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Thanks guys!...I dont feel like i am eating more than a cup at each meal...I mean sometimes i do but generally i dont...sometimes i can go 5-6 hours without eating and then other times i need a snack(like almonds) in between. It just generally depends...yes my surgeon said she is shocked I've lsot this much weight without a fill thus far. I might ask for just a 1cc fill or something along those lines and see how that feels. all ive done to shed the weight fast is eat low calorie, sugan, carb items and keep the protien amount high. I excercise 4-5 times a week for an hour-1.5.

I certainly burp alot when eating too fast. Its annoying.

You can do it - the first couple days on liquids you think - what the h---did I sign myself up to do but it passes and you will be glad you did it for you. It really does pass fast and now I am a month out of surgery and WOW I feel better already! I have not been sorry for one moment since I had the surgery! The best thing I have ever done for ME!

Hello, Im Francis and just joind this site, i came across it looking for help on hair loss, i had my surgery on Dec. 17th 2010 so i just turned 6 months post-op. i was 194lb and even though i have not checked my weight this month i was at 138lb last time i got on the scale I had my surgery done in my counrty of birth Nicaragua, I didnt have any complications at all, no pain after surgery and had no real issue with the post-op diet, i was back to work 3 weeks after surgery, dont regret having VS i am very happy with the choice i made, i have been reading some post of people having issues with people commenting on with how fast the weight is lost, it has mainly happened with family members for me and yes it is annoying to have people looking at your plate everytime you eat, having family saying after each meal i havent eaten enough and i have lost weight too fast is , i have decided not to hide the fact i have had WLS with family and friends i thought it be best so i dont get the comments "your not eating" and "whats wrong" but i still hear it sooo right now what im struggling with and has me worried is hair loss never thought i would be loosing soo much, hair comes out while showering, some more when i coumb my hair and some more during sleep i wake up and there is hair on my pillow, im trying everything im told could work for hair loss and nothing is working, hopefully it stops soon before i go bald.... beside this issue everything else has been good and just as i hoped it would be

Hey guys! I am new to this forum. First let me say that it is so inspiring to see how supportive y'all are with each other. I am so excited to get this surgery and feel some support from other people going through the same thing. I'm 23. I got the lap band 3 years ago. At this point the sleeve hadnt been approved yet. And before surgery I was 250. After surgery I really got on the bandwagon, but I just couldn't lose the weight. I struggled with trying to eat constantly. I threw up constantly. Even Protein that I was supposed to eat, I couldn't get down. It was depressing. It was enbarassing. I couldn't go out to eat without staying in the bathroom throwing up all my food. It was awful. I got down to 230 and that's where I stayed. After 2 years my stomach started growing over my band and I had to get all the Fluid taken outta my band and I've gained all my weight back and more. I am now today July 4th at 265 and these past few months have been the most depressing of my life. One night last month I laid awake at night and couldn't stop thinking about getting weight loss surgery again. I considered bypass but that's just too major for me and idk about having children after that. The sleeve sounds perfect! I really hate the band. I hate throwing up constantly and being on the bathroom at all social occasions cause I can't get food down. Are there any quirks I need to know about? Foods that make you sick or what happens if you eat too fast? I'm waiting to hear back on my insurance but Im pretty sure they're going to approve it. I've already called and asked. So I'm very excited!! And I can't wait! I just hope I don't have to do the 6 month criteria. I look forward to the support from y'all and I'm excited to start this journey!

Yes I been following and earring 800 calories a day sometimes less because I don’t eat much I get full so fast. The only thing I’ve been struggling with a lot is water, my stomach hurts after a few sips

I know the feeling but just like all the others stated YES u will LOSE the WEIGHT!!! It might not come off as fast as you want but u will LOSE!!! I am 4 months out and down 49 lbs which I am happy with!! can't wait until I hit the 170 lbs!!! This is something I use to dream about now its a reality!! I am soooooooo happy with my choice and the money I have spent it was the best 5 grand I ever spent!!!!!!! lol

Wow that is fast!!! Not sure why she has me staying so long? I know she normally requires a 1night stay for lap bands..how was the pain after?

