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Hi all! I am new to LapBandTalk. I am 34 years old, I have been married to my wonderful husband for 12 years, and we have a beautiful 10 year old son. I have been an elementary music specialist for 12 years. My first LapBand appointment is scheduled for Monday, July 2nd. I am meeting with the main doctor, a psychologist, and a nutritionist. I am nervous, but I am hopeful as well. I have been having a lot of issues with my CSF pressure since March, and am hoping that if I can lose the excess weight, those problems will be resolved. I am grateful that there is a forum where we can all support one another. I am sure I will be needing support in the future if my LapBand procedure is approved. It will be great to meet all of you.

So far from what I've heard it depends on the person, of you don't mind me asking how old are you? What's your weight? And where are you from?

Thanks for posting the happy news! Congratulations on your successful weight loss!

Surgery date 5/31/11 1. Band came overfilled and stomach swelled shut - all Fluid was taken out next day in office. No restriction at all now. 2. Allergic to pain medicine 3. Allergic to whey Protein - lived off egg drop Soup and Boost for over a week. Already on mushy foods but have not lost any weight since surgery and regain of dehydration. Do you think the MD will fill my band at post op appt? Is no weight loss normal with no restriction after surgery??? I had lost 100lbs on my own but my body wouldn't lose anymore so my body is already used to eating 1200 calories or less a day... just curious if anyone else experienced similar issues and what happened and if sometime soon I’ll actually lose weight? Feeling discouraged.

It sounds like your NUT wants you to use a protein shake that is a meal replacement (usually has all the nutrition you would need for a meal) rather than a protein supplement that doesn't have all the required nutrition. That is my best guess. Did you ask her why? It is perfectly acceptable to keep asking questions if you don't understand something. I thought of the meal replacement idea but if I am taking in the same amount of calories without the shake then what's the difference? I am also taking Vitamins. I was getting 100 grams of protein everyday. Why would she think it was worth jeapordizing my hard work? I have been steadily losing weight. Why mess with the formula?

Hi All, Today is day 5 post op and I am feeling ok. First couple of days were tough but they seem to get easier. As I sit here and recover, all I keep doing is thinking about this journey and how I got to this point. I keep questioning myself on did I make the right decision. I have struggled with weight my entire life, had many losses and gains. Did every diet there was in addition to diet pills, and even the band. So all roads lead to me gaining more weight than I have previously lost, and it just gets harder as you get older. I want to get healthier, I want my clothes to fit and I want to be happy with the way I look. I have 3 children and I want to be here for them for a very long time. So with all that said, I think I am a little depressed or regretting what I have done. I guess with the holidays coming all I see is food on TV and social media and I have to wonder if I am every going to be able to be normal again. I know I have to make better choices, and I want to do that, but I just can't stop thinking I'm sad it had to get to this point of no return. Like why couldn't I do this on my own?? It doesn't help that I do feel hungry. I am hoping I will feel much different in a few months. Appreciate your feedback. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

@@GACaldwell your doing fantastic~! I have to admit I was a total couch potato before surgery. I got my exercise in only because it was a requirement of surgery. I started slow and built up. At three months I had a big stall. It was my wake up call that I had to put more to my workouts. I sold my treadmill and a gym membership. I'm an emotional stress eater. I changed that behavior into becoming a true gym rat. My best stress relief without guilt My workout has become an addiction: I never dreamed this was ever possible. At two years out I still do cardio and hour and weight lifting and hour. 4 times a week. I trained and ran a half marathon in may. I teach physical fitness with senior citizens four days a week on top of my own work out. (hand weights, silver sneakers, cardio and resistance band) I completed a female weight lifting class. I'm learning so much. I am making gains. At my age I'll never be a body builder or bikini model but I do ok for an old fart.

i know, isn't it great. i overindulged at xmas, but nothing like i would pre-band. i eat, just alot smaller portions now, about 1/3 of what i used to. i can tell when i need a fill, that i start eating more, and can eat things i shouldn't. i was tight after xmas, too many sweets and wine, but on liquids, creamy soups for the past 2 days, hope to be feeling better soon. congrats on your weight loss!

