KateP

I can't eat as late as 8. I have just had to accept that as my life now. If I am eating with others and have no choice, I either go to bed very late or prop myself up on pillows. A night time cough, as you obviously realise, is often associated with reflux and can be dangerous as we can inhale particles of food which, worst scenario, can lead to aspiration pneumonia. If you can work out ways to avoid it, you really need to do so! If it happens even when you do take care, then you need a small amount of saline out. I am paranoid about being too tight - and I ascribe the fact that I still have my band after nine years, when so many don't, at least partly to this fear! I have twice had persistent night time coughs, without even being aware of reflux, both times I had 0.1cc removed, both times thurible ms went away without any feeling of loss of restriction. Hamburger is a "take care" food for me! It is actually very textured but doesn't chew easily because it is made of small pieces! Very easy to swallow insufficiently chewed.

The band can only be tightened and untightened through the level of saline. I get spring allergies and find my band tightens and I use a nasal spray prescribed by my doctor and an anti-histamine tablet f it gets really bad. No point in giving names as we have different ones in the UK. The tightening is, as you obviously know, due either to Fluid retention in the tissue under the band swell or irritation caused by the mucus. So if you can treat those.........!

Not in anyway saying Nickki is doing it wrong! If it works for her, absolutely fine (as long as she is taking the level of supplements sleeved people take) but just to say, don't worry if you are not eating that low. She is the first banded person I have ever read of eating so low, even sleeved people eat 800 or so after the first few months. Having been on sites like this for nine years, I have read very many " how many do you eat?" threads and most banded people do not eat under 1000.

I was a binge eater, a comfort eater, a yo-yo dieter. I ate. That was it! I ate when I was hungry. I ate when I wasn't hungry. I ate when I was already stuffed. I lived, breathed and thought food. I lied and cheated to hide my eating. As the PP says, you have to switch from negative to positive. Not "I am going to fail" but "this is going to work for me ". And don't judge it by a failure to do a liquid diet now! A liquid diet now is an unnecessary self-punishment - unless or until your doctor tells you that you must do it, So what made the difference for me? My doctor told me certain things stat were medically essential - like the post-op diet. My doctor and my research showed me that breaking certain guidelines could seriously damage my health. My band helped me eat slowly and carefully. But most of all, I was 100% committed. I KNEW I was going to succeed. The band only helps; it doesn't bring about weight loss - we do that by our choices. You have to be confident and positive. I am a Brit and we don't go in for therapy! But I know you do in America. Why not see someone to help you prepare yourself?

Your band is supposed to be stitched into position precisely so that it doesn't move! If you think it is moving, ask your doctor.

I lost all my weight on around 11-1200 a day. I didn't count in fact but when doctors say "just make healthy choices" they are probably not banded themselves!!! Most banded people do count calories or maybe carbs. I am in the minority not doing so and even so, every three or so weeks I used to measure and count for a day just to make sure my portions hadn't crept up.

The other day? That shouldn't happen. If you drank a thick shake too quickly, it couid backup and then come back into your mouth. But that wouid be immediate or very soon, not days ago, Phone your doctor.

This is quite common. And a hard one to break although some people get acid reflux at night if they eat so that helps them stop! Suggestions. Get healthy Snacks in. Don't keep wine in the house. Do something rather than sitting watching TV. If eating late doesn't affect you, plan your daily eating so you have a really meal. Have a planned snack when the children eat, then you and DH have your meal later. All these things assume a husband who is supportive enough to not eat/drink in front off you!

Throw the scale away! Personally I weigh twice every single day but that is fine because the numbers don't worry me! In fact, being now long past the losing phase, they keep me aware! But if numbers worry you, stop weighing! Lots of people get stressed by numbers and that just IMO makes you obsess about food, eating, loss etc.. Try measuring instead? Find a set of clothes just a bit too tight and try them on every week? And, as you say, don't worry about a plateau - plateaux pass!!

@@B-52 I so agree with you! But, interestingly, in addition to what you say, and not in line with the doctor who started this thread, I am also told by my medical team that one of the biggest issues they face, and one which cannot be controlled, is a build up of scar tissue round the band over the years. This causes tightening. I am under the aegis of the All-Wales Bariatric Unit which is part of our National Health Service. The surgeon in charge no longer does bands, partly for the reasons you give, but also because he has had to remove too many because of physical issues and scar tissue is one of the main ones.

Not necessarily here to stay! I rarely get gas problems, only if I eat the "wrong" things, like anyone, banded or not. Our digestive systems are unchanged. But in th post-op phase, I had lots of gas. It passes! Literally! Just keep taking the meds and keep moving.

