onikenbai

I'm in the same boat but I haven't lost a single pound. The doctor can't figure out the problem as my band looks great... only that I can't eat most of the day and on the rare occasion I can eat, I can eat the house. I'm getting my band out. In preparation for the new surgery I had to get my band completely unfilled so that I can try to get myself on proper foods for a while due to (ironically) malnourishment. Only after I got my band unfilled did I realise how miserable I've been. I'm lucky that the government will pick up the cost of my revision, but I'm still $18K in the hole for the band surgery. My new doctor says that originally he was all gung-ho for bands as the new technology, but he's changed his mind now that he's had to remove so many of them. Some were due to erosion, some infection, and a good number due to problems with no clear cause. I fall in that last group. Obviously I wanted my band to work but every time I get even remotely close to restriction, I just start epically throwing up. No sweet spot for me.

Once you have one band out, the tendency is for subsequent bands to be problematic. If the first one is causing ulcers and infections, why wouldn't the second? I would consider revising to a sleeve or an RNY. My band is coming out soon and I couldn't be happier. It was an $18K nightmare from day 1.

For the first time in 2 years I had my band unfilled completely today. All 8cc came out . I've had nothing but nausea and vomiting with my band, but it's associated with eating. After having all my fill taken out, I'm feeling really nauseated without eating. Anybody else have this or is it just my freakish stomach having a party now that it's no longer squished?

Actually it's quite rude to comment on a person's weight, even if you mean it in a positive way. Think of it on their side... you know why you are losing weight, they don't. There's nothing quite as crappy as telling somebody they've lost weight and asking somebody what their weight loss strategy is, only to have them answer chemo . It's ok for somebody to tell you you're looking great, but they really shouldn't say anything about your weight until you bring it up first.

Don't chew gum. The action of chewing actually stimulates your stomach and gets it excited and ready to receive food. When it doesn't get the food it anticipated, it gets grouchy. Lots and lots of Water. The first few days are hard but it gets better, especially if you don't cheat. Once your body gets itself truly into a state of ketosis then the hunger goes away. The minute you give it sugar again hunger snaps back with a vengeance.

Reschedule the test if you can because you probably aren't going to be in the best mind to do it. Surgery generally is exhausting and puts your body in shock. I was up and walking 20 minutes after coming out of anesthetic but two days later I felt like somebody put me in a bag and beat me with a bat. If it were 5 days later I'd say no problem, but 2 days is pushing it. If the test is short and you don't really care that much about your mark, then maybe you could pop in and take it, but keep in mind you're not allowed to have a shower until three or four days after surgery...

I've had my band for two years now. I met with the surgeon on Monday and he said that, while he was really excited about banding when it first came out and was all for it as a weight loss option, he is finding that he has to take out about 50% of the bands he puts in. Even if he were exaggerating and he really only takes out 30% of the bands he puts in, that's still a really high failure rate. I'm not anti-band because it does work for many, but the emerging failure rate is something that you should know about before you go into this. Make sure you discuss your situation with a doctor that has zero financial interest in your decision. A band clinic wants to sell you bands so of course they will tell you what you want to hear. At the very least, consult with a surgeon who does all types of WLS who can give you a more rounded opinion.

Yes, the two surgeries can be done at the same time. No good reason to have two separate surgeries, right? I'm in the process of doing this exact thing. Met my new surgeon yesterday and he said that he was initially very excited about band technology, but he's found that he's had to remove about 50% of the bands he has put in, which is a failure rate he doesn't like at all. Now he's not such a big fan of banding. My band has been a complete failure and all I've done is puke for 2 years. I've never been able to graduate past mushies. Band is coming out and I'm going the RNY route. Was thinking the sleeve, but the surgeon recommends RNY for my particular case. I lost a grand total of three pounds with the band.

I agree with these stats generally. The fact that 40% are having a terrible time should make you hesitate a bit. I'm in that unfortunate lump of unsuccessful and have never been able to get out of the mushy phase in 2 years. I live on oatmeal, soup and salad. I would like nothing more than to sit down to fish and veggies. Sometimes the band just doesn't work out. It happens. People shouldn't bury their heads in the sand over it.

