ElfiePoo

My doctor discourages chewing food to mush. He said the food should be the size of a pencil eraser. If the food gets stuck at that size, then he suggested smaller bites...the amount you'd feed to a toddler. .

The reality is that the FDA has nothing to do with it. Anyone can get a lapband no matter what their bmi is, as long as they are self-pay. Insurance companies could cover the surgery now for low bmi patients if they wanted but it won't be until they finally understand that you don't have to wait until the person has a high bmi to do something about it. Then again, insurance in the U.S. has never been about preventative care. I wish the band had been available when I was 25 years old and 180 pounds. .

I'm at my sweet spot and I can *choose* to eat as much as I want of anything I want and I don't have to drink water to do it. That's not really a good test of whether the band is working. The band works by putting pressure on the vagus nerves which tell the stomach to quit producing ghrelin, the hunger hormone. We still have normal hunger, but when we eat, the additional pressure of our food on that band area (and the vagus nerves) shuts off the ghrelin. It could be that by drinking while eating, your food is sliding through your pouch faster than it can apply that extra pressure. Just one possibility. Also, I've noticed that there are an awful lot of people both here and on other forums who say the band doesn't help with their hunger and they have one thing in common...a 4cc band. My understanding is that you can go from not enough to too much very quickly. I'm not sure how 'much' they put in at each fill, but could you possibly have not been over filled at 1.2 but were rather dealing with swelling from the fill and then continued swelling from getting stuck? I think there are people on here who complain the band doesn't rid them of their hunger. For some, that may be true. For some, they just don't know what hunger is. Nobody but that person really knows which they are, so I'm making no judgments, but before you give up on the band, I'd try doing the following...and you may have already, but then again I don't know so I'm just putting it out there. First, stop drinking with your meals and don't drink for 30 minutes after. Allow your band and food to have time to put pressure on those vagus nerves. Then eat a reasonable meal - 3 oz Protein, 1/2 cup vegies, 1/4 cup starch - and pay attention to how you feel. You should be able to go 4 hours after a meal. If you get hungry, go get a fill and with such a small band, I'd only let them go up in small increments .1-.2cc at a time. My understanding, from listening to others with a 4cc band is that when they go up faster than that, they have problems. Then give it time for the band to kick in. I don't have any reaction from fills for 2 weeks and then wham...tighter band. Just a few thoughts since you asked for it. Several months ago I was on the verge of getting a revision to a vertical sleeve because I thought my band wasn't working even though I had reached the point of being overfilled and unable to eat without getting stuck and/or sliming. After a complete unfill in preparation for this surgery, I discovered a number of things that made me rethink my hand and how it operated and what I had to do to make it work...and that's the only real advice I can give anyone...don't quit trying to make it work even if it means to go back to square one with absolutely no fill and then start the climb back up. At some point, you'll make the decision as to whether the band is working for you...but I wouldn't give up without a fight. .

It may be phrenic nerve pain and for some of us it doesn't go away. It's caused by some part of the band rubbing against the diaphragm. For me it mainly occurs when I'm lying down or riding in the passenger seat of the car. Not always, just sometimes and I am bamboozled at this point why it's only sometimes. I'm 14 months postop by the way but I've talked to people who are 5 years postop and at maintenance on their weight and still have this pain. .

Kat, My .02...I've never understood this only eating 1/2 cup at a meal. That's about what a toddler eats. My doctor told me about 1200 calories per day - 3 oz of Protein, 1/2 c. vegies and 1/4 c. starch at a meal, although I tend to eat starch only with my evening meal. Breakfast right now is a Protein Drink because I'm so tight in the morning, but I was eating 2 eggs and 2 sl of bacon. If you're a Cereal person, a serving of some type of cereal with 2% milk. .

Either or both. .

My family knows that the band alone will not be enough. I also have to change the ingrained habits of 40 years. They love me and they *choose* to help me by not bringing things into the house that they know I can't have. Do they eat it when they're at work or school? Probably but that's ok. I don't need them to eat exactly the way I do all the time. They do eat the way I do at meals for the most part. However, I understand that while the band is a big part of my life right now, at some point other people get tired of talking about it *all* the time. So I come here for most of my 'support'. Have you talked to your husband about how you feel? I know if my husband came to me and said that our life seemed to revolve completely around my band, it would be a *huge* wakeup call for me that I was being exceedingly self-centered...not the behavior of a mature adult. .

