cnr1983

I didn't feel 'normal' for a few weeks - don't let the small incisions fool you, it's still major surgery - as for the "I went back to work in 3 days!" testimonials...well, good for them but either they were pumped up on pain killers or they're just quite exceptional. I was moving around from day one but not without pain - I couldn't actually stand straight for the first week.

So far, I have used Biotin which has helped somewhat in high doses but not completely. I'd be happy to try anything else.

Hi all, I've been banded for just under 6 months - for the first 2 or 3 months or so, I still felt hungry but obviously I was eating less because I had restriction and that was fine. As of month 4-5, I've lost me appetite. I seem to feel full most of the time, or I'll have 2-3 bites of something and not want any more. I've lost a lot of weight particularly in the last month and although I don't feel sick/stressed or anything like that, I'm wondering if this is just a normal part of the process? (as in, maybe my stomach has shrunk from the reduced food intake and is now not asking for much?)

I was always larger than my best friend - not by much but that's the way it was. It didn't bother me, I never felt like I was competing against her. Sadly, she felt she was competing with me. Around the time I got banded, she was put on medication that prompted weight gain, so I was going down while she was going up. She told me I would die from the band. She printed out information off the internet (from questionable sources) outlining all the bad things that would happen. She went so far as to tell me to get it removed merely weeks after I got the surgery. I honestly thought my best friend would be there for me but she changed completely (or maybe she was always nasty deep down). I eventually told her to get lost and we haven't spoken since and that's fine with me. I'm not here to be anyone's 'fat' friend.

I can't tolerate bread in any form whatsoever so I just stay away from it - to be honest I think it's been a benefit to my weight loss. I can eat Cereal though. Oh - I should clarify. I probably could eat it but it would take me over 30 minutes to get through one slice...bread just doesn't mean that much to me :scared2:

I lost my best friend as a result of losing weight. She never asked me how I was feeling after getting banded, she just completed ignored it. About 5-6 days after surgery, she came over and I dropped something. I asked if she could please pick it up (it hurt to bend down at the time) and she said "No, do it yourself, you CHOSE to get surgery". Well, okay. Then when I started losing weight, she told me I was looking unhealthy. Well, okay. Then one day she told me I was going to die as a result of the 'damage' I had done to my body and she printed out a whole list of lap-band 'horror stories' for me to read. Wow, thanks. After 14 years of being best friends, I had to politely tell her to get lost.

I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed with the band. What I didn't realise is that I would be one of the few people who vomits a lot - regardless of how well I chew, what I eat or how little I eat. It is what it is - I've been checked and there's nothing wrong with the band and there's nothing 'wrong' with me either, I just can't keep food down for about 1 month after a fill (it relaxes after that). Obviously, this means I get hungry a lot because I'm substituting my meals with liquids a lot of the time (rendering the band somewhat useless). I've lost weight, I can't argue with that, but it's been a painful and uncomfortable journey. There are times when I look at a plate of food and I just can't be bothered because I know what it will lead to. But, it's the risk I took. Needless to say, I wish my surgeon had been more thorough - I did my own research but I really thought it was best to hear it from him, rather than second hand information from questionable sourced off the internet. Unfortunately, he didn't quite do his job and left out a lot of information that may or may not have changed my mind. Either way, the moneys gone and the best I can do is make the best of it. I'm thinner now than I was at 14 years of age so I'm not complaining in that sense...I only wish it didn't have to be so complicated. Either way, Good luck to you - this tool does work for a lot of people but you have to keep on top of your fills; one fill is literally peanuts, you need more than that.

I always get this after a fill - it persists for a few weeks and then subsides. I've come to the conclusion that bringing up food is going to be a part of my banded life - there's nothing that can prevent it, no amount of chewing, no amount of time in between one bite to the next...my only option is to stick to liquids and that would make the band useless. My surgeon assured me my band was fine, there are no 'technical' issues, it's just the way I react. Oh well.

Let me put your fears at rest - the hair loss will stop, eventually. My doctor told me that when you have surgery, the body directs all it's resources to healing the affected area - hair gets neglected in this period because it's not vital. Did you notice that your hair shed a lot less after surgery? In the first two months, I hardly lost any hair at all, indicating that the hair wasn't going through its normal shedding cycle. So, what you may be losing now is hair that you should have lost before but it's all coming at once which can be pretty freaky. I used to get massive clumps of hair coming out in the shower - I got blood tests done and I wasn't deficient in anything - iron levels where better than average because I was eating more red meat than I ever had before.

Your band won't work if you cheat it - liquids and soft foods will generally slide down and it's up to you to control that aspect. I know someone who forces himself to vomit, this relaxes his band and lets anything pass through in big quantities - not a great idea. Otherwise, it's a great tool. For the most part, it helps with hunger, keeps you full and keeps your portions relatively small. There are some things you may have to do without - for me it's bread and to be honest, I'm quite thankful since bread was a 'problem' food for me. One of the things that freaked me out at the beginning was not losing 'enough' weight - being accustomed to crash diets, I was used to losing a lot of weight fast (then piling it back on again). It's different now, weight loss is slow but seemingly permanent. Your concerns are completely normal - I've been there. Diets failed for me so I thought - what if this fails too. At the end of the day, it's a pretty expensive and uncomfortable failure. But it hasn't failed.

Same thing happened to me - I couldn't really tell see the difference in the mirror but I looked at a before photo and wow, my face looked so bloated compared to now. I've also lost my second chin which is a bonus - there's really no need for two I think weight loss can change a person a bit like plastic surgery can - even my face looks different. As a result of not having so much facial padding, my eyes and mouth look bigger lol

I haven't found a sweet spot yet either and I've had about 3 fills and 2 unfills so far. For me, it's a case of either a) not being able to eat at all and :rolleyes2: being able to eat too freely. There doesn't seem to be an in between. My problem is that I can't really eat during the day - breakfast is very difficult and I simply don't have the time to spend 60 minutes trying to eat, so I substitute with a shake. Same thing with lunchtimes - I only have a 30 minute break and can't seem to get anything down in that time frame. Yet, when it comes to the evening, I can eat pretty much anything and given that I spent the day with little food, I'm generally starving. *sigh* I'm hoping it'll get better