You probably already do this! But just in case it hasn't occurred to you.... Whenever I travel in Developing Countries, we tend to go right off the tourist trail. So before I go, I always do research and identify a hospital which does bariatric surgery for emergencies. Sometimes, the only place is in a different country. For example, in rural Vietnam, the advice was to get to an airport and fly to Bangkok. But in other countries, it is just a big city although it may be a long way away. In Borneo, it was a case of flyingbto Kuala Lumpur. But in Namibia, it was head to South Africa! It isn't always possible to get internet access and so I keep a list of names and phone numbers in my bag. Like you, I always take anti-emetic meds with me which my doctor gives me - not needed them so far thankfully! Although we never stay in international hotels so it is always local food.

Agreed. If I eat sliders, they go down easily but I very quickly find I am "full" in the same way I would have been with a much larger, pre-band stomach. That full feeling which is actually below the physical stomach, that we feel around the tummy button area! Yes, over time, our stomachs do, as you say, provide a second safety net. And I still love my band after almost nine years.

I am not prone to getting stomach bugs but I do have a norovirus about five years ago. I just dry-retched. Nothing came up at all. I was rather worried but it all seemed fine! I travel a lot in Asia and always carry anti-nausea meds my doc prescribed, just in case! I was told by my doc that because vomit comes out under pressure, it should come through the band. But I haven't tested it personally!

Loose skin can't be removed except by surgery. Muscle underneath the skin can be toned and for some people, a year or so after the fat has gone, there does seem to be a small amount of "pull back". But if skin has been very stretched, over many years, it's stretched. Creams, wraps, treatments which promise more are misleading.

Thanks. I think I agree to a large extent that the precise way it "works" is less important than following the basic rules. I only disagree if the banded person starts relying on discomfort or even pain to stop them eating. And I think you would probably agree on that! My pet paranoia (can one have a pet paranoia?) is being too tight. I have seen very large numbers of people relying on the band too heavily and ending up with complications, right up to, for many of them, those necessitating removal. To that end, I am very vigilant. Twice I have had very mild night time reflux which showed no signs of going away; on both occasions, despite having no day time symptoms at all, I had a tiny amount of saline removed (0.1ml) and the problems went away. There are no guarantees in all of this. But I do everything in my powers to keep my band, if it were removed or all saline taken out, I am fairly sure I would not be one of those who maintained my weight loss.

Please bear in mind that I am a very happy and very successful bandit now 9 years post-op. I do not regret my band, would do it all over again and if I ever have to have it removed, I would hope to have a replacement. When I was banded in 2006, it was a miracle surgery. And for some people, who accept that they will still have to work hard, it is just that. It was and still is for me. But over the years it has become clear that serious complications necessitating further surgery are much more common than originally thought, some of these are avoidable by careful eating and by not keeping the band tight; unfortunately others are beyond our control. We used to be warned about band slips, leaks and about ( very rare) erosion into the stomach tissue but it turns out that a build up of scar tissue round the band (causing it to tighten) is quite common. It can be very difficult to get the right level of restriction and some people are tempted to keep it tight enough to physically limit food, in fact it was once thought this was how it should be. But this causes food to back up into the oesophagus and that risks problems such as oesophageal dysmotility which may be irreversible. It can also damage the vagus nerve. Quite a number of doctors have stopped implanting bands as they found the removal rate was unacceptably high and it was too easy not to lose enough weight. Revision from band to sleeve is nit uncommon! We still need lots of will power. The band makes it easier by dimming hunger, but it does nothing for head hunger and, contrary to popular opinion, it does not and should not physically stop us eating. If it does it is too tight! Having said all that, I love my band, I know many successful long term bandits in real life. My own experience has been good and so has that of almost all those I actually know and have met.

I would go a different route to the one suggested above. If your band is empty, you may still have a residual bit of restriction just from the band. Going back to,liquids would do nothing to help you. You need to use whatever help you can get from the empty band which means dense Protein not liquids. And if there is no residual restriction, there is no point in liquids either! My suggestion would be to find a programme to help you, like WeightWatchers or the 5:2. Anything you can stick to until you start getting fills again.

Best case scenario - no problem at all. The worst that can happen is that dense food passing may inflame and irritate the tissue under the newly placed band and that the movement of the stomach walls as they digest solid found may put presssure on the as yet incompletely healed internal sutures. This can, worst case scenario, have two different effects, it can loosen the sutures so putting the placement if the band at risk or it can encourage the build up if scar tissue which can be major cause of long term problems. Do you trust the doctor who operated on you? Then follow his advice! If you can't control your eating, at least stick to having more thick liquids or purees, whichever you have been told to have.

