lildarlin

I'm Hypothyroid - diagnosed with Autoimmune thyroiditis. Antibodies are attacking my thyroid. My levels have been good since January of this year I take 100mcg of Levothyroxine and 5mcg 2X a day of Cytomel. That helps my energy level. I'm losing weight pretty good too! Good luck. Thyroid takes time to get under control. I felt like crap for 10 years until I insisted on going to a specialist. My GP kept saying my levels were good. The specialist said I was too high. Figures!! I'm glad I insisted on getting the referral to a specialist.

Hi Leener! You asked about how it feels when you eat the wrong food. I feel it between my breasts - right in the center. It starts, for me, as a pain where it feels like you can't catch your breath. It happened to me on Sunday with deli meat and I had stabbing pains there, it was very painful. You can actually feel your esophagus trying to push that food through. I was gurgling, burping, hiccuping, sliming, you name it. My body was struggling to get that meat down, I was even sweating profusely! The pain was a dull ache after the food went through, almost like my stoma was irritated. It lasted for just the afternoon, yesterday I was better and eating normally. It's happened 4 times now and all 4 times it was my fault for not chewing properly. If I just concentrate on chewing, all goes down fine.

I've been heavy all my life. My mother had me on so many diets. I remember one where she put a chart on the living room wall and taped quarters to it for every pound I lost. I lost weight, but when the reward system stopped, I gained my weight back. I remember going to my aunts house and she had those strawberry candies that they put in the cheese boxes from like Hickory Farms....I would eat them and put the wrappers UNDER the couch! I ate so many, then she found the wrappers and I got in trouble. I was so embarrassed. Typical closet eater right there....I was only about 8 years old. Then the worse was in middle school, about 11 or 12 years old I think. We had to do those presidential physical fitness tests. You had to get weighed. I asked the teacher to weigh me when the other kids weren't around. She said she would, but then went back on her word. I had to weigh in front of everyone and I'll never forget....160lbs. It was humiliating. I gained weight every year and weighed over 260 when I got married at 21, 350+ at the birth of each child. I'm watching my mother and sister go down hill fast because of their weight and health problems. I'm not going to let that happen to me!

Sharon! I forgot about chicken sausage! I had some last summer and it was excellent. I'm going to have to get some. Since I last posted on here I've been trying new things. No fill yet, only 6 weeks out, but have major restriction still. I can only eat about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food at a time. My list of "can eat" is longer than my cannot. So far I cannot eat oatmeal, pureed strawberries and cold Breakfast Cereal. I have tried pork ribs and a vidalia onion hamburger (no bun), I have to take pea sized bites and chew very well, but meat is going down without incident. I could only eat 1/2 the burger, 8 carrot slices and 2 Pasta noodles from my husbands salad I made him. Not too much! My sheet from the nutritionist says you can have fluffy rice, haven't tried that. Breakfast is hard for me, nothing much but Protein shakes and thin cream of wheat goes down easily. Today though, I'm home and my daughter is sick, so I tried toasting an english muffin really well. It got toasted pretty well and with small bites and lots of chewing, I was able to eat 1/2 of it. I know it needed to be toasted more. My nutritionist said it will work if it is crispy. Not sure how to get it so crispy without burning it? Hoping I can tolerate some fruits. Can't wait to try an apple, no skin. I ate an apple everyday pre-banding and I miss them!!

Hi everyone! I'm not vegetarian but LOVE Tofu. Now that I can eat solids - I'm wanting some. Does anyone have any good easy recipes? I make one that's really good. Cube the tofu. Fry in olive oil, then make up Frank's Red Hot sauce & butter to make a sauce, shake the tofu in it. Makes it like buffalo wings. Yummy! Would love to hear what you all do with tofu! Thanks!

Hey Kat - I hear you! I am out of the house by 6:30 am and cannot eat anything that early. I have coffee. I eat breakfast at 10am but my problem is not wanting to eat anything....it's that I'm having a hard time getting breakfast foods down. I can do thinned cream of wheat, no oatmeal (can't seem to thin it out enough). I like Kashi Cereal but haven't tried that yet. I tried corn flakes yesterday and was watching my son do something, ate them as if I didn't have a band - holy crap - I thought I was going to hurl. I started sliming, could feel my body producing quite a bit, pain in my chest, finally after about 3 minutes the cereal went down! I've never pb'd or slimed, but now....I can say I have!! Good luck to you - I hope you find what works

I have a very hard time getting my water in. Like another poster said....since you have to wait so long after meals, it's hard to get it in. I find as soon as I start drinking again, the stomach starts growling again! I used to drink a gallon of water per day pre-band, now I'm lucky if I get in the required 64 ounces!! But I will keep trying and figure out how to do it!

How soon after your meal are you drinking? For me, if I drink too soon, I'm hungrier quicker. I timed it, 1 hour after the meal is too soon to drink. 1 1/2 hours seems to be better. It's hard to do, because I'm a huge Water drinker. Here is an example. One day I had eaten, only a tiny bit because I started feeling pressure in my chest. Not 10 minutes after I got up from the table, my stomach started growling like I had nothing to eat!! I had tuna fish chopped really really fine for the very first time yesterday with extra mayo and I was in heaven, it was wonderful and I stayed fuller for many hours, more like a bandster should.

