Humming Bird

I have been taking 2 types of B12 for several months now and they do not seem to be helping me. I have the liquid B complex plus extra B12 and the sublingual B12/ biotin. Several years ago I tried the shots and they did not help either. I think it works for some people and not others. I would say try it anyway and see if it helps you. I think it is harder for me because my fatigue is much more profound because I have fibromyalgia and CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). I have had those for many years before the band.

I am not up to date on all the new stuff like depo as I have not had a visit from aunt flo in over 20 years, but... they gave me antibiotics to take after surgery. I know antibiotics will make "the pill" ineffective, but not sure how they effect the depo shot. If I were you, I would use other forms of birth control for awhile if you are in the position where pregnancy could happen.

when you say, "I just needed a little help taking off that last hundred pounds."

lol... just looked at when this thread was started... 2003 ! I hope it helps anyone who is looking for a fiil Dr. in Colorado in 2009 or 2010.

I was banded by Dr. Kirshenbaum in auora/denver. His prices are low in general. I have had 2 fills with him and it was painless. I do not know what his rules or prices are for patients he didn't do the surgery on, but it would be worth calling and asking about. The office is also easy to find. (303) 695-1304

I found a good crusher at walmart. It crushes just by twisting on the cap. It was less than $5. It does not split, just crushes. I got some nioxin hair vitamins that I have to crush. They do not taste bad, but they are too large to swallow whole.

Hi Buckcreek, Your before/after pics show a very good transformation. I think just under 200 will look great on you. If you do get back down to the 180 range try not to go lower. You don't want to look or feel sickly. You are nice and tall, so don't forget to keep that in mind when trying to figure out your goal weight. My son (age 27) is 6'2" and looks healthy at 200lbs. Keep up the good work !

I agree with you. I cook for my husband and grandson all the time. Sometimes I can't even take one bite of what they have, so I make something else for myself. We go out to eat at least once a week. My husband orders a nice big meal and I get soup or something. He does not have a weight problem and works very hard. He needs to eat and I enjoy our time together. I was the cook for Thanksgiving and ate very little, but the important part was my family sitting down eating a meal together.

The pain in your left shoulder is not gas/air from the surgery. It only takes 1 or 2 days for your body to get rid of the gas. The pain from the gas from most types of surgeries usually is in the collar bone area, not the shoulder. The pain in the left shoulder that lasts beyond the first day or so is reffered pain from pressure on the phrenic nerve. Mine lasted for several months during the healing process and also was my "full signal" for awhile. I found that menthol pain Patches from walmart were a great help. Below is a post that I coppied from another banster's post many months ago. I hope this helps ..... Best explanation of left shoulder pain I've ever found. permalink If you woke up with a pain in your shoulder, you'd probably think something was wrong with your shoulder, right? Maybe you slept on it the wrong way, maybe you're a weekend warrior who threw the football a few too many times. In most cases, your hunch is probably right. Pain in the shoulder usually indicates an injury or disease that affects a structure in your shoulder, such as, say, your subacromial bursa or a rotator cuff tendon. Makes sense, doesn't it? But you might be way off. Sometimes the brain gets confused, making you think that one part of the body hurts, when in fact another part of the body, far removed from the pain, is the real source of trouble. This curious (and clinically important) phenomenon is known as referred pain. For example, it's unlikely but possible that your shoulder pain is a sign of something insidious happening in your liver, gall bladder, stomach, spleen, lungs, or pericardial sac (the connective tissue bag containing the heart). Yup - conditions as diverse as liver abscesses, gallstones, gastric ulcers, splenic rupture, pneumonia, and pericarditis can all cause shoulder pain. What's up with that? Neuroscientists still don't know precisely which anatomical connections are responsible for referred pain, but the prevailing explanation seems to work pretty well. In a nutshell, referred pain happens when nerve fibers from regions of high sensory input (such as the skin) and nerve fibers from regions of normally low sensory input (such as the internal organs) happen to converge on the same levels of the spinal cord. The best known example is pain experienced during a heart attack. Nerves from damaged heart tissue convey pain signals to spinal cord levels T1-T4 on the left side, which happen to be the same levels that receive sensation from the left side of the chest and part of the left arm. The brain isn't used to receiving such strong signals from the heart, so it interprets them as pain in the chest and left arm. So what about that shoulder pain? All of organs listed above bump up against the diaphragm, the thin, dome-shaped muscle that moves up and down with every breath. The diaphragm is innervated by two phrenic nerves (left and right), which emerge from spinal cord levels C3, C4, and C5 (medical students remember these spinal cord levels using the mnemonic, "C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive"). The phrenic nerves carry both motor and sensory impulses, so they make the diaphragm move and they convey sensation from the diaphragm to the central nervous system. Most of the time there isn't any sensation to convey from the diaphragm, at least at the conscious level. But if a nearby organ gets sick, it may irritate the diaphragm, and the sensory fibers of one of the phrenic nerves are flooded with pain signals that travel to the spinal cord (at C3-C5). It turns out that C3 and C4 don't just keep the diaphragm alive; neurons at these two spinal cord levels also receive sensation from the shoulders (via the supraclavicular nerves). So when pain neurons at C3 and C4 sound the alarm, the brain assumes (quite reasonably) that the shoulder is to blame. Usually that's a good assumption, but sometimes it's wrong. From: Anatomy Notes: Referred pain

I am glad this fill seems to have helped you. Maybe you will be at a sweet spot for awhile ! Onderland is in sight!

I have thrown up twice since being banded in july '09. Both times it was food that my stomach couldn't handle. There was no holding back or trying not to throw up .... it just came and that was that.

BTW, I hope your fill helped you and you are back to dropping some weight. I know I got the thread off track a little. LOL I just have issues!!

