adagray

I don't know what my problem is, but I am so hungry and can eat so much since my last fill. I thought I had pretty good restriction at 4.5cc. Got my 3rd fill on Monday which brought me to 5.25cc and I am so hungry. Ugh! :tt2: All I can think is maybe I am being too 'careful' and eating too many soft-ish foods. So, tonight I am gonna have my DH grill some salmon and asparagus. Wish me luck that it doesn't slide down so easy. :smile2: Oh, the other thing is that my muscles have been sore and I've been tired a lot lately. I started exercising every day over a week ago so maybe my body just really needs the food to repair my muscle? I can only hope! :thumbup:

See if you can get some liquid lortab. It tastes nasty, but it does the trick and it will also help you sleep. For me, the worst is if you are in pain AND can't sleep either. You need to be able to rest so you can heal. And, yes, this is the worst of it and it will all be worth it in the long run. Hang in there!

Congrats to you! And, I agree losing weight with the band is FUN!!! Its fun because I don't have to be miserable and starving to lose weight this time. :->

I don't know what my problem is, but I am so hungry and can eat so much since my last fill. I thought I had pretty good restriction at 4.5cc. Got my 3rd fill on Monday which brought me to 5.25cc and I am so hungry. Ugh! :thumbup: All I can think is maybe I am being too 'careful' and eating too many soft-ish foods. So, tonight I am gonna have my DH grill some salmon and asparagus. Wish me luck that it doesn't slide down so easy. Oh, the other thing is that my muscles have been sore and I've been tired a lot lately. I started exercising every day over a week ago so maybe my body just really needs the food to repair my muscle? I can only hope! :biggrin:

I also have a very strong aversion/fear of puking. I can count on one hand how many times I have puked in my entire life and that includes two pregnancies and lots of heavy drinking in college. And, I can't even puke when I want to (like when I had terrible terrible stomach flu) and my whole family was puking from it. I still couldn't puke and I wanted to because I felt like I was gonna die from the pain. Anyway, my point in saying that is just that I think some of us who have a strong aversion to puking must have a very insensitive gag reflex (or really strong stomach). I was wondering if once I got the band, if I would PB, vomit, etc. Its hard for me even to imagine it. Right now I'm almost 3 months out, have had 3 fills, and have not PB'd or vomited at all. The only time I have felt nautious on this whole journey has been in recovery after surgery and they gave me some medicine that made me feel better so I never ended up puking then either. I did get stuck once and it was so painful, but I could not get it to come back up. I had to wait it out which I'm sure is worse. I never want to feel that again so I have avoided bread ever since then and I chew, chew, chew my food very well. I admit that I do still take bigger bites than I should, though. I like the feeling of a big bite of food in my mouth. But, I chew the heck out of it before I swallow. I should also say that I am probably not at my sweet spot yet, but I feel like I'm getting close. I'm guessing that I will probably PB eventually once I get to my sweet spot. I think it is very rare to get through this journey without at least one incident. But, so far, so good. In any case, I wouldn't let it deter you from getting the band. I know a lot of people who PB all the time, but I think us pukaphobes are probably less likely to have that problem.

And, do you follow them??? I'm just curious because my doctor seems to be on the extreme side. I am only supposed to have Clear Liquids for 72 hours after a fill. And, she limits 'clear liquids' to tea, broth, sf Jello, Protein shots, and Water. That is it! For 72 hours!!! :mad2: To her credit, I have never swelled shut or had any bad post-fill experiences... other than the starvation!!! :thumbup: But, I find it the one 'rule' that I just can't bring myself to follow. I've had three fills so far. With each one, I'm able to go a bit longer on just these clear liquids, but I never make it the full 72 hours. I ALWAYS stick to the clear liquids for at least 24 hours, though, and when I progress, I take it slow... first Soup, then yogurt, then cottage cheese. So, as I am on my 2nd day of clear liquids again after my 3rd fill and I have lots of time on my hands cause I'm NOT eating, I'm just curious what everyone else's rules are for after a fill and if you follow them? :thumbup:

