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Hi, I was banded 2/28 and my husband 3/6. We never had a constipation issue till then. I cleaned myself out before the surgery but went 10 days!! before I went again. I took milk of mag (YUCK!) on day 7 and 8 and went on day 10. After having to go through this a couple of times I can't stand MOM anymore. I switched to Benefiber chewable tables and am doing great. My pain and bloat issues was in the end usually from constipation. I take a variable amount of Benefiber depending on how much actual Fiber I take in in a day or if I remembered to take it the last couple of days. You've got to remember they tell you to eat the Protein first and then go on down the line of your food. Poor little fiber that moves everything can't always get eaten. I also found that pushing myself to get my fluids (water or crystal lite) helped a lot. Of course my husband likes coffee so he just drinks that, I can't stand it though. We walk 6 days a week as well. I hope some of this helps you. It will get better.

They blow you full of gas for the surgery so it just takes time to get rid of it. If you only had it done on 5/29 I doubt your doctor will do anything. My husband had bad referred shoulder pain from it for one week and then when he started taking his Tums at one week he didn't have the pain anymore. I had a little gas issue for a couple of days that went away on it's own. Don't worry it'll get better quickly.

Since I got my constipation problems under control I no longer have the pain(except occasional constipated day). I started taking Benefiber every other day to every 3rd day to go. You could also change your calcium to the tums with calcium for the gas effect. If you are having the pain after eating they should check your gallbladder, it's not uncommon for overweight people who have eaten a lot of fat in their day to end up with gallbladder problems. Hope that helps you out some.

The thing with the protein is your body needs a certain amount of protein everyday to work properly. If you're bad here and there it's okay but if you underdo your protein everyday you'll have stuff like muscle loss and brittle hair/nails. I would suggest as the previous people said and either find a nutritionist who deals with lapbanders or find some books and order them. The gastric bypass people have different issues so all of their requirements aren't the same. Let me tell you when I was bad for a couple of days with my protein I could tell just because it seemed harder and harder to do my walking and work. Good luck that's already a great weight loss and like they said you didn't gain so it's all good! I have days where I go back and forth between 1-2 lbs on my scale(I know I really shouldn't weight everyday) but by the end of the week it's always a permanent down.

I had a bit of that too when we started walking right after the surgery. It seemed like a month I wasn't loosing but of course it was only 1 1/2 weeks. My husband and I walk 30 min 6 days a week and now we're at 2 month point we've changed it to 2 times a week with the exercise room and one day swimming pool with the kids - who knee just walking in the pool for 1 hr would be so hard. Don't be so hard on yourself, I was and then I dropped like 3 lbs in a day and after that I was slowly on my way down. Remember lapbanders don't lose weight as quickly as gastric bypass people. I had my surgery 2/28 and have lost about 41 lbs and my husband had his 3/6 and has lost about 55 lbs - both are above average loses. We just got our first fill done. I've never used the protein calculator but we were told you needed 50-60 grams of protein for a woman 5'9" and shorter and 60-70 grams for taller women and for men per day. Good luck on your weight journey.

My husband had a lot of pain for a week after surgery in his shoulder from the gas they use to blow you up. As soon as he started taking the tums it went away. Good luck with the surgeries.

You are suppose to be on a high protein, low carb, low fat and low calorie diet. Do not drink for 30-60 min before and after you eat. Females 5'9" and under need 50-60 grams of protein daily. Males and females over 5'9" need 60-70 grams of protein daily. Eat your protein before other foods at your meals. Get at least 48-64 ounces of fluids per day. DO NOT drink carbonated beverages! We had week one - clear liquid diet, week 2 full liquid diet, week 3 pureed diet, week 4 soft diet, week 5 soft + ground meats diet, week six regular diet. My husband and I personally used the ISOPURE protein supplement powder - cookies n cream for our protein supplement. You want to use one that's the highest protein for the lowest carbs - isopure is 0 carbs. At least the first couple of weeks you will need the protein supplement to help you get your protein needs in. You really need to keep track every day your protein, fluid, calorie, carb intake till you get the hang of it. We had our surgeries 2/28 and 3/6 and have lost 41 lbs/55 lbs. Of course we also walk 30 min 6 days a week but you should be doing 20-30 min at least 3-4 times per week. Did you not get any info to refer back to from the nutritionist? The lap band is a tool to help you lose weight. Good luck!

