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Does anyone know a great site to get medical tags ? I was told I need one bc I an a lapband patient.

I am also 2 years out, started at 266, now 190. I am 5'8 female. My goal is 170. I am stuck. Not gaining, but also not losing. I have been stuck for about 8 months. My food intake is still tiny, and my sleeve has never stretched. To be honest, I get fed up with my sleeve, and I hate eating out. I can barely fit in a side salad as a main. I get terrible symptoms of dumping eating steak, chicken or fish. That's exhausting and not very social! I am wondering if I am actually not eating enough, and I am in starvation mode. I am going to go back on to my Optifast shakes to up my protein. Maybe you should do the same? Get your metabolism fired up again?

Not pregnant but wanted to offer a few products I know of that are not gmo and/or, organic: Naked whey grass fed Undenatured whey Protein Dr Axe Collegen Protein and Healing Protein Phood plant based high Protein powder Best of luck!

Any that are time released yr pcp should be able to switch out .. some that have do not crush lables on them are due to aweful taste (I know one of mine is that way pharm saidbit was fine tho) not bc it will hurt u to crush so chat w PcP then pharmacist. . Btwn the two u will be straight

Thinking ahead to what might be realistic this holiday weekend next year. Not fantasy, but....possible, likely. So, next year Memorial Day....I am going to be away for the weekend, to a seaside/beach location. The exact kind of place I avoid now bc right now I am only a spectator to everyone else's fun. Next year, maybe I will go swimming, maybe I won't....depends on what I want to do. I will have a CHOICE. I will be in a perfectly nice one piece bathing suit with a gorgeous sarong tied around my waist, sitting outside by the pool maybe.....no more sitting by the pool in jeans and a t shirt and lying that "oh, no I am not too hot." I will maybe be wearing a size medium or large (am 3x now), but no matter what size I am, I won't have to wonder if people are are staring at me for unkind reasons. When I walk into a crowded restaurant and walk between tables, I won't have to apologize again and again for bumping every table I walk between. Next year, maybe I won't be sweating when everyone else is not. Maybe my makeup won't sweat off. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

hi there, just moved to BCS, was banded 2 1/2 years ago in Mexico but havent had the thing working correctly due to getting pregnant 6 months after being banded and now getting ready to deliver another baby anyday. I am wondering if you ever found a support group here? I am going to gat a fill as soon as I can after having my baby. The fills I received before never worked and I never truly had good restriction. I would really like to see this band pay off. I also think my port isnt attched correctly euther, it flips back and forth! Any info on BCS support groups for bandsters is appreciated! thanks

Hello, jsut noticed your post. I have had the band since March and all is well. I noticed that you get your fills in College Station. I am looking for a support group in BCS as I live in Caldwell, Texas. Also I wanted to tell you that my brother is having the surgery in two months with the same doctor as my sugery and there are placing the port high ... close to the ribs because my brother is a stomache sleeper.... I'm not sure why that is relevant... but that's what my brother told me. Anyway if you know of any groups please let me know. Thanks, Catherine

Hey everyone! I am new to this site...I have been a part of the RNY talk for about 4 months now and love it. Through this whole process I was positive I wanted the gastric bypass until I got to my appointment and my surgeon said she thought the sleeve was a better option for me bc I am so young there's no point in cutting my intestine. If anyone could give me any information or tell me ur success story would be awesome...I have to make a decision in the next few days and I feel like im going into this blind now because I don't know anything about the sleeve.

I'm 4 months post op and I'm 46 lbs down and at a stand still. I'm Si depressed that it's not coming off quicker!! I know I eat some of the wrong things but I try and try to stay on track! It's so hard! I'm have issues with my shoulder, I had to be put to sleep for a manipulation on it past week and its keeping me from working out. I can't lift weights I can't get in the floor and do any exercising bc of the arm. I just want the pain to go away so I can start building some Muscle!! Just need a kick in the pants!!!

My experience with Yoga in general is that it's not for weight loss. At least, in all the years ive been practicing it, I've still been heavy. Flexible & calm/centered, yes...but heavy I've been doing yoga since I was a child & my grandmother taught me. videos of yoga in general are just plain old strange IMHO. thanks for the suggestions... I personally find Rodney Yee hard to follow, especially his vinyasana flow. (especially as a fat girl lol) I also agree about the pseudo celebrities who all think they should be yogis now bc it's trendy...annoying. I didn't even know who DDP was when I got the program. I did it at the insistence of a friend. He's definitely got his own style, but omg it WORKS. if I knew how to post pix from the app, I'd show my day 1 v day 31 comparison pix. I got out of the habit of doing it, unfortunately. Gotta restart so I can be strong for surgery. Seems from what I read, being fit before surg makes recovery easier. 347*294/284/135 (*347HW/294SSW) | (twitter) @Mwrarr | mwrarr.wordpress.com