I have a an old 4cc band, it is so long since I had a fill that I forget the saline content but think it is around 2cc. I do not have oesophageal dilation as I have an annual barium swallow. I know some dilations can be reversed by short term removal of saline, I also believe (anecdotally) that once a dilation has occurred, recurrence is more likely. I may be explaining myself badly. If I ate fast and carelessly, food wouid not pass quickly. If I eat sensibly ( and I can eat all foods,certainly not just usliders - some require extra care), I will not have problems. I find this interesting as, until this thread, I had assumed that all medical thinking about the band had moved on. When I was banded in 2006, we were taught that food shouod remain above the band for some time to stimulate the vagus nerve. So we were told to work out or oetsoball "soft stop" and eat until that point, not drinking for 30 minutes. But, sometime around 2008/9, my baritaric team (and as I said, due to a house move, I had two of these) told me that research (meta-analyses as well as individual studies) had changed the understanding and that it was now accepted that the cause of satiety was the brain monitoring the number of movements of the oesophageal walls and that, obviously, the narrowing caused by the band necessitated a greater number of movements with anything other than liquid or very soft foods. I am, as you probably realised, in the UK. But I know that many people in the U.S. are taught the same. And this makes total sense of how my band works. As long as I wait for, say, a minute after swallowing, well-chewed dense food goes down. As I can then drink with ease, I know it has gone down. I can then continue eating. I feel comfortably well-fed after a small amount and stop. I no longer feel hungry. But if I choose to do so, I couid eat more.

Oh, I fully agree with your rules. I have followed them with complete success for nine years. My issue lies with your suggestion that the band can make it impossible to over-eat. If this is the case, it can only happen if food is retained above the band. I have seen too many people suffer with oesophageal problems to be happy with the idea that the band should be tight enough to allow this to happen. I am very sure food passes through my band quickly because, following that principle, I drink with meals, waiting the suggested one minute after a mouthful. I can drink freely and easily and if food had not passed through, it would cause a back-up. I stop eating when I have eaten a sensible amount. I then walk away, if I chose, I could physically eat more. But I feel comfortably satiated. So I stop, and I do not feel hunger. So my issue is entirely with the concept that the band stops the intake of food. If people rely on that, they are regularly putting pressure on the base of the oesophagus. I am sure many of your pAtients are very successful and, of course, people post more in forums such as this when they have problems. But at nine year out, I have seen so many people with problems serious enough to necessitate band removal. And many of these are down to oesophagus dilation or even dysmotilty,

Can you drink? If not, this becomes an emergency and you need to go to A and E. Baritaric surgery is widely available in France and in the UK and the emergency depts at most major hospitals could remove saline. I have never heard of anyone trying to do it themselves! But even if you are two hours from a hospital, if you can't drink, any doctor might be able to help. If you are flying to the UK, couid you see a doctor in the UK? Depending on the airport, why not ring around the area before you leave France? Any major NHS hospital, any BUPA or Spire private one. Plenty of these in the S of Engiand. My best wishes.

@BLERDgirl@BLERDgirl@BLERDgirl I don't think the type of WLS matters. OP is struggling with feeling as if she's "taking the easy way out". Hopefully by now it's pretty apparent that whether you are banded, sleeved, bypass or any variation of that WLS is NOT an easy way out. It take hard work and determination. Yes, not only did I understand what she was asking, I answered her in totally relevant detail in a post early in the thread. Does it somehow offend you that I chose to offer her a separate comment based on my experience? And I didn't say any wls was easy! I said they were all hard!

As for not having gone through the other types of wt loss surgery, I'm not sure I could/would comment on if it's harder for one or another. we all go through the ups/downs and what's harder for one may not be for another...but then again, what's harder for another type might not be as hard for bands. It's all in the same boat....what you can and can't do is the same for all categories. The small pills/crushing meds, is same for all surgery types. We all need to make healthy choices, choose the right foods, get sick if too much, have horrible days after surgery. We just need to choose which option is right for us and go with that...but as far as which one is better or worse....I think they're all the same. The struggles are there for each procedure. Oh indeed they are all difficult! I wasn't trying to make any claims orherwise i just wanted to warn the pre-op poster that we don't malabsorb like bypass and DS or have a limited size stomach like the sleeve. The band does nothing other than dim hunger, it should never physically stop us eating like the sleeve does.

This reply surprises me. I am told by my current baritaric team and the team who monitored me before I moved house, that research, much of it carried out at Monash University had clarified this beyond doubt. Food does not and most not remain above the band. It passes through in under a minute. The consultant who did my operation (not sure you have that title in the U.S. but that is the most senior surgeon in the speciality) tells me that it is now accepted fact. He told me that this was first described to him at an international medical conference in the U.S. (I forget where and exactly when but it must have been prior to 2010) Clearly from what you say, not all US surgeons teach this to their patients but I know a great many do.