Acadia

Take this experience as an opportunity to see how well you're able to cope without restriction. Once you lose all of your weight you may be at an ideal point to have most of your fill removed and learn to live without a fill. This is an opportunity - not a hinderance.

Agreed, too tight. As someone who has suffered through being too tight for two months due to insurance and billing issues I strongly recommend you go in as soon as possible to have an unfill of what you had put in - or at least 1/2-3/4 of what you had put in.

I went for dinner last night with a friend, got veggies and rice with tofu. Had one bite of tofu, a piece of greens, and a fork of rice and that's all I could eat. And I could only drink a few sips of water beforehand. It was horrible. I know I'm too tight but with billing discrepancies an unfill could cost me between $12 and $750. Yeah, I'm still getting that worked out. Until I know I'll stay too tight.

"Regular coffee and caffinated [sic] sodas do not count as fluids and for every cup/can you drink I was told you have to drink another 16 oz of Water to make up for the loss because of the caffine. (not saying this is a fact, just what I have been told)" That's actually not true. Though you will urinate a tiny bit more, it's not enough to warrant drinking double the amount to make up for it. Per the Mayo Clinic: Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine only has a diuretic effect if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (or 4 to 7 cups of coffee) a day. However, adding cream and sugar to anything (including the sugar in soda) makes it not worthwhile for drinking.

When I was first banded I had no issues with breads or Pasta. After my first fill bread became an issue, rice was a problem, and pasta was very difficult and resulted in getting stuck and PBing almost every time. After my second fill, I can't eat any of them easily. Bread only if it's toasted so much it's dry and rice only if it's very dry and I can only have a couple of grains per bite. Pasta causes way too many issues to bother - even something thin like kraft dinner type noodles - two bites of whole grain pasta like that and I'm PBing. I imagine I'm a little too full, but at least it stops me from eating foods that I shouldn't be eating anyway.

For the first week don't expect to get to 64 oz per day. Surgeons generally recommend 4-8 oz the first day (the day you have surgery), 12-24 oz the second day, 24-36 oz the third day, 36-48 oz the fourth day, 48-64 oz the fifth day and a minimum of 64 oz per day going forward. Increasing your Fluid intake slowly gives your body time to readjust. Start with hot tea in the morning, then go for cooler liquids throughout the day, hot broth, etc. If you start your day with a hot fluid your band will open up a bit and it will make things easier.

If you're getting it with even the slightest bit of food (regardless of what the food is) then your stomach is producing way too much acid and you need to stay on a Protein pump inhibitor and it's likely that you're a little too tight so the acid isn't able to get back down to your big stomach. Are you keeping a food diary to see what triggers it for you? I used to find that plain oatmeal (odd I know), acidic foods, spicy foods, fatty foods all caused severe reflux. But with fruits, veggies, and other more inert items, no issues. It would be interesting to see if there's a pattern, even a very slight one. For example, do you get indigestion when you eat Jell-o? It's one of the more inert foods available.

Popcorn is a slider for a lot of people (including me). Even at the over-filled spot I'm at now I can still eat 3 cups. But 3 cups of movie theater popcorn will be about 300-400 calories depending how much butter you put on it. It may be best to bring Water, small fruits, granola (though that is also high in sugar), veggies, and if you do get a snack at the theater try for chocolate covered peanuts (they're crunchy enough to be broken down without getting stuck and have good fat), licorice (small bites and chew it well - it won't bind together to get stuck), or a slushie if your theater has them.

I'm 5'4" and my Dr. said I can expect to get down to 150 (100 lbs loss). My preferred weight is a body builder 125 for competitions. But I'll see how I feel as I lose, at some point you'll just know what the right weight is.

The rash is likely from iodine. They put an iodine mesh on your abdomen when they do the surgery (that's what you see in the movies that looks like plastic on the body when they cut into it). I had it as well. The rash is usually in the same shape as the mesh - a square or rectangular shape with well defined edges up your side. And it usually won't extend onto your breasts (other than potentially the underside). For the pain, you can have pain for weeks, it all depends on your body and how it heals and how much attention you pay to the pain, how much you coddle yourself. If you cater to the pain it will last longer (this is why they get you up and out of bed quickly after surgery). Move more, do more, and your body will heal faster. For the burping, that's common. You'll have that for some time. You may want to ask your doctor if you had a fill (active or passive) when you had your surgery. If you did then you may have too much in you, resulting in the persistent burps.

Restricted - I can eat 1/2-1 cup of food (depending on the food) and not be hungry for 4-6 hours. Over eaten - feels like food is caught in my throat and I need to vomit to bring it up. Or feel like I need to. When I do bring something up, instant relief. Stuck - feels like a hard dull pain in my chest, a similar feeling to how it feels when you actually get something stuck in your throat, that all encompassing pain. Once it clears there is immediate relief.

Are you taking an antacid or a Protein pump inhibitor? The latter is preferable. Something like Prilosec OTC, take it for six months to allow your 'big' stomach to reduce its acid production since it isn't getting as much food as it used to.

I didn't bruise badly on the first fill but the second one gave me a good 2.5" diameter bruise. You can see the tiny needle mark in the middle. Hurt like hell for days.

