hmarko

Warning if drinking something (they say hot water helps) be VERY VERY close to the toilet. I tried this at work (I don't recommend it unless you are in big distress)... and I had cocoas experience but worse projectile foam out of nose and mouth that I could not control. This lap band lends itself to some weird experiences.

do we know why it happens? I haven't had this yet....

Do you think it may be the nicotine going direct to your mouth from the electronic cigarette- you think there is a difference there than smoking Read below for my weird thing w/ gums I have lichen planus which maybe Humming Bird can explain better...the conclusion is that most docs have not heard of it and know much about it but it totally got aggravated/worse after surgery for some reason. Supplements and drugs can make it worse. I went on steroid rinse for it and it got better and in discussing w/ my dentist I mentioned I thought the vit C made it worse and he said Vit C makes it better... so I started taking the vit C again and guess what.. after it was nearly gone it got bad again. Anyway this caused bleeding gums and it wasn't related to gingivitis but this inflammation that is an autoimmune thing it seems. I think its rare (not sure maybe it isn't that rare just that they don't seem to know a lot about it) but if you can't find any other causes look into that. I wonder if the the chewable C is irritiating to our gums - lichen planus or not - because its acidic. Hummingbird what do you think?

Go with the portion size if you are not getting any indicators... some indicators could be any of the following: -runny nose -hiccup one or a few -a sigh like ur done (I never had this one) but have had the first two. I think there is one more but it is escaping me right now!

I do what greytz does too regardless of whether I think I need a fill or not and seems like the trend in December was for many to get unfills (me included so I was there every two weeks and will be Jan 5 again). I set up appts two months in advance monthly. The practice I got to likes you to go monthly and I think that is also important for success (at least my referring doctor had thought so). If you asked me last week I would have said I doubt I needed any fill on my Jan 5 appt. Now I am not sure maybe .2.... I will let her decide last time I pushed her over the fence to a higher fill and ended up having to go back for an unfill. But either way I will go and check in... I feel it would keep me on track.

Hi Loveslady! Happy New Year! I think as we get close to sweet spot the fills get smaller and smaller like closer to .25. I was overfilled last time had to be brought down - it wasn't pleasant at all! I go back on Jan 5 (monthly appts) but if you asked me last week I would have said I won't get anything but suddenly I do seem to have more of an appetite again. But I doubt will get (or want) more than .2... being too tight is no fun at all.

I waited the 4 weeks. I had some restriction (though not at sweet spot) from first fill. As i got to week 4 I needed to go back. I wouldn't overdo it - having been overfilled and swollen that is not pleasant at all.

WOW!!! How did you do that? Are you exercising a lot? I noticed this week that I am not working I was able to lose 4 lbs in a week! Due to the increase in activity! But I started getting fatigued so I upped my calories. ANyway that is AWESOME!!!

Be careful with that (choking on saliva) - I woke up a few times like I was drowning (if I drank to close to bed time). Try hot liquids. But you can dehydrate.

Yes I did Not working helps! I have been riding every day and running around the barn also adds up I burn nearly 1000 extra calories on those days according the Bodybugg - loving that thing... and the weight loss it projected was very close to what actually happened! Hoping I will have another week like that then back to sedentary desk job!

I log on the daily plate and then just enter the nutrients onto the bodybug food log so it keeps track of everything.

I have lost the 2 lbs PLUS another 4 this week. Crazy.... I have been exercising a lot because I haven't been working. I am naturally way more active then. I have to go back to doc on Jan 5 but I do not need a fill no way.

PB'ing is a term used often for regurgitation.

I met my goal too!!! YAY! I have been exercising ALOT because of no work! I got the Bodybugg its great my xmas present to me!

Hmmm so far the weightloss has been equivalent to what BB projected. Much to my surprise. My activity has been way up this week due to not having to work If only that can stay that way all the time!

actually 4 hours was an example my doc used - it could apply to two hours she was making the point that if you regurgitate once you don't need to be on liquids but if its continuous you need to go on liquids and the one way to figure it out is that you should listen to your body so if you aren't keeping things down that is a clear sign to go on liquids. You sound like you were stuck and need to be on liquids to be honest. Even if you felt something break free you are now inflamed and probably swollen. Better safe than sorry.

RBC make sure you are chewing well (pork chops are very difficult foods so if you normally have to chew 30 times you prob have to chew 100 times). In my support group they said you can eat steak no problem you just need to work harder. And AFTER you chew wait 30 seconds before you pick up your next bite and I mean really wait - time yourself to keep yourself honest. If you have been continuously throwing up you need to go on liquids for a day or two as there is inflammation and it needs to go down. Its what is referred to here as PB or regurgitation. Are you just doing it once and it plops out or is it a 4 hour event. If the latter you are stuck. If the former you probably ate too fast or didn't chew enough. I was having SUCH problems until I started eating w/ a stopwatch. At least once a week I was having the PB issue. Then I got overfilled and could barely eat so I learned to eat really slow. The runny nose is interesting people say that is a sign of full. I notice this too and sometimes even pressure in my ears. My own personal theory is that it is a reaction in the esophagus that goes all the way up to your jaw line and somehow this affects your nose. Well actually isn't that connected to the esophagus? Sometimes when I am full or get pressure... I can feel tighttness in my jaw by my ears in addition to runny nose. I have heard many mention the runny nose and if it is happening it could just mean you need to stop eating but it also sounded like this was happening w/ the first bite??? ANOTHER thing that they say is the first bite syndrome where your esophagus spasms and you sort of get stuck. The things that help are a) eating slow as i mentioned above have something hot to drink before hand (but you need to wait 5 mins to eat after drinking) c) eat that first bite and then go and do something for 20 mins and come back to your actual meal. a and b helped me more than c. I figured out I wasn't eating slow enough and when they say eat slow its not anything any other person w/o a band would be doing to be honest.

