KateP

I don't know US brands but I Assume Flintstones are for children? Your docs have said OK but do be aware many nutritionists don't! The problem is that doubling up for an adult dose can give you too much of some things like Vit A and that can actually be harmful. You need to read the labels of recommended adult Vitamins to find the recommended adult dose and then compare to the Flintstones. When I did that with a UK children's tablet I found some vits wouid have needed two tabs, some more than two and some less than two. And some things weren't there at all!

If you have an empty band and you are still unable to eat, there are no suggestions that can be made! I am assuming you are chewing well and avoiding known difficult foods (these vary from person to person but you will know yours). In the short term you couid stick to slider foods and if the cause is tissue irritation, things may resolve themselves. But if they don't, you have no choice but to see your doctor and get a diagnostic XRay.

Thanks - and then change the subject immediately.

If the PP has been maintaining for many years with that level of fill, it s necessary to find out WHY she has no restriction before simply adding more. Saline levels shouid not drop unless there is a leak. I have not had a fill for about 7 1/2 years.

I am afraid that a common complication of the band is a gradual build up of scar tissue. Thus us beyond our control and is simply the individual's reaction to the implant.nI have read it can be aggravated by keeping the band too tight in the first place but I have not seen research to support that. If this hapoens, the band gets tighter. It has happened to me twice in my almost nine years, but both times in a very minor way and the removal of just 0.1 cc sorted it out. Reflux for banded people is NOT due to a small stomach as the stomach in which the acid is made us a,most the original size, It is caused by pressure from an over-restriction. Have you been checked for a slip?

Have you been checked for a leak? If you could only eat a few bites and then were physically forced to stop eating, you were too tight! When I was banded in 2006, we were taught it SHOULD stop us but by around 2009, it was generally accepted that food passes through within a minute and so it is up to us to choose to stop, not be forced to stop. So ALL the band should do is dim hunger, not dictate quantities. I have had several episodes of regain, twice I gained over 25lbs, once almost 20. But by going back to watching portion sizes, making good choices, walking away when I feel Ibhave had enough, I lost each time.

I am fed up with this site! It happens so often I type a long reply and just before I send, I get an error message and it vanishes., trying again! This is a statement of the obvious. But sometimes we need that. A series of statements! You are staying the same weight so you are eating the same number of calories you are burning. So you need to eat less to lose. The band does not make us lose weight, our food choices do that. The band should never physically stop us eating, it should just dim hunger. Your band is having some effect (you say so). So if you can't have more fill, you have to use the band as it is now. Are you starting every meal with dense Protein? Measuring what you eat? Eating that amount and walking away? Having only planned Snacks? Avoiding sliders? I keep my band fairly loose, I have seen too many people with serious complications from not doing so. I coupl always eat more, then band never stops me eating. All it does is help me feel less hungry. If a am bored, I fight not to eat, and often give in -but that is boredom and craving not hunger. If I am busy, I don't think of food. That is ALL the band is supposed to do. It should never stop us eating. If it does that, food is backed up and can damage the oesophagus.

I replied to your other post. Hope your baby is ok.

You simply must stick to it! This is short term and worth it. However, it is worth phoning your doctor, sometimes they will tell you to add something in. What do you mean by carb flu? If you mean the withdrawal bit, it doesn't last long!

I have never had bad reflux but have twice had periods of mild night time reflex. Both times, a tiny amount if saline out sorted it out. So from my experience, there is simply a point where my band is too tight. I have accepted this and use my band accordingly. What is your current situation? Do you feel the band s not giving you enough help?

Yes, I think it may be! All of the things together suggest it is too tight. I wouldn't be too worried about morning eating being hard - that is quite common. But if there are other things as well.... Steak can be difficult one as well, so I wouldn't judge by that. But you should be able to eat moist meat, well-chewed without problem. How often do you have problems? Are you chewing well? Are there many foods you can't eat?

You can do it! Just one word of caution from someone who has been banded a very long time!! Re-setting your mind sounds great. But remember the band is not designed to work with liquids so you are going to feel hungry! My own way on my re-commitments (and I am not saying it should be anyone's way apart from mine) is to go back to the eating I did at around week six! That is, proper band eating with no deviation. To me, going back to liquids is masochistic! I have had several regains which required knuckling down again - and I always succeeded.

As the PP says. If you were given medical instructions, don't go against them without checking wth your medical team But I had no limits given.

Isn't it a great feeling! Well done. I was 57 when I did my first 5k and felt such a buzz! Unfortunately, getting older means I am getting slower not faster! At 57 I did it in 35 minutes, by 63 it was 45 mins. if I did another I hate to think what it wouid be!!!! But I actually don't plan any more! Being younger, you are going to find you do better and better! Wow! Just seen you are only 4 weeks post-op! Wow!!!!!!!!!

Late morning is when I get hungry too! Awkward time as everyone else expects lunch soon after! Elevenses is a very traditional English affair, long pre-dating Tolkein. It is a normal part of our language here, used by everyone!

Travelling in Asia and eating from street stalls - curried veggies, noodles with fish, chicken and rice, coconut batter puffs. Love it for a while! Then I crave my morning skinny latte!

@@CanyonBaby DH loves kippers but I love the taste but hate all those hair-like bones which you just can't get out!!!

May I chip in with my own story? To help others. Yo-yo dieting from the age of 21 to 56. I wasn't actually big when I was 22- maybe all of 145lbs. But I dieted, gained, dieted, gained, By the time I hit 298lbs I hated my body! I was ashamed and embarrassed of my gluttony and tried to hide it. My BP was too high. My knees hurt. I always felt unwell. Nothing like diabetes etc but it was likely things would get worse. At 298 and aged about 53, I got down to 248 and stayed there a while. But it started creeping up. So in 2006 I was banded,aged 55. I lost all my excess weight (110lbs) in 15 months. I was actually too thin, not in terms of BMI but at that age, under 140 made me look old and ill. So I allowed myself to go up to my now comfort zone of 155-165. I have not found maintenance as easy as B52. It was for the first four or five years. In fact, I distinctly remember wondering why people said it was hard! But by the time I was 6 years post-op, it started to get harder. Now at 9 years, it is a battle. So far I have won! And I intend to keep on winning. It has never occurred to me to have any Fluid removed. I know I would regain if I did. Although I have always kept my band loose, I have never relied on it to physically stop me eating. This is my paranoia! I have seen so many people thinking a tight band was good. It isn't! Weight may go quickly, but so may the band. It s the most common reason for serious complications. But wls changed my life. And for me the band was the right choice. I do worry as on the U.S. Board which is my main online board, very few of those banded when I was still have their bands. But I am an optimist!

I got so fed up at work (a school), even when I was still big, that I posted a notice in the staff room board saying Thank you all for your interest. It is really nice to know people care and are concerned about my health. I am losing weight under the supervision of my doctor and I am not bulimic. I am not anorexic. I am still medically described as obese. I am still large enough to be at risk of weight related complaints. I eat a very healthy diet because I am constantly aware of nutrition. In fact, I am the healthiest I have been for twenty years.

Kippers really are NOT eaten much in the UK this century! Still offered in upmarket hotels which don't do buffet breakfasts but not in households! They are still eaten! But no longer a common breakfast food!

Left side, well away from but about level,with two inches above my belly button.

Different doctors, different protocols! The reason for purees etc is to prevent the movement of the stomach during digestion and so putting pressure on as yet not fully healed internal sutures. Some doctors put Fluid in during the op, some don't. It is so long ago, it is hard to remember but I don't think I was given instructions about exact amounts during the purée stages. And I was told three meals! But at this early stage, just do what your doc says. Soon you will be able to work out your own path, but not yet! By the way, as a fellow Brit, watch out for different dress sizes and even liquid measures!

How does insurance work? If you damaged the port and needed a replacement, would they could cover it?

We all lose at different speeds. What you are doing wouldn't work for me long term as you are not using the band as it is designed to be used. liquid calories like shakes, do not require movements of the oesophageal walls and it is those movements which signal satiety and so dim hunger. Your calories are not that high (I always went under 1200) so you will lose but you will not learn life time habits. Banded people only need shakes immediately post-op, wee can get all our Protein from food. When I was losing (I lost all my excess weight of 110lbs in 15 months) the following might have been a typical day. Breakfast, I am not a breakfast person so this was my deviation from good band eating! Large skinny latte. lunch. Obviously depended if I were at home or work. Maybe two slices of ham with one thin round of bread and lettuce, tomato. Maybe half a baked potato with tuna. Piece of fruit. dinner. 3 or 4 oz of chicken or fish, couple of tablespoons of veg, couple of tiny potatoes. Snacks, again depending on where I was. Apple, almonds, yoghurt, small banana, even a few fish sticks. Every meal started with dense protein. I didn't drink any of my calories.

@@Stacy Warner Patience, most people don't get their first fill until 5 or 6 weeks post-op and then the second quite a few weeks later. So if you have already had four, it is likely your doctor is being very conservative with the amounts. @lisacaron@lisacaron The 4cc band was discontinued apart from in some Mexican clinics, by about 2008. I think I was one of the last to get it! Certainly, I had only been banded a year or so when everyone on the U.S. boards started getting the larger bands.