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Thank you all for taking the time to give your input!! Today was better than the last several weeks and I plan to continue to move in the right direction.

Sounds like you have the blending/pureeing thing under control, but I will tell you that I LOVE my magic bullet for making smoothies. It is so much easier to deal with than a regular blender. Prior to having the magic bullet I would not make a smoothie because I did not want to deal with getting out the giant blender and then having to clean the darn thing.

I got my band in January 2008 and I ended up losing about 70 lbs. At my lowest I was still really overweight, but my diabetes is now gone, I have more energy and I just feel better. I hovered around the same weight for close to 2 years... losing a pound or 2, gaining up to 6 pounds but then having it come down again. I wanted to lose more, but quite frankly I was content enough with my life where it was at. At this point I can't even remember what my band is filled to. The last time I went in for a fill was about 18 months ago... the person that does the fills where I went made me feel like the biggest loser (not the good kind) ever. I got lectured about how my food choices are why I haven't lost more weight and that I wasn't going to be successful if my form of exercise was working in my yard (which, mind you I had never done before that year because I never had the energy). She flat out told me that she wasn't going to give me much of a fill and I did not lose any additional weight after that last fill. But it has left me not wanting to go back. I do realize that I have restriction and I need to make better choices. The last several months for me have been quite challenging, realizing there is a problem with my 7 year old son to getting him diagnosed with ADD. A husband that I am more and more unhappy with. I have found myself making more and more bad choices where food is concerned... and I just can't figure out how to get off this ride. That is my question today... aside from getting a fill... what have people done to successfully get themselves back on track and moving in the right direction.. because it has always seemed to me that when I start going down this path it's the hardest thing to get going in the right direction again because I know I will miss eating whatever I want. I have gained about 15 lbs from the point that I was content to live with and my pants are tight and I am just hating the choices I am making, and how I feel. So at this point, any suggestions for what has really worked for you would be greatly appreciated.

Will you keep us posted about how successful the complete unfill is? I've been having heartburn (without neausea) so wondering if I'm going to have to follow this path. Thanks!! And good luck to you!

Banded more than 2 years ago... have lost 70-80 lbs since. Still have plenty to go. Last fill was just over a year ago. At that time I remember having occassional heartburn. But now I'm having it almost daily. Omeprazole usually takes care of it and I'm taking it 1-2 times per day as needed. I can still eat and drink. I am sure the advice will be to call my doctor, which I will do if need be... but they are 90 miles 1 way and I have to take a day off work to have an appt with them and I know if I call them about it they will almost certainly tell me to come in and I really would prefer not to if I can avoid it. So, wondering what cause for concern I might have... what related to the band might be causing the heartburn after all this time?

I have spent the last 5 weeks, 7 hours per day/5 days per week in a training class. The side affect was that I munched constantly to help me stay awake. I have never been a fast loser, but I have lost or maintained consistently for the last two years. This is the first time I have actually gained weight since before I got my band. I am up firmly 6 pounds in 5 weeks. I still have another week left in my current training class and my supervisor just informed me that she is going to be putting me in at least two additional 1 week classes within the next several weeks. I am completely discouraged and feeling depressed about this which is making me want to eat more. I have been shocked by how much I have eaten over the course of the last several weeks. I haven't felt this drive to eat so consistently for a very long time and I don't like it!!! Anybody have suggestions or could provide encouragement or anything else you can think of to get me moving back in the right direction I would really appreciate it!! Thanks!

I agree... I really wouldn't have minded the message so much if it had been packaged better. I don't think a person should walk away from a fill feeling like a giant loser (and not the good kind of loser)!

I am really ticked off after my last fill and I decided that I have to vent. So I'm going to try to make a long story short. I live 2 hours from where I get my fills.... and lately I've been broke so it was a big decision for me to get to the clinic to get my last fill. But I felt strongly it was time so I scheduled the appt for this past Tuesday. I get into the room where they do the fill and "The Queen of Fills" comes in and starts drilling me about my lifestyle. I suddenly feel like I'm 12 years old and my mother has just caught me eating something I shouldn't. She asks me if I know how many calories I have to be consuming to maintain my current weight, she grills me about the amount of exercise I'm doing. She tells me that I should be able to lose 2 pounds per week if I was eating an appropriate diet and getting exercise. Then she tells me that she doesn't know if I should get a fill, but instead modify my lifestyle. I told her that I would like to at least get a little bit of a fill. So... she fills the syringe making it clear that they will be doing a fill on me today of no more then .5 cc. I felt totally humiliated when I left there.... and I got the joy of spending 2 hours driving home thinking about it. When I got home I wanted to eat everything that wasn't nailed down. I've actually gained weight since my fill. I realize that when I got the band I thought I would do better then I have, but after a 70 lb weightloss I feel so much better then I did. I eat much less and am far more active then I was before. But I left there feeling like crap. Like the 70 lbs that I'm down is worth nothing. To end, I cannot help but wonder if she gave me a fill or just went through the motions so that I would think she gave me a fill. So far as I can tell I have no more restriction then I did Monday night, only a waste of my time, my money and a new feeling of failure. Anybody else been through this type of situation? My aunt told me that she thinks I should write this woman to let her know she may need to work on her style. Thanks for "listening". :smile:

Might call your doctor... for this experience to be so sudden and drastic. Of course if you have lost a bunch of weight since your last fill then that could also explain the loosening. However, the reason I say this is because I have heard that erosion can be painless and cause people to feel little or no restriction. That's probably not it, but better to be safe then sorry!

So next one is June 29th?

Thanks all for your concern! I really do know this is not an internet discussion. I suspected it was a roid... but I have some anxiety issues that I deal with so my mind always goes to worst case scenerio and I'm imagining the inside if my stomach bleeding from the band and all that. No sign of blood today (it was bright red). If it reappears I will most definitely call the doctor... but also didn't know who to start with... my gp or my band doc.

Thanks all for your concern! I really do know this is not an internet discussion. I suspected it was a roid... but I have some anxiety issues that I deal with so my mind always goes to worst case scenerio and I'm imagining the inside if my stomach bleeding from the band and all that. No sign of blood today (it was bright red). If it reappears I will most definitely call my doctor... but also didn't know who to start with... my gp or my band doc.

Had one last night, first time. Couldn't tell if it was from h'roids and on the outside, or in the stool itself. I don't feel sick. Any thought? Thanks!