Bruce, How much are you eating at a meal and how long after a meal can you go without being hungry? .

So how do y'all like my new avatar. I 'borrowed' it from a non-band friend. It gave me such a giggle but I'm a long way from being a 'skeleton'! I think, in spite of the fact that my band seems a bit tighter (back to protein shakes for breakfast), I'm dealing with a lot of hunger again...even 5 minutes after drinking the shake. Normally I can go 3-4 hours on just a shake. So I think I'm going to see if I can get a slight tweak...even .1cc or so...and get back to the sweet spot. I am white knuckling it right now with decaf tea and cups of broth because I absolutely refuse to put on any weight as a result of the hunger. At a 1 lb per week weight loss, I could easily set myself back a month. I swear, if they started doing a WLS that cuts the vagus nerve, I'd be front of the line and cleaning out my savings to do it. Ok...time to Tae Bo. Stay warm! .

Leigha: I figured you must be buried under paperwork since the videos of Sugarbaby have slowed. I miss them! And yes, I'm staying away from the wheat. Shads: Glad to hear things are going well. After all you've been through with this band, it must be some relief to actually not be hungry, yes? Bobbie: I can so relate on the frustration of weight not coming off. I lose about 1 lb per week. Doing this same thing 10 years ago, I dropped several pounds per week without even being as strict as I am now. Denise: I find thick socks helps me stay warm better than anything. My surgeon actually suggested it. He said the body will try to protect its core temperature (internal organs) first and will draw the warm from the limbs. So I have a couple pair of 'winter' socks now that go to my knees and that helps quite a bit...although I still find myself wearing a sweater or sweatshirt in the house. 2b: You run outside in the the midwest winters? <BRRRRR> No thank! I do agree that exercising warms you up and I have an Oprah attitude to exercise as well. I've been doing Tae Bo and it does warm me up for hours.

It's hard to tell with so little information. How much scrambled eggs? What size tin of tuna? How much Protein at dinner? How much/little weight do you have to lose? .

This is one of my favorite recipe sites for low carb cooking: http://genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html .

Cleo...great video and, even though my band is working for me at the moment in controlling hunger most days, I know it's because it's putting enough pressure (when I eat) on the vagus nerves. He talks about cutting the vagus nerve while doing the mini bypass. I'm wondering why bother doing the bypass and not just cut that vagus nerve. I'll bet in the not so far future that's going to be *the* WLS. .

I didn't have a choice and I asked my doctor almost a year after surgery why he used the Realize band vs. others. He said he just liked certain aspects of it better than other bands (low port, etc.). It's the band he chose when he had his put in a year earlier. .

The article is wrong. According to my surgeon, the mortality rate is determined by how many die within a year after surgery and even then the person might not have died as a result of the surgery but it's still listed that way. For example, one of my doctor's patients died 9 months after surgery of a heart attack. It had nothing to do with the band surgery but because she'd had the surgery in the last year, it's considered a 'complication' of surgery. Funny...at 450 pounds she most likely would've died of that heart attack much sooner if she hadn't had the band. I think the mortality rate for band is something like 1 in 1000. For bypass it's something like 1 in 250. .

I must be hormonal. I actually found myself crying while reading his article. Don't you wish everyone would just 'get it' already? .

Everyone is so quiet! It's a bitterly cold morning here in the midwest (below zero) and I so don't want to go out but unless I want to listen to the pitiful cries of two cats, it's off to the grocery store for cat food. Winter didn't usually bother me. I'd run around with no gloves or hat and my coat never buttoned, but since surgery I'm *always* cold. My sweet mother-in-law bought me an electric mattress pad for my bed last winter...which I say 'thank you' for every night when I crawl under the warm sheets and I think it's the reason I've been going to bed at 8 or 9 p.m. I'm thinking battery powered heated socks or long johns are next. I normally don't eat soup these days but I think it's a good day to make some potato leek soup. Since I'm not eating wheat these days, maybe I'll even make a crusty artisan bread for the troops as a treat. They've been so uncomplaining about my not making homemade bread. Then I think I'll muck off my dining room table. I haven't seen the top of it since Christmas because it's the 'don't know where to put it so we'll just leave it on the table' drop spot. Hope you all are doing well! .