Well. I got it. I got my surgery date. It's for June 27th. I'm so excited. That leaves 10 days before I have to start my pre-op diet which they require me to do 7 days prior and the day before surgery has to be clear liquids only with no red dyes. I'm stoked. So I've been getting things ready. I ordered 9 sample packs from Unjury 3 each in the chocolate splendor, chicken soup and unflavored packets for $1.99 each so that was $17.91 plus S&H. Then I got a sampler kit of Syntrax Nectar packets. It comes with 11 packets in a variety of flavors including Apple Ecstasy, Cappucino, Caribbean Cooler, Chocolate truffle, Crystal Sky, Fuzzy Navel, Lemon Tea, Pink Grapefruit, Roadside Lemonade, Strawberry Kiwi, Strawberry Mousse, Twisted Cherry and Vanilla Bean Torte. It came to be the same price as the Unjury including S&H. I'm fairly impressed. I know I can find ways to like the taste of the majority of these flavors in some form or another. So I have the protein taken care of, for now. I feel better about that. I have a few samples to try here at home to get use to that taste. I don't particularly like it. But I have another shopping list I need to take care of that consists of some soy milk and yogurt, various liquids that are not a thick form, like vitamin water, etc. I need to get some broth to water down or some no sodium bouillon cubes and some SF popsicles. Lots of people seem to have lived by those and maybe still do. They also said I can find no added sugar or low sugar preserve juice from Smucker's. I guess that's pretty neat. I will look at the nutrition facts and see about those. I loves me some juice! Other than that I'm just trying to take it easy and get in any last bit of shopping I need to do directly before the next 10 days comes too fast. I have to overnight ship the last papers of the financing stuff. So once I can get that expensive crap taken care off I'll feel a lot better. Eric needs to get his side sent in, too. I just hope he can get it in with no problems. References: Unjury: http://www.unjury.com Snytrax: http://www.bestprice...k-11-packs.html

I was addicted to Mt. Dew, and even with diets in the past, I would figure out a way to incorporate it. When I made up my mind for surgery, it moved very fast (self-pay). I decided at one of my consults, I would give up Mt. Dew THAT DAY and see if I have what it takes to be banded. If I couldn't give it up, no need to waste my money.. not only the stretchin of the pouch, but the calories. If I am to eat less than 1k calories in a day, I would easily spend it all on Mt. Dew. And diet doesn't cut it for me. So I gave it up cold turkey, I did get headaches. And I don't miss it. I do occasionally have carbonated drinks now, normally a shirley temple or some ginger ale. I have sipped on a Mt. Dew once (in a desperate situation, I was hoping not to have to taste it so I don't 'relapse' heh).. and it wasn't good. I prefer ginger ale for my special treat now. Anyway, it's best to give it up now. Make it a treat.

They approve you pretty fast once everything is in. I have the same insurance. Once they submitted my paperwork. I got my approval within 5 business days. I had my surgery on May 12th. The only thing is they told me I had $500 deductible. The hospital is billing me for that and told me I can send in payments on that. Good luck to you

Hi everyone! I was just banded yesterday, and I'm freaking out a bit that I actually went through with it. It almost seems surreal after months of prep time that I'm finally on the otherside now. It's weird and a little scary to have a foreign object... this piece of plastic wrapped around my stomach for the rest of my life! My BMI is 37 and although my family and friends have been supportive, none of them thought I should do the surgery because I wasn't that big to start with. Although in my mind, I've struggled with dieting and obsession with food my whole life, and I just want to be healthy for a change. I have 2 small children, and I want to set a healthy example for them. I'm also having a hard time getting in all the Protein shakes and staying hydrated. I've been sipping away, but I get full so fast it's hard to drink all the chicken broth and shakes. Just looking for a boost of encouragement. Thanks!

Is it like a "wave" of pain/uncomfortableness? Almost like you are going to burp but you don't? I am 11 days post OP and I get this feeling after eating or drinking fast.

I'm so sorry you're going through this hard time!! I'm sure things will resolve as time passes. Some people do have a lot of postop swelling and it sounds like you're really having a very hard time with the anaesthesia working itself out too. Not fair!! I can tell you that YES, the day will come when your band is not the primary focus of your day. Of course that seems impossible to you now because you're suffering, but it's not too far off, I promise. Your liquid phase should last as long as YOU need it too, and I wouldn't suggest trying anything beyond really mushy things until you're completely comfortable. As I recall there were times in the immediate postop period when I felt a little like I was choking, but it was all related to the surgery itself and faded as time passed. The presence of the band itself became indetectable once I healed from surgery. Yet even without any fill it makes itself known if you eat too fast. It creates a bottleneck in your stomach even without fluid in it, and that bottleneck WILL slow you down. And that's not a bad thing! I hope you're feeling better with each passing day. It can be hard, but once this healing phase is over you'll definitely be able to forget you're banded. Until you eat too fast or too much, that is!

