HeatherO

There have been a ton of healthy, successful pregnancy's post banding. Check out the pregnancy forum on this website.

Ohhh those awful jelly bellies . . . that keep wanting to give us jelly bellies, lol. Mint or chamomile tea or brushing teeth as restlessmonkey suggested work great.

OK . . . so I am almost eight months out and only 10 pounds from my initial goal. I have been following the rules at least 95% of the time, working the plan, doing my exercise, keeping my eating in check. So banding is working and working very well for me. I have been feeling on top of the world. I also felt like I have "overcome" my food addiction which involves driven, impulsive, mindless consumption of very specific food choices either with high fat/salt content or high sugary sweet/carb laden content after dinner but before bed. I could count the number of "binge" episodes on one hand and still have fingers left over since banding. Well, about a week ago I pb'd, which happens rarely, and had some reflux that night, which also happens rarely. I got sicker and sicker day by day until I had reflux and coughing just about all night long. I went on liquids but my stomach was so irritated that I was pb'ing everything until last Thursday when I could no longer ingest more than a tablespoon of Water at a time. Over several days, I had ingested almost nothing other than water, Protein drinks and coffee. My stomach was closing up so I went in for an emergency unfill. They took out a little and I could drink comfortably, had Soup for dinner and have felt altogether human again in the days since. So last night I had a healthy dinner, a yogurt based soup which has a tiny amount of rice and mint sauteed in butter, along with a spinach/ground beef dish topped with garlic yogurt. I ate about 1/4-1/2 cup of each. Probably ate 3/4 cup total, was pleasantly satisfied. 1/2 hour later . . . I wanted a little Cereal, which I haven't eaten in months. I ate a partial coffee cup of honey bunches of oats with almonds. 10 minutes later, I had another partial cup of fruity pebbles cereal in milk. 5 minutes later, I wanted some of the cherry topped cheesecake in the refrigerator and I ate a full serving. 5 minutes later and just about full to bursting I ate maybe 2-3 tablespoons of chocolate w/chocolate chip cookie dough that was made up for a dinner party that will happen later today. Soooo . . . . I binged probably about 2 cups worth of food. This was worsened by the fact that it went down easily with milk and was mostly carb based with a ton of sugar and fat. What happened to me??? Am I still just this weak??? Loosen my band and I am just the same old/same old girl with a food problem. I feel sad and disgusted today . . . and I have a lovely dinner party to cook for throughout the day. Woe is me :smile::sad_smile::thumbup:

For me it went away for the most part but the first weeks were very difficult. I don't crave it anywhere near as much. The problem is there is not much there that I can eat that is satisfying. I used to go to McD's post banding and would order a grilled chicken patty on lettuce . . . but I am bored with it now. I do like refried beans from taco bell once in a blue moon.

I had an unfill due to terrible reflux at night and my restriction kept getting tighter and tighter until I couldn't eat anything. I might be able to get a portion of my fill back on the 23rd of this month. I love sushi and still eat it. I usually go for a cream cheese roll with smoked salmon and I just pick off the surrounding sticky rice. I might just have to go for sushi one day this week with a friend since I have a little more capacity. My husband will not go for sushi with me . . . for some reason he can not even look at it on my plate, LOL.

I had a friend that was TTC forever and a day with no luck. She went on the pill for a couple of months, when she went off again she got pregnant the following month. Somehow going off the pill triggered ovulation for her (she had polycystic ovaries and insulin resistance with only a couple of periods a year if she is lucky). Perhaps a little break is just what you need to get the juices flowing again. Not to mention weight loss really enhances fertility. My husband and I are TTC now and are hoping to get lucky before the year is through :0). I waited til I was just about at goal . . . and we are definitely ready. You should read some of the threads in the pregnancy forum regarding TTC post banding. It is really encouraging. Perhaps we will both be lucky enough to have a new addition in 2009. Good luck.

LOL, revert to the wild . . . your leaving me in stitches. :biggrin: I think I might just stick to my "oh so tasty" calcium carbonate for the time being. Slowly dissolving vile chalky substances do not sound appealing to me. :tt1:

That article was horrible. Can you imagine not only suffering the indignity of asking for a seat belt extender, but to have to be publically weighed and pay a penalty for excess weight??? How on earth would publically humiliating people put an end to the obesity epidemic??? If shame were enough to make us thin, I can assure you that we wouldn't have the problems with obesity that we do today. The author should be ashamed of that article.

I feel your pain. I had to have an unfill last Thursday and will unfortunately be back to the four letter word I despise so much "diet" for the time being. I am working to keep the scale moving in the right direction during this time as well. Hopefully someone can send a little diet luck dust our way for the time being until we can be filled again :0). I wish you the best of luck.

Digital scales go funky on me as well. I don't use them anymore. I have a cheap scale with the revolving wheel . . . I like it because it is accurate and I just make a point to stand on it the same way every time. I know I can use body english . . . but I don't bother. My backup is the bar scale at the gym. It is my "official" weight that I report. It is always 2 pounds higher than my home scale, but what the hay . . . as long as they are bothing moving DOWN in the right direction I am a happy camper.

Calcium carbonate is bad??? I didn't know this . . . and that is what I take occasionally (I have milk, yogurt and cheese on a regular basis so I don't need a lot for calcium supplements). I would love to hear what people have to say on this subject.

Good luck with everything. 18 is a great age to consider it because you are young and have a lot to look forward to with a new, healthier and happier you. If there is a will, there is a way to get this done . . . and it does sound like you are ready to make a go of it. Once you are out of UNI it might be easier if you can get insurance to cover it from your future job. I hope you will join us bandsters very soon . . . we would love to have you in our group.

