ElfiePoo

I had phrenic nerve pain since the day of surgery and, after 17 months, just had my band out this past Wednesday. My surgeon wanted to do a revision to the sleeve. I might've seriously considered it (may still) except I think I inadvertently discovered the source of my hunger. I decided to give it a couple months to see if I could do this on my own now that I don't have the hunger because, the truth is that if I can't control the desire to eat when the hunger is eliminated (basically what WLS does), then WLS won't help either. You might check verticalsleevetalk.com and talk to the people there. There are quite a number of people who had the revision from band to sleeve. .

Are you Type I or Type 2? In either case, they should be working closely with you to make sure their preop diet (which is not required by all doctors) coexists with your insulin needs. If Type 2, it seems as if it might be as simple as reducing your meds, though. .

I'm just wondering what kind of diet everyone is on (that's having constipation). I do Atkins which is higher in fat (60-70%) compared to the usual 'diet' (20-30%), drink my 64 fl oz of Water and never have a problem with constipation. I go every day like clockwork, no struggle. I've often wondered if it had more to do with the 'fat' than the water. .

Throwing up is not normal. Since you were throwing up what is generally a slider food, you might have something wrong with your band placement. Get to your doctor. Find out what's wrong. Recommit. Also, try to wrap your head around the fact that this isn't just about weight loss. It's about improving your health. So you stall for 3 months. If you're recording what you eat in something like Fitday.com or Livestrong.com and you know *for a fact* (and not just a vague impression) that you're eating an acceptable calorie and carb (because they do seem to count for most of us here) range, then you have a foundation for 'tweaking' whatever you're doing until you find something that gets you losing again. It's counterproductive (and you know this) to get frustrated with not losing and then go and eat the crap that makes you gain...yes? .

Denise: Life should be full of problems like a ring that's too big. I'll bet you can remember when it was too small, hmmm? HB: I'm envious. I just can't seem to get motivated to get back into quilting. Can't wait to see your new one!

There are a number of things that might cause bruising. When my brother was younger, they discovered he had a Vitamin K deficiency (didn't even know there was such a thing). Here's a link that might help.

The most important thing you can do is find a WOE that you can live with long-term. That may be Weight Watchers, Atkins, general low carb or just counting calories. Then use something like fitday.com or livestrong.com and record what you eat. Sometimes we think we're doing well but when we record it, are a bit horrified to find how far off we really are. Then start on that plan now. I'm a diabetic and I've found that the only way to get rid of my hunger and physical cravings is to eliminate grains, starches, glutens, sugar (obviously) and even artificial sweeteners. I've always kept my carbs low, but it wasn't until I eliminated everything but vegie carbs, that I finally got the hunger under control, but you do what works for you. Some people aren't as sensitive to the carbs. As many find, even when they get to the sweet spot, they still struggle because while their stomach is banded, their brain isn't and it still takes self-control to choose the right foods and choose to put the fork down. If you can start to make those changes now, you'll be ahead of the game when the band starts helping. .

The only reason to get a fill is because you're hungry...which means your band still isn't working at its peak. If you aren't hungry, as someone previously said 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Sounds like you're one of the very lucky ones. .

If you're truly eating carb-free (and many 'liquids' are still pretty high in carbs), then yes you most likely are going through carb withdrawal. The good news is that 7-10 days of very low carb and the withdrawal is complete. The physical cravings should go away, but you may still have to deal with the "but I want what I want" desires, although they also lessen quite a bit. However, if you're really eating yogurt or pudding (even the sugar free), then you aren't going through carb withdrawal because they're both pretty high in carbs. Which isn't to say you aren't craving 'real food'. Just keep reminding yourself why you're doing this. Write up a list and stick it to your fridge if you have to. You can do this! .

Thank you for the well wishes, Spartan, and as Elcee said, this thread isn't an exclusive club. .

Elcee, I'll be thinking of you and your son and praying things go well for him on Tuesday! What a nice mini-vacation in Melbourne but I know what you mean about city vs country. Chicago is only 3 hours away and I love visiting for a couple days to go to the theater or museums, but wouldn't want to live there! .