Diane, I understand exactly how you feel. I have not had my surgery yet, but have started the process and should have it the first part of December here in South Carolina. I have been on here every day reading what ppl post. All of the pros and cons. All I know is I can't get this weight off and keep it off on my own. I have tried and failed so so many times. Is your surgery scheduled? I hope the best for both of us!! Good luck, Marka

Hey Teresa! Congrats on the weight loss. You will have to keep us up to date on how your hunger is now that you got a fill and how your eating changes too. I've been told that once you start getting the fills things really change. Keep us up to date!

I am planning on water aerobics while I get used to my new body!! I have a hot tub (ok, I keep it cold in the summer...; - ) ) and I bought some pool water weights that I will do in there between classes.... plus I will do my walking... my plan is to start by "cracks" in the sidewalk... hahaha!! Every walk, when I am ready to quit, I told myself I will have to walk to the next crack and then I can turn around..... (they are pretty far between....) And I'll try to remind myself to have a lot of humor!!! I sound ready as I type this, and then tonight I'll think.... WHAT AM I DOING?????? ARGHHHHH!! My surgery is June 24th

:confused2:hi,i want very much to have the lapband .but my doctor does not believe in losing weight the easy way(doctor calls it ).she always tell me how to eat and exercise or walk.over the pass 6 mos. i loss 9lbs. but seem to be gaining it back.i,m 45,5'5" and weight 270lbs..with bad knee,have had 2 surgery on my knee.my doc.say if i lose weight that would take some of my knee problem away.but it hard.i really want to find a doctor who can help me with this.my family doctor said no,my knee doc said it would be the best thing to do.my insurance may pay if the doctor say it is med. needed.some advice please....monalis in philly

i dont tyhink losing weight on lap band is easy way.u still have to do what he says work at it,tg im waiting to hear when my date will be gl,dont give up

It all depends...I am not big on adding fruits in my shakes cause for me the Protein shakes are sweet enough. Also what you want to be careful of is the sugar in the fruit. You dont want to add a lot of sugar cause its carbs and that can slow down the weight loss. So my best advice would be to try to stay away from fruit at least early on. I do eat blueberries and cherries time to time. I barely eat apples or oranges (they are hard to digest and I am 4 months out), I do eat bananas once in a while and at times I might add them to my shake to add more flavor. Pineapple, grapes, mango and even bananas are high in sugar. Here are some interesting articles that tell you more about fruits... http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/sugar-wise-how-fruit-stacks http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/making-the-case-for-eating-fruit/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/whatfruit.htm

I know it's not glamorous, but I've had GREAT success with the Crest Premium White Stips. They really work for me. My teeth look great. I get compliments on my smile now all the time. They are inexpensive and easy to use. I've never done the 'Zoom' thing, so I can't help you there. Great job on your weight loss!!! 50 POUNDS!! Woo HOOO

I understand your pain. I was diagnosed with Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis last August. I am also over weight and I'm close to that surgery. Mine is planned for July or August as if right now. My exercise consultant suggested that I do Water aerobics. I have checked into it and they even have an aerobic for arthritis. I haven't started but plan to next week. Hope this helps!!!!

i had my third fill on april 15 and still havent lost any weight. i have been going for a 2 mile walk outside 5 days a week now for one month. the walk is challenging with 3 medium hills and one huge one so its not that i am doing a easy walk. i also havent had any fast food for 5 weeks now. i did have chinese (1/2 a kids size plate) last friday but thats it. the only thing that i can think of is that i may have something sweet once or twice a week. i usually have a lower fat candy bar or an ice cream. i have noticed that somedays i may eat 5 times a day and other days i only eat 3 times a day. i wonder if this is causing my weight to flexuate. this happened to me before surgery i was exercising alot and still didnt lose. im trying not to get frustrated but the scale needs to move. this is crazy, i havent really lost anything now for 3 months. i will try to keep my chin up and keep on trying but i do get discouraged. ps i can definetely feel restriction this time, some foods i can feel trying to squeeze through and it hurts, also if i eat to fast or dont chew good( im still not doing well on this) my stomach will ache for awhile. any feedback would be great thanks andrea

What risk to health concerns you, with increased Protein intake? A body with healthy kidneys is able to deal with any potential protein overload. ETA: Bone loss is generally not an issue unless protein is eaten to the exclusion of other necessary macronutrients. But eating a high protein diet that includes vegetables and/or fruits--which tend to buffer the acidity of the urine produced by a high-protein diet--prevents the "withdrawals" from the body's calcium stores and bone loss.) But the point is, really, that for many of us, there IS no overload. Getting 80 g of protein permits maintenance of muscle mass while losing weight (when combined with exercise), helps with healing from surgery, and may help prevent the hair loss that plagues so many bariatric patients. My doctor monitors kidney function routinely, so I'm not concerned about potential health risks from protein. But then, while I do think it's tremendously important, I don't think that achieving a set number of grams is the most important thing on the planet. I aim for it, but if I don't get it, I'm comfortable that most days, I do.

