2muchfun

Is there a bariatric doctor involved with your issue? Your symptoms sound much to serious for just a nurse or pa? The vomitting would really concern me.

Dude, you're making me look bad, keep it up ^5^5^5^5s

So many things you could do. First, are you journaling how much food you eat? Many people fool themselves into thinking they're eating fewer calories than they truly are? Or. Our bodies create set points as we lose weight. Our bodies will fight to maintain this new set point by causing us to be hungry or crave foods we don't need. Sometimes it takes a new approach to work through this set point such as, eating 2000 calories a day for a weekend? This might reset your metabolism rate? Or, try a version of the 5:2 diet. I did it by fasting 3 days a week and eating normal the other 4 days. Dr. Varady explains this in a video. I modified it to work with my own lifestyle. It's not fasting like we know it. It's 18 hours of not consuming any calorie containing liquids or food. Then eating one good 500 calorie meal. I broke a 3-4 month long plateau and lost 14 lbs using this tweaked method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAcY8p-yBxA&feature=youtu.be

One bite of food, too large or not chewed enough can lodge in the stoma. Your stoma is only 2-3 cm away from your esophagus and it only takes one bite of food too big to cause a stuck episode. If food is lodged due to food being stuck in your stoma, it backs up into your esophagus and you will slime with saliva and phlegm. It feels like you have a golf ball stuck under your breast bone and drinking will only exacerbate the problem. It can take months to learn how to eat with your band. Assuming you have no restriction could be your problem. Apparently you have enough restriction to cause a stuck episode. tmf

I did discontinue using furosemide and HCG. They make my skin blotchy and any minor scrape causes excessive bleeding. I know I could go back on them and drop 5-10 lbs of excess fluids but I feel better without them. It's just the part of getting over what the scale says.

I gained 7 lbs when I stopped my BP meds. They help your body eliminate excess fluids. I went back and took them again for a few days just to be sure and yup, they help you lose excess Water but no fat.

^5

If you're on a PC, the surgeon search engines are at the top and bottom of this screen. Enter your zip code and you can find surgeons in your area?

Motivation needs to come from within yourself. You have to want it more than you want food. But having a properly adjusted band is step #1 so you're heading in the right direction. Hunger and food deprivation is what killed all our diet efforts before surgery. Having your band adjusted to the green zone should make all the difference in the world. A properly adjusted band can give you that satiety to avoid snacking or eating the wrong foods. You're doing the right things already. Keep it up!

The entire forum can be your buddy.

The port is a hard piece of plastic about .5 inch high and unless you remove it it will always be visible.

You have to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 lb of fat. If you're consuming 1000 a day, you should be losing about 1.5 lbs of fat/week. But it doesn't always show up the scale due to Water retention or muscle increases due to exercising. You're still looking at this like they did back in the infancy of the band. The band won't stop you from eating more than 1000 calories. I can still eat 3000 calories if I want. The band only makes us feel satisfied with less food. We look for being satisfied with less food for up to 4 hours to be in the green zone. There are a few exceptions to the rule of course. We all stored up many lbs of water before surgery so much of the initial weight loss is loss of fluids and those lbs come off in huge amounts. Don't expect 2 lbs a week or you might be disappointed. If you're not exercising 1 lb a week might be the best you can do. tmf

Why would you not tell the trainer? For the trainer to be effective he/she would need to know any and all restrictions with your physical and dietary issues. Getting enough Protein, carbs and Water could effect what type of exercise would be most effective for you personally? And if you're researching who would be best to fit the job, wouldn't a trainer who was familiar with bariatric patients move to the top of the list? You don't need a trainer who is going to disparage you or your choice to have surgery. jmo tmf

I have 4 pair of Docker type shorts. 2 of them require a belt now. If I don't use a belt, the weight of my keys, wallet and cell phone can cause my shorts to fall off too.

No it's not. Call your bariatric doctor. I've seen this posted before and they usually ask you to endure for a few days to see if the cramping dissipates. It's usually caused by swelling or by the extra tightness from the band causing the stomach muscles to cramp.

You were looking for a fill doctor on the 3rd? Did you find one and when were you filled? Typical weight loss with the band is 1-1.5 lbs a week. You can drink 2 glasses of Water and any weight loss won't show on the scale for that week. You say you can eat 1000 calories a day? How many have you been eating and what are you eating? Are you exercising? One week is nothing in the grand scheme. If you eat 1000 cal/day, exercise 5 times a week, eat healthy foods and after one month the scale has not moved, then I'd be concerned? But, one week isn't enough time to make any comparisons or judgments? tmf

Almost every Bandster has gone through what you're experiencing. It's called Bandster Hell and it will continue till you get enough adjustments to place you in or near the green zone. This happens anywhere from one week out to 6 months out. I was in BH for 4 months before my 3rd fill gave me enough satiety to not be hungry all the time. Yes, the hunger seems worse than before surgery. But before surgery, it wasn't hunger, it was just our eating demons telling us we "wanted" food. Now, it's your brain and body telling you that it "needs" food. Remember these feelings so that you can tell the difference between head hunger and true hunger. You should follow your doctors advice. But, the hunger was so intense for me I had to eat. So, I focused on eating healthy foods like salmon, chicken, lean beef, veggies etc. I ignored the 1/2-1 cup limits and ate till I was no longer hungry. I lost 12 lbs the first 2 weeks and then nothing for the next 3.5 months. Then my 3rd fill made BH go away. Hang in there, it's only temporary. My port site took nearly 3 months to heal. I've seen many other patients comment on the same port site incision issue. Like B-52 says: "Till there's restriction, it's just another diet"

^5s One of my fav NSVs are phone calls from charities looking for old clothes. I used to never give up my old clothes as I thought there would come a day I might be able to wear them again. Now, it's, "sure, come on down, I'll put a bag on the porch". I have no problem giving away my old baggy shirts and pants(same ones I refused to give away 3 years ago). Never want to go back there again.

^5

Every doctor has their own protocol and the list of allowable foods will vary from doctor to doctor. Are you on mushies, purees, thick liquids at this time?

Obviously I have no experience in this area but I'm responding to this to remove it from the no reply section so that it's exposed to people using apps and maybe responded to? But I've seen dozens of women respond to weight gain and how it correlates to TOM.

If you drink 64 ozs of fluids a day and consume another 2 lbs of food, that's a total of 6 lbs. It's very easy for our bodies to retain some of this weight due to TOM, sodium, stress, illness or extreme exercising.

Let me be Danny Downer here? I didn't feel any restriction till my 3rd fill. The 1st and 2nd fill did nothing and I could still eat a lot of food and I was hungry often. However, I did try to eat healthy and didn't gain any weight during that 4 month period. X my fingers for you that you get some kind of satiety from this fill but don't be surprised if you feel nada?

HotButterFly, Stop sugar coating it, tell us how you really feel

Got mine 11/28/11. I've lost about 50 lbs and I'm 25 from my goal. Best thing I could have done for me. My knees were/are shot and I need 2 total knee replacements from carrying so much weight for so long. I can eat most anything I want but I choose to eat healthy and the band helps me keep my meals small.