HeatherO

I have a 14 year old sister who weighs about 160 and is 5'3. She carries a little extra weight but carries almost all of it in her belly. Someone came up to me and whispered "OMG I didn't know your sister was pregnant." I was scandalized and offended for both of us. I said "Of couse she isn't pregnant at 14, are you nuts?" I felt bad that people were thinking that about her at the tender age of 14 and felt bad that someone would feel comfortable to come up to me like that (although I would much rather someone ask me then to ask her and make her feel bad). I then took a second look at my sister and realized I didnt think she looked pregnant because I know her and her body type well (both of my sisters are definite apple shapes while I am a pear). I then again realized that had I been seeing her for the first time and didn't know any better, I would have thought she was pregnant too. It was because her butt, arms and legs are not heavy, she is not busty and she was wearing a shirt that really showed that she carries her weight in her mid-section.

I have been within a couple pounds of goal for several months now. It seems to be maintained pretty well . . . even with pregnancy. I have loosened up my diet with pregnancy but I don't seem to be gaining.

The only thing that helped me was a slight unfill. Changing eating habits and taking meds only lessoned it a little . . . but the unfill made it dissapear completely. If you are not getting sleep, it is definitely worth it.

Sliming is not as serious as pb'ing as far as long term effects. Your best bet is to look at when you are sliming, what you are eating when it occurs, how fast you are eating and how well you chew. If I eat anything too early in the morning withoug having a hot drink first, I will definitely slime. Also I found that with each additional fill I had to go back to evaluating how fast to eat and how well to chew. Go a little slower, chew a little more and see if that rectifies the situation. There is also something that some people suffer with called first bite syndrome. When you have tighter restriction, you may find that your first bite doesn't go down so well and you can't keep eating without having ill affect. What you can do is take a bite of something . . . wait for a full five minutes . . . and then eat your meal. That delay may be what your stomach needs to "prepare" for what is to come.

I guess I should have asked . . . what was it you ate when you had the first pb on Saturday? Do you think you could have eaten a little fast or not chewed enough?

I agree with krtork as far as evaluating what you ate, how well did you chew and how fast you chewed. If you don't have a fill yet and are only a month out, it could be that you just ate something you were not quite ready for . . . or ate fast or didn't chew enough on Saturday causing a pb. When I pb, I have to go on liquids for at least the rest of the day and sometimes the next day as well. I get some stomach swelling after a pb that can keep me feeling sore and more likely to pb again if I don't take it easy. Calling the doctor anytime you are uncomfortable is always a good thing. My suggestion on what to do in the mean time is to go back to liquids for a day or two, and then proceed back to your appropriate dietary stage carefully. This should help if you have any stomach swelling.

You don't have to have a large unfill, small unfills of .25 or even .10 cc's can have an impact. With that being said, I always give myself 1 full week to adjust to a fill as long as I can eat and get in plenty of liquids. The whole point of the band is to be able to eat solid foods and have them drift slowly through your pouch. That is why they say to eat Proteins first. Banding isn't intended to make you restricted to eating mushies that pass uncomfortably. When you stay too tight, you miss the biggest benefits of being banded.

There should be no negative affect whatsoever as long as you are getting adequate nutrution . . . yet this is true whether you are banded or not. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that you should wait between 12 to 24 months after banding to consider pregnancy by most doctors requests so that you can stabilize your weight and get used to the banding lifestyle. You should also make sure you are taking a good Multivitamin and a folic acid supplement (to help prevent neural tube defects) before attempting to get pregnant.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were actors as well. Many people who come to this US do not like our fast food (although french fries seem to be quite popular).

Jachut, what a perfect response. I agree whole-heartedly 100%. I also found that banding was more difficult than expected in the beginning but I did stick to plan most of the time. I was not as prepared as I could have been but I think part of that was not actually knowing anyone who was banded. I wasn't willing to risk banding not working for me by disregarding the instructions. I am not surprised that some people find excuses not to follow their guidelines. However, what bothers me more than anything are those people who tell others it is OK to disregard what they have been told and to do what they want . . . and then those same people get angry if anyone calls them on it and start saying things like "this is supposed to be a SUPPORT forum" or that people in support of following the rules are pushing their opinions on everyone else, etc. I really don't feel like any of us are truly victims . . . we must live our own lives and take responsibility for our health and futures. Bringing others into the "lets do whatever we want" camp is harmful.and I think some people do this just to feel better about or find justificiation for the decisions they are making.

I agree with Ejmdiva, banding certainly helps. It is not so much the banding but the weight loss that makes you ultra-fertile. I have a 16 year old son . . . and just never got pregnant again. Once I was banded and got close to goal, I went off of birth control and conceived within two weeks . . . ONLY 2 WEEKS??? I still can't believe it. Was it the weight loss that did it . . . I have no doubts. So far so good, this pregnancy has been smooth sailing. Good luck with your decision.

Definitely an unfill and the sooner the better. I have not delivered yet and I am not sure what will happen after . . . but when I conceived my perfect sweet spot became sooo tight I couldn't even get Water down so I know that changes with pregnancy affect the band. I have read other threads where some people are tighter in general post pregnancy and can no longer tolerate the previous fill levels. You may just find that less is now more. Good luck.

That is awesome news and I am so happy to hear that things are looking a little more positive. :biggrin:

Happy belated New Years Everyone!!!! I am so ready to get back in the swing of things now that the holidays are over!!! I have been on plan except for a few Mentos this AM. I am having company for dinner tonight so it will be a little more difficult but doable I think. Laura, what . . . no colorless boring minivan to tote the baby around in? I love your car and Altima's in general are pretty reliable . . . the color is great too. I am also jealous of your cute baby bump :0) Judy, aren't you protected for at least a couple of days if you buy a car and immediately discover it has problems? It might be worth checking into. SueSue, welcome to the group. I hope everyone who is feeling under the weather gets better very soon. Good luck to all of you doing the 5-day pouch test as well.

I watch Ruby too. I really don't think that those hour glass meals are going to help her in the long run unless she is on them for a life-time. I think it is OK to start off that way . . . but hunger is hunger is hunger and if you can't learn to eat normally from what is available you will always to in danger of backsliding. I lost weight as well as she did using those kinds of diet mechanisms (tight and restrictive diets that last as long as you have the motivation to follow them). Do these programs work, absolutely . . . for a time until you can't get past those feelings of deprivation and start back sliding. Banding has really and truly worked for me because I can eat real foods and make healthy choices from things that are available to me every day at the grocery store, in restaurants, at dinner parties, etc and I am not hungry and I am not unsatisfied. If I want to overeat . . . I just can't. I am no longer battling constant hunger and feelings of deprivation to lose the weight. It is like the best diet ever in that I am fully satisfied and don't have to try and ignore constant hunger. People say that WLS is the quick fix or the easy way out. Now that I have been there and done that I would have to both agree and disagree. It is hard in that you have to make good food choices and do your exercise, period. It is so easy in that you are not battling yourself constantly with hunger and deprivation. It is totally workable and has been a blessing for me.

