gnortenjones

About how long does it take for people to get unstuck when they vomit? I've only just started getting stuck recently (just had my 3rd fill, and still getting used to the new restriction), and it seems to take a couple of hours before I'm not feeling nauseated any more. Is this normal?

I'm not sure about the Bodybugg, but I got my Gowear Fit (which is basically the same device made by the same company) from Amazon: Amazon.com: GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System: Health & Personal Care You can also get it from the offical website: Home - BodyMedia They count the calories you burn, but you have to log your meals if you want to track how many calories you take in, and more importantly, how much of a calorie deficit you are maintaining. The biggest downside to both devices is that to use the armbands, you have to have a subscription to their website which can run $7-$10 a month depending on how long you commit for.

I picked up a gowear fit last week. Had trouble deciding on it or the bodybugg, especially since their so similar, but ended up with the gowear simply because it was a little cheaper, and I found more reviews of it than the bodybugg. I love it. It's turned keeping a calorie deficit into a game. I do take everything it says with a big grain of salt though. I suspect the companies claims of "90% accuracy" are under ideal situations, and the actual accuracy is a bit lower than that. It does seem fairly accurate though in measuring different intensities of activity. It knows the difference between when I'm sitting at a desk, walking down a hallway, or jogging. Somehow it knows the difference between when I'm just laying down, and when I'm actually sleeping. Not sure how that works. I've been keeping meticulous track of what I've been eating, and using their website to track it, and compare it to what it says I'm burning, and try to make sure i have a 1000 calorie deficit (or more) at the end of the day for 2lbs of weekly weight loss. In the last 5 days, I've lost 4lbs. I'm not sure how much I like that they use a subscription service to their website. Their website also requires a higher version of internet explorer than I have at my work computer (and can't upgrade) so I can't update any of my information at work. blah.

Yes. For a couple of months afterwards, especially for the first month after surgery, I was moody as hell. I think it was the combination of the liquid diet, severe decrease in calories, being exhausted while healing (and lack of calories), and general soreness while healing. It did get better though. Luckily I was self aware enough that I realized what was going on, and tried to compensate by trying to remain calm even when I wanted to strangle someone. I also mentioned it to my boss who was nice enough to adjust my work a bit so I wasn't dealing with difficult people as much in the afternoon when I would start to crash.

I made the call for the seminar early January of this year. The next available seminar was 2 months later. I then had 3 months supervised diet/nutritionist/psych evaluations/etc. I had my first meeting with the surgeon (the official "consultation") after the 3 months diet. They submitted my paperwork to the insurance company, which initially denied the claim, but reversed the decision a month later on appeal. Had the surgery on August 21st. So approximately 8-9 months from when I made the first call for a seminar to the surgery date. My surgeon said this was fairly normal, and the average time was 6-12 months from start to finish.

I know that losing 1-2lbs a week, which is what I've been maintaining for the last 4 weeks, is what is considered "safe" weight loss, but I find myself getting frustrated with this rate. Am I just being impatient, and should just chill out, or after going through this process am I justified in wanting faster weight loss? Thanks. Mike.

I was banded 2.5 months ago, and have had two fills (the most recent being 1.5 weeks ago). I'm concerned (or paranoid?) about overeating, and the effect it can have on my stomach, but not entirely sure how to read the signals that I have overeaten. I've only gotten sick once, and I think that had to do more with lack of chewing/speed than the amount I ate, and the fact that I had a fill only 3 days earlier. I do occasionally feel "stuffed" though. My question is this, is feeling "stuffed" enough to stretch my pouch (or cause other problems like slippage), or would I start getting sick before any permanent damage would be done?

Two months after surgery, I just got stuck, and slimed for the first time. Lord, that was DISGUSTING!!! Ew. No real point to this post other than to share my, uh, "milestone."

Just venting (or whining). I was banded a little over 2 months ago. Since then I've dropped 35lbs (60 since starting the process), but have finally hit a plateau. This isn't unusual. I've lost large amounts of weight in the past, and have always hit a plateau around this time. The problem, I think, is that 2 months after getting really psyched up about weight loss, the novelty wears off, and old habits begin to re-emerge. This is one of the reasons pasts attempts have failed for me, and one of the reasons I felt I needed help to stay on track. The problem is that I still don't feel much restriction, even though I've had a fill, and my next fill isn't for another month. For example, yesterday I had a really bad day, and was bad last night, and had a large bowl of Cereal for dinner. It was much larger than the 1/2 cup I'm supposed to be limited to, but had no problem whatsoever eating the whole thing. I'm getting kind of scared that my bad habits are starting to reappear, and will end up sabotaging myself (again). Any long timers run intot his situation, and how did you get refocused?

