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You unfilled your own band?

You look great, well done

That is a really unusual port location. Wonder how that will go once you lose lots of weight.

You might think that being too tight will help you lose but in reality you are more likely to gain. If you can't eat proper food you will probably resort to high cal sliders which are not satisfying so you end up taking in even more. And as the others have already pointed out being too tight leads to slips - that could result in best case scenario having to have your band unfilled for a long period of time (weeks or months) or worst case losing your band altogether. Do you still think it is worth it?

I think this changes over time. Post surgery I think it came out of the rear end more , these days I burp more but I still do both more than I used to preband.

This question comes up all the time and there are always conflicting answers. The bottom line is that you need to listen to your body, most people got fat by eating for reasons other than hunger. We eat because it is time to eat, or because if we don't eat now we might get hungry later or because it is a celebration and someone puts food in front of us etc. Who came up with the rules as to when we should and shouldn't eat anyway? So the answer is yes, eat when you are hungry do not force yourself to eat when you aren't

My band is very loose or so I thought. I had some beautifully tender, rare fillet and got stuck so badly that I ended up going to emergency and having most of the fluid withdrawn. That was a couple of months ago and even though I have been refilled almost to the same level I am struggling to find an ideal level of restriction. So bottom line for me is even though I thought I could I couldn't and that it was not worth it. Now if the steak has been in the slow cooker all day then that is fine.

Look at a magazine, read a good book, sew, watch a favourite TV show, go shopping ( that's dangerous)

Try sucking crushed ice, it should help to reduce the swelling.

Yes it's a suture. Clip it off close to the skin , that at least will stop it getting caught on something and pulling as that can be pretty uncomfortable.

I'm not sure why you need to keep up your calorie intake. If you are not hungry then don't eat. Eating when not hungry is 1 reason most of us got fat in the first place.

Generally tight bands do not cause trouble drinking, they cause trouble eating. From what you describe it sounds as though either your band is too tight or you are not taking small enough bites and/or chewing enough and/or waiting long enough between bites. If you are sure that you are eating correctly then I would go back to the Dr and get a small unfill - you will probably find it a lot easier and more comfortable.

Some of you are really lucky. I was allowed 2 shakes per day and then some low carb veggies at night and that was it.At 1 point I thought I couldn't continue because I felt so weak but amazingly I managed to get through. The difference is that there is that end goal that you are aiming for. prior to the surgery I hadn't lasted on a liquid diet for more than 2 days.

It should be, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't

JLG23 it sounds as though your band is probably too tight. Instead of getting the band out you probably need to have some of the Fluid in it removed. That should help you to be able to eat healthy food and not keep throwing up. If you have been unable to maintain your weight loss it might be because you have been making poor choices which is often a result of being too tight. Why not go back to your Dr and see if you can figure out the best way to get you and your band working together. That should be a lot cheaper than $9000 and it also won't involve additional surgery. Good luck, I hope you manage to get a successful outcome.

I used to get this but I don't anymore. The latest info is that food moves through the band in approx 1 minute, it doesn't sit there so drinking straight after eating shouldn't be a problem. Drinking whilst you are eating can be a problem as it may make the food too soft and wash it past the vagus receptors which are the areas that we want the food to stimulate so that we get that satisfied feeling earlier.

How about trying a weight supporting exercise like swimming or aqua aerobics?

I am a little confused. Can you give us an idea of what you are eating, how much, when etc. That should help us to give you better advice.

Do they have any idea what could have caused it? Happy that you survived to tell the tale.All the best for a speedy recovery.

Those of us that have been banded all know what a slip is. It is when the stomach pushes up past the band . It is caused by not following our post op diet instructions, eating too quickly, vomiting etc etc. Slips are bad because they mean that we might have to have surgery and could even lose our band. But wait............... Now there is new information. It seems that a slip is not a slip. It is a dilation of the stomach above the band. That it can be caused by overeating or eating too quickly.So in simple terms it is referring to a stretching of the stomach above the band. What frustrates me is that nothing is clear and that every new piece of information seems to contradict the last. I know that there is ongoing research and that new things will be discovered but they never seem able to explain any of them fully. You can go to some of the Dr's websites and read the info there and some of it appears to contradict itself. Even on the famed Dr Simpson's website ( I mention him as he is often quoted as an expert) Many people have been advised to only eat a cup or less of food as more will stretch the pouch but now we are being told that there isn't really a pouch. We are also being told that food passes through the band in approx a minute(unless of course we get stuck). Well if it passes through that quickly then how is it even possible to stretch the pouch that we may or may not have? In 1 breath they are saying that overeating causes slips, pouch dilation etc but in the next they are saying the food doesn't sit in the "pouch" so then technically that can't be possible. I have decided that there is 1 side effect from the band that is not widely spoken about. Headaches and mental confusion from trying to understand it all. Maybe it isn't necessary to understand, maybe we just need to learn to accept that it works and not worry about the how but that is not something I can do. I have always questioned everything. Plus how are we supposed to ensure that we don't end up with serious side effects such as slips if we don't really know how they happen?

As the others have said there isn't really anything you can do to prevent it. The good thing about excess skin is that it is far easier to hide than fat. When you have clothes on nobody sees it! But if you lose an huge amount of weight then you may find that you are left with excess skin which can be uncomfortable and pose health problems. Why not start saving now. maybe just pop the couple of dollars that you save by not buying junk food into a jar, it will soon start adding up. Then if you need the op and it is not covered you will have already saved a good proportion of the money required, if it turns out that you don't need any further surgery you can spend the money on a nice holiday or something instead.

Yes stress and emotions do make a difference. If you are not feeling the best it might be better to try replacing your meal with a protein shake or some soup - better than struggling and getting stuck.

You need to keep trying those jeans on as otherwise the same could happen to you that happened to me - you try them on and discover they are too big!

Thanks for the extra info. It's great to have input from a Dr. Can you give any additional explanation on how the dilation occurs. If the food is passing through in a minute I still don't see how this is possible.

The thing that helped me was homemade veggie Soup. All the other stuff was sweet and that just seemed to make me feel sicker, once I started on the soup the nausea seemed to subside. Are you still taking pain meds? Sometimes they can make you feel nauseous.