Wheetsin

I think that if your wish somehow came true, you'd find a very unpleasant reality check.

Ok, so I was trying to figure out - hit what at 2:30 this a.m.? But I get it now, and that's fantastic! You're a rockstar!

Restriction itself isn't uncomfortable (or else you'd feel uncomfortable all the time, not just when eating, etc.), it's the feelings that restriction can cause that can be uncomfortable. For example, if food can't pass through the stoma, the esophagus can go into overdrive to pump it through (this isn't medically exact, but consider it an analogy)... and that can cause pain or discomfort, but it isn't the restriction causing it. There's really no way to describe the band feelings to someone who hasn't felt them. And 10 people will feel things in 9 different ways. Let's take when something is stuck. A lot will describe this as a "golfball" in their chest. To me, it feels nothing like that. My chest doesn't hurt at all. The most justice I could do would be stay generic and say "it just feels like something is stuck" and "most people know what they're feeling when they feel it."

There's really no difference. It forms the esophagus into a pouch, and causes food to funnel through the stoma. Why be so worried? Regardless of what you call it, it's still going to do its job, right? I have no idea how Inamed characterizes it. Maybe call them and ask. They've been very informative when I've called them in the past.

Sounds like restriction. The slime usually comes after a certain point, not as soon as restriction is achieved. So you can have restriction, and have food be tight or get stuck, and then pass -- and you never progress to the sliming or having to bring the food up. Sounds like you're there, so take care to chew well and swallow moderately.

I'm at 2.75cc in a 4cc and (in the evening) could eat the better part of a meal. I have no idea what a 7 layer burrito is, but I could do a Chipotle bol, minus rice. I have a hard time eating before 12 or 1, but once I'm open, I'm open. The only time this hasn't been true for me was when I was filled to 3cc, which proved to be too tight.

Nope. Internally I feel nothing. You'll see or hear people refer to "feeling restricted", but this isn't feeling the band or feeling the band around you, it's more the internal sensation of your body's reactions. Externally, I can feel my port but only if I try really hard. It feels like a button. It's entirely possible to forget you're banded. Until you forget and swallow too big of a bite. Then you remember. Quickly.

Obesity is defined differently but a general guideline is having a BMI between 30 - 39, with extreme or morbid classification starting at 40. Subsequent factor - never heard it called that, but I'm guessing these are comorbidities. This isn't technically correct, but think of them as other medical complications that are somehow related to or impacted by your weight. High BP, cholesterol, apnea, joint pain, diabetes, hypertension, etc. are common examples.

There's no way to answer this. It depends completely on too many variables - how busy/far booked your surgeon is, what your insurance requires, what you're able to accomodate, what your program consists of, etc. Sorry.

Wow, I'd say look around. I don't do non-refundable fees. If they can collect some amount of money from you, for doing nothing, what's their motivation to do anything else? Nothing. Surely there's another option... keep looking into it. There should be other options around.

Most (not all, but the vast majority) of people will hop addictions. It's fairly uncommon that someone truly moves beyond addiction without replacement, and it virtually never happens alone. People should hold the expectation of themselves to forego the addiction. In many cases, the best they can do is try to manage it to something that's not harmful. Don't feel like you're failing because you haven't been able to shrug your addictions, or because you've gained weight. There is no failing. There's a groove, and there's a funk. And there are lots of behaviors in between. Maybe you're not on the track you want to be right now, but that can be changed. You mention your surgeon is not supportive. Then be done with him, or see him as a way to get a fill and nothing else. You owe him nothing. Is there a psychologist involved in your program? Someone who could help you recognize your behaviors and seek alternatives? More specific to your question, absolutely. This is one area where you can rest assured that you are never the only one.

I tried the magic bulleted meat and could never do it. I remember getting Chipotle and whizzing up the meat, cheese, sour cream and Beans thinking - surely it will taste the exact same as when I chew it. But I was wrong. It was nasty and I couldn't force down more than a few bites. I didn't have a puree stage. If I did, I think I would have just avoided meat, or gone with meats that are already pureed like patees or braunschweiger or something. Or I would have sampled some baby foods. The idea of taking regular foods and just whizzing them never worked for me.

My surgeon never does fills under fluoroscopy, unless he suspects there's a reason it's needed. I've never had a problem getting a "blind fill", because even though it can't be seen, it can be felt. I don't work in the field so I can't say for sure, but he has been very detailed in desscribing how the resistance on the syringe helps indicate fill level to him (remember, the saline is under pressure - when the port is hit, you can have a little geyser in the syringe). And a lot of it is hit or miss. But I think this would also be true for fluroscopy. It only shows what's going on that particular moment in time. Sometimes I'm just tighter than others. I figure odds are about even that I could have a "tight day" under fluoroscopy and look like I'm adequately filled, and need a fill 2 weeks later... or I could have the same fill without fluoroscopy and need the same fill 2 weeks later.

Hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid scan. http://www.uwmedicine.org/PatientCare/MedicalSpecialties/SpecialtyCare/UWMEDICALCENTER/Radiology/hepatobiliaryscan.htm

Could be your GB. My mother has acute spasms that pretty much renders her incapacitated for an hour or so. Hers kick in around her ribs. My pain floats around in my abdomen. I've heard stories of people having to lay on the floor just to try and breathe. I can't say much as I've had standing hidda orders for about 5 months now, and there they are... still sitting there.

There is hope. I married the antithesis of everything I was once attracted to.

Oh, I have identified some trigger foods. One is definitely low-carb much of anything, made to reselbme high carb foods. So things like Atkins substitutes, sugar free candies, etc. For a long time I was misreading gall bladder spasms as maltitol/sorbitol intolerance. meat fats do it to me, also. I can have - say - ice cream or butter or alfredo and be ok, but one or two of those little finger-sized sausages can do me in. I don't know if it's the particular source of fat, or of it's just when I introduce fats that I rarely eat... but there are a handful of things I know will cause spasms when I eat them... and other times I'm left trying to guess what it was I ate that caused it.

My gallbladder started acting up when I went on Atkins. It rarely acts up now, but does have its moments. Enough so that my surgeon has suggested I go in for the hidda (sp) scan and ultrasound. I'm not eager to jump into surgery for it since the attacks are so infrequent (two or three in the last year), but I keep it in the back of my mind because I know that once they start, it can go downhill quickly. I don't really have any problems. It's just pain. It will kick in either shortly after I eat offending food, or late the same night. So I either know (pretty much) right away when it's unhappy, or I find out maybe around 11pm that night. Weird, huh? How it feels - for me it starts off as discomfort and grows from there. It's near my breastbone, but inside. Sometimes it stays at "mild discomfort", but usually it goes beyond that. What happens most frequently is that I will go to sleep and wake up in pain, or gradually go from discomfort to pain. Generally the pain tends to shift, sometimes being higher in my chest, sometimes lower in my abdomen. There's absolutely nothing I can do to make it better. It often hurts worse if I lay down, and sometimes it brings very, very short relief if I bend forward, but eventually it evens out to a constant hurt. I don't get any "side effects" like nausea, diarrhea, etc. -- just pain. I've tried pain relievers and they don't do a thing. And when it hurts, it hurts for a very long time. On Atkins when I had the attacks more frequently, it could start hurting around 11pm and at 4am I'm still sitting there in pain. It never "jsut goes away"... it's a slow tapering that could linger for a day or two. Sorry, this is really random, but it's hard to explain.

I've not heard of it being a major risk. Shouldn't be a problem. I believe "implant" would be a better risk than "morbid obesity".

Another tip - don't eat until you're full. Eat until you're no longer hungry. A big portion of food separates "not hungry" and "full". If you need to, wait a few minutes between bites and really pay attention to what your body is telling you. If you're truly physically hungry, eat some more. If you're not, but there's food left on your plate, or it tastes good and you really want another bite, then evaluate whether or not it's worth it.

Hi Ginger3151. I just posted to your other thread on this. According to the sample menu you shared there, I would have to disagree with your statement above and say that your diet is low protein, high carb, low fat. It may benefit you to use a service such as www.fitday.com to track the food you're eating. That may help you identify undesirable patterns. A good guideline is that about 80 - 95% of what we eat should be protein. Not because we need THAT MUCH protein, but because of the small amount we do eat, we really need to focus on getting the Proteins in before anything else. You don't want protein overload, you don't need to brush your teeth with Protein powder, but you do need enough. Many people can identify a relationship between not enough protein and cessation of fat loss. Your sample menu also seemed full of Snacks. If you're needing to snack between meals, you might need more fill.

Oh yeah, salad = crunchy water, drizzled with fat and topped with fat and carbs. You could put that space in your pouch to MUCH better use.

Sometimes the body just doesn't want to give up any pounds. This can coincide with a loss of inches, or it can coincide with a whole lot of nothing (aka "stall" or "plateau"). I can count the pounds I've lost since December on one hand, so I know it all too well. Sometimes it just happens, and all we can do is hang in there and wait for it to pass. As for your menu: Seems really high in carbs. Bagel, fruit juice, Pasta, pretzels... and the only Protein I see is 6 oz of chicken. If I were you, I would cut the carbs in favor of protein. With that menu, there's no way you're meeting your daily protein minimum (about 60gm). You're maybe hitting half of where you need to be - maybe. Instead of a fruit juice, have a protein drink/bar. Instead of a bagel, have an egg, or have egg on it instead of cream cheese. Be careful with deli meat, it's loaded with bad-for-you fillers, and lots of sodium. The natural variety (e.g. Boar's Head) are best, but homemade is even better. And personally, I've never found the carb count on FF products to be worth the trade off. Sometimes you're swapping 1gm fat for 30gm carb. Why so much focus on low fat? Is that something your surgeon recommended? Sounds like you're trying to be "on a diet" to me.

Pasting from another thread: People PB with different frequency - depends on their level of restriction, what they're eating, how well they're following the rules, and a million other things under the sun. I probably PB every few months, more if I'm not particularly careful around my period. I get really really tight about a week before my period starts. A thread with more information on our acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/abbreviations-and-they-t7959.html

There aren't really any groups, someone just starts a thread and whomever wants to tags along. Nothing formalized, no committees, elected leaders, sponsorship, participants drives, or anything else icky.