I think boredom, and stress are my biggest triggers. I tend to be alright at work (though I do slip every once in a while), it's when I'm at home after work when I have the biggest issues.

My scale does the same thing. Their evil little machines. I too weigh myself daily, though I try not to. At one point I actually put the scale in the closet so I wouldn't think of getting on it in the morning. I really gotta get out of this habit because it is discouraging to not see the weight coming off quickly every day.

"PB" stands for "productive burp." Basically it's a way of clearing food that gets stuck. I've never had one, so I can't really tell you anything more than that. If you use the search function in the general, or post op, sections you can probably find several posts giving more explanations. To get back on topic, I had my first fill today. The needle was a bit more painful than I expected. Nothing unbearable, but still not something I'd wanted on a regular basis. My band, a 14.5 cc'er, already had 3cc's in it from the surgery. The PA put an additional 2 cc's in, but took .5 out after the x-ray, leaving me with a 1.5cc fill, and 4.5cc's total. I'm not sure how much restriction I'm feeling. I'm on liquids today, which according to my Dr's post op diet can include smooth yogurt, which I had after the fill. I will say I am feeling pretty full from that one yogurt, so hopefully this is the restriction I've been looking for.

I think that new rule would annoy the hell out of me. I haven't had my first fill yet (on Tuesday), so I don't know if my doctor's office has a similar rule. If after jumping through all the hoops to get the band, and spending 20k+ for the surgery, I think if you want to get a fill/unfill you should just be able to ask for it. To get back on topic, I am also in bandster hell. When I first got the band, and the first four weeks or so, everything was great, and I thought maybe everyone was over exaggerating how bad bandster hell is. Now going into my 6th week, my appetite has come back full force, and it's getting harder and harder to stick to the diet. I don't even feel like I have the band right now. Luckily I haven't gained any weight, but my weight loss has definitely slowed to a crawl. Tuesday can't come soon enough.

I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one who's a cereal binge eater. I'm just entered the soft foods stage, so i'm a bit gun-shy about trying it (to say nothing that cereal was/is one of my big weaknesses so it's best not to have it in the house).

Hi Doug. You are definitely going to make it. To put this in perspective, you and I appear to have started at almost the exact same weight (i started at 305), and about the same time, and your surgery was one week AFTER mine. Guess what, your nearly 20 pounds ahead of me in weight loss. So if anything else, feel proud that your doing better than other people with similar circumstances. As far as you plateuing right now. I'm not an expert, but I think that's to be expected. This is a huge change to our bodies, and I don't know about you, but before the surgery, I was living on nearly double the calories that I am now. I think the after-surgery plateu is more of our bodies in a state of shock than anything else. Once it adapts, I bet the weight will really come off for you.

Double check with BCBS and your PCP, and find out if the 6 months of "supervised" dieting would include documented past attempts, if you have any? I have BCBS in New York, and because I had tried Weight Watchers in the past few years, and my PCP knew about it, it qualified as the 6 months of supervised diet. Of course, then I had to do the bariatric surgeon's required 3 month pre-op diet requirements also.

I'm sure we all have one. That one food item that you've never been able to deny. Mine's ice cream (particularly Ben & Jerry's, and Cold Stone Creamery). After you were banded, what was your attitude towards these kind of items. Did you avoid them at all costs due to the amount of hard work you put in to losing weight, or accept that it's unrealistic to go the rest of your life without them so you have one occasionally while trying to keep the portion down? Just curious. I'm coming up on my 1 month band anniversary, have been very strict about following the rules, and am doing great, but have been craving Cold Stone Creamery. Since this situation is undoubtedly going to come up again, I'm debating on strategies to deal with it. Thanks.