Thanks everyone for the advice and sharing your thoughts and stories, it means alot to me. I guess im just so lost feeling now that she brought up the sleeve and I've tried to do research on the internet but you never know what you can believe on there. When I first started this journey I was told by a dietician that ran the informational session that the sleeve was for very large people that were 400 or more pounds...so for me it was not an option. My surgeon actually rolled her eyes when I told her that and was mad that the weight management center is telling people that. I feel like I absolutely need this surgery but im scared...im so young and I feel like not a lot of people my age are doing this and its scary. Can someone answer a few questions for me maybe? Can you take excedrin migraine when you have sleeve done? Bc I know with rny u can't and I have horrible migraines. Also, what is the average amount of weight loss per week? Do you absorb nutrients with the sleeve ..like with the rny you don't absorb very much. Last question....can someone tell me what the surgery process is like? And how painful is it? For the women out there that have had a csection...is it that painful? Because alot of people I've talked to said its as bad as having a csection and let me tell ya...I thought I was gunna die after my csection lol. But....I don't tolerate pain very well. Sorry im asking so many questions...im just super crammed for time to make a decision. Thanks so much again!

Yeah, I got the same bs from my family for awhile. Two days after surgery my sister goes "It doesn't seem like the surgery is working for you." Naturally I respond "Its only been two days, you dipshit." At the end of the day rude comments from family bother me less than those from aquiantances. Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I just came back from my check-up and I have lost little weight, so the “program” isn’t working for me. I left the doctor’s office crying after trying to explain about my IBS issues and why I cannot eat in the mornings. Right away the doctor wanted to blame me and he picked me apart in his office until I broke down and laughed at me. I asked him to help work the program around me rather than me for the program since not everyone is the same. I was humiliated and now I just don’t care anymore. I cannot get a physician to help with my nerve pain from a previous surgery that a doctor messed up on so I can exercise and I am tired of buying the expensive food, Vitamins, emotional; stress, and other BS this surgery has brought. I was told/accused of eating over what I should, which is BS, and that I must be responsible somehow, maybe the program should re-evaluate how patients are different, I was put on a high Protein and low calorie diet by the WL program and hit the floor as a result! I’ve held my chin up and made enormous changes to my life, but all that doesn’t matter-enough is enough, I just can’t keep letting this lifestyle drain me physically and emotional, I give up.

Hi my name is Pamela and I had been very unhappy as an overweight person. I was always an obese person even as a child. In high school I was popular but I knew deep down inside I was just the "fat friend with the cute face". I graduated from high school weighing 190 pounds. I then went off to college and the freshman 15 (that is how much you typically gain during your first year of college) turned into the freshman 30. Even by the time I left college I was much heavier than I was in high school. With this being said I still was not to the point were I was fed up with my weight. I felt I could live with it and if no one else could, well that was their problem. I had gotten married in 2004 and became really comfortable with my life. I had a husband who loved me for me so I subconciously figured I could eat whatever and whenever I wanted. Well I kept this up for the next 2 1/2 years and ended up ballooning to the weight of 292 pounds :omg: . I thought to myself what the hell happened. Well the fried chicken, ribs, mac and cheese day in and day out happened. Not to mention the Reeses easter eggs (both in white and milk chocolate) and the Pillsbury deserts, you know the ones you drizzle caramel and fudge on top when you take it out of the . Well I had got to my "Ah ha" moment. I knew I was slowly but surely killing myself. I knew I had diabetes and hypertension that ran on both sides of the family. So I had to do something. I had heard about the Lap-Band procedure but knew nothing about it. So I did my research and found a surgeon by the name of Dr. Robert Quinlan :clap2: who is my godsend. I had a seminar in October of 2006 and was officially notified that I a candidate for surgery. Well this was the best news for me but I still had to go through the pre-testing such as the ultrasound, pschy, and various other testing to see if I could physically stand to have the surgery done. I wasn't concerned about the test results being that I was 27 years old and had no current health problems besides being morbidly obese (oh and the 3 three protruding "love" handles that were on both sides of me in addition to my "thunder thighs"). Well it took me six months to go through the mandatory testing to be approved for surgery. When the surgeons office finally called me to let me know that my insurance was approving it I thought I was going to faint. Six anxious months had finally paid off. And not to mention I had lost 12 pounds before surgery to decrease the size of my liver. I had my surgery March 29, 2007. The day I went home from surgery I weighed 280 pounds and to date (Sept 3, 2007) have lost 60 pounds (yay! :bounce:). I eat ABSOLUTELY nothing fried and no sweets. I figured that between unhealty food and my obsessive eating its what got me to this point in the first place SO NO MORE!! I exercise at least three times per week whether it be going downstairs to the gym, power walking outside (which isn't very fun in 90 degree weather) or turning on exercise tv and working out. I hate to exercise :whoo: but I know it's half (if not 60 percent) of the battle of weight loss so I force myself to do it. I love the band and have no problem tolerating any healthy foods even fibrous ones like broccoli. I want to at least get down to 150 pounds and plan on having a abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) done at that time. I would encourage anyone who has had repeated failures at weight loss whether it be Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or Slim Fast (oh and can't forget about the Richard Simmons way of weight loss too been there done that), go to a lap band seminar and get the skinny on the way to a better life. Now I understand it's not for everyone but it really saved me from continuing to lead myself to an early grave.