My pre op diet is a 14 day diet with liquids and authorized bowl or can of soup, only restriction stay away from creamy Soups and basil. I’m scheduled for my Gastric sleeve on 07/29/2013 I’m currently on week 2 day 10 OF 14. A few things I have noticed during my pre op diet Day 1,of my actual diet was quite easy because the day before I started, I ate several large meals that consisted of a bunch of Protein and salad type veggies, with very little carbs for example I had taco salads with no tortilla(s) or chips. So on my first day of liquids I spent a lot of time in the Restroom taking care of business because of the large meals. Day 2-4 I found myself battling with the temptation of cheating with cheat meals, only to then start battling with myself on what type of cheat meal to eat. I was goggling every web site and ad I could find on how many people cheated on their diet, what they ate, did their surgeries go ok, and etc. The majority of information I found that people were cheating and still made it successfully through their surgeries. No one that cheated badly even reported they didn’t have their surgery. Some people had binges and ate like the surgery was a funeral for food. I did cheat on my 6th day; I gave in to my mental distress of not having what I wanted. For my cheat meal I had a light chicken salad instead of dressing I had salsa to replace it. At this point I figured hey I really need this because I’m oh so hungry and I can’t go on. Well this couldn’t be farther from the truth in reality I only wanted to cheat because I’m an emotional eater. I was bored stuck at the hospital with my wife the night before and the stress of everything was piling on top of me. I also found out by goggling in different states various surgeons were requiring little to no pre op diets. So how dare they put us on this crazy diet (lol)? I wondered with me drinking a bunch of fluids and having no solid food for 2 weeks really that healthy for me, in my opinion it’s no more healthier than the taco salad I ate, and it’s no healthier than the guy or girl who has that binge meal every night because the depression of being overweight, and their dissatisfied with their quality of life, I included. So my food addiction like so many others have made us seek out a surgery that lowers the appetite, our intake of food, strict guidelines on when we can advance our diets. So why was I so shocked and paranoid about a simple diet, lord knows if someone told me that I would need to eat a medium pizza, drink several beers ,and eat various sweets like cakes or ice cream for 2 weeks straight I would be like you’re crazy. Why would I eat all that unhealthy food on purpose. So the pre op diet is not that bad in my opinion, is it hard hell yes, can someone really do it yes you can, why, because your new life depends on you, and the food choices you make. The pre op diet in my opinion is more mental than physically damaging. I believe this because my ego, my man hood was challenged because I had to be told what I could eat and drink , this just can’t be right because I’m my own boss right (lol)? Not so fast remember I’m the guy who got me into these bad eating habits and I was the one who was so quick to look for an excuse to blame my mental health, my work conditions, the bad news I got, and that failed promotion that didn’t go through. At the time these excuses seemed to make so much sense to me. But 10 days later now my Food detox is complete , my caffeine detox is complete but I’m not cured by a long shot. Since day 8 I have removed my soup and just made it with all liquids and Protein shakes. So it was and is all in my mind that I just couldn't do this 2 week liquid pre op diet. My starting weight was 316 lbs and day ten I’m down to 289 lbs, with only light walking as exercise. 4 more days to go and I’m actually looking forward to it. I have had a lot more energy than I have had in years, my head is a lot clearer, I even have more patience with people than usual. This by no means is something I (us) could do for life, but two weeks no problem. I’m excited about changing my life in a positive direction and welcome the new relationship with food. So stay busy and don’t stress about the diet just take it one minute, one hour, one day at a time. I’m doing it and you can to.