I was banded on Nov 11, And 2 weeks later im starving is this a normal feeling. Im scared that i will cheat. I try and drink plenty of fluids through the day to keep the hunger down. I have lost 20 lbs already but scared that i will start gaining it back. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Actually, what is referred as starvation mode is actually a slow down in metabolism... And if you have a metabolic disorder this can be HORRIBLE!!! Before I was sleeved, my doc and nutritionist were helping me developed a plan to eat on a regular basis and to coordinate my foods properly so that I could lose weight pre-op... My metabolism is screwed up!!!

I have been out of surgery for 3 weeks but was wondering do any of you get a weird feeling?? I get mine like every other day, like someone is talking about you or thinking about you. I know everyone gets them here and there. but just seems more to me now bc I'm losing weight. Lol nothing bad just weird lol Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm writing this as I'm sipping a chocolate flavored Premier Protein shake. I want to gulp so bad! Hehehe... This is going to be long, so unless you like to read, turn away now! So, I had my surgery with Dr. Miles at St. Vincent's East on August 4th. I had horrible gas pains (as expected), and for about 2 days I felt as if I had been beaten up in an alley, lol. After that, it was pretty easy as far as the pain goes. He told me that he removed a golf ball sized hiatal hernia, that I had NO IDEA I had. I had no symptoms or pain from it, except for when I ate rice, because it would get stuck halfway down. But I figured that was normal since I was eating the rice and drinking tea at the same time. (This was way before my surgery.) Anyway, they fixed that and removed about 85-90% of my stomach. I really didn't hurt much from my incisions or inside of my body like most people would expect. The nurses were butts at first, but they became really nice on their 2nd shift. The first nurse got mad at me because I unplugged my blood pressure machine. It kept beeping because the battery was low and my mom was getting annoyed from the beeping. Well, when the nurse came in, she got mad because 4 hours of vitals weren't taken. But dang, I was still heavily medicated from the surgery and I wasn't fully aware of what was going on. I just knew my mom was annoyed and I felt bad that she had to stay there with me, so I wanted to make sure she was comfortable. :/ The next nurse was nice at first, and she was overall a nice person. But the gas pains were becoming horrible and the liquid lortab wasn't taking the edge off at all. It just made me drowsy and I wasn't able to sleep because laying down was EXTREMELY painful. I would try walking like they suggested, but since I was so drowsy, I kept running into things, stumbling, and forgetting where my room was even though I stayed in one hallway. No nurse ever came to make sure I was walking like I should have been. The only time they came to check on me was to get my vitals. But anyway, I finally asked her if I could have Dilaudid. She looked almost shocked because I knew what that was. Well, I've had 3 kidney stones before, and Dilaudid is the ONLY pain killer that takes that much pain away. She hesitated and said, "Well, you need to keep trying the Hydrocodone." So I told her that it wasn't working like it should because I cannot sleep at all. Even sitting down made the gas pain hurt. I guess maybe she thought I was an addict. But trust me, Dilaudid takes away your quality of life because you literally cannot do anything when you're on it. I can't even speak a full sentence when I'm on it. But, she had no right to assume that, if that's what she was thinking. Her excuse was, "Well, you won't be able to have Dilaudid when you go home." (NO DUH LADY! I'M HURTING NOW. By the time I go home, I won't be hurting like this anymore! UGH! ) After 4 hours went by of me "trying" the liquid lortab, she came back in to check on me. I told her the pain has not yet gotten better, and I actually almost started crying because of the pain (which is very unlike me because I never cry from physical pain). She knew my family was around, so she finally gave me Dilaudid. The gas pain didn't completely go away, but it definitely took the edge off. The gas pain was at a constant 6 on the pain scale, and a 7 when it twinged. The Dilaudid brought the pain down to a 4-5, so I was able to sit up at a 90 degree angle and get some rest. About 6 hours later, the Dilaudid wore off and the pain came back. Once again, she didn't want to give me more. So I agreed to "try" the liquid lortab again. It did nothing for my pain. So 4 hours after that, she gave me more Dilaudid. That