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If you ask us here we will probably tell you that the lapband is best because obviously that is what we have chosen. If you go to the VSG group they will tell you that the sleeve is better because that is what they have chosen . If you go to another group you will get another answer. What I am trying to get at is the fact that noone can objectively tell you which is the better surgery. Different types of surgery suit different types of people. You should research each type of surgery as much as you can , discuss the pro's and con's with your surgeon and then you will have to come to a decision based on what you believe is right for you.

Didn't you get WLS so that you could get healthy and prolong your life? Do you think smoking hookah does either of these?

I eat 1 egg - poached on 1 slice of wholemeal toast.

Greek yogurt. Soups So long as you remember that this is a temporary measure until you get to the Dr for that slight unfill. You do not want to stay too tight. It is dangerous and can often lead to weight gain as slider foods are higher in calories and do not keep you satisfied.

Get that unfill - it will make a huge difference.

I mix food all the time too - depending on what I'm eating. If it's a roast I eat the foods seperately but I eat lots of casserole type dishes and I then mix it up further by eating them with the rice! The only problem when you do this is if you do get stuck you have no idea what food was the problem.

Try thigh instead - it is much moister. And I agree, I tried the chicken flap thing the other day and it did nothing!

That sounds scary! It was hard enough making the decision to have elective surgery to have a lapband put in, imagine having to decide to have brain surgery instead. is this one of the op's that they do whilst you are awake like the op's for parkinsons etc?

When you say it's been a rough weekend is it because you had problems eating or were there other problems that caused you stress? Stress can cause your band to tighten so the rough weekend may have triggered the eating problem.

The amount of Water around is incredible. Two of my friends have family members that have been flooded. I think the worst thing with floods is not just that everything gets wrecked but insurance companies refuse to cover flood damge so basically you are st@@@@d! The earthquakes would be worse though. Far more frightening and unpredictable. I didn't realise that there had been more shocks and that they were so big. I still find it incredible that the quake was so big and no-one was killed.That is amazing. Can't give you any advice on how to get the Protein shakes down. I don't use them - the only time I did was preop when i used Celebrity Slim. All the best.

Rach, glad that the earthquake hasn't affected you too badly. It must be an extremely stressful time. I always thought that stress made me eat but it doesn't seem to be that bad now I am banded. I tend to get most stressed in the middle of the night and I don't normally eat then! Listening to the rain on Sat night wondering if the Water from our dam was going to hit our house was pretty stressful. Jacqui sending you lots of hugs and positive thoughts today. I assume that this is as a result of the problems that you were having and the tests you had? I wish you all the best and hope that whatever is wrong you and the docs have it beat real quick!Which hospital are you going to? Hugs XXXXX

Sticking with the funnel analogy. Yes if you tip a litre bottle of Water extremely rapidly into a funnel it may overflow. If there is a blockage in the funnel then it will definitely overflow which is why you shouldn't eat and drink at the same time. But if you tip the bottle slightly and pour steadily into the funnel it will pass through easily. You certainly don't pour the water into the funnel one drop every 5 minutes. If you ever get to the stage where you can't drink normally then your band is overtight and you need an unfill.

There was a similar thread previously where someone had been told by her Dr that she had to wait 3 minutes between bites. I don't think that whoever it was posted after her surgery to say if she was maaging to stick to that and how. As the others have said the whole idea is absurd. imagine how many bites you would manage to eat before you had to give up eating. Not many as lots of Dr's recommend that you shouldn't carry on eating for longer than 20 minitues as by then your pouch has already started emptying and you will be able to eat more! Just chew well, and eat slowly.

They do say that you shouldn't let yourself get that hungry as when you do you are likely to eat too fast and that as you have found out causes problems.

It's because bad foods have all ready been broken down by processing. Many of them require little or no chewing - they will just melt in your mouth. They also have lots of fat/sugar added which again melts or slides down easily.

Hi I see this is your first post - welcome. Firstly you started with a low BMI. The less weight you have to lose the slower you lose it. I also got banded in jun 09 and have lost 22kg. The loss now seems to have stopped. Secondly you have a very low BMi as a goal. It is right at the bottom of the normal/bordering on the underweight range. Yes you may be able to achieve this but unless you really limit your food and do lots of exercise it is unlikely. If I was you I would reassess once you are into the healthy weight range. You may find that you don't want to weigh that little. I have always wanted to lose more weight but I realise now that if I lose much more I will probably end up looking old/gaunt. It would be fine if I could choose where it should come off(stomach) but that is not possible. Instead my legs just get thinner - if they get much thinner then I won't be able to buy clothes off the rack. here in Aus it can be pretty hard to find a size 8 - if I need to get a 6 or smaller I could really be in trouble. Where are you from? Obviously not the USA or UK as your ticker shows your weight in kgs and they generally show theirs in lbs or stones.

You can drink normally once you are banded.Its generally only the first couple of days after surgery that you need to be really slow and careful. You may not be gulping quite so fast but you can certainly drink fast enough to quench your thirst. Certainly not a sip every 5 minutes.

