affengirl

I have been at my goal weight for 6 or 7 months. I love my sleeve but it didn't fix my emotional eating. That will always be a problem for me so I am just careful about what I eat (most of the time) and if I eat too much "junk" I make myself go back on liquids for a day or two. That usually gets my head straight because I don't allow myself the bite here and bite there...

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Oh.... and according to my Dr and most people on here, you should not even have a slight fill until your body adjusts to the band. Your body naturally swells with the invasion of surgery and needs time to calm down. I couldnt get a fill until 6 weeks because if you do it too soon the band can slip. I am not lawyer happy, trust me, but that sounds wrong to me...

I am a major emotional eater and snacker and I have a skinny boyfriend in the house. I know your pain. I get the 100 calorie packs and count my calories. I also start the morning with Protein Powder in my coffee which gets atleast 1/2 my daily Protein in and keeps me full till atleast early afternoon. Cravings are in your head, so you will have to work on those with some discipline like keeping the kids junk food as healthy as possible and if tempting to you, have them hide it. They can eat the 100 cal packs too. I have a very skinny son as well, but he is ADHD, so sugary foods aren't around and I replace chips and cheetos with pirate's booty. I also eat pickles to satisfy my crunch and salt cravings. They have 5 calories and do fill you up easily.

Everyone has to figure out what works best for them. Now that I can eat meat, I snack on that and it satisfies and fills me so I don't crave other things.

When I had my surgery, they told me 1 in 10 had a "lower pain tolerance" than others. It could be true, but I was that "1" and I hurt! I was lucky to have gone to a doctor that was not the "in-n-out" variety. I stayed in the hospital 1 night where they finally woke up the dr at 3am and he prescribed morphine. The next day and night I stayed at the recovery house and still had strong pain meds. I also went home with a prescription. I got better after a couple weeks and didnt have issues again until 2 months ago when some acid reflux caused my esophagus to swell and I threw up alot.

Anywho, my advice is to be persistant with the dr's office because it is obviously not in your head. If they dont seem to be getting the point you may want to mention the word "lawyer", I have found that even as a bluff, it sure gets some attention. Invest in a pill crusher (yes it tastes gross, but it is not painful). I dissolved my pills in some diet grape coolaid and chugged. Just don't use too much liquid, or you may gag...

If you have any questions for me, feel free to contact me

Best of Luck,

Mary

Thank you all for your answers, they have really helped. I did not PB or get anything stuck until this last fill. I have no problem with mushies, so I have pinpointed the problem at not taking my time and not chewing enough. I find that when people try to talk to me when I am eating I reflexively swallow too soon. I also have the bad habit of grabbing a bite or two from the fridge and seem to get stuck that way as well. I am fine as long as I sit down and take my time, preferably alone for now - lol

My DO NOT eat list (so far):

bread

slippery shrimp

dry meat

scrambled eggs (not sure why)

sugar snap peas

Favorite Protein source:

cup of coffee with 2 scoops of Walmart's vanilla Protein powder whisked in. Amounts to 52 or 54 grams of Protein and really satisfies for morning time (270 cal)

No, he didn't do it under a flouro the first time. He actually had to try twice the find my port the first time, which is why I think I ended up with a huge welt.

Flouro may help although IT IS difficult to predict the swelling in your stomach with a fill. I was on liquids for several days after my fills and my doctor strongly recommended popsicles to help with the swelling.

. My stomach is REALLY sensitive, so I have only had 2 small fills in my almost 2 years of being banded.

You are soooo lucky! I hear people getting 10+ fills in the first year. That is just crazy! I am hoping my 2nd was the key for a while.

Does he do the fill under flouroscope? I heard that "blind fills" can be hit or miss. My doctor does the flouroscope so he knows if there is room for things to go through or not. I also stayed the night at the recovery center to make sure the fill was comfortable. My problem with my first fill was that it wasn't tight enough after a few days. I went back 2 weeks later to get filled some more (and he also looked for any leaks etc.) Now I am trying to get used to the tightness and what foods I can eat - lol

I am finally to a point that I feel truly restricted, but I have also started "PB"ing quite a bit. I know its a learning process as to what I can eat and how much but how do you know if things are getting stuck too much? I don't want to be in danger of slippage, but I also don't want to stay on mushies forever because they are easier to over-eat with.

Once you PB, do you go back to liquids or mushies for a while or do you just continue eating normal food?

I would go to Mexico in a heartbeat, but I don't think they finance that kind of thing. Don't you have to have the money up front for that? I don't exactly have $5,000 in my sock drawer.

Yes, you could go to mexico and financing is an option. Like I said before, it wasn't an option for me due to horrible credit, but it can definitely be an option for you. I don't want to advertise for anyone but the option I am talking about is plastered all over this site. I have been there, got my surgery there and the experience was awesome! :eek:

Don't give up! I had to go out of country for my surgery, but I finally got it after 3 years of wanting it. I was lucky to have my ex's RV that I sold to get the money to self pay. It was 1/2 the price of surgery in the US. I had no insurance and horrible credit from my divorce so financing wasn't even an option for me.

Congrats! I am lucky to have restriction on my 2nd fill which was this past tuesday. I was feeling disappointed after my first fill because it felt tight at the time but I went back to eating a decent amount within a few days. This time I can't eat bread, Pasta, drier meats or even take a gas ex in pill form. I don't throw up easily (never have) but did this hiccup/burp thing that almost brought something up. I am not excited about that episode, but am excited to finally have the restriction I had hoped to have initially. I just hope it stays this way for a while. My doctor is so awesome that he did the second fill for free because the first didn't accomplish what I wanted. I got to watch on the x-ray, it was kinda cool. I really dislike the doctors that charge for a fill and then only fill a small amount each time. Must be a nice money-maker for them.

I agree with you. Unfortunately, I gave up on those clothes about 3 years ago - lol! I guess fitting into a smaller pair of jeans that I bought almost a year ago and vowed to fit into feels pretty good too!

Thank you to everyone for being such a great support system and awesome source of information!

I use Isopure. It comes in bottles and is not a shake. Each bottle has 40 g of Protein. I will drink about 1/4 to 1/2 a bottle a day to supplement what my diet doesn't cover. That being said, I do really well at getting my Protein via the diet.

I like the Isopure because it isn't a shake. I do not like the shakes. While it's expensive (a case of these bottles is almost $50!) I've had a case last me more than a month. So, it works well.

Just a few tips on what I do. I hope it helps. Good luck in getting that protein!

What is the calorie content? A lot of helpful info from a lot of sources is either missing protein gram total or calorie total...

Does anyone know of anywhere to get fills in Southern California for a decent price? I am going to Mexico for fills at $150 a piece.

also, I am not sure I posted this question in the right place: My first fill went well on the 6th (3.2oz). Just wondering how long it takes to know if its working or not.... How often do people get filled if they don't feel like the previous fill was enough?

Thanks,

Mary

My first fill went well on the 6th. Just wondering how long it takes to know if its working or not.... How often do people get filled if they don't feel like the previous fill was enough? I am sure this has been asked before, but.......

Also, are there any Protein powders or drinks out there that are non-sweetened or sweetened with Stivia?

Thanks,

Mary

I have been lurking and gotten some good info. I decided to join since this seems like a great bunch of people. I went out of country to get my lap-band. Its been a month and I just got my first fill 3 days ago. This liquid diet is killing me! lol. If I could successfully stay on a liquid diet I wouldnt need the lap-band now would I? I am starting with some mushier foods and actually had some peanuts yesterday (altho they were chewed into Peanut Butter before they went down). I am so new that I don't even know what PB means... I have an idea and am lucky enough not to have experienced it yet. I did have some serious pain on Easter when I over ate and one time with some dry roast. Anyway, the name is Mary. Hi everyone :biggrin: