MizPeppy

So this is what they mean by restriction! This is what I hoped for when I got the band. Yee Haw! Now I feel like I can do this!! I sure hope this lasts. I saw Dr. Cagle yesterday and she was saying that they hadn't seen much success with bandsters. It is coming off very slowly. They have only been doing bands since April, 2007 so maybe with good restriction I'll lose more. One thing she has noticed is that the bandsters don't gain back anything. She said that dieting all these yesrs makes weight loss really slow, but she also said if you lose a few lbs a month and don't gain it back it will accumulate. I am really looking forward to good weight loss this month.

You are probably too full, Michelle. I was at the same place and got a piece of ground beef stuck and had to have all the fluid removed. It wasn't til then that I lost my appetite. I am now losing again and just got 3.5 ccs in my 10 cc band. I feel restriction and loss of appetite. If you get too full you can only eat highly processed foods which don't keep you full. Talk to you surgeon and see what he thinks. Beth

:smile: I got my 3rd fill yesterday and I finally have restriction! Whoo Hoo!! I needed some restriction because I was getting really depressed. My boss had GBS a month before I had the band and she has lost 100 lbs. Slow and steady goes the race for me though. For everyone that doesn't have good restriction yet, don't give up!

So this is what they mean by restriction! This is what I hoped for when I got the band. Yee Haw! Now I feel like I can do this!! I sure hope this lasts. I saw Dr. Cagle yesterday and she was saying that they hadn't seen much success with bandsters. It is coming off very slowly. They have only been doing bands since April, 2007 so maybe with good restriction I'll lose more. One thing she has noticed is that the bandsters don't gain back anything. She said that dieting all these yesrs makes weight loss really slow, but she also said if you lose a few lbs a month and don't gain it back it will accumulate. I am really looking forward to good weight loss this month.

I was feeling the same. I was told it was a tool to help and it really wasn't helping. I just got my third fill and wow, what a difference. I have acheived restriction. I know I'll probably loosen up a bit and need another one but this is like night and day. I just had 1 cc put in since I had 6 in a 10 cc band. At 6 ccs I could eat steak easily, now I feel like I will be able to lose. Good luck and keep your chin up!

Whoo hoo, fill day today! I have not had a good fill record. My first fill, Nov 5, was cancelled because of nausea and moved to Nov. 19. Went to Disneyland in Dec. 2nd fill Dec 19 for a total of 6 ccs. No real restriction. 3rd fill Jan but I was too embarrassed to go since I hadn't been losing. So today is the day! I also changed my life around to better facilitate my weight loss goals. I work 12 hour night shifts and my schedule used to be 3 nights on 2 off, 3 on, 6 off That was exhausting! I switch back to day shift on my days off because I have an 11 year old son. I changed my schedule to 3 on 4 off so I can get regular exercise. I started swimming again. I love to swim! I joined WW for the core diet plan, we'll see how that goes. I bought the book Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients. I also bought the workbook because I'm a bit OCD. I hope my fill goes well today! :thumbup:

Whoo hoo, fill day today! I have not had a good fill record. My first fill, Nov 5, was cancelled because of nausea and moved to Nov. 19. Went to Disneyland in Dec. 2nd fill Dec 19 for a total of 6 ccs. No real restriction. 3rd fill Jan but I was too embarrassed to go since I hadn't been losing. So today is the day! I also changed my life around to better facilitate my weight loss goals. I work 12 hour night shifts and my schedule used to be 3 nights on 2 off, 3 on, 6 off That was exhausting! I switch back to day shift on my days off because I have an 11 year old son. I changed my schedule to 3 on 4 off so I can get regular exercise. I started swimming again. I love to swim! I joined WW for the core diet plan, we'll see how that goes. I bought the book Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients. I also bought the workbook because I'm a bit OCD. I hope my fill goes well today!

Amen, Hatmama, I got the lapband so it would help me lose weight. I feel like I got a saw with no teeth and they are adding 2 teeth at a time and people are telling me to saw harder. My tool is not working yet, it sucks! I can't wait til it does. The important part is not to give up, there are many of us out there and many of us feel discouraged. Let's keep going until we have restriction! We can do it!!

Wheetsin - LOL!! Love those Wav files!! I haven't laughed so hard since, well, I don't know.

Holly and Janet, I'm so with you both. I've had 2 fils, 6 ccs in a 10cc band and nothing! My last fill was 6 weeks ago. I missed my next appt. since I was so dicouraged but a friend got me feeling more positive and I made another appt. I hope I get the restriction I need. Beth

It would not be a great idea to do more surgery when there was an infectious process going on. It would spread that infection all over.

AMEN!! There is a huge physiological part to the whole obesity picture. Many, many people ignore it or continue to insist we are all lazy pigs. 20 years ago women's cramps were all in their heads, 10 years ago impotence was all in men's heads. It will take a while before it is accepted by the majority of people (including fat people) that it is more than our mental problems.

I am right where you are. I made an appt. for a fill since I could eat anything and a lot of it. I bought a book called Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients and decided it was crap. I have more than enough personal responsibility. LOL!! I went over the eating guidelines again even though I know what I'm doing and don't need to go over them again. I stopped drinking while eating even though I figured it didn't really make a difference. Soooo I started taking personal responsibility for what I ate, ate within the guidelines and didn't eat and drink at the same time. Guess what? All of the sudden I have a lot of restriction. Not as much as I want but a heck of a lot. I'm not hungry for long periods. A lot less fills me up. Amazing! Now that I'm staying away from the soft stuff like Soups, yogerts, mashed potatoes, highly refined crap, my band is working for me!! I get it!! I'm not stupid but goodness, it took me a long time to get it! I guess I should be happy I finally did. I also changed my schedule so I can get regular exercise again. Whoo hoo! I'm off and running!

Abdominal pain radiates. Do you have polycystic ovaries? You should see your PCP for this since it is hard to tell without an ultrasound or CT what is going on in your abdomen.

I got banded in OCt. had 2 fills and can eat a lot. I just went over what I eat and found I was eating too many soft foods, and drinking while eating. These things are important. I am getting another fill next Monday, but I am feeling a lot more restriction now that I'm not eating around the band.

I had my gallbladder out, then 3 weeks later had the lap band put in. I was in horrific pain from my gallbladder so when I woke up from surgery I felt so much better. My boss made me take 2 weeks off. The band was a little worse for me but it may have been because I had just had surgery. I'm a nurse in the hospital and we don't have CNAs on our floor so I took the whole two weeks off. That was enough for me although I was still a bit whiney. (however you spell it)

I had trouble keeping anything down so I didn't go home for 24 hours. My surgery didn't even start until 5:30 pm so I would have had to stay anyway. The room was spacious with a huge bathroom and a spectacular view of Mt. Hood. I was able to have IV anti nausea meds which helped a lot.

Anyone here have RLS? I have it so badly that even with medication I still suffer. Eating carbs used to help but that is not an option anymore. I take baths, get regular exercise but I work three 12 hour night shifts a week and switch back to days on my days off. I have researched this quite a bit and haven't come up with a solution. I guess I'm just venting since it is like torture and there's not a lot you can do about it.

I woke up during surgery. I was in terrible pain and I could hear the instruments clinking into the pans so I think they were finishing up. I couldn't move or open my eyes. I kept willing myself to go back to sleep but it wasn't happening. I could hear the nurse reading off my orders and my surgeon shouted, "No, nothing by mouth until 9:30". I was shocked since he is always very soft spoken. I know the anesthesia can make people sound as if they are talking through megaphones but this was more of an angry shout. Anyway, after what seemed like forever, I went back under. I never, never want to do that again. I just don't know why I was awake for what seemed like so long. I haven't told anyone yet because I'm afraid people will think I'm nuts, but it was awful lying there in so much pain and not being able to let anyone know I was awake.

Wasa, thank God you were here to tell me what I didn't experience. I would have gone through life with the mistaken idea that I was awake. Heavens, I guess I just invented it all from all the hours I worked in surgery.

According to my surgeon, when you reach an weight that you were at for awhile or that is often your lowest while dieting, your body starts producing more gherlin, a hormone that regulates appetite. Since your body wants to keep doing what it has mostly always done, it physically tries to stop the weight loss. Knowing this, I don't feel like a loser when I reach that point. I realize it's not just my emotions, or will power and it gives me motivation to move on. The more I research obesity, the more I realize it is not a character flaw, or laziness on my part. This is so freeing to me. This is the point where a fill helps so much.

I, too, fixed up my garage for exercise. I also started scrapbooking. I have millions of pictures to work on! What fun! I read a lot more and get a lot more done around the house! I enjoy shopping online since I can fill my cart with wonderful things. I make myself wait til the next day to check out and 99.9% of the time I don't bother. The joy of shopping without the cost and clutter!

I'm a nurse in the obs unit, its either feast or famine there. We do total care nursing so no CNAs. What a difference! CNAs work really, really hard and I have total respect! I just got my 2nd fill last Monday and I am much happier! I am feeling a little too tight but I want to give it 2 weeks. I feel a little nauseated all the time but I am able to keep the Protein shakes down. By dinner I can eat food. My unit is mostly supportive. My boss had gastric bypass a month before I was banded. She has had complications and another surgery. Everyone is shocked at how well I am doing. I continually tell them the difference in the surgeries but they don't get it I guess. My boss has lost over 65 lbs since Sept., I've lost 10 on pre-op and 18 since Oct 5. Of course they compare us. I hadn't lost anything since my first fill on Nov. 15, but now I think I'm on track with this one.

There are some good over the counter choices such as Mylanta which really seems to help my nausea. Ginger tea also works well. I hope you don't get the virus.

I always ask them how much research they have done in obesity and what journals they are quoting.