This is kind of a long one so bear w/me... I went to my surgeon's lapband support group last night. I've been doing great lately w/my band, but I still try to make it to as many support meetings as I can. I figure its free therapy (led by one of the psychologists from my surgeon's office) and I do learn something new at every meeting (either from the psych or from one of the more experienced bandsters). We have a lot that go to the meeting that are at goal. OK, so earlier in the day I had an odd discussion w/my 4 yr old daughter. On the way to preschool, she told me in the car that she wished I never had surgery. Yes, I've told everyone about the surgery, even my 4 yr old daughter and 6 yr old son. They know it is to help mommy get healthy and they seemed happy w/that explanation before surgery. So, it totally throws me off that now my daughter is saying she wishes I didn't have surgery. :huh2: I told her I'm all healed now, feeling great, and that its really working so I'm happy I had surgery... and ask her why she wishes I didn't. And, she said its because I can't eat dessert anymore and she wants me to eat dessert w/them. I explained to her that I CAN eat dessert, but I'm just choosing not to because it is healthier for me to not eat it. But, for a 4 yr old, the idea of delayed gratification or doing something for one's health is just not a concept that can be easily understood. Long story short (woops, too late!), the advice I got from the psych is that he thinks I should eat a little dessert (not just for the kids, but for me too). He said that I'm slipping back into a 'diet mentality' of deprivation and extremes. Well, he didn't put it that bluntly, but I got the point. And, man, is he ever right on!!! :rolleyes2: I knew going into this that my biggest challenge would be embracing moderation and no longer living in the extremes. I just didn't realize that I had slipped back into an extreme. And, he also doesn't approve of my rule of no alcohol and exercise every day until I've lost my 10 pounds for the month. He considers that diet mentality as well and too strict. But, I have a feeling that the dietician and exercise physiologist would feel different about that! LOL :thumbup: Anyway, so I've decided I will eat a little bit of dessert when my family has dessert, but still not sure if I will give up my 10 pound per month goal. I figure I'll stick to it until this month's 10 pounds are gone and then see how I feel. I only have 6 pounds more to make my 10 pounds this month (my month goes 2/17-3/17) and I've been losing fast since I gave up the alcohol and started exercising every day. Ultimately, I have to do what works for me and even though he may be a great psych, it is still just advice and my choice what to do with it. But, definitely food for thought. :cool:

I want to update that yesterday I bought two big chocolate chip cookies for my kids to have as a snack as we were running errands in the car. It suddenly occurred to me that I had done it again... gave them a sweet and taken none for myself. So, I asked my daughter for a piece of her cookie (halfway expecting she would not want to share LOL), but she gave me a piece and I made all kinds of oooos and ahhhs over how yummy it was. And, it was really yummy. :->

Wishing you all the best for a smooth surgery and recovery. I just know you are gonna do great w/this because you have already done so great pre-op. The band will help you get the rest off and KEEP IT OFF, most importantly!!! I always love reading your posts and look forward to hearing how well you are doing after surgery. :->

This is kind of a long one so bear w/me... I went to my surgeon's lapband support group last night. I've been doing great lately w/my band, but I still try to make it to as many support meetings as I can. I figure its free therapy (led by one of the psychologists from my surgeon's office) and I do learn something new at every meeting (either from the psych or from one of the more experienced bandsters). We have a lot that go to the meeting that are at goal. OK, so earlier in the day I had an odd discussion w/my 4 yr old daughter. On the way to preschool, she told me in the car that she wished I never had surgery. Yes, I've told everyone about the surgery, even my 4 yr old daughter and 6 yr old son. They know it is to help mommy get healthy and they seemed happy w/that explanation before surgery. So, it totally throws me off that now my daughter is saying she wishes I didn't have surgery. :huh2: I told her I'm all healed now, feeling great, and that its really working so I'm happy I had surgery... and ask her why she wishes I didn't. And, she said its because I can't eat dessert anymore and she wants me to eat dessert w/them. I explained to her that I CAN eat dessert, but I'm just choosing not to because it is healthier for me to not eat it. But, for a 4 yr old, the idea of delayed gratification or doing something for one's health is just not a concept that can be easily understood. Long story short (woops, too late!), the advice I got from the psych is that he thinks I should eat a little dessert (not just for the kids, but for me too). He said that I'm slipping back into a 'diet mentality' of deprivation and extremes. Well, he didn't put it that bluntly, but I got the point. And, man, is he ever right on!!! :biggrin: I knew going into this that my biggest challenge would be embracing moderation and no longer living in the extremes. I just didn't realize that I had slipped back into an extreme. And, he also doesn't approve of my rule of no alcohol and exercise every day until I've lost my 10 pounds for the month. He considers that diet mentality as well and too strict. But, I have a feeling that the dietician and exercise physiologist would feel different about that! LOL :thumbup: Anyway, so I've decided I will eat a little bit of dessert when my family has dessert, but still not sure if I will give up my 10 pound per month goal. I figure I'll stick to it until this month's 10 pounds are gone and then see how I feel. I only have 6 pounds more to make my 10 pounds this month (my month goes 2/17-3/17) and I've been losing fast since I gave up the alcohol and started exercising every day. Ultimately, I have to do what works for me and even though he may be a great psych, it is still just advice and my choice what to do with it. But, definitely food for thought. :cool:

