elcee

Heartburn is often a symptom of being too tight. Possibly you are too tight and not eating the correct types of food that would keep you satisfied. The heartburn could also be from eating too close to bedtime or eating foods that cause high acid production . It is also normal for the restriction to wear off. It happens because as you lose weight the band does not fit as tightly around your stomach. Also small amounts of the liquid evaporate over time. This is why constant followup with your Dr's team is such an important part of the process. You need to schedule an appointment to discuss this with your Dr.

Basically it means that you are able to eat less than before the fill and should not be hungry for a couple of hours. Once you have some restriction you will find that you have to take small bites, chew lots, wait between bites because if you don't the food can cause problems and may even get stuck.Some people find that there are certain foods that they can no longer eat. Bread is one that a lot of people find difficult. You have to relearn how to eat and what suits you and what doesn't. It is possible to feel some restriction before a fill . Just the band being placed does make a difference to when you were preband. Also some Dr's put some fill in the band whilst you are in surgery. The restriction does ease off after a while and then you simply go to the Dr and get another fill. Each fill should make some difference. What you shouldn't expect the fill to do is to suddenly make good food choices for you. That is something you have to do all by yourself. Unfortunately no matter how much fill you have a lot of the "bad" foods will still go down easily. Foods such as milkshake,icecream,custard,chocolate, Cookies etc. For this reason they are termed slider foods. Some people keep going for fills untill they end up too tight in the mistaken belief that there is some ideal place where they will just be able to eat a tiny amount and never feel hungry. Fills also do not control head hunger - that is something else that each person must learn to deal with in their own way. Hope some of this helps.

I had another NSV today . I live in the country on 5 acres so my neighbours are not close enough that I bump into them very often. Today I stopped to get the post out of my postbox which is at the end of our rd. My next door but one neighbour pulled up behind me and we both got out of our cars.I said hi and asked how she was. She said fine and asked if I was the new person that had just moved into the street. Now I know I haven't seen her for a while other than waving as we drive past each other but she seriously didn't recognise me. When she realised who I was she was gobsmacked and told me how amazing I looked and asked how much weight I had lost. This is the second time this has happened in a couple of months. the same thing happened when I saw one of my other neighbours at the post office. It's amazing how fantastic something like this can make you feel.

It would be nice if they could write these reports in plain English so us average Joes can actually understand what they are talking about!

It's definitely a positive. I've been that drunk once since getting my band and I promise I am not going to do it again. Woke up in the middle of the night feeling like c@@p and thought I'll just make myself vomit as then I will feel a bit better(always worked in the past). Well the theory was good but the practice wasn't. I could not make myself vomit so had to suffer for longer. Lesson learnt.

Well done

Exactly You can eat what you want within reason.But you have to recognise that if you choose to eat sweets etc then the band will not stop you, they are for the most part empty calories and they are also high calorie so you probably won't lose weight. You do need to make sure that you get the required nutrition in daily. A lot of people here focus on Protein but there are lots of other things that are important ( Vitamins , minerals). I try to get all my nutrition from food rather than by using supplements so I eat from a wide variety of food groups. I did not need to cut carbs out of my diet to lose weight but the carbs that I chose to eat were for the most part healthy ones. Wholemeal bread, grains etc,even potatoes. Yes they are a healthy food - they contain potassium which is essential in a healthy diet - half a small boiled or dry roasted potato is not going to hurt - they become a problem when people eat mounds of them smothered in butter and cream! If you need the structure of an eating plan that is fine. Your best bet would be to go and see a dietician and work out a personalised plan. If you don't want to do that then there are any number of diets available on the net - heck if you are like me you have probably tried most of them before. I liked the fact that with the band I no longer needed to be on a diet, but that does not work for many people. Find what works for you and then go with it. Whatever you choose to do the band makes it easier.

Lellow has reminded me about the noises. The first few months after surgery I burped a lot, it the changed to farting which is definetly not good. But it all seems to have settled down and those minor inconveniences are long forgotten. My digestive system does still make lots of really loud gurgling noises. I am getting used to them and they don't really worry me except occasionally at night when I am trying to go to sleep. Then they can feel very weird. But to swap all that ugly fat for some strange noises seems like quite a good bargain to me.

So my input here was not valid? I'm afraid for me that has been the biggest "negative", it has been fun but it has cost me a fortune. The OP asked what negatives we had experienced personally so that was what I posted. I cannot make up negatives that I don't have. I do agree though that I was being a little flippant.I should have urged her to get her brother to see a Dr urgently as bringing up black bile is a sign of some kind of internal bleeding and it shouldn't be ignored.

I have just thought of another negative. I have to be careful when I drink as more than 2 glasses of wine and that is me finished! It makes me a cheap date so i save money but I have to be careful and remember not to overdo it. I also waste so much food. I buy things thinking I will eat them and don't manage to finish them before they go off. Fruit is 1 of the main things that this seems to happen with, I hardly eat any fruit any more.

I have had to spend a fortune buying new clothes and have done serious damage to my credit card. I also keep having to reintroduce myself as neighbours and other aquaintances don't recognise me.

I make my own muesli - raw oats, seeds, sultanas, other dried fruit that I fancy etc - and eat it with greek yogurt. It is healthy , filling and makes great roughage! If I want a little extra sweetness I have a teaspoon of honey or Stevia.