I'm speaking as a by-choice 16 year vegetarian and I do not recommend going vegan cold-turkey (per se). You'll hate it and you won't stick to it. Instead of totally altering your diet just make a few minor modifications (recommended by the Mayo clinic): Eat more: oatmeal, high Fiber foods, fish, walnuts, almonds, and other nuts, olive oil, and any foods with added plant sterols (margarines, orange juice, yogurt drinks). Eat less: full fat dairy (switch to low fat or half low/no fat and half full fat), processed foods like Cookies, crakers, and cakes, fatty cuts of meat, and eggs. You can still eat what you normally do, just alter the quantity and type slightly.

Yes it can be acid reflux. My Dr (and many others) suggest taking Prilosec OTC for a minimum of six months following surgery. For me this has completely eliminated any acid reflux. The actual pills (not generics) are quite small.

I've had several attacks in the past two months, they are horrendous for pain. I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance due to nerve damage from an accident when I was younger and gall bladder pain is the worst pain I have ever felt. Do whatever your doctor suggests to avoid it!

I've used the FitBit for over a year now, it's very small, fits anywhere (I wear mine on the center brace of my bra), you can monitor your sleep with it, and it gives you some nice visual incentive to keep moving. The website is also free - unlike the other sites. And the FitBit works with several other applications as well. I highly recommend it.

Yes, both are common (chest x-ray an EKG).

Tongue - yes, but they may allow you to replace it with Teflon (visit your local piercing studio to get the right jewelery). Nose - no, but replace it with Teflon or plastic and tell them that you've done that in case an emergency MRI is required. Belly Button - yes, and keep it out. They do surgery in that area, and if you get a single incision surgery like I did they go in through your navel so no jewelery is allowed.

It's unlikely you'll have to take them out completely. They have absolutely no impact on your surgery (nose piercings that is). Replace it with Teflon or plastic and explain that you did that and you should be fine.

Full for me is either ( a ) hiccups or ( b ) the sensation that if I eat one more bite it won't fit. Not that I couldn't do it, but that it would feel like it's in my throat. And sometimes, if I'm not careful, it can very literally take eating just one tiny bite to realise I over did it, I salivate horribly then vomit, and am scared straight for quite a while. It's a horrendous feeling. You will get stuck at some point. You will vomit at some point. And you'll learn where your eating sweet spot is. It's like telling a child the stove is hot, until they touch it (as a child or as an adult) they won't truly realise the reality of it. Take it one meal and one day at a time. (Edited to make spaces around the letters in parenthesis because it turned my b into a sunglasses face.)

Vegetarian taco salad (with any kind of lettuce) is one of the few foods I can eat without issue - while being slightly too full (band wise).

As I posted on another thread - be very careful with that application and website: I use The Daily Plate / LiveStrong. It's $45/year for the gold plan, which allows online and app access, full backup of all of your data, sharing your data, tracking of any and everything, adding meals and recipes (so it figures out the nutritional values), forums, challenges, and much more. Granted it costs, but 12 cents a day is a very small cost for such a thorough site and most importantly - a site that will not take control of your information. For anyone using MyFitnessPal, you should know that you have given them permission and ownership to anything and everything you upload including information, your photos, your journal entries, etc. They can use your name, your username, your photos, your entries, anything you post at the site for their own gain. Including selling the information. And that doesn't apply to just them but also their affiliates, their sublicensees, their employees, etc. I don't know how you feel about your personal privacy but I'm willing to pay 12 cents a day to make sure my information is kept private. From their site: “User Content” is any content, materials or information, not including personally identifiable information (e.g., first and last name, address, phone number, email address, etc.), that You upload or post to, or transmit, display, perform or distribute by means of, the Website, whether in connection with Your use of Services or otherwise. YOU HEREBY GRANT MYFITNESSPAL AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, REPRESENTATIVES, SUBLICENSEES, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES”) A PERPETUAL, FULLY PAID-UP, WORLDWIDE, SUBLICENSABLE, IRREVOCABLE, ASSIGNABLE LICENSE TO COPY, DISTRIBUTE, TRANSMIT, PUBLICLY DISPLAY OR PERFORM, EDIT, TRANSLATE, REFORMAT AND OTHERWISE USE USER CONTENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE, SERVICES OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR OR RELATED BUSINESS, IN ANY MEDIUM NOW EXISTING OR LATER DEVISED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT THE MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES MAY PUBLISH OR OTHERWISE DISCLOSE YOUR NAME AND/OR ANY USER NAME OF YOURS IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR EXERCISE OF THE LICENSE GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION. YOU AGREE TO WAIVE, AND HEREBY WAIVE, ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE EXERCISE BY THE MYFITNESSPAL PARTIES OF THE RIGHTS GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY CLAIMS RELATING TO YOUR RIGHTS OF PERSONAL PRIVACY AND PUBLICITY. YOU WILL NOT BE COMPENSATED FOR ANY EXERCISE OF THE LICENSE GRANTED UNDER THIS SECTION.

Ever since my 2nd fill on March 23rd I've found that I can barely eat anything. However, I can eat fish just fine. And veggie taco salad. And veggie deli slices with mustard. All relatively healthy things. It's nice to eat to live rather than be living to eat.