I agree w/the previous poster who said that it works even pre-banded so give it a try right now. Its something I learned from previous diet attempts so I was already in the habit of not drinking much w/meals. I would tend to fill up a glass, but not drink much out of it. Now the hard thing is just to not compulsively fill up a glass for no reason. LOL As for special occasions, at my current restriction, I do have a glass or two of wine with my meals when I am out w/friends or my husband for dinner. I do this maybe once or twice a month. Its not going to hurt your band, but you do have to realize that this is not the 'ideal' and will slow your weightloss (unless you compensate w/extra exercise). So, do it if its really important to you, but then if you see the scale not moving down as fast as you'd like, you know what you have to do. And, I say 'at my current restriction' because I have heard that for a lot of people, once you are at your sweet spot, sipping a drink with meals is not even comfortable. I'm not quite there yet so I don't have that as a deterent.

Just want you to know I experience the same thing pretty often, but have never actually thrown up or PB'd anything yet. It hurts enough to ring the alarm bells for me and then I slow down and chew, chew, chew. One time I ate a roll (wrong food and way too fast - it was in the first month post-op) and it took at least 5 minutes to pass through and I was in mega-pain. I couldn't throw up, but luckily I remembered that someone on here said it helps to put your arms above your head. So, I was just pacing around the bathroom w/my arms above my head praying it would come up or go down quickly. I will never eat a roll again, I don't even like them that much!!! And, I am super duper careful w/any bread now. I usually don't take any, but if I really want a taste, I take a tiny tiny piece and just nibble at it.

My doctor has never given me any rule on this, but I always make a point of having an empty pouch and being well hydrated. I just feel like that will optimize your chance of being able to tolerate a bigger fill and get to your sweet spot faster. Since your fill is at 2pm, though, I wouldn't skip lunch. I would have soup (like what was suggested) or yogurt or cottage cheese (something that will slide down and not irritate your pouch at all). My fills are generally in the morning, but I never skip b-fast because I know they want me to be on Clear Liquids only for 72 hours after and I certainly don't want to extend that any longer! LOL

costco has these big Water bottles (made by contigo - bpa free - d/w safe) that hold 24 oz and they are selling them in a 3-pack now. I just always have this thing by my side w/water. It even has a clip on it so I can clip it to my purse when I am out. Three of these equal more than 64 oz of water so I just make sure I finish one before lunch, one before dinner, and one after dinner (after the 30 min is up). My nutritionist is very determined that we stick to only 3 meals a day and I find that sipping water really helps me avoid snacking. So, as I haven't had perfect restriction yet, I end up drinking four of these on a lot of days so I'm actually getting more like 100 oz of water per day. For me, I guess the water keeps my stoma busy enough that it tricks my stomach into thinking I'm still full even though my last meal has really worn off.

My goal is 149 (upper limit for what is considered 'healthy' for my height). I think for most people, weightloss tends to slow as you get closer and closer to goal so there is no need to take any Fluid out of the band once you reach goal. In any case, you would never want to take all the fluid out. When people have their bands removed or take all the fluid out, they will typically regain all the weight they had lost. I know for me that I could easily increase my calories to stop losing weight if I wanted by introducing back some liquid calories that I enjoy (like wine!) or allowing myself to have some Snacks and treats that go down easy, but that I'm avoiding now because of the calories. One of the ladies in my support group who is at goal has a 'treat day' once a week where she allows herself to snack and have other treats she does not eat the rest of the week. She also exercises a lot so that is probably why she can do that without regaining.

