twoheadedgirl

I had a fill on my band about 2 weeks ago, and I was doing great. About 4 days ago I stared to get sick. Sore throat, body aches, head ache, fever. The usual. Then about 3 days ago, a lot of foods I was eating was coming back up. I was able to keep some down. 2 days ago, more foods were coming back up. Making it difficult to even take medications. But somehow I got it down, and kept it down. Today, forget about it. I can't even keep Water down. After I take a small sip of something, I get a pain in my throat/chest area. I think I might even be puking more than I am taking in. I don't know if this is because I am sick. Or for some reason, I don't know how my band slipped. Has this happened to anyone? I am worried -- but to what degree? My doctors office is closed until Monday.

I tried seltzer, and ginger ale, no luck. I went to the hospital, the hospital my doctor works out of, so they have a lot of trained nurses and doctors in this area. They told me that because I had been sick, and vomiting, I may had put a strain on my stitches inside. Causing my band (which, after 6 months had finally reached my "green" comfort zone.) to swell, and become too tight. They did an x-ray, and everything is where it's supposed to be. I didn't realize how thirsty a person could get. Thank you all so much, I went to the hospital with a little reassurance that I hadn't slept. :thumbup:

I had my first fill today, it's been 6 weeks since i had my surgery. for the past several weeks, i felt absolutely no restriction. I was supposed to be on a 9oz meal 3 times a day. and i found myself eating way more than 9oz. i was starting to think that my band was a placebo, and i didn't have one. haha. i managed to gain 6 pounds in these weeks. the procedure was, kind of weird. they sucked out all of the fluid and i could feel the band loosen. such a trippy feeling. they added a 1cc, to my already 7cc band. i didn't take my medications before the procedure, so, my nurse told me to cut my pills in half, or grind them. have you ever tasted a ground up multivitamin. oh, man that was gross. anyone have any tips on how to take a giant multivitamin without crushing it? anyway, i immediately felt the difference. prior to the fill i was able to swallow all my pills at once without a problem. now i am taking them one at a time. and it took me at least 20 minutes to get them all down. so it's back to liquids for the rest of the day.. i hope this is the fill i needed. i've been drinking hot tea all day, and when i take a big gulp, i can feel a little restriction. this is normal, right? well not normal...per say. clearly i need to take smaller gulps. but it's just proof that it's working, right? fingers crossed. i hope it works, and without the feeling of defeat, i can get this tool working the right way, and putting me on the right path!! <3 thanks for listening!

i had the exact same problem. i had 7ccs! and i felt NO restrictions, at all. I was banded 6 weeks ago. and they wouldn't do a fill until then. make sure i was healed and everything. i gained 6 pounds since my surgery date. i had a fill today, and i can already tell the difference. a lot of doctors are different. my doctor will only do 1cc the first time, and .5ccs each time after that.

I thought the same thing about having an empty band. When I went for my one-week check-up, he told me it has 7cc's. I find that kind of hard to believe. I was banded 15 days ago, and I am STARVING. I've been drinking the Protein shakes, with Water (he also forbid me from having dairy). All day long I am constantly drinking water, crystal lite, snapple, and sugar free icepops. And I can seriously say I am straight up starving. He didn't give me the go ahead for anything else yet. For the first week I thought it was all in my head. I can't possibly be THIS hungry. But I could possibly gnaw my own arm off, if I wasn't a vegetarian. So I've been having some Soups here and there. Even though he gave me a strict diet. I can't help it. I really and freaking hungry. Which is why I still can't believe he banded me with a band already filled with 7ccs. And the Protein Shakes are giving me unbelievable gas pains in my lower abdomen. I saw my gastroenterologist, and he gave me a script for Reglan? Hopefully this works. But the 23rd wasn't that long ago. Real foods to me sounds like a bad idea. Less than a week. I know the stomach area around the band needs time to heal, whether or not you don't feel discomfort while eating. It's a real pain in the butt, but the 2nd stage of mushy foods shouldn't be that far off. Unless you have my doctor who is probably trying to break my will to eat. Haha. I have another 5 days until mushy foods.

Thank you for all the info! I haven't started any vitamins yet. I am a Vegetarian, so prior to the surgery I was taking several vitamins. But my doctors nurses said they would be to big to swallow, so they took me off of them for the time being. I am having 2-3 Protein shakes a day. Water, snapple crystal lite, and hot tea when I am feeling extremely hungry. I can't wait to move onto the mushie stage, I am starving. haha.

I haven't gotten this far in my diet -- what does it feel like when something gets stuck, how do you know?

I am having the same problem. At first I thought it was because they took me off of my Blood Pressure pill. And I was retaining Water. I was banded 1/14 and I am still on liquids and Protein shakes. 2/3 I go back to see the dietitian and began the 2nd stage. But it's so frustrating! I feel hungry all the time, and tired, so very tired. I never took naps before, but now I nap twice a day. I feel like I already broke my band.

Are you on any painkillers? The liquid vicodin left a funny taste in my mouth, it also dried my mouth out like crazy. I was banded on the 14th, and I am still not allowed to have anything besides Water, tea and Protein shakes. So, I'm not too sure about the Jell-o

Today I saw my surgeon to have my staples removed. Several things. I knew to expect bruising, but my lower abdomen is seriously a violet purple. About 6 inches long, and 4 inches wide. My surgeon told me "I must have done something in my sleep". To my knowledge I wasn't hit by a truck in my sleep. Has anyone else suffered from severe bruising? Is there something I should be worried about? I am pretty young, 24, but can't you get a blood clot or something like that from bruises so violent looking? And, I actually GAINED weight. My surgeon is Dr. Kwon he is from upstate New York. And I heard from a lot of people he is amazing, but he makes you follow an extremely strict diet while recovering. The first five days was Water, diet snapple, water, crystal light, and more water. Nothing else. On the 4th day his nurse called me and said I could introduce sugar-free ice pops. And, I followed everything. It was hard as hell. But I got though it. Prior to the surgery they took me off my blood pressure pill, because it also acted as a diuretic. Only consuming water products, they didn't want me to dehydrate and get sick. Is it possible that I retained SIX pounds of water weight? My doctor almost seemed angry with me. I never had surgery before, so you better believe I am following every detail of every instruction. I asked him if I could go back on my regular blood pressure pill, and he seemed to be ok with that. But I don't want to cause any harm to myself. For the next two weeks I am allowed water, tea, diet snapple, and now protien shakes. But not milk-based protien shakes. I noticed when they did switch my blood pressure pill I wasn't using the bathroom but once or twice a day. I started back on my old blood pressure pill this morning, and used the restroom several times. And I am keeping hydrated. Sorry if this seems scattered, but I am new to surgery so my brain always goes to the dark place first. Thank you, guys!!!

Both my mom and and Aunt have had the Gastric By-pass, and I recently had my band. So we've tried many, many Protein products. My absolute favorite is Nectar! nectar Whey Protein | Nectar Whey Protein shakes They are kind of pricey, but each container makes 36 shakes. And if you look on eBay, there's a seller who has a Vitamin/Health store sort of thing on there. They are much cheaper. And have more flavors. I picked up the Kiwi Strarberry this morning! My surgeon told me ABSOLUTELY NO DAIRY PRODUCTS! He's very strict. Haha. So unwillingly I tried the Vanilla Nectar with Water in a blender. And surprisingly it was very good. Then the next time I made myself one, I added 1 packet of equal. And, honestly, it would be something I would enjoy with our without having to be a 2 week protein fast. I hope this was helpful!!

My surgeon is pretty notorious for how strict he is. All the pamphlets from the Lap Band company itself, he hands them out with stuff crossed out in black marker and replaced with his own diet. I am now on the Protein shakes. My Mom, and Aunt have both had the Gastric Bypass, so we've taste tested ever Protein shake out there, and we all find that the nectar Protein powder is really good. I am on that now 3 times a day. And plenty of fluids inbetween. In 2 weeks I meet with my surgeons nutritionist, and from there she will tell me what foods I will be allowed to reintroduce back into my life. Since I switched back to my original Blood Pressure pill I have dropped 3 pounds. So, that made me feel much better. I don't want to start this off on a bad foot. Sorry for the novel long reply. I still haven't told any of my close friends about my surgery yet. So I have all these questions, and concerns and no one to talk express them too. But thank you so much for the reply, and the encouragment!!

Hey, I am new to this forum. My name is Cathryn, from New York. I tend to be a lurker on most other forums. But maybe I will come out of my shell over here. I've had my lapband for 3 days now! So I apologize for my paranoid questions. I was finally allowed to take the dressings off the inscisons today and shower. The cuts were stapled closed, and now I am noticing some blood on my shirt. Is that normal? It's not hot to the touch, or inflamed. I think I have a good judgment of whether it was infected or not. I see my surgeon on Monday to have them removed. So, I hope nothing to serious is wrong. Also, I had the gas pains in my shoulder for 2 days, and now I feel sore in the chest area. When I take a deep breath, yawn. But the pains in my shoulders is long gone. This was my first surgery, so I don't know if I am overreacting. Well, I hope to get to know some of you. Take care, Cathryn.

my nurse told me that on the 4-5th day i can start to eat sugar-free ice pops. the chewing of the icepop helped a lot. curved the hunger a lot too. hot tea, and ice pops.

I was banded on the 14th, I found that hot tea worked wonders. I had the gas pains in the shoulders and chest for 2 days. The first day it was almost unbearable. The nurses asked me to rate my pain 1-10. The surgery its self was a 2. The gas pain was an 18. They sent me home with liquid vicodin. But also told me to try liquid tylenol. I found that the tylenol relieved the soreness that the gas pains left. But lately, I am still having a pains when I take a deep breath or yawn. Not in the shoulders, but in the chest area. I see my surgeon tomorrow to have the staples removed. So hopefully he can help me out. Good luck!!

Oh yeah, haha. I knew that. I've been coughing up things. My surgeons nurses called today to see how everything was, and said that is expected and normal. They called before I removed the dressings. Which is why I became a little panicky. It's old oversize night shirts til these staples come out!

Thank you for the quick reply! The nurses sent me home with a spirometer, and I've been blowing on that for the past 3 days. Out of context that sounds so foul. I've been walking around, up and down stairs to try and get rid of the pain I have in the chest. I does go away greatly after I take liquid tylenol. I am actually kind of scared to touch the pain medications they sent me home with. I've only been taking it before I go to bed. The surgeon said that if I can deal with the pain, then the tylenol is just as good. I can't wait til Monday to get these staples out. And to hopefully get off this liquid fast!! Maybe onto broths, or something other than Water and crystal light.