Nope...not going anywhere. I still have weight to lose but, more importantly, I'd miss you all. Apparently the scar tissue was caused by the initial band surgery. Not something they have a lot of control over. The band was initially positioned correctly, but the scar tissue that grew around the liver and stoma pushed the band onto the diaphragm...which is why it got worse over time. Unfortunately, even though they were able to remove the scar tissue, enough damage was done where the band sits (again, not their fault...just what is from the adhesions) that they didn't feel they could safely reposition it. .

Check with your bariatric surgeon's office. Many times they have someone they refer to when people ask and because these PS know exactly how to write the paperwork to get insurance to pay. .

I think that's what I'm going to do too. I always forget to mention it when they ask about allergies, but hey...if it makes us ill, I think it qualifies. .

As everyone else said, if you're eating really low carb (around 30gm or so a day), you're in ketosis. Not a bad thing but you can avoid the dragon breath by just drinking more Water. I drink 64 fl oz *minimum* each day and I'm eating about 20 carbs or less a day and don't have the dragon breath. When I do have it, it's a reminder to drink more water to dilute the ketones in my system. .

Hey ladies...thanks for thinking of me. Yes I went into surgery this morning at 8:30 a.m. I was actually the 3rd surgery of the day but the guy ahead of me forgot to mention that he had a pacemaker. So they had to push his surgery since a rep had to be on site to make sure the pacemaker was operational when he came out of surgery. My surgery went pretty well and yes the band was bumping up against my diaphragm. The reason it got worse over time, rather than better, is because some pretty heavy scar tissue had built up in the area of the liver and the banded area, shoving the band into just the right contact. Due to the amount of scar tissue, it was decided to remove the band since they weren't able to seat the band right and they worred about erosion or slippage. Fortunately, they were able to take care of it all laparascopically and didn't have to open me up. This time around I did need a bit of pain medication in recovery and it never occurred to me they'd use Vicodin. Crud. I'm not allergic to it, but I hate it because it gives me intermittent nausea until it wears off...and this stuff takes 24 hours to get out of my system. All in all though, not feeling too bad...just some sore stomach muscles but I'm handling it with Tylenol. Surgery started around 9 a.m. and I was back in my room by 10:30 and they kicked me out at 3 p.m. because I felt so good. So good, in fact, that I made my husband stop at Sam's Club on the way home (well they did tell me to walk around for 30 minutes to prevent blood clots ) to pick up a few things we needed. Then his mom's for a cup of tea and then home for some lovely lentil soup that my husband made last night just for me. I'm not sure the lentils will be too kind to my blood sugar, but after almost 2 days of clear liquids, that's about all I can handle. This time around I don't have any special diet. They just said take it easy and eat what I can tolerate. So soup it is. Now I think I'll take myself off to bed as I'm going to take advantage of the last remnants of anesthesia still hanging around in my system and have a wonderful sleep! Thanks again for all the good thoughts! .

ok...not sure why you think you can't have cinnamon. I wouldn't classify it as a 'spicy' spice like chili powder and it actually has some benefits for people with sugar issues. 1/4 tsp of cinnamon can have a dramatic difference on blood sugar. One of the things that helps me stay off insulin now is that I put 1/4 tsp of cinnamon in my tea in the morning since my morning sugar does tend to be a bit higher. Works every time. .

Thanks, Jack.

I just read something recently that said gastric bypass patients are able to go off all their meds *usually* the first month after surgery but it has something to do with the malabsorption and the fact that their bodies are no longer processing foods normally. That's not true of banders. Perhaps these surgeons are just using the same protocol without reasoning through it. Then again, I know little of blood pressure problems since I've never had any so perhaps it's different and resolves more quickly than diabetes (which took about a year to get to the point where I was diet controlled). .

I work in my own warehouse and haul around 400 pound drums (on a drum dolly, of course) and picking up 50 lb boxes and cans is common. My surgeon had me on restricted lifting for a month...nothing over 5 pounds the first week and nothing over 10 pounds until my 4 week checkup. At that time he cleared me for 25 lb for the next 2 weeks...rather than just returning me to 'normal' lifting since normal doesn't usually involved regular lifting of 50-400 lbs. I wasn't allowed back to normal (50 lbs, etc.) until 6 weeks postop. His reasoning was to give plenty of time for the port to settle into position so that future lifting would not tear stitches and cause the port to shift. I 'felt' well enough to lift as usual after 3 weeks, but I'm glad I followed his advice after hearing how many people end up back in surgery for flipped ports. .