I had never seen this particular series before but just yesterday they had a marathon on TLC so I watched it off and on throughout the day while I was doing other things. You are sure right about the words "quick fix" for WLS. Everytime it was mentioned they used those words like as if it is something dirty and terrible. The doctor running the clinic is definitely anti WLS. Then again, I can't help but wonder if WLS, while not a quick fix, is not the right kind of help for someone who has such a food addiction that they will spend years confined to their beds and just keep eating. If a person ever gets to that stage of obesity and WLS is used . . . I think serious and intensive psychological counseling is absolutely essential first and foremost. Actually I think it is helpful for all of us who have battled morbid obesity whether we had surgery or not to have appropriate support structures and counseling in place. I saw an episode where one guy had Richard Simmons come in and chastise his wife for allowing him to go back and gain after he had been successful in the past. Richard Simmons was angrier with the wife than the husband who gained the weight, and the husband was really upset about it. My first thought was . . . you should be angry with the person who is eating instead of the family members that are there. After I gave it more though I do see the point. If I ever got to the stage where all I ever did was stay in bed and eat . . . I would hope that my husband would have the good sense to bring me carrot sticks and crystal light instead of a large pizza and 2 liter of pop. I think it would be impossible for someone to stay in bed for years without someone supporting the habit and enabling them. Without support, they would have to eat take-out all the time unless they had tons of money in the bank. I don't know how much disability would pay a person who was bed-bound but I doubt it would support a place to live, utilities and enough food to cover that kind of addiction. I feel that a person enabling that kind of lifestyle does bear some responsibility for their actions as well . . . even if they think they are doing it out of love or have no other choice. Any thoughts???

I take chewable orange-flavored Spectravite vitamins from CVS pharmacy. They taste great and I have been taking them for almost a year now.

RANIA32, We all go through this phase in the beginning. Most of us do not have huge losses the first month or two without restriction. I have lost almost every excess pound and am virtually at goal . . . but I really didn't start losing notably until my second fill around 3 months out. Just stick to the plan and know that it is coming. I think most people really don't understand how difficult it is to lose the first 2 months . . . until they are stuck right in the middle of it. You know what you need to do, now you just have to give it time to start working.

I didn't get much until I went down several sizes . . . the first few months comments were sparse . . . unless I mentioned something and then it is like, oh yeah you do look good. However, when I got close to goal, the comments became regular and more extreme. It took major weight loss to really get peoples attention. Don't worry . . . it is coming soon, just imagine the looks on everyone's faces next Christmas.

I just want to wish all of you January bandsters the best of luck. I was banded in January of 2008 and it has been an incredible year. I was able to lose almost 100% of my excess weight in less than a year . . . so banding has been wonderful and truly a blessing. Happy Banding!!!!

My surgeon and his staff could not offer any medical reason of whether to go Realize or for the Lapband. It was basically a toss-up and they were willing to place both. I looked everywhere to try and make a final decision but did not find anything that really pushed me strongly one way or the other. I chose the Realize band and I have lost almost 100% of my excess weight in less than a year. However, I may have done just as well with Lapband and will never know any real difference. However, I can say that until I got to my sweet spot, I didn't have any restriction. It was like being unbanded until restriction hit me like a ton of bricks. Once I finally did get restriction with the Realize band - I stayed at the same fill level almost six months before I got an unfill due to pregnancy. I can't speak for the Lapband, but for my Realize band . . . it takes a while to get to where you can feel it, but once you are there you stay there and adjustments are just very narrow changes in fractions of a cc. It worked for me.

It is hard for me to switch to the Realize site as well. Lapbandtalk is my online forum and I use fitday for tracking. If something works, it works . . .but I guess I should go and check it out.

66 pounds since May is awesome. You need someone to give you positive reinforcement just like we all do. Definitely tell him what is and is not acceptable to you . . . if you are not clear on that sometimes people don't take hints. He may even think he is being positive in trying to work as a coach with the stick instead of the carrot mentality. He needs to know that you need him to be supportive, period. If you have talked with him and he still can't be there for you I agree that there is no point in keeping him around. Sometimes because of our battles with obesity we sometimes accept more negativity from people than we should or just make do with a situation that doesn't meet our needs. You are important, you deserve to be treated as a valued person.

Chrisann, all I can say is what a difference a year makes. You look wonderful. Congratulations!!!!

Oh, I forgot. I went to the Vitamin Shoppe and bought a case of Isopure Mango Protein drinks. They were a clear liquid so I could have them the first days after surgery. They kept me feeling pretty good and tasted tolerable. They were already mixed so a little pricier but it was worth it for the first couple of weeks before I could get anything in of substance. I drank one a day.