if any), before i take another bite! 2) That i get fuller quicker on green clean unprocessed foods, im talking 1-3 bites and im so done 3) That i can still eat tons of ice cream & chocolates and other unhealthy sliders that liquify in my tummy if I wanted but then that would NOT encourage the most successful weightloss now would it And thats what ive learned from my LapBand

I recently had all the Fluid drawn out & then put back in just to get an accurate cc because like you, i thought id sprung a leak. My chart read 8.5cc's but only 6cc's were in my band. A difference of 2.5. Which we figured were about 3-4 visits where either the nurse was just sticking me and the fluid was going else where OR id had a leak. I went back 3 weeks later and the fluid was the same so there was no leak, the nurse's fills were unsuccessful. Once the needle is in, theyre suppose withdraw a tiny bit just to make sure theyve accessed the port successfully and this wasnot being done for 4 visits!! So have them measure whats in the band next time for a few visits just to make sure the amount remains the same and go from there Good luck and plz keep us posted

My tummy rumbles the loudest in the mornings as i sip coffee & its pretty embarrassing it sooo loud. I dont think its hunger though

I know Protein is the best thing for us all right now, and my Protein shakes go down just fine, its the chicken fish and especially beef that gets STUCK right now even when i chew them down to barely nothing. My veggies are steamed so no problem there. So im currently rocking the liquids and veggie only diet for the moment since meats get stuck and sliders are delicious, but wld sabotage all the weight ive been able to lose so far This has got to be the other phase of bandster hell. LMFAO

Oh wow! Now thats scary. Guess i really hadnt thought it all out. Im down 8lbs in 1 week on liquids. My next appt is Thursday the 9th and i am honestly tired of this liquid diet. I will have them remove half of the .5 and see how that feels.