Most doctors say to wait 1-2 years. However, I think it is safest to give it at least 6 months at an absolute minimum. If you have morning sickness causing vomiting on top of a new band, you might risk a slip and lose the band. Also, this is a great time to work on yourself. There is so much to learn and understand during the early days of banding. It is a lifestyle change and you should give it 110% for yourself. Pregnancy on top of it will be an added stress. If you do choose to wait, just imagine how much healthier you will feel and better you will look with a pregnant belly.

I had this problem occasionally over the last month or two. It came to a head last week where I had constant reflux all night and had to have an emergency unfill. In my case, I was definitely a little too tight.

I think all banders have this issue to an extent with certain kinds of food. For instance, I can eat 4-6 ounces of chicken and be full for hours or I could probably eat a bottomless bucket of popcorn and be hungry an hour later. I know Proteins like chicken and salmon or steak stuff me so I eat them first. They seem to act as a stopper which gives me a slow draining effect. You just have to make choices on what to eat when that make this work for you rather than against you. The stuff that "sticks" should be used to best advantage and built into your menu.

I am sorry you went through this . . . and really shocked that it happened out of the blue after you have been unfilled for so long. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to normalcy.

That just sounds so crazy. You have to have the adjustability . . . I can't see them making a one-way valve because it doesnt make any sense. Plus, if you are puncturing the port with a needle and injecting Fluid, I don't see why it wouldn't come back out again. I would have to wonder if you have a leak or punctured tubing more that the wrong kind of valve. Have you felt any changes in restriction levels since you started getting fills?

I am in the same boat. I just got an emergency unfill on Thursday. I can feel the capacity and desire to overeat coming back strong . . . I feel scared and a little lost without my band helping me. I decided I am going to buy plenty of fresh vegetables and make them the primary staple of my diet for now. I am also going to eat them first by 1/2 cup and then go to lean Proteins and finally back to the vegetables. I have also decided to increase my daily Water intake. I will be avoiding all carbs for now and increasing my exercise daily. I will now go back to charting everything on fitday.com. I think I just needed to work out a strong plan after a trying weekend. Bandster rules wont work as well when my band isn't working for me. I have too much capacity and hunger right now and I had to find an alternative way of handling it. Perhaps developing a strong plan for being unfilled might help you as well. We can get through this together :0).

I just had the same thing happen last week. My fill had been in place for more than four months. I felt great and was losing weight well, at my sweet spot and everything was perfect. A little over a week ago I started pb'ing. I then got reflux at night. It kept getting worse and worse every day, until last Thursday I couldn't get down more than a tablespoon of Water every couple of hours if I was lucky. I even pb'd on 1/4 cup of weak tea. I couldn't sleep the two nights prior because I was coughing almost all night long and choking on my spit. I started reading all threads on slippage and had myself pretty scared. My husband drove me 4 hours away for an emergency unfill on Thursday. The nurse removed 2 cc's and it was instantaneous, blessed, wonderful complete relief. Not only could I drink water, but I could drink a lot of water quickly. I didnt even have to drink the water to feel the difference, my chest could feel it as she withdrew the Fluid. The nurse said that if she had removed a small amount of the fill and everything was perfect again, it is not a slip, I just have swelling and irritation and I need to keep the fill level down for a period to get healthy again. She said that people who have come in with slips are usually in a lot of pain and are toting spit cups because they can not even get their saliva down. She did say that if I didn't come in I could be risking a slip because I couldnt keep anything down . . . and I was also very dehydrated. I would suggest you go get a slight unfill. 3 weeks is risky and I can't imagine that you are feeling your best after not being able to eat much for an extended period. Plus a month or so of a decreased fill short beats a slip if you can avoid it.

Be careful with choosing a pot-luck style option unless it is OK with the family dynamics. If it is tradition that the host handle everything, you might rock the boat uncomfortably for yourself down the road. Your hubby should know if this will fly or not. If you tell everyone you are having surgery, of course they will understand and you will most likely not need to worry about T-day prep . . . but it should be your choice if you want to disclose it. Personally if I were in that situation, I might have said that I needed to have surgery for a hiatal hernia repair (this was true in my case since I had the repair and band done at the same time) near T-day and I will not be sufficiently recovered in time to take on that responsibility. Of course you can cater it and/or enlist your new hubby to help, but it will be quite a stress and strain. Whatever route you take, keep your health and well-being in mind . . . that is paramount to cooking for the new tribe.

You will have to puree a couple of things. You might be able to have a little mashed potatoes and gravy. If there is anyway you can get out of doing this, I would try. At 21 days out, you might find that you are hungry again and it will be an incredible stress trying to prepare a Thanksgiving feast that you can not partake in . . . 3 weeks out is very early.

It makes me sad when threads descend into bickering. Everyone has different opinions and there can be many different opinions on any given topic, and I like to hear different opinions myself . . . but I can't stand when the tone starts to sound like a free for all. Can't we be a little nicer to each other???

I hit my sweet spot on my second fill at 8.3 cc's. It held until I had to have an emergency unfill last Thursday after getting sick. Once you get there, you stay there for some time, at least in my case. My Realize band has gotten me 10 pounds from goal in less than 8 months. I love my band.

. . . because I binged big time after an unfill . . . and am up 2 pounds :0(.

Thanks everyone. I am back on plan today . . . we shall see how it goes. I am up 2 pounds since my unfill, but I think beign dehydrated might have actually made my weight seem lower that it woud have been at that time. Back on plan, back on plan, wish me luck 'cause I am back on plan. :0)