It starts helping when you have enough fills to put pressure on those vagus nerves (which control the hunger). Some people get that with just the band. Most don't. Have you had your first fill yet? At 2 months, if you're hungry after a meal, you're overdue. You should be able to go 4 hours (assuming you're not also dealing with blood sugar issues) after a meal without hunger. If you have diabetes, I'd suggest eating every 2.5 hours...three main meals and a mini-Protein snack (hard boiled egg or 1-2 oz cheese, etc.) mid-meal. My first fill was 3cc at one month post op. Then I had 1cc every 2-3 weeks. .

If you're upchucking and starving, sounds like you're not getting enough to eat because your band is too tight...and as long as you are upchucking, it's a good bet your band areas is swollen and this will continue. Eventually, your hunger will drive you to eat sliders and the weight loss will stall or you'll start to gain. .

Well I'm only down 40 pounds since surgery but I've had my own issues with the band...some due to the band, some due to me...but I'm still happy with 40 pounds. Right now I'm only losing 1 lb per week and I'll take it and not complain. .

The way we eat is good for kids too. Protein, vegies and starch. Fruit is a good in between 'snack'. . .

Obviously straight Water is better because all the others have something (caffeine, artificial sweeteners, etc.) that make them less than perfect choices *but* according to all the experts, Fluid is fluid. Personally, I don't use even artificial sweeteners because they make me crave. I discovered that on the days I drank straight water or unsweetened tea, I didn't struggle as much with the head cravings, but on the days I drank crystal lite I was constantly thinking about food. .

Night coughing is a sign of an overfill but perhaps it's just that you're still swollen from surgery. Definitely talk to the doctor. I had some coughing after surgery and I'd just hold a pillow to my stomach and try to cough gently. My sympathies. .

I'll usually start feeling the signs of hunger about 4 hours after my previous meal and it's just sort of an empty feeling that reminds me it's time to eat. If I ignore it, within 15 minutes my blood sugar level reminds me so perhaps the two are actually working as one to give me that 'feeling'. .

If you're hungry 1-2 hours after a meal then you do not have the restriction the band was designed to give you. The band was not designed to physically restrict the quantity we eat and leave us hungry. What a hell that would be! There are a number of reasons you could be getting stuck though. Sometimes your band is just tighter for no reason. I've found that if I drink something hot before I eat, that helps loosen the band up just enough that I don't get stuck. For many of us, the band is just tighter in the morning. For a long time I could only do a Protein shake in the morning. Then for months I could actually eat Breakfast. For the last week I'm back to Protein shakes for breakfast. Don't know why. I just go with the flow. Once you start having stuck episodes, you're irritating that band area causing it to swell...which will cause you to get stuck more often...which will cause more swelling. Well you get the idea. It's a vicious circle. I'd be kind to your band and go back to softer foods and then once you've a 2 or 3 days without stuck episodes, get back to eating solid food. Take small bites. Seriously. If you're having trouble monitoring the size, use a baby spoon. It's really hard to go from loading up a fork or spoon to just putting a small bite (the amount a toddler would eat) on the end of your utensil. You shouldn't have to chew it to mush. My surgeon said we should be able to eat things the size of a pencil eraser without getting stuck. DO NOT drink with your meals and wait 30 minutes after a meal. It has nothing to do with washing your food through the pouch too quickly and everything to do with getting stuck. When you put Water into your pouch, it kind of moves things around and then they resettle, sometimes blocking that opening and causing a stuck episode. Then just pay attention to what gets stuck. Many people have problems with bread, biscuits or other things that tend to clump and cake together. Things you might not expect to get stuck...eggs and ground beef...are a problem for some. I used to have problems with all of those but I realize now that, due to my constant stuck and sliming episodes, my band area was most likely permanently swollen. Once I had an unfill (but eating softer foods for awhile would do the same) and my band area had time to calm down, I no longer had a problem with any of these foods when I had my fills back. Partly because I took longer between fills once I realized that it took 2 weeks for my band to show any effect from a fill.