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Which surgery did you have? You may be eating too much/too fast/ foods that don't agree with your new tummy at this point/textures that don't agree with you. Are you on solids, you may need to take a step back and do a bit longer on soft/mushy and just introduce new foods slowly to see how you tolerate them

Fantastic! Go you! It's a struggle for me all the time as eating out has always been such a huge part of my weekly entertainment. Popcorn at movies, fast food lunches at work, romantic dinners out with my husband, drinks and apps with friends etc. We just have to keep our eyes on the prize and it'll all be worth it. Good luck!

I can say that I went through this for about 18 months. I gained 30 pounds along the way. I ate WAY too fast and ate too much. I would not be concerned too much with an eating disorder other than overeating. What happens with folks that are banded is when you eat too much too fast, food gets loged in the opening. This feel very uncomfortable. She is going to the bathroom to "Get it back up". She probably at some point of getting up gets to the point where it all starts going through. Everyone learns how to cheat the band at some point. The band is a tool, just as a tool in your tool box. A wrench can be used as a hammer, but it is best used as a wrench. If your daughter does not want to use the wrench as a wrench, you may not be able to tell her anything. To me it sounds like she needs to see if she is COMPLETELY committed to the program. For me (only a week and a half back on track), I learned if I get a small dish and put my small portion on it, eat it very slow, i feel fuller faster. You will see the trips to the bathroom cease as well. It should take aprox. 20 minutes to eat a half cup of food. Some can eat faster and be ok, but it will make you feel fuller. Also try baby spoons. I know it sounds silly but it helps. Trust me you cant get any sillier than seeing a 31 yr old truck driver (me) walking through a truck stop with a small dish and a baby spoon in hand. We do what we gotta do. I hope all goes well/

Hang in there... It gets much much better. What will happen is one day you'll wake up and the psin will just be gone. I noticed when my tummy was wrapped tight it relieved sins of the pain. I used a panty girdle that went up right below my breast and it didn't push on the areas my staples were in. Having my stomach bonded helped tremendously during my walks.. I was actually super fast power walking at the end of week 2 and jogging be week 5.. (i was released before my 6 weeks) ~Leticia **HW: 259**PreOp: 216**SURG: 3/21/13 **Discharged @: 221** 4.5 mons post op. CW: 160.0 lbs. --- Only 10 lbs to my goal ---

Congrats Cootie, I know you must be on cloud 9. Sometimes I wished I would have had some patience and let BC/BS do they're thing and pay for it instead of my not being able to wait and pay myself. I admire you. You will also be amazed at how fast the week or two goes by and then the day of surgery seems like it lasts for 15 min. It'll be over before you know it and you will be asking us about fills, I did. Good luck and congrats on everything going so smoothly. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask or pm me or any of us. I also have lots of pictures before during and after and of the fills themselves.

Hi Lucy: Every doctor has their own rules for when you can go back on solids...My doctor has us on liquids for the rest of the day, then soft foods for the first meal of th enext day, then progress to solids. Just make sure you take small bites and chew everything very thoroughly. It's just like after surgery. Everything a little bit at a time paying close attention to your body. Your band will certainly give you a signal if you ate too much, too fast or too big a bite. So little bites and very slow and steady when you do go to solids. What does your doctor say? I suggest you follow his/her rules. Since this is new to you you may find some useful information on my blog, which is my story, starting from the beginning of my journey almost 6 years ago. You can find it at: Sandi's Banded Living — My Lapband Weight Loss Success Story Let me know if you find it useful.