If you think the Splenda is causing water retention, have you tried putting fruit in your water? I just read this somewhere and tried it and was pleasantly surprised. I've always put lemons or lime in a jug of water for about 30-60 minutes (then removed the fruit) to give it a flavor, but someone told me to do the same with other fruits (strawberries, grapes, melon, kiwi, etc.) or even cucumber. I've done mint leaves as well. My doctor never had a problem with carbonation so I also drank the Faygo flavored waters. No carbs because there's no artificial sweetener. I love the pink grapefruit! .

My band is coming out tomorrow due to phrenic nerve pain. While I don't regret getting it because I have learned a lot over the last 17 months, I also don't regret getting it out since it really didn't do what was promised (getting rid of the hunger or restricting how much I could eat). Fortunately, along the way, I discovered how to do that without the band. I've been doing a lot of reading and, as time goes on, there seem to be more medical reports questioning the efficacy of gastric banding because they're finding that it does not restrict the quantity of food in many people and/or does not consistently remove the hunger in many cases because the band tightens on its own and sometimes it doesn't remove the hunger at all. In the end, we find ourselves hopefully grasping at straws, hoping that 'this one' will be *the one*. If we're lucky, it will be. If not, hopefully we learn something in the process that still makes it a positive experience. . .

If you average that out, you've been losing about 2 lb per week. So you're really not in a stall...you're body is just 'catching up'. Plus, the closer you get to goal, the slower you're going to lose because there's less wiggle room between what you need to maintain your current weight versus your ideal weight...unless you're willing to increase your expenditure by spending more hours exercising. Congrats on the weight loss! .

Krista, Read the boards long enough and you'll find you are not in the minority. There are a lot of people who never lose the hunger even when their band is so full they can't eat the food they need to <raising hand>. For the most part they tend to lurk, though, because they get tired of being told they failed the band...when the reality is that the band failed them. If you're following all the rules, and depending on what those rules were, you should have been losing even with the hunger. Since you aren't, and since you're still hungry, it might be that you're more sensitive to certain carbs than others are. You might try a very low carb diet that eliminates all grains, starches and fruit. It's worth a try. I discovered that once I eliminated these things from my diet, my hunger vanished. It took about a week or so after I stopped eating them but my hunger has not come back for close to 2 months...and I dropped about 15 pounds in 6 weeks. Phenomenal since I'd been losing barely a pound a week on a 1200 calorie, low carb (30-60gm per day) diet. Not being hungry has allowed me to drop my calories to around 900 easily. The bonus is that I also feel so much better! Mentally and physically, I have so much energy! I'm getting my band out tomorrow due to phrenic nerve pain and I'm doing it without regrets because I know that as long as I avoid the grains, starches and fruit, my obsession and hunger with food is gone. Some people might think they can't live without these foods and, yes, I'm going to miss them...but it's worth the tradeoff. .

It will be the best thing you've ever done for yourself. In an attempt to stabilize my blood sugar, I eliminated all carbs except those found in low carb vegies (broccoli, green Beans, salads, asparagus, etc.). About a week or so after, I discovered that not only my cravings were gone, but so was my hunger. I no longer thought about food 24 hours a day. With a completely unfilled band (which is coming out tomorrow), I was eating 900 calories a day! It's completely realistic with a husband and 4 kids. First, low carb won't hurt them either, but if they have no problem processing carbs (i.e. they aren't overweight), then there's no need to restrict them. Just cook healthy meals in a way that allows you to avoid the things you shouldn't have. So if it's your normal mac and cheese night (for example), make sure there's a side vegie/salad to balance out the meal (which you can have) then it's a simple matter to throw a piece of meat in the Foreman Grill, broiler or pan fry, poach, etc. Once I got these bad carbs (at least for me) out of my system, I wasn't even tempted by them. Oh sure, like an alcoholic, I might think "yum that looks good" but I'm not driven to eat it as long as I consistently keep it out of my system...just like an alcoholic. .