I have moderate sleep apnea with a 9 setting and had my surgery done on 2/28 and my husband has severe sleep apnea. I'm not sure what his setting is, I just remember he was so bad when he was tested 7 years ago that they cut his session short because he scared them and they asked if he would be okay to drive home. He had his surgery for the lap band 3/6. They just made us stay overnight for observation and we had to bring our machines. I had to get tested and have sleep apnea to get the surgery done because I had no other comorbidities and had not been fat enough for long enough for my insurance company. I would get a second opinion from an actual bariatric surgeon, bring your history from you sleep apnea/respiratory doctors with you. Good luck.

Hi Nicole I say take a deep breathe and take his story with a grain of salt. We don't know if he really is telling the truth, this is the internet after all. Also sometimes you get what you paid for - a cheaper doctor or one you didn't research for malpractice issues. Or he just has the worst luck. They've been doing the lapband in Australia for 15 years and have research from that far back. The revisions that his 2nd surgeon does are not necessarily from mistakes, some people choose the lapband and then either cheat - ie milkshakes and such or they just decide its not what they imagined it. It can be disappointing to people to loose "just" 1-2 lbs a week as opposed to the larger quicker gastric bypass weight loss. I actually thought about it 5 years ago when I watched a documentary on someone who had the lapband done and one on a woman with the gastric bypass. I always thought I'd do that by the time i'm 35 if I don't loose the weight. A co-worker got it done last year and it took me 6 months and a lot of questions to decide I was interested in it now. My husband decided that he was too. It still took us 6 more months to do all our tests and work through our feelings before I got it done Feb 28th and my husband on March 6th. I felt better within a week, no more wheezing. My husband did have referred shoulder pain from the gas for a week but as soon as he started taking Tums that went away. Neither one of us regret it and we're doing fine. Where I work a lot of people are either doing the lapband or the gastric bypass. Both are tools to help you relearn your eating habits. You also need to look at why you got to that point so you can learn not to fall into old habits or start new bad ones. Good luck next month!

Never take Grapefruit juice with medications they can cause dangerous interactions! Especially on some of the heart medications. I always listen to easygoing music and deep breathe on the way to my doctor visits. Good luck if you haven't already gotten cleared.

Get the doctors office to measure your height again. You lose height as you get older, especially as our weight makes most of us hunch over more. I did that and was surprised and will not tell how much shorter they said I am.

I had the left sided pain more on my side than the front of the rib cage the 2 weeks after surgery and again last week to the point where I took my pain med again. I from the beginning have had bad constipation (never had it before in my life) and I couldn't decide if this pain was gas/constipation pain or my husband and I started doing some light weight machines. I started taking a fiber pill and started going and the pain is going away now. Now I just have stretched muscle discomfort.

Don't overdo it. It will just make put you off and give you problems. My husband and I do 30 minutes everyday but Sunday first thing in the morning. We do about 1 1/2 miles and overtime we'll increase that but leave it at 30 min. 30 min 3 to 5 times per week is the recommended amount of time, don't try to keep up with a teenagers young legs, it really hurts.

Hi, I did not have a high enough BMI without getting tested for sleep apnea. I only have moderate sleep apnea but it made a world of difference when I started with the mask. Even before I had the lap band done I stopped having the headaches, I wasn't as forgetful, my joints ached less and I didn't have the restless leg syndrome. I just took Benadryl for a few days to help me get use to the mask. Now I fall asleep quicker and sleep much better. My husband has severe sleep apnea and has had one for 8 years, I expect he has a good chance of needing one even after he loses the weight.

When I first moved to North Carolina 10 years ago it was a culture shock at times. I noticed the shoe thing pretty quick and when I asked they told me they considered it rude to take your shoes off that I was making my self at home. My favorite question through the years is always - Do you have Christmas?