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I can't say I've had more than usual irritability. However, I did when I started dieting in February and went low-carb. My doctor made me lose 40 pounds before I could even schedule surgery. However, I've been on the pre-op diet for four weeks (my surgery is in 10 hours) and have had no energy whatsoever. I commented in other thread that I had gotten very dizzy and light headed while working out two weeks ago. When I came home I got the chills and threw up. I called the NUT and the DR and they said to stop working out. I wish they would have said "go have a piece of chicken!" lol Going to the gym was a way to stay busy and not think about food! I'm a teacher so I was on the pre-op diet for 2 weeks in school and 2 weeks out of school. I didn't feel too bad while I was still working because I had a schedule and routine (and was working out 3x week). The last two weeks I've just want to sleep all day. It's normal for me to develop a wacky sleeping schedule during the summer, like staying up super late and sleeping in. However, it's not normal for me to sleep 12 hours every night and spend the day on the couch. It's been very tough to get anything done lately. I'm glad I'm not the only one because it was starting to make me worry that I wouldn't have the energy later to keep up with everything my DR wants me to do.

I am struggling big time with trying to get down any liquids and food. I stay so nauseated it’s ridiculous. The thought of food makes me sick. I can’t even eat jello anymore it’s like my taste buds are on strike. I sip tiny amounts of liquid and sometimes gag. Seems like the only food I can tolerate on occasion are my refried beans, peanut butter on crisp toast otherwise I don’t eat because of the sickness. Geez Louise I’ve had more issues with this surgery than a little bit and I’m 19 days post-op. Anyone else have/had this issue?

I have been walking but I'm only up to 1 and 1/3 of a mile at a time. I walk around in my house and shady backyard during the day when its 108 degrees and then I walk the longer walks at 10 or 11pm. I would walk more if it wasnt summer I think. Gas is about the same here. We saw a $3.31 yesterday and my DH thought that was the lowest possible around here. Here being Las Vegas, NV.

I haven't gotten to the pre-op stage but I can feel your pain with the caffeine part I just said that to my husband that I need to start kicking it out and we have a 21 yr.old,20 yr old,19 yr old 2 18 yr old and a 5 yr old I need my coffee also.

Hi all I had my gastric bypass on the 10th of May and lost 6kg (13lb) in the 1st 10 days post op and was over the moon. I have stuck to the dietitian's guidelines to the letter but in the last 10 days I have only lost a further 1kg (2.2lb). So total in 20 days 7kg (15.4lb) I've started to exercise have exercised 5 out of the last 7 days, I'm doing a 12km (7.5 mile) walk / jog each morning before work. Have just progressed from 3 optifasts with added fat free, low carb powder a day to 2 optifasts with added fat free, low carb powder a day plus one small puréed fish meal. Small meal, about 4 tablespoons. Takes about an hour to get down. No real restrictions with fluids. Good restrictions with the pureed fish. Taking sugar free liquid Multivitamin daily, 2 x chewable Calcium and vit d tabs. Taking a liquid sugar free Biotin supplement (just prophylactically) for skin / hair / nail health. No sugar, just stevia. Fat free added calcium milk in tea. 2-3 litres of fluids a day. Is this small amount of weight loss normal? Is this just a stall? Is this all I'm going to lose? If it is a stall, has anyone else had stalls this early on? Any advice would be gratefully received. This is may average daily intake: Total Fluid 2400ml Protein - 92gm Fat - 14.8gm Carbs - 64gm Cals - 738 Thanks :-) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Okay, this is the "FOREVER" part coming to bite you. Bear in mind, this is advice from an unbanded person who has gained 30 pounds since October - WAAAHHH!!! My advice to us both... lol 1. This is NOT a diet - this really really really really is FOREVER. Our eating habits will have to change forever. 2. In the end, our lifestyle changes canNOT be about losing weight - because once we have lost the weight, there will be no motivation to continue with our healthy habits. At some point, we will no longer have the scale moving downward to motivate us. And we certainly don't want to wait for the scale to move UPWARD(:eek!) to regain motivation! (Trust me on THIS one!!! lol) So... this journey HAS to be about HEALTH. Seriously. Losing weight is secondary to this journey. 3. Take 15 minutes to really think about all you have accomplished, seperate from the scale. Review all of those NSVs. Feel the regained health of your body. Realize that you NEVER, EVER want to give that up. NEVER. Admit to yourself that you are WORTH being healthy. 4. Recommit to your health in baby steps. Set one goal for each day. Make it a small, easily attainable goal so that you can experience the success. Add slowly to that goal until you are at the max for that particular health-breeding habit. For example, if your main goal is to drink a gallon of Water each day, and you haven't been drinking any, start with a mini-goal of a quart. Slowly add to that each day until you get to your gallon. Once that habit is reset, start working towards your next goal. Suppose it's walking. Maybe you want to walk a minimum of 30 minutes each day. So day 1 your goal is to walk 10 minutes. Do that successfully for a couple of days, and then add another 5 minutes. 5. Remember that you do NOT have to fix everything in one day!! This is for the rest of your life! Be gentle with yourself, start your positive habits small, and build on them. 6. Focus on what you WANT to do, not what you DON'T want to do. Don't focus on NOT eating something less nutritious - focus on eating MORE nutritious foods. Don't deny yourself anything - just make your more healthy food choices FIRST - always promise yourself (and keep the promise!!) that you can have whatever you want (IF you still want it) after you've had your health building food(s). 7. Continue seeking and offering support! Good luck, and I know you can do this. Sometimes we all need a little rest - there is nothing wrong with that. But you don't want to neglect your health for too long (like I have!) xxoo

Nancy, Donali is right. It is a lifestyle change. I have been struggling as of late to get the last 10-15 pounds off my body. I have been trying so hard and finallly realized this is a forever thing, so I have taken the time pressure monkey off my back by not giving myself a time line. (although I am still ahead of my original target) Admittedly, I stopped doing the things that made me successful in the beginning and started getting complacent as of late. And 20+ months of trying to get to goal is a long time.!!!! Its much harder now than it was for me at 6 months out to lose the weight. My body is used to eating 1100-1200 calories a day and it doesnt want to lose more at this stage. So it does just get harder and harder, so you need to stay focused and take baby steps to a permanent lifestyle change. The great part having a band is that you can always take a break and start all over again! It is an ongoing cycle of self improvement. If you know this and set up small achievable goals like Michelle suggested, then you will eventually get where you want to go. You can do it!!! Babs in TX 334/180 -154 New goal; 170 or less....

I am so very sorry for your loss. It is probably very hard, considering you both were on the same path. I can not imagine your grief and heartache for you and your husband. I agree with the others. Table it for now. The next month or so is going to be rough, but I think it is a great idea to go into see the surgeon to get answers. Do some research when you have time, to make sure you take care of yourself correctly after surgery. Again I am so very sorry for you and your husbands loss. You are both in my prayers. Good luck! SW 350 (11/15) BSW 260 (10/17/17) CW 228 (12/29/17) RGW 199 GW 175

I have the VG and I didn't feel a thing until I got to 10 cc's. This doesn't concern me or my surgeon -- he says he'll fill until I don't need a fill any more, whether that's 11 cc's or 15 cc's. I LOVE my VG. I think it's a better band in the long run (my personal opinion only, of course). I seem to be able to eat more textures than many of those with the smaller band and the "pillow design" of the VG gives me comfort that I may be at less risk for both slippage and erosion. I think the hold up in your weight loss is your fill doctor. Force him to be aggressive! I went it for my first fill and they took me to 6.0. A week later, when I felt no restriction, I went back and they took me to 7.6. A week after that, I still felt almost nothing, so I went back and they had me drink Water while they were filling me until the water wouldn't go down, then they backed some out. That's how I got to 10.0. I've been at 10.0 since June 3rd and have lost about 90 lbs on this fill with none of the problems I read about (knock on wood), so I'm a fan. Get a fill if you can. You won't believe the difference once you have real restriction. I know how frustrating it is until you get there, but you will get there!

I'm also a side sleeper. I can fall asleep on my back but eventually I'm on one side or another. Turning about every 60-90 mins. I was stuck on my back for about the first 10 days, then I started propping a pillow on my side so it would "catch" my belly if it flopped over. Finally started sleeping without the pillow about 3 weeks out. While sleeping on my back, my back ached every morning and I never slept very well. Was so happy to have found the pillow trick. Good luck with ur surgery!

I followed it to the t. My dr. said they would not do the surgery if I didn't loose enough ahead of time. You heal better and you'll already loose weight ahead of time which will be motivating to you. I had cravings for saltine crackers for like 5 days and called my doctors office and they said go ahead and eat a couple to satisfy the craving and then I was fine. I lost 16lbs in 10 days and felt very good going into surgery. You stop craving sugary foods in just a few days. ALso I was so motivated to just get the rest of my life started. Good luck

I am 5 weeks post op today. And I feel so hungry all the time. Not sure why... And since the swelling is gone, I noticed that I can eat a whole can of tuna and still have room for Water. The beginning of the 4th week I was allowed to start on the solids. And it took me forever to finish an egg. Now it doesn't even get me full. And the weird thing is 10 minutes after I eat, I get hungry right away... I am thinking maybe I am not having enough Protein but that's all I eat. So I am starting to get worried as well... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi Sonja! I am 48 yo and 7 weeks post-op from my tummy tuck. I am AMAZED at how great I look already! I feel sexier and more confident than I have in years! I just passed my 2 year bandiversary, and I'm still 10-15 pounds from my goal weight. But there wasn't anymore belly fat to lose, so I went for it. One thing I'm excited about is my low-profile port doesn't even show and I have FLAT abs now! I WILL be wearing a bikini next Summer!!!! My advice to you would be to make an appointment with more than one PS, and ask them what result you can expect. Some of them will even do a complimentary consultation. But, even if they don't, it's worth it to find the right surgeon...and you will know which is right! Good luck to you.

The amount of saline in your band has little correlation with how effective it will be. Some need no saline and some may need all 10 CCs. The band works by dimming your appetite but needs to be adjusted for this to happen. Eating fewer calories than you consume is how this works but you won't eat less until your band is adjusted so that you're in the green zone. If you can feel satisfied with a small meal for 4+ hours you're probably in the green zone and the band can work it's magic. Good luck.

My surgery date is March 19th and I got my insurance approval yesterday Feb 19, 6 working days after submission of all my paperwork!!!! Aetna HCA.

I had my band removed after it being there for just over 10 years. My most weight lost with the band was 46kg. 10kg away from goal. I had some complications, slippage, erosion, gained 21kg. I had the band removed about 2 / 3 years ago and was sleeved, this gave me a weight loss of 27kg. Then I gained another 19kg. My surgeon said the reason my sleeve wasn't successful was because the band had made a 'dogs breakfast' of my stomach and it was impossible to get a good sleeve shape with the damage done. To be honest, if I'd have known that at the time I'd have asked to go straight to bypass from band. Instead of having to have another operation last month to go from sleeve to bypass. This was just my personal experience, don't know about the 50% failure rate. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This was sent to me in a private message by one of our members who wanted to stay anonymous but thought the information might be useful to other BariatricPal members: "Alex, I realized my drinking was getting excessive. Particularly when I woke up with my hands shaking. It was quickly going from drinking after working out, to wanting to take nips to quiet the nerves during the day. There are two schools of thought out there when it comes to alcohol - the AA/total abstention model and Harm Reduction model. In my typical fashion, I started researching it and realized that sudden withdrawal could be very dangerous. Just stopping drinking if you have been doing for an extended period of time can create bad withdrawal symptoms, the worst being known as Delirium Tremors (DT's), but it also can spike your blood pressure, elevate heart rate, night sweats. If I went into a medically supervised system, my options all involved sudden withdrawal with benzos and other anti-anxiety drugs. And at the same time you risk loss of professional licences, reputation, gun rights etc. Not a great solution to a problem. And it is a problem. Not only is it stalling my weight loss, but if I was in a accident, the hospital is not going to bring you a bourbon as medicine, instead you get to go through DT's. So I didn't want to risk being dependent on alcohol, the dangers are too great. Then I found these articles: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022994 https://hamsnetwork.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/more-on-tapering-off-alcohol/ One of the benefits of controlled tapering of alcohol is avoiding a syndrome called "kindling." Some people who have repeatedly gone through cold turkey withdrawal without tapering off become more and more likely to have bad withdrawals from even small amounts of alcohol. This phenomenon is referred to as "kindling". People who have undergone kindling can suffer withdrawal seizures from drinking as little as a six pack of beer. Some decades ago some detox facilities forced clients to undergo cold turkey withdrawal to "teach them a lesson". Not only did this fail to stop people from drinking, it resulted in many people suffering from kindling. I used this system over three days and the result was a controlled landing. I've now been able to go through the last week alcohol-free without really bad withdrawals. Can't say it wasn't without discomfort. It did goof with my sleep and I have been agitated and muscles are a little sore, but it was bearable. Used a portable breathalyzer to monitor my BAC and home blood pressure monitor to make sure nothing spiked. My goal is to stay alcohol-free for the next month and re-evaluate. I need to re-learn my relationship with drinking, and make sure I bring my BAC down to 0 between drinks so I don't get back to that level again and make sure it is not an everyday activity. But that is my goal, not a recommendation."