Please, please embrace capital letters and paragraph breaks. You will get more responses that way. I also am a Toronto bandster and am having problems. I don't get stuck pain, I just get this overwhelming nausea when I eat and then I have to go throw up. It seems the better the food for me, the more likely I am to throw it up. I am an involuntary bulimic. I cannot eat in public or with other people for fear of puking all over them. To boot, I'm not losing any weight. I cannot wait to get this damn band out of me as my quality of life has sunk like a rock since it went in. I also will not be getting a refund on my 18K as they say there is no problem with the band. They do not seem overly concerned that I am puking all the time and keep telling me that "I'm not working the tool I've been given". Now, my dinner of two bites of fish, four green Beans and a half a yam I think is pretty reasonable, but puke it up I did. What do I end up eating out of pure hunger and desperation? pudding and whipped cream. I can plainly see why it's not working; the crap stays down, the good stuff comes up, but why!?! They cannot give me any answers as to why the nausea . Been checked for slippage, too tight, general problems and no, it's all apparently good. I share your frustration.

My doctor got over her computer phobia. I am now on my way to getting my damn band OUT I finally had to take out some fill to stop the puking all day long. Now I'm down to puking only a couple of times a week. I've put all my weight back on so I'm right back where I started but 18K poorer. At least the next surgery will be free. Thank you universal health care. Some people can make the band work so yay for them, keep on trucking. It seems it either works for you or it doesn't. Me, it doesn't. As much as I lament the loss of my 18K, I'm still sort of glad I exhausted the least invasive options before I go all out. Still not going to be recommending it to others though.

For those of you who converted to some other WLS, how long did you wait for results with the band before calling it a day and looking into other options? I had my band put in a year ago. Since then I have not lost a single pound, other than my pre-op diet. My problem is that I either have zero restriction and can eat till the cows come home and not feel full (exactly like before surgery) or I'm puking my guts out 7-8 times a day because I can't keep anything down. I've had fills and unfills galore looking for that magic balancing point between no restriction and puke-athon, but there doesn't seem to be one. My fils are down to 0.1cc at a time, which shows that we're really going conservatively in the search for restriction, and the doctors cannot figure out what the problem is. I've been for tests and, despite months of throwing up daily, my band appears to be in perfect position. It's to the point where I can't put anything in my mouth without a contingency plan of where I'm going to throw up. Stuff doesn't get stuck so it's not an issue of not chewing and it's not an issue of eating too fast as I'm the most glacial eater ever and always have been. Sometimes I can keep food down as long as a half hour when I eat but eventually the nausea overcomes me and I have to head to the closest facilities. There's no pain, just nausea. How much longer do I stick this out? I'm not losing weight, I'm throwing up all the time, and the healthy foods are the ones that are most likely to not stay down. I need to lose weight or I may potentially lose my sight as the pressure in my brain is threatening to pull my eyes out from the inside. At what point do you concede you've lost the bad war?

As for physically getting them down the hatch with minimum flavour impact? Shove the bits on to the back of your tongue instead of merely popping them into your mouth where they hit your tongue more toward the middle. Then hit it with a bit of water. It should do the trick with minimum misery.

If you're getting it from the local take out I'd say probably not. It's amazing how much fat and calorie you can stuff into a soup. If you are making it at home and can sub in low sodium and low fat versions of ingredients, you might be able to make it work. Even if there are noodles that you fish out, you still get bits of dissolved carb and it's really not what you're after.

In Ontario the standard is not to get pregnant for 2 years after WLS. Your body won't be able to handle the shock of weight loss and pregnancy and neither of you will be healthy.

Raw carrots yes, cooked no. When you cook them it converts to sugar. Ration the carrots though... too many and you will turn orange. Been there, done that.

Nooooo! Do not sign up for major dental work right after you've been banded. In fact, you should be avoiding the dentist all together for at least three months after because you will receive heparin during your surgery and it's got a long life. You may have uncontrolled bleeding if you try a root canal or a pull right after surgery.

Right up to the last post where your band is working awesomely, I'm right there with you. Mine isn't working, and it's coming out. FYI... any rapid weight loss will cause your hair to fall out. As does anesthetic. And no, there isn't much you can do about it.

If you already have reflux problems, the band may make them a lot worse. I never had problems before my band but I've become a master puker since. Food sits higher in your stomach with the band, making the chance of reflux higher.

Starting your shakes early is a good idea. I started a bit early myself, which ended up being good as I found out I was allergic to the protein shakes. I would have been somewhat pooched if I had left it to the last minute when I had no choice but to rely on them to find out they made me writhe on the floor in agony.

As a pre-op diet, I don't think it would work. I am very much allergic to the shakes and had to do an all-food pre-op diet, and most of what you've listed was definitely off the menu. I could have all the raw veggies I wanted and some cooked ones, but absolutely no cooked carrots, peas and no potatoes at all. Of course no rice, breads, pastas... No fruit AT ALL because it's all sugar, even if it's natural and will keep your liver all fluffy and full. My fat content was to be at an absolute minimum so no bacon, no salad dressings, mayo, cheese, regular yogurt (non-fat with NO fruit on bottom ok), butter, non-skim milk, no fatty cuts of meat, no frying, no olive or vegetable oil. Amazingly enough you can make a decent enough chicken Soup with zucchini, eggplant, celery, squash cubes, low sodium chicken broth, chicken breasts and seasoning. You have to season the crap out of it to compensate for the lack of fats and sodium so I used an extremely generous portion of basil and parsley. Making regular chicken soup and merely fishing out the noodles does not cut it. I had to do my pre-op diet for three and a bit weeks. By the end I was so sick of chicken and fish. The regular Atkins diet really doesn't cut it as a pre-op diet due to its higher fat content. pureed avocado and balsamic vinegar really actually makes a decent salad dressing. Go light on the vinegar due to its sugar content.

Don't forget that pre-op diet weight loss is not necessarily true weight loss and you WILL gain some of it back right after the surgery. Part of starving your liver is depleting it of carbs, and for every one carb stored in the liver, it stores three waters, so you're losing a lot of water weight as you starve your liver. When you start eating carbs again (which you have to at some point) your liver will bulk up again and pack the water weight back on. You cannot escape it... this is the way it is supposed to be. It kept our ancestors from starving to death in the days between hunt catches.

If you are looking to lose that much weight, you might want to consider a sleeve or bypass over the band. Yes, many are doing awesomely with their bands and losing lots, but just as many, if not more, are getting ok-ish to not great results. From all the people I've met in my support group, the band people are consistently the least successful. People are arguing that bypass and sleevers are putting weight back on years later, but that means they haven't actually dealt with their food issues properly. Band patients are just as likely to fall of the wagon and gain it back. You can go get your band tightened more, but there's a point where you can't eat at all, and if you have to go there, you're probably doing more harm than good. I've had my band for two years now and I'm in the process of getting it out. I've had constant restriction problems in that I either have zero restriction or I cannot eat at all, and it's preventing me from eating quality foods like chicken, fish and a good number of veggies. Ironic eh? I paid 18K for my band, so I really wanted to make it work, but after two solid years of Soup and oatmeal, it's got to come out. The pattern I've been seeing is that the band seems to be really good for people who want to lose 50-80lbs. Of course there are people who've lost more than that, but there are always outliers in any statistics. I'm not anti-band at all; I just think it's being marketed out of its effective zone. Keep in mind that a sleeve could always be revised to a DS later on if you find your weight creeps up uncontrollably after surgery, and a band can be put on over a bypass, and I sleeve too I'd imagine. Trust me, I understand you can afford only one surgery... I'm right there with you. I've basically bankrupted myself paying for by band. The only reason I've been able to consider a revision is that I'm Canadian, and sleeves and RNYs are covered here. Band is not. Most of all, talk it over with a doctor who has absolutely zero financial gain in whatever surgery you choose. Clinics for individual weight loss surgeries are selling you a product... of course they're going to tell you whatever surgery they're selling will be appropriate for you!

I am in exactly the same boat except that I throw up a few times a day. I have had my band checked for slippage and tightness and it's in the right place and there's lots of room for the food to go down. I either have zero restriction or I'm puking my guts out. I never know what it's going to be on any given day. The idea of the nerve at the top of my stomach being hyper sensitive has been floated, but there has been no real answer to what the problem is. My doctor is stumped. Finally I had to take out a large chunk of fill just so I could eat somewhat normally, so I am now permanently at zero restriction. I'm trying to get rid of my band now and get a revision to something else. What I really want is an answer to what's going on and I won't be getting a revision before somebody can tell me why I'm having so much trouble with the band because a revision is a whole lot more permanent. I too have not lost any weight other than my pre-op diet weight. I can't even go back to my pre-op diet for a spell because I can't keep those foods down. shakes are a no-go with me as they sit like lead in my stomach and make me sick as a dog.