2muchfun

So I'm sorry to be too graphic here but remember, someone filled your body cavity full of gas, they pumped fluids, medications, antibiotics and anesthesia into your body. They punched 5 holes in your abdomen, moved all your inner body parts around, shoved a tube down your throat, took an electric scalpel and burned away excess fat and tissue wrapped around your upper stomach, then wrapped a plastic strap around your stomach just below the lower esophogeal sphincter, stitched it in place with 5-6 sutures bringing your lower stomach up and over the band and then snaked a tube out of your body and then sewed another plastic piece to the muscle tissue on your rib cage. The stomach and pouch need time to heal(swollen from trauma) and running solid foods through them could cause long term damage resulting in failure to succeed with the band. tmf

This could be painful, but start with eliminating all foods in your house that are triggers for snacking and/or poor food choices. Don't buy them again. Go to the store and load up on healthy food choices like spinach, zucchini, salad makings, squash, broccoli etc.

"we are suppose to be keeping our metabolism going constantly" Not all nutritionists subscribe to this method. My nut certainly didn't advise this way. Keeping our metabolism going by eating more food seems to be counter-productive? Keeping our metabolism going with activity makes more sense. I still have a snack around the 2-3 hour mark but not to keep my metabolism going. I just feel like I need it and I keep it low-cal and healthy. Like Noel, I prefer to not have my band so tight I can't eat regularly. BTW-Most of the docs who advise to eat every 2-3 hours are selling books. Most bariatric docs I've read state you should eat when hungry. tmf

For me, I had to keep getting fills(6) until I felt I couldn't handle any more without being too tight/restricted. At 6 I was getting stuck often but I was never hungry. So, after 3 months of this I decided I was too tight so I got an adjustment of .5 less saline. I felt satisfied but not for as long. The Holidays were coming up so I opted to wait it out and didn't lose any weight for 6 months. So, I got a fill 2 months ago and now I'm back in the green zone. My mistake of taking saline out cost me at least 6 months in my journey. What I thought was too tight was just me not eating small enough and chewing enough. I hope I learned my lesson. Eating properly has been the most difficult part of this journey. tmf

For me, the whole reason why this band works is I don't have to feel deprived. Diets don't work for me because of the discomfort of being hungry all the time. I agree, a velvet demand is in order.tmf

Depends on how tall you are?

Fluids flow right through a wide open band and into the lower stomach. No need to worry about anything at this point.

Losing weight with any modality including the band or WW or Jenny Craig never was and never will be a linear line going down every day or week. If you burn 500 calories a day more than you consume, you could lose 1 lb per week. If it's TOM or if you ate too much sodium or you exercised and built up 1 lb of muscle, you may not lose any weight and may in fact gain weight. The goal is to lose fat, and you may find weeks or months of plateaus on your journey. Early in your journey we lose lots of excess fluids we've retained within the fat cells in our body. Once the excess fluids are gone, the weight loss slows down. So it sounds like you're on the right path, 11 lbs in one month is great.

It took me 3 fills before I really felt some restriction and satiety.

One more thing? Try to eat a good portion of protein at dinner. Protein will stay in your stomach longer and give you the satiety to make it through hours of fasting.

I eat dinner very late, 7-7:30 so I don't experience a lot of night cravings. When I do, I still eat an apple or half an apple, pickles or something easy to digest. But night cravings are rare for me. I make sure I eat enough at dinner to avoid those cravings. Also, I'm 1.5 years out and I've learned how to know the difference between hunger and cravings. And I'm in the green zone so those cravings are much easier to control and manage. It's really just mind over food for me now. tmf

Your stomach is a muscle and is susceptible to swelling just like the rest of your body. Stomach bugs, TOM, too much sodium, stress can all effect your stomach making the stoma a smaller hole for food to travel through. Call your doctor is this continues.

Dylan is right. Follow your doctors guidelines for your post surgery diet. The band is sewn into the lining of your stomach and has no or very little saline in it. You won't feel any different than you did before surgery until you get a few fills(adjustments) and your band is adjusted properly. Until then this will be like a diet. tmf

I'll eat an apple, or a dill pickle, beef jerkey, deli turkey, cheese stick, tuna salad. Anything that is low fat, low cal and that seems to give me enough satiety to make it to my next meal.

Doubtful? It would only make it worse. You're still swollen and since you've not been following the rules you could be even more swollen due to irritating the area around the band. You're already tight so a fill would only make you tighter. My advice would be to go back to liquids but most of all, call your doctor's office and tell them what's going on?

Make that per meal, not per day.

You're feeling the swelling from the fill most likely. That can go away in a few days as long as you don't try to push it by eating too fast, too big and don't chew. I'd continue to eat soft foods for another 24-48 hours and stay away from burgers, chicken chunks or anything that might get stuck? The tightness should go away but the feeling you need to eat slower will stay with your a long time if you're lucky! Look at this video. It's a fluoroscopy of Catfish's fill a few weeks ago. Notice how small the stream becomes once it hits your band. Think about how small that hole is when you're swallowing your meals?

That huge hunger ya'll are feeling is the time between being banded and getting the one fill that gives you some restriction/satiety and it's called "Bandster Hell". Many or most of us all went through this period. Your doc or nutritionist probably didn't tell you about this phase? SURPRISE!!! It's real and it's a time to knuckle down and eat healthy. I ate more than my 1 cup of food per meal but I tried to eat healthy so I didn't feel deprived. I didn't gain but I didn't lose. It's all good. tmf

10 year old bands have little in common to 2013 banded patients. New and improved bands, surgical techniques and aftercare have improved the efficacy of the band many times over. It would be like comparing cell phones before 2003 to today's smart phones. jmo

I lost 12 lbs the first two weeks and then nothing for the next 3.5 months. Once my band was adjusted properly I started losing weight. But it doesn't just fall off by a lb a day. You can go 2-4 weeks without losing any weight and then like Aviva said, it just disappears one day. Watch this video, it can explain a lot:

A leak would mean your band has emptied and GERD doesn't sound like a symptom of an empty band? A band that is too full would indicate reflux.

You're also at a stage of your journey where eating like a Bandster is so important and none of us watch you eat so it's impossible to tell if you're too tight or maybe you're just eating too big and too fast? It took me 10 months to figure out how to eat right and it's still a struggle? Talk to your doc or nutritionist, they'll know.

If you click on surgeons at the top of this page(on a pc) you can search for surgeons in your area. I'd call them and ask if they have support groups you can sit down and listen and talk to?

You would have to buy insurance with a bariatrics rider and I seriously doubt you would be able to find an insurer who would cover you. It's like wrecking your car and then applying for insurance after the fact. If you go to work for a business that already has a plan that covers all employees, you would be grandfathered in but that does not sound like your scenario?

Talk to your doc but it sounds like you're a little tight.