I have been taking biotin for over 3 months now. I keep my protein up by drinking protein shakes and shots. I also started using nioxin shampoo and conditioner. This past weekend I got some nioxin vitamins. I take silica that says it is for hair, skin and nails. I take centrum chewables and B complex. I have had much more major surgeries than this and never lost a strand of hair with those surgeries, so I can't imagine it's from the surgery or anesthesia. I was banded 07/09/09. That is a long time ago for the surgery part to still effect me isn't it? I don't know what the solution will be. I will just keep trying, but am frustraited and feeling my self esteem taking a big nose dive as my hair gets thinner and thinner.

well, there is no way I will reach onederland by newyears eve, but I'm still keeping my head in it. I had a little stall in the weight loss the past 2 weeks, but the scale is my friend again today. My biggest problem at this point is hair loss. I've tried everything. I do mean everything! I have thin, fine hair anyway and can't afford any more loss! bummed about that:crying:

I am not a vegetarian, but after being banded I have much trouble eating meat. The protein shakes get old and I have tried many types. I drink a protein shake for breakfast. I also eat Atkins protein bars sometimes. I found some consentrated protein "shots" at bariactric choice that have more protein than many of the shakes. I take a shot every day and get 18g protein in just 1 ounce. They taste bad, but it is like taking medicine. One gulp and you get all that protein.

I too have read many threads/posts from banders that have their tool locked away as you discribe. I know there must be a fine line between being too agressive with fills and not agressive enough. I agree that the banster who lives in banster hell too long needs to comunicate with the doc and if things are not going well, find a new doc. My doc was fairly agressive with the fills and I am happy about that because I spent a very short time in banster hell. It also saved me time and money because I do not live in the same town as my Doc's office. As I've read these posts from bansters who get 6, 7 , 8 or more tiny fills to feel restriction, I wonder if there is a much larger risk of getting leaks. I have read posts where ports have been missed and fills have been complicated and painful. Elfie, your example of a Dr. not listening to a cancer patient was a great example. My mother died because of one of those types of Dr.s. Over the years I have changed Dr.s for the same reasons. I think as patients we all need to be aware that if we know something is wrong and the doc continues not to listen, we need to find one who will.

bariactric choice has concentrated protein that is 15g-18g protein per 1oz. "shot" sugar free, low cal

I love the title ! I've lost my grandson too !! I hope to lose my daughter-in-law by summer 2010 !

100 lbs is too far away for me to think about it at this point. I hope to reach that goal at my 1 year mark, in July 2010. For now, it's one pound at a time. Congrats on your great weight loss!

Ok, sounds fun, but hard to discribe myself, here goes : I am 5'7" tall, but many people tell me I look taller than that. My hair is very fine thin and very straight. My natural color is medium brown, but I get highlights to make it look dark golden blonde. My hairstyle is straight out of the 70's / feathered. If I had thick enough hair I would have a "Farrah". But since I don't have that think stuff I wear it shorter than Farrah. (my husband's hair is straight out of the 70's too. His is like John Travolta's was in "Welcome back Kotter", but much lighter in color. lol we are quite a pair I guess) I curl my hair with a good old fashoned curling Iron. I feel like my nose is kinda big. Itialian nose. I am Itialian/ Irish/ and Mutt. I have a complection kinda like a redhead with freckles, but also have sun damage from many years of tanning when I was younger. I do wear makeup, but not overdone. I have green/hazel eyes that are fairly large. I wear thin eyeliner and mascarra. Thin foundation to even the splotches. Some blush. No lipstick. I have straight teeth because I finally got braces when I was 36 (glad I did). My body type is hourglass when I'm not obese. I think the bottom of the hourglass tends to be a bit larger than the top. My thighs stay larger. My poor saggy boobs are shrinking. I have gone from a DD to a D already and I hope they stop shrinking at a C when I get to goal. I have very strong, think, rounded fingernails, so can wear them long naturally. I don't wear them "dragonlady long". I will cut them back if they get too long. I always wear nail polish, but never red or orange. I usually wear some sort of pink or mauve color polish. I wear scrubs for work and have a little OCD when it comes to color matching. I have different color tennis shoes to go with each different color of scrubs. On the weekends I like jeans. When I am down to a decent size I like getting the high waisted jeans like rockies or ropers. They are cut with a high small waist and fuller hips and tend to run long. I hate wearing "high waters." I have small feet for my body size..... 7 1/2 shoe. I guess that's it .......

It's not just that my doc. says 1/2 cup. I can only eat 1/2c. If I eat more, I will be in pain or worse. I use protein shakes and other suppliments to get the protein in. I am not in a race. I am obese, I got the band, the weight is coming off. That's all.

I don't measure. My band stops me at about 1/2 cup. I can eat a little more if it is something like soup. There is no way I could eat 1/2c protein + 1/4c vegie + 1/4c rice, potatoe, bread .... no way

Of course I do not know how your body will react over time, but for myself I have accepted the fact that I will never eat like "a normal person". I will never again eat "normal portions". For my activity level, metabolism, and genetics, normal portions will make me overwieght. When I get this excess weight off, I want to keep it off this time. If you are going to exercise like they do on the biggest loser and never stop, maybe you could someday eat "normal portions." I just know that is not a reality for myself.

Yes, you are in banster hell. The first fill will help, but you may visit banster hell again even after the first fill. I felt restriction for awhile after the first fill, but the hunger between meals returned. The second fill did the trick for me. It also depends on how agressive your doc is with the fills. If they only put in tiny amounts at a time you will require more fills to get to your sweet spot, but that may be a more pleasent journey than large amount fills. Just try to keep yourself in check during banster hell. Things do get better.