I'm curious about melted cheese on top of things - that consistency is gooey....can you all eat that? I would think no. What about raw veggies? I'm totally surprised at the level of what can be tolerated. I would think raw veggies would get stuck because it's hard to chew them to mush. I'm in for a learning experience I'm afraid. I did try tuna salad chopped really really fine yesterday and I was in heaven I have not ventured far from liquids since surgery and I wanted something different but am afraid to try...so I got brave and it worked :nanahump:

Hi Leenerbups - I hope you are feeling better! I feel bad that you have to deal with your downstairs neighbors! I used to smoke and now that I don't, I can't stand the smell. I hope the 2nd hand smoke isn't the cause of your problem and terrible case of bronchitis. Best of luck to you!

How big a bite should you take of meat? Should it be diced in little tiny pieces? I realize I can't take big bites like I used to, but am not sure how small they should be? I'm not at a point where I can eat solids yet - I want to be ready! Thanks!

Hi Tidge - You aren't alone! On the 4th day I cried all day and questioned what I had done to myself. The next day I was 100% better. My port area is still a bit sore. They stitch it to muscles, so it's understandable that it would be sorer than others. I just removed my steri strips and have red blotchy spots around my incisions, the incisions look great, but I think I'm allergic to something in the glue. I hope that goes away! You'll do fine, I think there is going to be times when we all question what we've done. I like to eat and will certainly miss not being able to eat certain things - but the weight I've lost so far is making it all worth while. And seeing the way my husband looks at me just from losing what I have, makes it nice too

I was told clears for 2 days post op. Full liquids starting with day 3 pureed foods starting week 3 Soft solids at week 4 I have had a lot of swelling so at a little over 2 weeks post I am still primarily drinking very thin soups and Protein shakes. I have experimented with 1st stage baby fruits (bananas and applesauce), if I take it slow, they go down fine. It makes me cringe to think that some people are on more solid foods so soon after surgery, there is no way I could have done that. I got pressure in my chest just from drinking a Slim Fast!! My doctor told me I could stay on the liquids another week if I wanted so I'm moving very slowly toward a regular diet. As much as I want to eat something normal, I'm scared to death!! But I'm doing ok this way, better than I thought I would.

Hi Penni - I wish you the best and will be anxious to hear what your decision is in June.

Hey Shontel - that's a great idea! I have been ripping band friendly recipes out of magazines and now they sit on top of my bread box, very unorganized. I need to try your idea - makes life so much simpler when you need to find that favorite recipe! Thanks!

I love the unjury, strawberry tastes like strawberry quick! Vanilla is not so good. But, they have a recipe on their site where you can make a creamsicle out of s/f Tang and vanilla unjury. I need to try that today!

Hi - Sorry you had to deal with that! Wow, you took it well. I'd be wanting to :boxing: after remarks like that! Glad he apologized, that was the right thing to do. I told my boss in confidence and got an email the other day from our assistant director congratulating me!!! I was a bit miffed, found out the reason why she told her my plans was because they were discussing workload issues. Well...it happens that I'm not planning on staying out for the 2 weeks unless I absolutely have to. The workload isn't going to be that much.

Hi everyone! I'm pre-op, have approval, waiting for a date. I currently weigh 341, 5'9" tall. I have a goal to weigh 180lbs. I have been obese all my life, since childhood, not so bad then, but after getting married and babies the weight has crept up. I'm not quite as heavy as I was when I delivered by children, but I'm getting close. The lowest weight I ever remember was 210 when I was on nutrisystem. I looked darned good, that was also 17 years ago . Hoping to be a loser soon!

You can have crackers during the mushy phase? I'm thinking because they turn to mush when they melt in your mouth.....I love hummus and was sitting here wondering what I could eat them with. A cracker would be wonderful! Not banded yet, but thinking of the possibilities! Thanks

I've gained 10lbs in 2 months. Not what I wanted to do. My BMI is a little over the limit my doctor sets for laparoscopic surgery with the weight gain. He suggested I do the liquid diet for longer :confused: I don't have a date yet so I'm trying to watch calories and get it off. It doesn't help that I had my period both times I went back in to see him!!!! Next visit I hope not to have it, so maybe some pounds will be gone!

I remember those mesh undies they gave me after my son was born. They were sized to fit, oh, say a 110 lb woman! I tried putting them on and couldn't get them over my bulged stomach, they rolled back down, I said screw it and got my own underwear on! I hope the ones they give you are bigger than the ones I had! :confused:

Amanda, I have auto-immune thyroiditis, everything is under control now, my levels are normal. I'm not banded yet but almost to the point of approval. I would go to Inamed's website because they do say that individuals with certain autoimmune diseases should not have the band placed. The key word is certain....not all auto immune disease are cause to NOT place the band. Thyroid issues aren't one of them. I remember Lupus being mentioned...I know there are more. I do wonder about it though. If antibodies are trying to attack my thyroid, wouldn't they attack the band? I've been told over and over by experienced bandsters, NO. I do plan on asking my surgeon again on Thursday to see what he has to say.

This thread has been really helpful. I never visualized the doughy items recombining in the pouch....I knew doughy things were out, but sometimes just getting a mental image helps! I'm not banded yet, but I have to be honest, I can't quite figure out how raw veggies go down well? I'm eating some baby carrots right now and I'm purposely chewing the heck out of them to see how small a piece I can get them into. It's hard, my jaw is tired! :welldone2: I feel that good carbs are the best way to go, high Fiber, whole grains and no whites. BUT, I reserve that comment for after banding because I don't have a clue what I will be able to tolerate!! Thanks for all the great thoughts here!

Sarah, I wonder, is this something that is common with the band? Do you know? I've never heard of it before.....

That's a good thought AlyCat...I think I might ask my endo doctor if he'll write a letter supporting my decision and letting my insurance know that I've gotten levels in order. The more the better to encourage the insurance to approve!!!