I did end up giving myself the "treat" by going to Abbott's Frozen Custard, and getting the one scoop of chocolate. I made two observations about this: 1) My GOD these things taste good when you haven't had them for at least 3 months! 2) They ended up giving me more than I really wanted (either that or the "scoop" was really large), but I ended up eating it all anyhow. Though I don't particularly feel guilty about it because it is still a smaller portion than I would have eaten before. It was maybe 1-1.5 cups of ice cream, far less than the pint (and wanting more) I could eat before. This makes me consider two more things: Either my willpower to know when to stop still needs work. Or my sense of portion size has gone the either direction, and even small portions seem large to me. I'm leaning more towards the first choice. Either way, it's been a learning experience, and one that I plan on remembering. This whole experience reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Homer is either trying to cook, or invent something, but his experiments keep bursting into flames. His response to each fire is to say "Hmmm", and jot it down on a clipboard. That's my new response to a lot of daily choices. Say "Hmmmm", and jot it down on a clipboard.

Was your doctor also your surgeon? I'm going to make a broad generalization and say most of the surgeons I've dealt with don't have terribly good bedside manners. It's kind of understandable when you consider most of their patient interaction takes place when the patient is unconcious.

The hoops are a major pain in the ass. I understand the reasoning for a few hoops just to make sure your really committed to weight loss, but I think a lot of insurance companies overdue it a bit, probably to dissuade people from actually making them pay for something. If it makes you feel better, most of those hoops are common for everyone, just different variations. I didn't need a sleep study (but had one anyhow), and only needed a 3 month pre-op diet, but all the rest like the psych eval., and meeting with a nutritionist were mandatory. One thing you'll want to find out is if the weight you lose during your six months can be counted against you. Meaning if they require the standard 40 BMI, will they deny you if you lose so much weight during the six month pre-diet that you drop below 40 BMI. Insurance companies are known for doing that. I've always felt that people who are against nationalized healthcare have likely never actually dealt with an insurance company. Anyhow, good luck.

Had my surgery 2.5 weeks ago, and am in the mushy stage. I've been avoiding getting together with my friends when I know food, especially dining out, would be involved for obvious reasons. Yesterday one of my friends called and asked if I wanted to come over and hang out. When everyong showed up, the discussion immediately turned into where should we all go out to eat. I was kind of annoyed, but tried not to show it. On one hand they know I'm on a highly restricted diet, and I would have hoped they'd have enough sense not to invite me if the plan was to immeidately go out to eat. But on the other hand, I had the surgery, they didn't, so I don't think it's fair to them to change plans to accomodate me. We ended up at a favorite sub shop. They all got grilled subs, and fries, and sodas, and I just sat there and watched them. It all smelled really, REALLY good, but I really didn't want any. The reason being that after even 2.5 weeks post-op diet, I realize, and fear, what even one bite of that stuff would do to me. So I sat there in amazement as I watched them wolf down these subs while thinking, "Man, that would really screw my stomach up!" I know it's only been 2.5 weeks, but I hope this feeling lasts a while. It's kind of nice going to these places, and not have massive cravings.

Thanks. This whole experience is making me realize how much of my social interactions involve eating out. I have a couple of friends, the ones who gave me a ride home from the hospital actually, who I haven't seen since the surgery simply because food is the big thing we all have in common.

What are the actual dangers of drinking too fast? Is it just that it can make you sick, or can it actually stretch your pouch? I only ask because I seem to have a real problem stretching out my Protein Shakes to the 60 minutes my doctor says. In fact, 15-20 minutes is about the longest I can stretch an 8oz beverage out. So am I in danger of stretching my pouch, or is this just a "it can make you sick" situation? Thanks.

Like others have said, it really depends on the person. Some people need a little more time than others. I took a week and a day off, returning just this Tuesday. When making the time off request my boss, who has had his own surgical issues, suggested assuming that I'd be half days for a little while after that. I dismissed his suggestion, but it's turning I'm needing the half days this week. I usually get to around midday, and am completely exhausted. I come home, and pass out for a few hours, and I only have a desk job.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. It's more venting than an actual request for information. I was banded on August 21st. Tuesday I began my mushy phase, and my tummy does not appear appreciate the new kind of food. After eating, it feels (and SOUNDS!) like a time bomb is going off in my stomach. Lots of grumbling, and followed shortly after by diarrhea. I don't necessarily feel nauscious, but even now, the day after my last mushy food, my stomach still feels angry. Has this been anyone else’s experience? I may ease into the mushy phase, only having 1-2 mushy meals a day, and the 3rd liquid. I am curious as to why this happens to begin with. I could understand with gastric bypass due to the mal absorption aspect of reworking your guts, but since the digestive tract is essentially untouched in lap band, I'm wondering why this happens.