koreabandster

This happens to me on occasion when I've had a fill that is too tight and I've been vomiting liquids. I think this causes the stomach to swell and vomiting causes saliva to foam up in the stomach. It happened to me about 1 week post op (smoothie was to blame) and then on two occasions after fills. The best thing I've found for it is to let the stomach rest which meant that I didn't attempt to have any fluids for 12-15 hours as the foam needed to drain. If you're still having problems after that you need to go back to your doctor to have some Fluid removed from your band. I haven't heard of this happening to anyone else so I don't think it's a common problem. Hope this helps

So it's been 6 months since I was banded. I've lost about 50lbs in that time, but only about 10lbs of that has been in the last 3 months. This is because my doctor took a break to open his own hospital, so I haven't had a fill since September. I have 10.4ccs in an 11cc band. I have some restriction, but I can still eat more than I should be able to. So here is my question, what would you do if you were me? I live in Korea, but will be flying back home to the UK for a three week Christmas vacation to see my friends and family. My doctor has opened his new hospital and I have an appointment for a fill today. I'm not sure if I should get a fill considering I only get to see my friends and family once a year. I don't want to stuff my face with food, but I will be going out to eat a lot and I don't want to have problems getting stuck. Also a lot of my friends don't know about my surgery and right now I can eat pretty normally (if I chew a lot!). Would you get a fill now or in January after the holidays?

Hi there, I know there are a few people living in South Korea who have had lap band surgery. I just wanted to let you know that I have set up a yahoo group for those of us living here. If you're interested then please go to this link and join the group koreabandsters : Korea Lap band Support Group Thanks!

I'd love to join you too. I live in Korea and go home to the UK once a year so I'm heading back on the 18th Dec. Only my immediate family and one friend know I've had surgery and have lost weight. I really want to surprise everyone. I have 34lbs to go until I'm at my goal weight and would love to lose as much as possible before then. I have 10 weeks roughly before I'm flying home so I think 20lbs is a realistic goal.

I'm at 10.3ccs in an 11cc band and I had the same question for my doctor as I was worried that I wouldn't get to my sweet spot. He said that he has one patient who has 18ccs in her 11cc band, so it's possible!

Why would you test your band? You've been given a set of guidelines from your surgeon to follow for a reason. Maybe you need to think about the reasons you decided to 'test' your band. You might want to think about the reasons you overate. Everyone has issues dealing with head hunger, and learning to recognize the reasons we overeat. If we don't work out the reasons for our overeating then we will continue to sabotage ourselves. It's been said here a million times but it's true.... the band is just a tool. You can eat through the band and because of this you need to make healthy choices. Unfortunately the easiest food to eat with a band is also the worst type of food. You have to make the right choices when you are eating otherwise IT WON'T WORK! It may take months before you experience restriction. You need to be prepared for that. I am four months post op. and I am down almost 50lbs. I am not at restriction yet after 5 fills and 10.3ccs in an 11cc band. I have lost most of this weight through diet and exercise. It might seem that people are getting at you, but that's probably because we have all slipped up at some point. We know how this works and we also know that it's totally possible to fail even with a band. You really need to work at it and you need to be patient and take one day at a time. Don't worry about how quickly the weight is coming off, just know that if you stick to the rules it will work.

I used to eat these all the time before I was banded and I was doing Atkins. I would be a bit reluctant to eat them now as they are basically impossible to chew (can't be broken down by chewing) and they need to be eaten with lots of sauce. You would probably need to cut them up very finely for them to go down. They are a really good low carb alternative to Pasta (you need to rinse them before cooking as they kind of smell fishy) and they are pretty much tasteless.

I was about to ask the same question! I have an 11cc band. Was at 10ccs and thought I'd found restriction, however that lasted about a week and I fell off the wagon and was able to eat more than I should. I had some restriction but felt I wasn't there yet. I had another fill last night to take me to 11ccs. I asked my doctor about what happens if I don't get restriction at 11ccs and he said that he would keep filling until I did. He has one patient with 18ccs in her 11cc band! So sorry I don't have an answer and I think everyone is different but 10ccs wasn't enough for me!

Banded for three months, just got restriction after my 5th fill. I have 10ccs in an 11cc band. Feeling good!

Had this for two days after my last fill and now I have good restriction. It was trapped air.

I had a NSV a couple of days ago when I went shopping. I live in Korea and as you can imagine it's almost impossible to buy plus size clothes here. We go to one store usually which we call the fat store. I went there last week and everything was too big! Then on Friday I went to H&M and was able to buy a pair of jeans and a top. I'm not plus sized anymore. Also I'm getting a lot more attention from guys. Not sure how to take that though. Having some issues...

On Friday I had my third fill. My band is 13ccs and I went from 8ccs to 9ccs (my doctor wanted to go up to 10 but I said that I thought it would be too much). Anyway it was way too tight and I spent the day throwing up my own saliva. I couldn't keep anything down. I went back to my doctor and he gave me a slight unfil - only 0.2ccs. You could hear everything draining into my stomach! Anyway since Friday it feels like I have very little restriction again. I was on liquids for a couple of days and had dinner last night. Is it normal for there to be such a big difference in how I feel with only a change of 0.2ccs in my band? I will be going for another fill in two weeks and I'm very reluctant to have the 0.2ccs put back in as I don't want to have the same problems again.