So occasionally I am getting left shoulder pain... ususally when I'm heading towards eating too fast or too quickly--- feels like it did post op with all the gas. Is this weird? Anyone else experience this? Quick update: So I'm scheduled for my 4th fill next week. I have lost almost 30lbs which is great, but only like 1-2 lbs in the past few weeks. Started at 250-254lbs, and now weigh 225. I'm hoping for at least a ml.... Insurance stopped paying at the end of next month for fills:ohmy:

From the local church sign: Families are like Fudge Mostly Sweet Witha few Nuts We all have members of our family that have no clue what the band is and therefore share their stupid comments, but you just have to ignore them and remember why you did this--For yourself. I have a cousin that just had gastric bypass and the comparisions are driving me crazy. They want me to lose weight as fast as she is losing, there is no comparison, I am losing slower, but I love my kids too much to risk my life that way. I am happy that she came out of it okay, but she is fresh out of it and might develop complications and the amount of medications and Vitamins she has to take on a daily basis is ridiculous. I am so happy that I have the band, and to all those that think I took the easy way out, I tell them they can kiss my big fat wide ass!! I wish this was easy, oh how I wish it was.

Me too! I was going to ask to see that portion but I was late to the hospital and everything moved so fast I didn't have the chance to say boo before it was lights out!!!! *sigh*

Actually, I'm the opposite... I'm trying the vegan lifestyle for a while. I've eaten meat and fast food all my life. No medical conditions other that being overweight, so insurance wouldn't pay. I was banded 3 years ago. Lost 50 lbs (goal was 75), weight loss stopped then reversed and I've gained most of it back. So, I'm going to try vegan eating. I'm considering going in for an unfill just so I can eat salads and pastas again.

Yes as of NOV 15th I have completed my 6 month supervised diet. Im so happy and it went very fast!!! just waiting for my approval now :bored:

Maybe it just the amount of juice you sucked out....maybe too fast or too much liquid and couldn't tell?

You are not the first person to call me twisted..... hehehe.... I like it in 2001 i was working with a girl. She was very thin, I was not at my heaviest, but over 200lbs. She always wore very stylish clothes, but she would always have something to say about people's weight, myself included. You know the fat people are gross and lazy... She and i didn't get along. I had to leave that dept because one of us was going to die.... hehe... (for real). Fast forward to 2012 three years banded and looking amazing. I left that company in 2009 only weeks after my band. I was in the store and she came up to me and said, Hey Chris, how much weight have you lost..... I said..... looks like the 89lbs you found... I know it was not right.... but man at the time... it felt soooooo good to put her in her place.

The benfits are twofold. One, if they can't find the port it helps locate it. Most don't have any problem finding the port, but if they do this is helpful. You don't want anyone poking around the port and accidently puncturing the tubing. Second, barium is swolled and they can see how fast/slow the liquid goes through to the stomach. This is a gauge for how much restriction you have. That being said, mine flows through like a waterfall. Even when I could barley swallow my own spit, it flowed through. For me, restriction is not meaured by the barium swallow. It just shows I'm not stuck. I react to fills about 6-10 days later. A delay swelling. The symptoms we get from an overfill might not be that stuff can't go through, but the irritation/pain is from the esphogus. The barium/fluro method gives me a little piece of mind that things are working and the band is where its supposed to be. Other than that, it is not a good indicator of restriction for me. I don't think I'm a normal case though.

Too much sucrose gives me fast heart rate, a malaise feeling for about hour. It's not pleasant but it isn't that bad. So for example, 1/2 cup of cereal, no problem. One cup risks one hour of fast heart rate. I don't get any side effects with fructose, lactose or anything else. So no limit on fructose (can eat fruit all day), lactose, starches, fiber, protein or fats.

Thanks for the insight crzytchr! I think for the first yr while I learn to change my habits ill want that restriction. Normal foods are what got me into this situation.lol But yeah I understand we should stop when we're satisfied not just full. =/ Well I finished my pre-op yesterday and am 'officially' on the pre-op diet even though I started Monday on my own. I fasted 24hours on accident I ate last at noon tues & then was suppose to fast for bloodwork that night anyways & went from work (graveyard shift) straight to the doc's appt so my blood sugar was very low- literally that's how it read: low!haha But other than that everything went fine and I am down 5lbs from last wk! =) my surgeon, Dr Martinez is very nice & personable so I'm much more confident now. I grilled him with questions about his technique & routine discharge instructions so much he eventually said 'you must be a nurse' lol. I left from there & stocked up on vit. Water, broths, Protein shots, boost & slim fast shakes etc. Preparing for the next few weeks. I read so many horror stories about the gas so I bought gas-x strips & a heating pad too! I'm soo ready to get this show on the road! Less than a week now! Yay!