Hi Jayla - We all want to be free! And the band is a great tool. I just caution you to be aware that in spite of how it may feel, your weight is NOT the source of all your problems - it's just the scape goat. So even when you get to be "skinny," you will still have to deal with whatever life dishes out to you. Think of all those celebrities who have good looks, great bodies, and lots of money, but that does not keep them from getting divorced, going bankrupt, being thrown in jail, or OD'ing on drugs. Okay - now that reality check is out of the way... :cool: The band is a wonderful tool. It takes work, and PATIENCE. Patience is probably the #1 thing most lacking with people who have been banded. Most feel as though they are losing weight too slowly. Be aware that if you get banded, this is a lifelong journey, and it will PROBABLY take you a good 2 years to reach your goal. Maybe longer, maybe shorter, depending on how you work it. But it will not do everything for you. There are a number of possible complications - most of them are more irritating than anything else. The things I see most commonly from what I read: 1. Most people experience the "stuck" feeling occasionally throughout their banded life - where they ate too fast, or didn't chew well enough. This is very uncomfortable, and can be somewhat painful, but is temporary (usually) and is controlable by you for the most part. 2. Many develop reflux a couple of years out. 3. Chances that you'll have to have a port repair/reposition at some point is pretty high. 4. Quite a few have problems with food not staying down because they are either filled too tight, or are not chewing enough or eating slowly enough (PB = productive burp). 5. PBing is also the number 1 cause of esophagitis, which is generally treated by removing the fill until you are healed. During this time of little to no restriction, many struggle not to regain weight. The above are the most common negative side effects, but are more annoying than anything else. Other possibilities that happen, but are less common: 6. Frequent PBing is the number 1 cause of band slippage, which requires surgery to repair, and sometimes results in the loss of the band for at least a period of time, sometimes permanently. 7. Erosion (where the band is absorbed into the stomach cavity) is also a possibility, and requires surgery to fix. Again, the fix may result in the loss of the band for at least a period of time, sometimes permanently. MOST people only experience the annoying problems 1-4, and some experience NO adverse affects. The benefits of being banded, for me, far outweigh the negatives. I am one who will have to have my port repositioned. I am 9 months out, and I have only PB'd 3 times. I have gotten temporarily "stuck" maybe 20 times. I do not (yet) experience any reflux, and have had no problems with esophagitis. I have lost 61 pounds virtually effortlessly, as I do not diet, and my exercise is very hit and miss. Many people have much better result than I, because they work harder at it. I, however, am comfortable knowing that whatever I have lost is gone forever as long as I keep my band and my restriction, because I am not doing anything special that I may stop doing later. I am just living my life in what is a normal way for me, the way I expect to live it forever. AND I AM LOSING WEIGHT!!!! How miraculous is that? It is true that I mostly eat high quality, nutritious foods. I have the occasional pizza and sweets, but they are by no means staples in my everyday food choices. Would I get banded again? In a heartbeat!! Do I have any regrets? Only that I didn't do this years ago. Do I feel better than I can ever remember? Absolutely. Would I recommend this to anyone else? Without reservation. However, you do need to be aware of the possible downside, so I have tried to give you a balanced viewpoint. Hope this helps.

For the diarrhea, take some liquid immodium. It REALLY helps. As for the food commercials, turn off the tv! Or record what you want to watch, and fast forward thru the commercials! Hang in there, you're almost there!!!!

The answer is in your post. You should be eating before you get to that stage.Eating too fast always causes problems. Are you like this because you are sticking to 3 meals per day? Although this is what most Drs seem to like us to aim for most of them realise that for many it is not achievable. I normally eat Breakfast between 6.30 and 8 depending on whether or not I am working. I don't normally have a problem not eating again until midday but generally I only eat dinner when my husband gets home at around 7pm. & hours without food is a long time in anyones books so I have to have some kind of snack mid afternnon. Maybe try having a planned healthy snack in between meals(whilst still sticking to your daily calorie limit). This may take the edge of your hunger so that you eat slower and don't get stuck.

I had... 3 Nutrition classes (general, pre-op diet, and post-op diet) Psych EDG where they found the hiatal no history of refulux so no need for the upper gi I got hooked up with my doc when he took my gallbladder out so nothing to look at there either sleep study I have my pre-admission labs, final 6 month weigh in and a final consult with doc left I think other's are right that it def depends on your doc's schedule. When he takes your history and decides what he wants included in the work up for you a lot could be determined by how fast you could get it all done. If you have an open schedule it will move a lot faster. If they are thinking four months now... I would ask to schedule a date for surgery on your first visit. Especially if you risk getting around the holidays. It might give you incentive to push thru everything else.

I just want to offer you some encouragment and a word of advice, coming from someone who's been there. For a long time, I ate as much as my band would let me. I mean, I paid for the band, and I got it because I wasn't capable of losing weight on my own, right? So I might as well let the band do the work. Well, dangit, that doesn't work. The band really IS just a tool, and as much as I wanted it to do all the work, it turns out that *I* had to do all the work. When the band worked right (which it never really did for me, unfortunately, except on rare occasions), it just meant that I had to work a little less hard. What I'm suggesting -- what I suggest to each and every bandster -- is that when you think about the band and how it works with you, think about you doing the work and the band making it easier -- not about the band doing all the work and weight loss suddenly being easy. (Please know that I am in NO way suggesting that you think in this or any other way.) I know that when you have no restriction, which seems to be the case right now, the band just doesn't help. So hang in there, use will power when you can to make GOOD food choices, and before you know it you'll be getting another fill -- hopefully the one that makes all the difference. The temptation *I* faced, when I didn't have restriction, was to use that time period to eat whatever I wanted, and blame it on the band. Unfortunatley, the band doesn't get to choose what we put in our mouths. It just gets to choose how fast it lets what we put in our mouths into our stomachs. This may not help you in the least, but it always helps me to put some of these thoughts on "paper". Thanks for letting me share your space =) I wish you the best, Jonathan