Hi My mother nearly died because of botched surgery at Erdem hospital in Turkey so I want to try & help as many people as I can to NOT go here. On 26th January my mum went for gastric sleeve surgery, gallstone removel & oesophagus repair which was performed by doctor Ali Solmaz. She returned home 1 week later & within 10 days was admitted to a special care unit in hospital unable to keep fluid, food & her own saliva down she was tube feed until the doctors found out what happened. After investigating they discovered all surgeries were botched. After 3 months of being fed via a tube she received corrective surgery last week. I contacted Erdem to inform them & they offered free surgery to fix their mistake but mum was on her death bed and unable to travel. We are from Northern Ireland & mum was in an intensive care unit so travel was out of the question. I asked them for a refund as now mum has been out of work and it has put financial pressure on all the family & they said no and said she signed a form & it’s not their problem anymore. I told them I intend to inform anyone wanting surgery of what has happened & they said “do what you want” their words. I have messages of all correspondence with Erdem which clearly displays their lack of customer service and empathy for how they left my mother. They monitor their Facebook pages & will not let any negative comments be posted so that me or anyone else cannot make anyone aware of how horrific they have treated us. My mum thought she would be fine, she wasn’t. It could happen you. Please please take my advice. Go somewhere else, not Erdem hospital in a Turkey.

I had 2 c sections and I would say the gastric pain was worse bc i had a hernia repaired as well and getting up was the worst.i even told the nurse id rather have v section pain than this sleeve pain

My doc allowed me caffeine. Thank goodness bc I love my coffee!

Are the weirdest and best words to hear from a complete stranger! Today while shopping, I asked a sales woman for help finding one size, but she was convinced I would where a smaller size. "You're so tiny!" She said as she got out her measuring tape. This was also not an average sized woman either! She was a twig in her 20's. I was shocked and she was right. I needed a size smaller... I've had a lot of fabulous NSVs lately :-) which is nice bc I seem to be stalled...

GENEPRO is shit. It's marketing hype. Basically BCAA. The only people I know who use it are women on this forum who don't like the flavor of whey. You can't get 30 grams of Protein from 15 grams of powder. They'll say it is some chemical magic that allows it to absorb as though it is 30 grams or some such BS though. Then they'll say their blood work came perfect and yadda yadda yadda... Go talk to as many lifters as possible and see if any of them use that crap. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

You don't have to get an unfill unless you are having issues eating. I got half my fill out by choice bc I was swelling and having problems eating. My port didn't stick out but I still had a lot of belly fat

I have heard that BC/BS FEP now covers the sleeve. Can anyone verify this for me? I would sure rather have this than RNY. Thanks

Hi everyone, 6 months after having gastric sleeve surgery I became pregnant. Everything was going good. At my 22 week appointment, I was told that baby was measuring 1 week behind but not to worry. They recommended I gain about 9 pounds in the second trimester and at that time I gained 8, which they said was fine. On week 23, I started to get heartburn. I guess bc she's getting higher up. With that I've been feeling a little apprehensive about eating as much as I was. My sleeve also seems a bit more restricted. I weighed 226 on the first day of my pregnancy appointment. At my last appointment I was 235. Now I'm back at 230. She's supposed to be gaining a half a pound a week and I've lost 2 pounds in a day. I'm not sure what to do. I should mention that I do take heartburn meds now but I'm still losing.

Hi! I think we're surgery twins... May 16th! I started phase 2 of my liquid diet (5 meal replacement shakes, 200 cal specific veggies) today. For the first part of my liquid diet, I struggled a bit initially with cravings. The worst has been cooking for my family and not being able to join them. Now I've become pretty good at distracting myself. Any time I feel cravings or hunger that can't be fed at the moment, I do a mini workout. Some stretches, a few wall push ups, or some marching in place. It helps a bit. As to the vitamins, definitely check with your surgical team. I am to stop mine 3 days prior to surgery, and then all but one of my prescriptions the day before surgery. The nerves are real, but this is a good step. Good luck on your journey!

Glad to hear it melly! See I told you it would be fine. Now you can look forward to much lower bs#s like I have. CONGRATS!

Anyone from Essex ? banded 23/11/12 could do with some one from uk to be a buddy , stuggling weight not shifting , feeling fed up !