I know I am loving this thing too - I am almost halfway there and really only 20 lbs away from where I would be happy with my weight. This month because I was too tight I've taken off about 14-15 lbs. I thought the 10 I dropped in the two weeks of being overfilled would be it for the month but no. I still think I may be a tad too tight or maybe this is my sweet spot. I salivate just a little bit every now and then. I am not getting stuck. My calories could range from 400 to 1200 depending on the day. I'm losing a lot this week because i'm burning alot in exercise as I'm not working and I train in horseback riding (on days I ride between running around at the barn, riding, and any other walking I do around home I burn about 800-900 calories (according to my Bodybugg) which I will have to double check with a heart rate monitor Did you go back at all to your doc or you are just waiting till the 6th? I would love to hear why he thinks this happened (just so I can avoid it :tongue2:. I go back on the 5th but I really don't think I want a fill to be honest. I don't want to feel that overtightness and I don't think i need it. If anything maybe a bit more of an unfill but really i think its just right... how do you know?

Hi gang - Happy New Year... just had to share I reached my NY goal - onederland YAY!!1 b/t 198 and 199 lbs! I actually weighed in at 197 and something after exercise and not eating but that will come back. Love my band!

I love it so far. I was thinking it overestimates on the activity front. I don't use it to log the food - I use the daily plate and then i enter the Proteins, carbs, fat as one meal onto the bodybugg. My activity is a strange one it is horseback riding. And I think at the walk it it has way too high a MET. At trot and canter I can see that it is over 10 mets. I do realize that the METS get averaged for the 'workout' set as 'trip'. But I have to pay more attention it just seems i burn more calories riding than I thought I would so I wonder if it is picking up on the movement of the horse itself and factoring that in. Don't get me wrong the riding I do is a real workout. (will compare to heart rate monitor soon as I fix the battery). I also found out something interesting... I noticed that on the days I did not ride my sleep MET was 1 but when I rode the next day it was 1.3 and the day after it was 1.6. Someone told me that the more muscular you are the number gets higher but I don't know if it is that Resting Metabolic Rate -if so that is a pretty neat thing. I do find it interesting that the RMR increases w/ the activity. I'm going to pay closer attention to that. If that isn't motivation I don't know what is (burning 30 to 60 pct more while sleeping :biggrin:

Now the first bite thing stopped since I time. So I chew for about 30 seconds then either on the pc or my iphone I set the stopwatch the doc told me after i swallow to wait 30 seconds before I take another bite. Thats the minimum - at work i do stuff so it can take longer. This is a cool site if you work and eat at your desk... online-stopwatch.com/ This thing keeps changing as you see :biggrin: So what they were saying was first bite may have been eating too fast I'm thinking but the hot drink before does really help also. They told me that too.

I had this too. The advice I was given was what Jachut said - drinking hot fluids to relax things (or alcohol but don't advise this on regular basis - empty calories). Also I was told to take a bite or 2 to prep yourself then come back in 20 mins for the real meal - its the esophagus spasms. Anyway this went away.... but when I got overfilled I was sooo soooo careful w/ teeny bites and waiting that it never came back - and I've posted this before to keep myself honest until i get a grip i eat w/ a timer on. google online stopwatch. I often feel the food passing through I wait 30 seconds at least but sometimes as long as a minute or two. In hindsight I think I was still just eating too fast between bites. Or maybe things just changed over time. But I did not notice a difference until I introduced the stopwatch. I'm new at this so its a learning process. The tighter your band is the more you need to be super careful about eating slowly and chewing well as it will be less forgiving.

i feel like its overestimating. I need to put on my heart rate monitor and compare the results

You can do it w/ fish - Sole is my favorite. Packed in protein low on calories. And you only eat protein not anything else no carbs. Or not too many carbs ie less than 50 grams.

As others have said there is some restriction even w/ the band around your stomach w/ no Fluid. My doctor explained that it takes 30 seconds for your esophagus to push through the food through the opening. The more restriction obviously the more this matters and more pronounced it is. If you eat on top of all the bites then you start to pile food on top of each other. Anyway I was telling my doc I PB once a week and she said its from eating too fast and that was her explanation. OR your esophagus is spasming and not pushing food through properly which is why they mentioned possibly testing it (in any case - timing myself worked no testing needed :thumbup: