mbanja

I kinda avoid tofu cause I dont like the way it looks. I have a chinese restaurant I go to that puts tiny chunks in the egg drop soup and I hate it. I know its not the taste it is the texture I cant stand. It really doesnt take like anything but it looks like tiny sponges in my soup and makes me mad. I know it is really good for you I just cant take the step to experiment with it. This moch spagetti might be the ticket to get me on the tofu band wagon, thanks for the post. I might just suck it up and try this one out!

My hubby could live off of snickers and when they came out with the snickers protien bars I could barely calm him down he loooovvvveeeesss them. I don't particulary like snickers so I cant give first hand experience but he sure likes them.

Ericsmom, I know the feeling. I have been experiencing the same thing since being filled too tight. I did get an unfill, but I am still paying for the overfill. I feel like a fat bulimic.

Wombat since you lasted 45mins then threw up your entire dinner I would say you probably should stay on liquids for tomarrow too. Just because you want to let everything settle down-if not the whole day at least the first part. I think the rule of thumb is 24hours of liquids. From my experience of PB I try to get the stuck item up right when I feel it cause once I clear it out I am fine and what I have previously eating usually stays down. I think the longer you avoid your pb the more likely your are to completely yack up your whole entire dinner due to all the slime your body is producing to lubricate it. My advice is to just get the stuck item out and over with. A fresh pb is better than a pb that has been trying to come up, which you have been trying to force down, the more slime you swallow the sicker your stomach gets and wants to purge the entire contents. A fresh pb is not as awful as a prolonged pb. I hope I am making sense. Before I was filled too tight I could do a wiggle dance in my seat and get some items unstuck so, to Nana, the idea of your arms over your head isn't odd.

SueSue how many cc's does your band hold? If you have 4.5cc currently with no restriction I would assume your band holds 10cc, but if your band only holds 4cc of fluid like mine they may be missing the port all together. I think fluro is the better option, but it is more expensive if you are a self pay. With fluro you can see the barium swallow they give go down and see how tight you are actually getting. Plus with fluro the doc can usually access the port with only 1 stick. I have heard horror stories about docs that don't use fluro sticking patients over and over again trying to access the port. That is not to say it wont happen with fluro, but the chances are better when they can see what is going on. Plus with fluro the doc and you can see how the band is doing, if it has slipped, etc. I feel for me it is extra ensurance to see my band and my port, and how the fluid flows thru it every time I go for a fill.

I had my first fill about a month ago (1.9cc in a 4cc band) and was tight for about a week. Then the tightness wore off and I could eat and still can eat about a cup of food. Weight and inches are SLOWLY comming off and I do get stuck if I eat to fast, but I should only be able to eat about 1/4 a cup, right???? I made an appointment for a fill for this Saturday but I am struggling with indecision! I know it probably won't be a big fill and I am trying to justify if I should pay the money or wait it out? OH what to do, what to do? I then justify the fill saying to myself, "just maybe .10cc more will put me at that sweet spot." Oh I don't know?!?

Oh yeah and the PB look is really funny. My husband instantly knows. I think we should start a picture thread of our "stuck" faces that would be really funny!!!

Don't rush it. LOL!

So you didn't really PB? I mean if no food came up you didn't PB. You just got stuck. I hate to say it, but you are still a virgin. Don't worry honey it will come one day.

Oh man that was really mean of me to say..... I didn't really mean to be mean! I just wanted to give you confidence. I'm sorry!

Yankee, you are exactly right you can't compare bypass with the band.....I mean I haven't seen the first person that has the band look like a bobble head doll....you know like Star Jones. It does take lap band patients alot longer to loose our weight, but hey once your are skinny fine and your sis is packing the pounds on again you can laugh to yourself and say she should have got the band, What's she gonna do have bypass again. Ha Ha we can just go get a fill if we start putting the pounds back on. I am sure that this is one of your reasons for getting the band in the first place (sssshhhhh big secret.) I know it was one of mine!!!!

I am sorry to hear about your mother Mariposa, I will keep her and you in my thoughts and prayers. I had a neurologist advise me once that I needed the steroid shot in my neck to help my migraines...I told him no thanks, cause I knew a lady that had it done and had a migraine for 2weeks after hers and it didn't even help after she recovered. Over the counter meds work for some, not for me, excedrine migraine, excedrine extra strength, and excedrine tension headache all have the same meds in them they are just labeled like they are to promote selling. I tried all of them too and they didn't work. The funny thing is I was shopping with my then boyfriend when excedrine tension headache came out on the market and I stopped and said to him " I wonder if this will work?" He said well lets compare the ingredients so will pulled all the excedrines down off the shelf and read the ingredients label... come to find out they all had the same thing. I had never paid attention to ingredients before I met him but now if something new comes out I always read the ingredients. I envy those that can control their migraines with over the counter stuff!! Anyways, there are several different migraine meds on the market now (perscription that is) I went thru alot of them and found that the imitrex works best for me. Imitrex is not without its side effects though and some find that they are allergic to the #1 ingredient in them. The only side effect I get from them is a scratchy throat. I used to give myself the injection form of it man that worked with a quickness, no joke I'd give myself a shot and 5mins later I was fine. Now that they reformulated the 100mg tablet it works almost as well, it takes about 10-15 mins for relief. Imitrex also has a nasal spray which I have heard works fast like the shot but I hate nasal sprays so I stick with the pill. The best thing to do is pester your doc to keep trying meds until you find one that is right for you! Plus most of the migraine med makers give them samples for just that purpose so you wouldn't have to buy a whole perscription. I pestered my doc until she went into her trial arsenal and pulled out every kind and gave me samples....she had me keep a diary and list the time I took it and how long it took to take effect. She also made me see a neurologist and after 3 I told her I didn't want to go to them anymore and that we would just do trial and error until I found something that worked. Don't take no for an answer, keep going back until you find something that works for you. Some people take narcotic based meds to combat the pain of the migraine, while I don't suggest this sometimes it is the only thing that works for one individual. I do know that most narcotic based perscriptions like loritab or anything with codine in it makes mine worse. Hey, I am not trying to knock codine based meds, I especially love the codine caugh syrup they gave me after having my tonsils out....man I was 20years old and me and my friends partied on that stuff all summer long. Sorry for the flash back, what I am trying to say, is that there is something out there that will work for you the trick is finding it. Lucky for me my doc is wonderful and handled my pestering very well. Don't suffer any more than you have too!!

First things first, put the scale away for a while and get out the measuring tape. I lost about 16 inches all over before I lost my first pound. Your body has probably kicked into starvation mode and is hanging onto every calorie that you eat. It will come off soon I promise, I was not long ago in your shoes and was just about to the point of beating my scale with a sledge hammer. Plus, if you have never worked out before you are building muscle and that weighs more than fat, and eventually that muscle will start burning your calories for you. You are just at a critical stage right now and you body has to get over the starvation mode hump but it will. Head up, keep going, keep walking, it will happen.

I am soooo sorry to hear you suffer from migraines. I too have them and have battled them since I was in diapers. I tend to get tension related migraines. The best thing for you to do is concentrate on your warning signs. Mine is tension in my neck. I take flexeril muscle relaxer) for this tension and if I catch it in time I can avoid a full blown migraine. The bad thing about flexeril is your body becomes used to it very easily and you will end up having to take large amounts to feel any effect, so I only take it at the sign of tension. Some docs like to perscribe Midrin for these tension related migraines, it didn't work for me, but if you would like to try it let me strongly suggest getting the name brand as the generic doesn't work worth a flip. If you are going to get shots are they the imitrex injections? Imitrex is the leading "triptan" based migraine med on the market, unless you are getting injections of demerol or other narcotic pain meds I assume they are the Imitrex. The Imitrex injection used to be the only thing that worked for me, but they have reformulated the 100mg imitrex pill and it works almost as well as the shot. You name it I have been on it to try and treat my migraines. I have gone thru 6 or 7 different neurologists, I lost count cause most are worthless to migraine sufferers; seems like their opinion is we just want drugs. I have even tried Topamax which is an anti seizure medication. The reasoning for this, is that the same chemical imbalance in seizure patients also occure in migraine suffers. Well let me tell you the topamax was awful. I had really bad side effects such as; dizziness, running into walls, forgetfullness, tingling in hands, arms, feet, and legs, I would forget where I was when I was driving and what I was going to do, I forgot simple words such as pillow, stove, tv, my blood pressure went waaaayyy down to something like 79/23 and I would pass out all the time...It was awful, and I also started to have symptoms of Lupus. That medication is bad in my opinion. If you have not tried already I would suggest trying all the "triptan" based migraine meds to find one that is right for you. If you tell your doc you want to try the "triptan" based meds for migraines they will know what you are talking about. If you get them frequently they will probably want to try you on a preventative, for example antiseizure meds or antidepressants. For me they didn't work so I suggest not to do it because the antidepressants they use for this tend to make you gain weight. If you don't like your docs course of action for you find another and if you get referred to a neurologist don't think that the first one you see is it. Be sure that you are comfortable with them and they understand you and want to help you. As I said before I went thru 6 or 7 neurologists to finally find one I like. I hope this helps.

I think Longhorn had a good idea to just start all over from the beginning. Maybe starting from the beginning again will put your mind on the right track and get you back into the swing of things.