Good luck to you. Im having to do the 6mo diet for insurance approval. Tomorrow is visit #4, its gone by so fast. Sent from my SM-G935V using the BariatricPal App

It will be so worth it when you go down a pants size, I lost 22 pounds on my pre-op liquid diet. I was so miserable but now I'm glad I did it. From time to time, I go on a 3 day protein shake fast to jump start my weight loss.

I know where you are coming from. Telling my DH made the whole time real. It was the hardest thing to do, to comfort him with my mistakes and lifetime of struggles. To admit that I failed in this part of my life. He meet me in the 'skinny' stage, so all the weight to him was Baby fat from 3 kids. He had no idea the struggles my whole life. After hearing more about it and seeing how much this meant to me and that he would have the 'ole me' back and running, we was convinced and said 'Go for it'. How did I tell him? In bed, with all the lights off. I didn't want to see his face. It made it easier if I didn't have to see the disappointment. Of the disappointment I thought he would have. I am sure he did, but I left it up to my imagination, that he didn't. He loves me the way I am, this I know, but my moods are effecting our marriage and he wants me to be happy. This is the first of my steps in making that happen. I am lucky to have him and I want to make sure I keep him. With this and therapy about my mom, it will last. Good luck to you on your Quest. Mine was a fast journey, cross your fingers nothing happens in the all the test. I hopes goes as fast too.

Hi all... My surgery is scheduled for Oct 22... I am now feeling fear and anxiety... but not about surgery problems or complications... my fear is: What if it doesn't work? What if I go through ALL of this - I start my protein fast on Monday... get the surgery, am in pain, yadda yadda yadda... and I remain fat? It's a stupid worry, but that is my actual fear.

I feel like I have waited a lifetime. I was given a surgery date of Monday August 1st. I think my mom is more excited about it than I am. I was stressed out and wanting a surgery date so bad I couldn't see straight. Now I am just bouncing back and forth with my emotions. I am discourgaed that the best date they could give me is 28 whole days away. (though in my heart I know time will fly by). I am nervous because as prepared as I thought I was, now that the date is real, I feel like I have failed to do something or research something or buy something in advance. I feel dread at the thought of having to have the talk with my boss. She is 5'1" and all of 98 pounds. One year older than me. We have been short handed at work for the better part of 7 years. Lots of projects going on. She is going to freak out when she finds out I am going to be off work for a week. I worry that she will talk about me to co-workers. I hadn't planned on telling anyone. Yes, I would imagine given a long enough time line- my co-workers will NOTICE. A thousand little worries that have never entered my mind in the past year- suddenly set up camp in the back of my mind. What if I am the only person in the world that Gastric Sleeve will not work for? What if I lose all my hair? What if my face looks like my skin has melted off of it? What if I lose weight but I cant control it and I lose too much too fast? What if I am tired and sick all the time? Who will mow my yard- how will I function at work? I know I want to do this. I just worry a lot more now, than I did before the insurance company approved me- and the doctor gave me a date. Anyone else felt this way?

Ok, so i've decided to begin a lifting program. At this point, I have attempted several options but it has proven to be a bit complicated! So here is the dilemma: My original surgeon does not take my current insurance, nor does the dietitian. i WAS going to go to them, and pay out of pocket, dietitian alone is about $250 for one session. Additionally, the dietitian that was there when I had my surgery is now gone, and there is a new one who wouldn't know me at all. I saw a new surgeon affiliated with my insurance and although he didn't have much to offer me, he does have a dietitian that I can see. There is still SOME cost, with my co-pay/deductible. I have appointment for next week but not sure if I should keep it, again this person doesn't know me at all either. Lastly, my family belongs to the local YMCA. They have some trainers (I think maybe college students), and they do have a dietitian. He is only available every couple weeks by appointment. Even though we belong to the facility, it would still be a fee to see him (in the neighborhood of $150 for a 1-hour session with him and 3-30 minute sessions with a trainer. It's sort of a package deal. So my dilemma is: will the bariatric dietitian be able to give me the necessary guidance I need to know WHAT to eat as I begin a weight training program, and if not then who should I see? I don't know if a registered dietitian affiliated with my Y would know enough about bariatric surgery and specifically size restriction (i can only eat 1 cup at a time) to be able to work with me. Also, is it wiser to just go ahead and buy some sessions with the trainers at the Y or is it worth the money to invest in an actual personal trainer for a few months? VERY VERY VERY CONFUSED, need some guidance quickly as I need to make/cancel appointments. Any suggestions very much appreciated!!!