I take Centrum Chewables (for adults). They don't taste great, but they don't taste horrible either. As for Calcium citrate, I've settled on the Bariatric Advantage chocolate Chews. I've used the Twinlab calcium citrate wafers as well, but they are big and chalky... no problem for my band, but I don't like chewing up a big mouthful of chalk so that's why I switched to the Bariatric Advantage Chocolate Chews. I also take extra Vitamin D (small pill - nonchewable - made by Naturemade) and Vitamin C (chewable - made by Naturemade). I have also given up my Omega 3s for now because the ones I have are so huge. I'm on Crestor (Rx high cholesterol medicine) now anyway and its doing way more for my cholesterol than the Omega 3s. So, I haven't tried to find a new Omega 3. When I was only on Omega 3s (no Crestor), it didn't seem to do anything to lower my cholesterol anyway.

The thing that helped me most w/the shoulder pain (from the gas) was to roll up a heating pad and put it in the crook of my neck. So, I would definitely recommend having a heating pad handy. At the hospital, the nurses would heat up a towel and put it on my shoulder when I would have really bad pain, but at home I used a heating pad.

I've told everyone, but I have always been very open about talking about my struggle w/weight, diet, health, exercise, etc. Its been a lifelong challenge for me and everyone who knows me knows that cause I talk about it all the time. So, it would be odd if I just suddenly lost all this weight and got healthy and suddenly stopped talking about it. Plus, I like the support. Yes, I get the negative comment thrown in here and there (mostly if I share w/acquaintances), but if you decide to tell, you gotta take the good w/the bad. I believe its a very personal decision whether you feel comfortable telling or not telling. There are pros and cons both ways and there's no way to 'untell' so if anyone is unsure about whether they want to tell, I say wait.

It doesn't hurt at all to get a fill. It just feels like a little pinch. I never look at the needle, though. I think it might hurt if I actually looked at the needle. LOL If you are fine w/shots or having blood drawn, its the same. With my second fill, she did have a little trouble finding the port so she was in there longer w/the needle, but you really don't feel anything after the initial pinch. Just don't look!

First of all, I got on the scale this morning and am down another pound. I am now consistently losing one pound every two days ever since I stepped up my exercise and cut out the empty calories. This is awesome for me! Woohoo!!! :rolleyes2: Then, it was off to my surgeon's office for my 3rd fill this morning. The nurse was very impressed w/my results since my second fill. Their scale showed a 7 pound loss since my last fill which was less than 3 weeks ago. I almost thought for a few minutes that I wasn't gonna get a fill. She had to go outside and check w/someone else to see if it was OK. She told me she is used to filling Realize bands more often and the criteria for getting a fill is different between Realize and Lapband (which is what I have). I was glad to find out that I could get a fill today... no wasted trip. She put in .5 at first, I sat up and took a sip of water, then she put in .5 more and I took another sip of water, I could feel it a little in my chest so she then took out .25. So, my fill today ended up being .75 which gives me a total of 5.25cc in a 10cc lapband. I am supposed to be on clear liquid only for 72 hours (that is the drill w/my doctor) so I have no idea at this point if this fill has really created any more restriction for me. It feels like the water is going down a little bit slower, but not sure if that is just my imagination. I will for sure stay on clear liquids for the rest of the day, but if I get really hungry tomorrow, I will try yogurt. That is what I did last time and it worked fine for me. Generally, I don't think I have a large inflamatory response to these fills. I have not gotten sick or PB'd at all yet through this whole process (knock on wood) even though I have consistently gotten more and more good restriction after each fill. All that said, I am very very happy w/how my fill went today. Before this fill, I felt like I was close to my sweet spot. I would be scared if I had gotten more than 1cc today... .75 seems like it might just be perfect. Of course, this is all in theory until I eat again, but so far so good. :thumbup:

Awesome! My insurance will also cover panniculectomy, but not abdominoplasty. I hope that I can find a doctor like yours that will do the abdominoplasty, but just bill insurance for the panniculectomy (or can just charge me the difference). From what I understand, the difference is just that additional shaping and repair to the stomach muscles is done w/abdominoplasty. Most people are not happy w/the results of just panniculectomy because I think that means they just cut off the excess skin and sew you together... no cosmetic tuning which is really essential for a good looking result.