Apologies for all the questions! Firstly I am three weeks post op and I am down 15lbs. I have been in bandster hell for about a week (bad hunger, no restriction and no weight loss). This morning I went to see my doctor to check on my scars and mentioned my hunger. He gave me my first fill (I was expecting it next week). I got 7ccs in my 11cc band. This seemed like a lot to me. Initially he filled it so much that Water got stuck. So my first question is this amount of fill normal? What could the effects be of getting filled too quickly? I know another girl (who is a member here!) who has the same doctor and she got band erosion. Anyway I have to go back in two weeks for another check. Secondly, now I have restriction I can tell it's going to be difficult to get my Protein in. I live in Korea so I want to order some Protein powder from the States. Can anyone recommend some good brands? Thirdly, the last time I lost a significant amount of weight (70lbs in 4 months - eek!) I suffered from hair thinning. I want to avoid this at all costs. Are there any suppliments that help with this or is it just a case of getting enough protein? Also which Vitamins and minerals should I be taking on a daily basis? Thank you for your help!

Sorry for the newbie question. So I went to see my doctor today for my second fill. I have an 11cc band. Last time he put in 7cc. He added 2cc more today. As soon as I had the water I threw it up again. He was reluctant to take any out but I asked him to. It felt horrible. He took out 1cc. So now I have 8cc. Since I had my fill 2 hours ago I've tried drinking water and it feels like it's getting sort of stuck. I can drink it, but then I get gas pain and start to slime and foam. Is this normal?

Thanks for all your advice. After about three hours my stomach settled down and I was able to drink water. In the evening I had some iced tea. Today I've been drinking water. I also had some yogurt which went down fine. So I'm feeling much better. I'm kind of scared to try solid foods but I will give some chicken a go this evening. Wish me luck!

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area so I apologize if this is in the wrong place. I'm single and I dating for me usually involves going to restaurants and bars. I'm going to be banded next week so I intend to be single for a while after but what are the options for when I start dating again? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks for all your advice. So the staying single thing didn't work and I'm dating someone. Recent dates have included brunch (omlette for me); going for long walks by the river; going to museums; going to the bar (I had one drink and I was drunk - the first time that has ever happened, he thought it was hilarious); and of course watching movies. Will definitely have to suggest an indian sometime soon!

Thanks for all your advice! It seems that unjury is a popular choice. Yes I was referring to you! I know Dr Kang is an excellent doctor, I was just a little concerned as I know you've had a rough ride with it all. Even though I have the 7cc I'm not at my sweet spot yet and only feeling a little restriction. I went on base at the weekend and went to the GNC to pick up some Multivitamins and 5lbs of whey Protein powder. Not cheap - about $100 in total. Where in Itaewon did you find it? I live in Itaewon. We definitely need to meet up soon. Are you going to mudfest this weekend? I'll be there! As for the protein powder I don't know what's with it - it's making my pee turn luminous yellow. Is that normal? It's banana flavor!

I think it's good to be open about it once you know it's going somewhere. I've been banded almost a month now and I met someone about two weeks before my surgery. I felt comfortable telling him because last year he lost about 60lbs and is now incredibly fit and healthy (and muscular - yum!), so because of this he has been an enormous source of support and encouragement. I can ask him questions about exercise and nutrition because he's been through it and he's maintaining well. We're even training for a 5k in October together. I feel really lucky to have met him. I agree with Windus, be careful of the chubby chasers. I didn't realise my ex was one until I told him I was considering surgery. He basically told me not to lose too much weight. When I told him my goal weight he looked horrified! Sorry to hijack the threat but how did your rebanding go Alienbandit? I was going to call you over the weekend but I didn't want to disturb you. Hope you're feeling ok and work isn't too bad this week.

Thanks for talking about this. I'm in a similar situation to you. I've always been overweight and I can vividly remember binge eating from the age of about 10. When I was 16 this developed into bulimia that continued until I was about 23. Unfortunately as I have moved around a lot and am now living overseas it was very difficult to find a therapist. I overcame the bulimia myself through a lot of reading and group sessions which included cognitive behavioural therapy when I was 23. However the binge eating still continued occassionally and I ended up gaining weight. I'm 27 now and I'd say the cognitive therapy really helped me overcome the obsession I had with food. I would think about food constantly, planning my binge in huge detail. But in the last couple of years binge eating really has been occassional rather than the daily torture it once was. Finding my triggers and knowing the foods that create the cycle of binge eating were key for me. I now try to avoid them as best I can. Does anyone know of any good online support groups for these problems?

I just posted about this today. I got my first fill this morning. I got 7ccs in a 11cc band. My doctor tried to put in 8ccs but I couldn't get Water down. Now I'm feeling restriction! Back in 2 weeks to check that everything is okay and maybe another fill.

Ok this is a little embarrassing but I need some advice as to whether this is normal. I had my surgery on Friday evening and everything went well. Spent most of the weekend sleeping. Returned to work on Monday, but when I got home on Monday evening I had really severe diarrhea. This has continued for the last two days and all I am excreting is basically water. Is this normal? Secondly a couple of times now about 30 minutes after drinking something other than water I have felt very nauseous and my mouth has filled with saliva. Neither times I was sick. I would go and see my doctor but he is away at a conference this week. Should I be worried?