You are supposed to commit to seeing your surgeon at least once a year for life postband. I am 2 and a half years out and am thinking of scheduling an appointment. I still try to go once every 6 months - I like the reassurance that everything is OK. It is possible that you may need a small topup fill. The band does lose a little liquid/loosen slightly over time. As to what else he can do for you i am sure he would be the person best placed to answer that.

That sounds sensible.

Difficulty being able to take deep breaths would make me concerned that this was something else and not just a case of having overeaten. I would be going to see my Dr ASAP for a check to ensure that everything is OK.

any kind of fruit or veggies that are soft cooked and mashed up.

Everyone is different. I can still eat a sandwich - sometimes. I always eat wholemeal, grainy bread and find it easier to eat if the sandwich is toasted. Most of the time I can only manage half a sandwich. Or I might do an open sandwich. 2 slices of bread is generally way too hard for me. Wraps are easier but again I would normally only be able to eat half a wrap. As for something like a Subway sub - I wouldn't even dare to try.

Yes I think it is different for everyone but I also think a lot of people have expectations that far outweigh the reality. I think a lot of people have ended up too tight by not recognising that they already have restriction. In some ways it seems to be like the Quest for the holy grail or the fountain of youth. People keep chasing some mythical goal. If you work with it then every fill makes some kind of difference. And you are right people do run back for unfills far too quickly. When you have a fill you need to readjust your eating habits, get used to your new normal , make sure you are chewing properly etc. Give the fill some time to settle. If you can't get liquids down then yes you are probably too tight(unless it is because you are stuck). But if you go for a fill and then discover that something you could eat before the fill gives you problems then readjust. Cut it out for a while, take a smaller bite, chew more, wait longer between bites. Most of the time that fill will settle and you will adjust. But most importantly people should not be depending on "restriction" to make healthy choices for them. Unfortunately it can never stop you eating chocolate!

I would say that is a very bad move. I know people who have done exactly what you are intending to do and they have gained weight and been unable to lose it again. If your band is not too tight and you are currently able to eat a wide range of healthy foods why mess with that? If you had a pacemaker you wouldn't have that removed because you needed a break. If you had an artificial limb you wouldn't leave that at home because you needed a break.If you were an insulin dependant diabetic you wouldn't stop taking your insulin so why should this be any different. You have a medical condition(obesity) which has been cured or controlled by your band. You can't just switch it on or off when you feel like it as doing that causes a recurrence of the condition.

I also wonder what some of these people are expecting. They say they never reached restriction that their band was either too tight or too lose. What do they think restriction is? It is not having your food choices limited. It is not only being able to eat healthy foods. It is not something that will stop you from eating Cookies, chocolate, icecream etc. It is not something that will make correct food choices for you. What it is or should be is the ability to eat a small portion of recommended foods and that keeps you satisfied for a fairly long period of time. That could be 3 hours it could be longer. Some people can manage on 3 meals per day, others need a healthy snack in between. If you are not hungry then it should be easier to not constantly graze but because grazing does not come from real hunger but from boredom, or stress or some other reason it can't stop it. Your head has to do that. So to me if someone says that their band has not helped and they have no restriction that would mean that they could eat as much as they wanted in 1 sitting( of any food whatsover), without taking small bites and chewing slowly, that it would not cause them to get stuck and that they would still be hungry soon afterwards. That I find very difficult to believe.

This is what the band is designed to do. It does not and should not affect your choices. What are you expecting your band to do? If you are still eating a lot of high cal, low nutrition, slider type foods etc then of course the weight is not going to come off. In order to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit. You do this either by eating less than you expend or increasing your activity levels so that you expend more than you eat. If you are continuing to eat the same types of food that you did prior to banding then you are probably still consuming a lot more calories than you use on a daily basis and you won't lose weight. Fills won't make any difference until you start playing your part properly. You have to make the healthy choices and eat the correct types of food. Stop expecting the band to do everything for you and realise that it is a fabulous tool/aid when used in the way in which it was designed to be used. Then you should start to reap the benefits.

Yep i am always cold too. Well other than on days where it hits 40decC. Not having all the excess fat to keep you warm makes a big difference.

That must be so frustrating. It also proves( for me at least) that even with the best intentions most of us are not able to keep the weight off without that additional assistance. I am sure once you have the bypass you will soon be back to a trim healthy you. All the best.

Lots of bandsters have problems eating stuff like bread. If you have been cleared to start solids by your Dr you should go slowly and try to pick foods that hopefully won't give you too much trouble. Moist meats, fish, dark meat chicken, veggies, grains etc and remember to eat slowly, small bites , chew well. Also take a break between bites to ensure the last bite has gone down properly. Chest pain when eating normally means that you have eaten too fast, not chewed properly etc. Sometimes its because the food is stuck. Now that you have a band you have to relearn how to eat and find out what foods you can and can't tolerate.

Oh really? It's not is it? Well if that is true how come so many people didn't lose the weight by themselves when they hit a BMI of 37 but instead they kept gaining until they reached a BMI of 40 or in some cases 50 or more? I don't know who you are but I think you have a hell of a lot of cheek to come here and tell people that it is not that hard to lose weight. Yes it is and guess what it is even harder to keep it off. So if you have managed to lose weight and keep it off without a band or any other type of help bully for you. Most people on this site have been struggling with their weight for years, they have tried to lose and keep the weight off by themselves but have eventually realised that they need some kind of surgical intervention. If you don't have a weight problem and you don't have a band or have had some other form of WLS then I suggest you go and preach about how easy it is somewhere else!