First of all, I got on the scale this morning and am down another pound. I am now consistently losing one pound every two days ever since I stepped up my exercise and cut out the empty calories. This is awesome for me! Woohoo!!! :biggrin: Then, it was off to my surgeon's office for my 3rd fill this morning. The nurse was very impressed w/my results since my second fill. Their scale showed a 7 pound loss since my last fill which was less than 3 weeks ago. I almost thought for a few minutes that I wasn't gonna get a fill. She had to go outside and check w/someone else to see if it was OK. She told me she is used to filling Realize bands more often and the criteria for getting a fill is different between Realize and Lapband (which is what I have). I was glad to find out that I could get a fill today... no wasted trip. She put in .5 at first, I sat up and took a sip of water, then she put in .5 more and I took another sip of water, I could feel it a little in my chest so she then took out .25. So, my fill today ended up being .75 which gives me a total of 5.25cc in a 10cc lapband. I am supposed to be on clear liquid only for 72 hours (that is the drill w/my doctor) so I have no idea at this point if this fill has really created any more restriction for me. It feels like the water is going down a little bit slower, but not sure if that is just my imagination. I will for sure stay on clear liquids for the rest of the day, but if I get really hungry tomorrow, I will try yogurt. That is what I did last time and it worked fine for me. Generally, I don't think I have a large inflamatory response to these fills. I have not gotten sick or PB'd at all yet through this whole process (knock on wood) even though I have consistently gotten more and more good restriction after each fill. All that said, I am very very happy w/how my fill went today. Before this fill, I felt like I was close to my sweet spot. I would be scared if I had gotten more than 1cc today... .75 seems like it might just be perfect. Of course, this is all in theory until I eat again, but so far so good. :thumbup:

I recently decided that I needed to step up my exercise program so I made it a goal to exercise EVERY day (either Jazzercise for one hour or walking on my treadmill for half an hour). My favorite exercise is Jazzercise (and it is a lot more intense than walking), but I can only get to that on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the week due to my schedule. So, I planned to walk the rest of the week on my treadmill and maybe TRY to get to Jazzercise on Saturday morning too. I never have gotten into the routine of doing it on the weekends before because it just always seemed too hard to wake up early on the weekends. But, I'm proud to say I did it this weekend! And, not only did I do Jazzercise at 8am on Saturday, but I went today (Sunday) too at 4:45pm. Woohoo!!! :thumbup: And, as if all of that isn't awesome enough, after class was over today, the instructor walked up to me and told me how great I move and that I could be an instructor. What?!?! Did she not notice that I am the fatest one in the room??? I was blown away. I am really good friends w/two of the other instructors (actually one is the owner), but this instructor did not know me at all nor did she know I was friends w/them. I'm used to friends saying nice things and just thinking they are saying that to be nice, but this was totally out of the blue from someone who doesn't know me. Wow! Not that I want to be a Jazzercise instructor, but having spent my whole life feeling physically inept and awkward because of my size, its fantastic to get a compliment like this. :biggrin:

I recently decided that I needed to step up my exercise program so I made it a goal to exercise EVERY day (either Jazzercise for one hour or walking on my treadmill for half an hour). My favorite exercise is Jazzercise (and it is a lot more intense than walking), but I can only get to that on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the week due to my schedule. So, I planned to walk the rest of the week on my treadmill and maybe TRY to get to Jazzercise on Saturday morning too. I never have gotten into the routine of doing it on the weekends before because it just always seemed too hard to wake up early on the weekends. But, I'm proud to say I did it this weekend! And, not only did I do Jazzercise at 8am on Saturday, but I went today (Sunday) too at 4:45pm. Woohoo!!! :thumbup: And, as if all of that isn't awesome enough, after class was over today, the instructor walked up to me and told me how great I move and that I could be an instructor. What?!?! Did she not notice that I am the fatest one in the room??? I was blown away. I am really good friends w/two of the other instructors (actually one is the owner), but this instructor did not know me at all nor did she know I was friends w/them. I'm used to friends saying nice things and just thinking they are saying that to be nice, but this was totally out of the blue from someone who doesn't know me. Wow! Not that I want to be a Jazzercise instructor, but having spent my whole life feeling physically inept and awkward because of my size, its fantastic to get a compliment like this. :rolleyes2:

If you are comfy in them, I don't see any harm. I wore jeans 4 days post-op. The position of my port and all my incisions are well above where the waist of my jeans hits me so it didn't irritate me at all. I think it helps if you have stretchy and/or loose jeans too. The swelling and gas would probably make tight jeans feel extra tight.