Great attitude. That mindset well go a long way for you! And yes, seeing the results is an awesome payoff. I live it everyday in clothes so much smaller than I ever wore. Still hard to believe. Good luck!! VSG 10/11/17 HW = 360 SW = 292 GW #1 = 220 3/7/18 GW #2 = 210 (6'5") [emoji256]

I just had my 3rd appt, 2nd class got the binder and book today. So I guess that hope of having a December date will be more like February or March :-( ugh. I envy those that don't have to go thru the six months of appts. I guess it good for some but dammit, Ive done my own homework lol. I already reached my weight loss goal+ and quit smoking. I only had to lose half of the 10% required cuz I had to quit smoking too. Next month I have the 2.5 BME appt. I'm ready to go get this done lol. I haven't joined the yahoo group. Do you have the link to it?? I don't use FB much but I will look at the page. Thanks for telling me about them. I'm pretty sure my surgery will be in Danville. Definitely should keep in touch even tho we aren't as close as I was hoping for. Good luck with the psych eval. Fingers crossed you get the green light :-) Congrats on the weight loss!!! You did great. (Pre op) Journey Starting Weight: 341, Current Weight: 319, Goal weight: 140 (After GB)

Hi Lisa I got my first fill yesterday 3cc in a realize band. My Doc says 2 days liguid and3 days soft after each fill. I was banded 8-10-09 How much fill did you get? Steve

I am on a liquid diet prior to my surgery on 6/19 I have drank Chicken broth, eaten jello, drank apple juice and peed everything out. Now what? My family has had pizza and Chinese food and all I can do is smell it. Isn't it crule that when you had that food in the house it didn't really drive you crazy untill you are deprived of it? I counted food commerical while watching a movie. 26 food commericals...I can't believe it 26 food commerical? Seriously!!?? But when I really think about it, it was those stupid food commerical got me into this mess in the first place. I am really trying to forget about the pizza sitting in the kitchen, because I got chicken broth, and what does that pizza has? The thick chewy crust, covered in pizza sauce, layered in cheese....(sigh, I love cheese) covered with disc of pepperoni and chunks of sausages with olives cooked to golden perfection.... Snap! back to reality. Nope chicken broth and jello and then off to bed to watch True Blood. but that pizza sounds sooooo good... Wow! it must have sound too good because the dog just walked by with a slice of pizza in his mouth...(Sob! My pizza) Good Night All

I thunk I shrunk again. I can wear 12s and even 13s. I'm also wearing some Hang Ten Jeans that looked like doll clothes 6 months ago. I even fit into a 34 x 32 BUTTON FLY 501 pair! I got 10 pair of new/old pants and 6 new/old tops. Funny about some of the jeans and pants I have. The ones from the 90s or so (I think) are high wasted and the denim is HEAVY. Don't like them at all. I gave them to Goodwill as well. The Hang Tens are acid washed. My daughter just rolls her eyes and puts on her skinny jeans. My dad saw me this weekend and he hasn't seen me since Father's day and he was flabbergasted and pleased. I don't notice differences so much because I see me every day. I also have to bless God that I can hike up strenuous terrain without even breathing hard anymore. I have old pants in reserve in size 10 and 8. I expect to get to a 6 and a small top. It will be wonderful to shop for things I won't grow .... in? of --- shrink out of? HAHA! I love saying that: "Shrink out of." I will probably do a combination of Ebay, Goodwill, Tilly's, Old Navy and American Eagle. I can't WAIT! When I got at my heaviest I was busting out of a 20 and I didn't want to by a size larger let alone buy anything my size. Now I have so many clothes I can wear that I can't decide sometimes.

Bean carbs yes... others like rice, choe mein and potatoes... no. Those are to fill up the husband while we are waiting for his ins approval. HW 385 SW 359 CW 331 (54lbs down!) Sleeved 10/5/16

cons of not having WLS........get bigger to where they would cut me out my housei was well on my way......and dying earlier then i needed too pros of having WLS......better health, mobility, wearing size 14 jeans today (19 months ago they were stretch size 30).......and LIVING.... up to the person who has any WLS to use it as the dr advises for best results....no one WLS is better than the other no matter what anyone says......you will hear this is better or this is that the majority of the rumors on the band is BS (people can write anything and people believe it).......and on any surgery, not just WLS....complications can happen and it is told to the patients so its not a surprise....but why spend the rest of my life going what if that because if i did that, i would be where i was before surgery......super morbid obese.. instead i took that chance, found my want power, woman'd up as my ole man and did what i HAD to do to make myself well with help of the lap band and plication.... whatever you get........WLS, do the best you can with it....... and see what happens.......