I think you need to get additional help. A psychologist specalising in eating issues would be a good idea. For some reason you seem to have had the mistaken impression that the band was a magic wand and that after banding the weight would just fall off. I don't know if you had this impression because of lack of research, poor info from surgeon, lack of support group or whatever. The fact is that you have now discovered that the band is not a magical wand. It is a tool and it is a tool that you have to utilise properly to get results. It is a fantastic tool as it helps by curbing hunger so that we can follow our Dr's recommendations which are there to help us lose weight and get healthy. But if you don't use it properly it won't work. The same as a chainsaw won't work if you don't turn the power on. Just be very careful. It is not possible to have the band adjusted so that you cannot eat junk food. In fact no matter how tight your band is you will find that the junk will still go down. Cookies,chocolate,icecream,milkshakes all just slide right past the band. They are full of calories and don't satisfy you so you will end up in a situation where you gain weight. Being too tight causes all sorts of problems including the need for further surgery. As I said at the start you need to see a professional. In the meantime i would start looking at and making a list of the reasons you are self sabotaging. Are you scared of being a normal weight? Will being a normal weight mean that you will have to address other issues in your life? Are you hiding behind your weight - using it as some form of protection? Maybe your issues are simpler. You may be eating because you are bored,lonely whatever. If this is the case find strategies to deal with them. Take up a hobby. It is hard to eat if your hands are busy knitting,scrapbooking,painting etc. Find a form of exercise that you like. You do not have to go to the gym. You could walk,cycle,dance,swim ,play tennis etc etc. There are lots of options and you should be able to find something you enjoy. Hope some of this helps. All the best.

Yes it sounds like you are in the right place.

If I am eating out I focus on foods that are band friendly rather than ones that will promote weight loss. I am surprised that some of your previous replies suggested foods such as grilled chicken or meat. These are some of the hardest foods to get down post band. I also agree that a salad is not very satisfying and some of those salad vegetables can cause problems. Especially fancy lettuce,raw carrots. I tend to go for foods like Pasta dishes or risotto's. I know some people can't do pasta or rice post band but I generally never have problems with either. When you have risotto generally the rice has been really well cooked and has absorbed all the liquid it can so it is not going to swell in your stomach. Things like a starter size canelloni or lasagne work well for me. If there is nothing like that on the menu then I would probably pick a burger rather than a steak and not eat the bread. Foods that have been slow cooked are pretty good too e.g lamb shanks. Other than that it can be hit or miss.I had Indian twice in the space of a fortnight. The first time no problems. the second time i ended up sliming and uncomfortable. both times i had made similar choices so it was probably the different cooking styles at the different restaurants. Either that or my hormones must have been playing up.

Restriction is when you are able to eat a small but reasonable sized portion of healthy food, feel satisfied and not get hungry again for 3 - 4 hours. There are also some things that restriction isn't. Things you should be aware of as some people seem to chase these things and end up being too tight. Restriction is not being full on only 2 - 3 bites of food. Restriction is not eating 1/4 cup of food 3 times a day. Restriction is not the ability to only eat slider foods. Restriction is not measured by whether or not you can still eat bread, rice, Pasta, chicken etc. Restriction is not vomiting/sliming/pbing at every meal because you can't get the food down. Restriction does not equate to a magic fill no. And something that is important to remember. Restriction is different for everybody. HTH

I certainly wouldn't view the sleeve as a median between the band and bypass. Yes you won't have something inside you for life but you will have had a good sized portion of your stomach permanently removed. That is not to say that a sleeve isn't a good option - I believe that there are lots of sleeved people out there who are extremely happy with the procedure. Many of them had been banded previously and had issues with the band. The band is the only option that is reversible. Not that most of us want it reversed but it is good to know that it can be if there were future issues. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Feel so soory for you, I hate dentists. The problem with dentistry is that it is expensive as well as painful. If they made it more affordable people might get over their fear and actually go. The other problem with dentists is that their work never lasts. Most of the teeth that i have that are filled have been filled more than once. Is that because they do a bad job, they just need to generate more income and cannot justify messing up another healthy tooth or what? I also have 1 tooth that has been crowned twice. At great discomfort and great expense. I got told that it was not done properley the first time. Guess what , I have bleeding around this crown again. The rest of my teeth are fine!!! My phobia of dentists is so bad that I figure I died at the hands of one in a previous life. And in another life I think my chariot crashed over the side of a windy mountainous road as I can't stand those either! Hummingbird I love your email.

I don't think you will get a Dr to respond. There aren't any that regularly use and contribute to this site. I think you would be better off discussing it with your PCP, going to an info seminar, checking out your ins requirements etc. If you want input from non medical people that have lived the experience then you have come to the right place.

Sorry to hear that you are going through that. The loss or potential loss of a long tern relationship is devastating. But you will get through it. In the meantime it is good that you are still focusing on yourself and your needs. Lots of people neglect to do that to their own detriment. All the best.