"Dietitians" that hang out in gyms, as a rule, know nothing about bariatric surgery patients or life long obesity. They usually tell you things like, you need to eat more, you need to eat more carbs, here, eat a peanut butter sandwich, have some crackers, drink this "gainer" protein shake, blah blah blah. I would rather have no advice than have advice from a typical gym-based "dietitian." If they can show paperwork that they are a Registered Dietitian (NOT a nutritionist), preferably with a certificate in counseling bariatric surgery patients, I would listen to them. Otherwise I would run fast and far away.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! My pre-opt diet consists of 4 low carb slim fast shakes, broths, Water, sugar free popsicles and sugar free Jello. I hear that the first 3 days are the hardest, is that true? I think I will be fine for the concert and show and it might help me take my mind off the hunger. I'm more worried about the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Those are going to be hard but it truly is mind over matter.

We are limited on what we can eat, we are limited on how much we eat. It's a tool to help overweight people who have a problem over eating & losing weight. It's not a cure by no means but a tool. I see it as something to help me get back on track. Just like a paid of shoes.. they help protect your feet from the weather. The band is helping to protect you don't over eat & you eat healthier choices. In society now we don't eat to maintain our body we eat because we can. We eat so many unhealthy thing because it's fast or easy. They teach you at a very young age to eat within 15-20 min at school to eat a lunch when you should take more like 45-60 min to eat a small well portion meal. You can't lose weight by starving yourself because then when you do eat it store all the fat because your body knows your straving it self with the band it's just a tool. I hope that helps it how I explain to people who ask me. I'm not getting the band because I think it s a quick fit or a cure but it's a tool to retrain my body to eat slow, eat healthier & to eat when my body needs it instead of every min of the day.

I was luckily enough that I knew who my surgeon was so when they made my appointment they also got me an appointment the same afternoon with the dr who was doing the endoscopy. I was scheduled the very next morning to have the endoscopy and my surgery was the very next Monday. Best of luck to you. Wow talk about fast!! That's good to know that the endoscopy shouldn't slow me down too much (hopefully). I know my process isn't going to be as fast as yours, I still have to wait on them to submit everything to my insurance, But yeah Cupcake's right talk about encouragement.

First I'm very glad to hear your Mom is doing well! This is the first I've heard of this, so forgive me if I haven't sent my well wishes... Thank you also for posting this and putting it out there. I have never been more glad to have my band removed than I am right this second. And believe you me, I was pretty darned glad before!! I wish your Mom a complete recovery and FAST!!!

Thank you GreenTealael! I have measuring tape, I'm a seamstress 🙂 I measured myself last month so I am ready for that. I got a H2OPal water bottle last year to help me with my water intake, I really like it. I have a silk pillowcase anyway because my hair is crazy without it. Pill organizer? For vitamins or will there be a lot more happening? I have some of those but they are not large sized. Just the plain 7 day ones you'd get from a drug store. Also @Lynnlovesthebeach I forgot that I did get one of those! I am really finding it to be a good tool also. Not just to make sure I'm not underestimating the food I'm eating but also works great for baking. I never realized that it would help so much in getting the right texture for the gluten free baked goods I make for my son (he's celiac). Am I going to be hunched over in pain like I was after my c section? Also on another note, I'm so bummed, my surgeon got all my labs and my A1C is a 7.1, and she thinks it's too high, so yet more time I'm going to have to wait 😞 I am having my endocrinologist send her a letter releasing me for surgery, I hope that helps me get on the fast(er) track!

Good Luck to you Jessica. Let us know how your test turn out. And remember --think of the barium you have to drink as a nice, frosty milk shake!! It goes by fast. Melissa

Hi Kathy, I also had UHC and was approved very very fast... made my head spin a little. Had my surgery yesterday. All went just as planned and now the healing phase. Sore, but getting up and about walking. Hope your approval gets back as fast as mine. lauralee