I am glad you are feeling better it is amazing how even as little as .1 cc can be the difference between too tight and your sweet spot, my suggestion is to do your fills small at a time, that is if you don't have to pay for them. I am a self pay and want to get the maximum for my money but I really paid for it on my second fill. Being too tight is awful!!!

Crab legs are a good but expensive choice. The meat is usually tender unless they are over cooked. I dip mine in lemon juice instead of the butter plus the extra time it takes to get the meat out is a good waiting period. It is also less fishy if you don't like fish. I love shrimp but have a hard time eating it cause most places over cook it till it is tough.

I hate to say it but you probably need an unfill. I tried to ride mine out and have been paying for it for almost a month. If you get too dehydrated to get even tighter.

I haven't had spagetti squash but I saw the same recipe and also the weight watchers cook book has a spagetti bolganise (sp?) recipe using it as well, it does look really good! I have altered a lasagna recipe it is awsome try it you will love it: 1 and 1/2 lbs ground sirloin or turkey cooked in tomato sauce 10-12 oz container of low fat cottage cheese with one egg and lots of pepper and garlic powder to taste 2 eggplants cut flat and long ways to imitate lasagna noodles mozz cheese 1bag of pre washed fresh spinach (you can use frozen too but I love the fresh better cause it makes a better texture and I am really not a fan of the frozen stuff-plus it looks prettier) Brown meat and break up then add tomato sause (if you don't like making your own I use the Hunts garlic and herb sause that is in the big can because it doesn't have any added sugar-all the jar sauces have added sugar and I personally don't like sweet spagetti sauce) Mix up the egg,cottage cheese, pepper, and garlic in a seperate bowl. Thin layer meat and tomato sause on bottom of baking dish, lay eggplant down as you would noodles, lay down meat sauce, sprinkle some mozzerella, lay a heaping handful of spinach down to cover, top off with cottage cheese mixture, then start all over. Once finished layering top off with rest of meat sauce mixture and cover with a thick layer of mozz cheese and bake at 350 for about 45mins to 1hr. If it looks like the top is getting too brown for your preferance cover with foil and finish out the baking time. It has to bake that long to get the eggplant tender. I guess you could pre boil the eggplant to soften and cut down on baking time. It is awsome.

During surgery the put a tube and balloon down your throat to inflate your stomach so they can get the band placed properly, after they take it out your throat is dry, scratchy, and some people even have a sore throat afterwards. It isn't like a "sick" sore throat but it is really scratchy. The cough drops are probably to help with this.

I have a HARD time eating pasta of any kind. And I love italian food. What I did to get around the pasta is use squash, zuccini, and eggplant in place of pasta. I cut it up like pasta in small bites and cook it in the sauce and it is wonderful.

It was/is AWFUL!! No joke! I live in Ga and the closest fill center is in Roswell. I was at 1.9cc in a 4cc band with my first fill. I went back and the NP put in .8cc to make it 2.7. I waited and drank water to see if I was ok, then the water got stuck, so I had her take .2cc out to make it 2.5cc. I could feel the water trickling thru the band so I thought I was good-boy was I wrong. I suffered thru the rest of Saturday and Sunday. Woke up this morning and couldn't get anything down. I called the center and the doctor (who commutes to Roswell from Moultrie) said she was back home and leaving for Texas tomarrow. Well, I jumped in the car and headed 4hrs away to Moultrie. Now this is after I tried to unfill myself with one of my Hubbys insulin needles. Well yeah, duh! The insulin needle is to small and to short to reach the port. But hey I was desperate. So I got to Moultrie and she took out .4cc more to make me at 2.1cc. I think I might need more taken out but I had to pay for the fill so I didn't want it all out. I asked her to give me a needle so if I needed more out before she got back I could do it. Well, of course she said no.(another duh!) So, if anyone asks me if I would do my fills/unfills myself, the answer would be HELL YES! I know there has been debates over this, but after suffering the way I did, I don't think for one minute I would hesitate to do my own unfill at least. And hey if I could do that, I might just do a fill. Yeah, I know that you all are going to criticise me about it, I guess I'll just have to listen to your rants.

Yeah, I told my doc, everything is aok. Plus, the insulin needle was too short to reach anything. It didn't even come close.

Janiee, I had to get two unfills cause I was sooooo tight and pbing everything I ate. If you have PBed alot you might want to go on liquids for a few days afterwards cause you might have residual swelling. I didn't and I'm about a week out from my last unfil and I still can't eat solids.

My mother in law had a hystorectomy and she still has a ghost period. No bleeding but heavy bloating and back pain. Maybe you are experiencing this? Also it took about 3 weeks for my fill to kick in.