was the last dose I got, and the last dose I asked for. I was fine after the 2nd dose because it helped the gas pain almost go away. I told her this and she kinda seemed sorry for being difficult at first. Nurses just need to listen to their patients a little better. We got along great after that. She even showed me her puppies at home and I hugged her because I thought she was just so sweet once she opened up to me. Once I got home, I slept in my mother's bed for about 6-7 hours. I surrounded myself with a soft shield of pillows, lol. That really helped me get comfortable. When I woke up, I literally felt as if I'd been beaten up. So I got in about 20 oz of liquid, took 1,000 mg of B-12, and went back to bed. The next day, I no longer felt sore all over. I actually had energy! So I got up and walked around the house a lot. I felt pretty good. Challenges: My biggest challenges right now are learning to eat slowly, taking small bites of food, not gulping what I drink, getting in enough protein and liquid (64 fl oz and 80g of protein), and taking the medicine I was given. I'm scared about taking Xarelto because I heard there have been a ton of lawsuits with it causing internal bleeding and even death. But I paid $99 for it (my insurance covered most of the cost) and now I feel obligated to take it instead of the shots. I took it last night, but I figured that a one month amount won't hurt me. I'm not having a hard time moving around and walking because I can hardly sit still for too long, unless I'm sleeping. And even then, since I have night terrors, I think I'm getting enough exercise while I sleep, lol! Ever since I started my liquid diet and began losing weight, my ovaries have been hurting a lot more. I'm even a month late on my period. I'm guessing my body is confused since I'm dropping weight and not eating as much as I was. Speak of dropping weight, I've lost 22 pounds in 3 weeks. I feel pretty good about that. I also have a pip in my step, lol. My shirts are already getting looser. It's awesome! Tomorrow is my first day back to work. I'm kind of dreading it because of the woman I work with. She's very overweight (over 300 pounds) and she's been pretty nasty to me about this surgery. She's convinced I'll fail at losing weight. But I know me and I love who I am, so she can get over it, lol. I also got myself a purple FitBit Alta for $130. It was very pricey, but I love it and it's going to help keep me motivated. Oh! And I also went to a support group with my mom. My mom is very nervous about getting this surgery for herself, so I was hopeful that the support group would help her with that fear. She loved going! It really did help her. I spoke in front of the group of about 100 people. I even inspired a bunch of people with my words. One girl came up to me and said, "I just had to come talk to you. You're so direct when you talk and I love that. I'm so scared and you actually made me feel better." That meant a lot to me for her to say that. I love to help people. So I gave her my number and told her to call me anytime she feels nervous, even if it's 2:00 in the morning, lol! I want everyone to succeed. So if I can be the help someone needs, I'm all for it! I'm going to another support group in September with my aunt, who is over 300 pounds and has congestive heart failure. I am really hoping she likes it, too. I feel like I've been somewhat of a guinea pig in this whole thing for my overweight family members. I don't mind at all because 90% of the time, I'm very brave. When I was at the support group, some lady came up to me and told me she thought I was pregnant, LOL! She said, "You have tiny little arms and legs, so it doesn't look like you're meant to be overweight." Well I have an apple body and I gain weight primarily around my stomach. I was told it's from high cortisol levels and stress. I don't feel stressed, but I guess maybe I am and I've just gotten used to it, lol! I actually feel pretty relaxed and happy.

Hi Jessica! Great job with your weight loss! I think carbs might have a little to do with my stall. I also think that my working out has something to do with it, oddly enough. We have a new gym in town that does some pretty intense workouts and I go Mon, Weds, and Fri. I can't help but wonder if this sudden change in workout might be causing a little bit of the stall, as well as maybe building muscle. I am going to try the Keto diet to limit my carbs and hope that that, combined with my inability to eat a lot and working out break my stall! Good luck to you on breaking yours!

You've been a type II (diagnosed) for about 5 years? I wouldn't worry too much right now about a lot of permanent damage having been done. I would, however, get thee to a Urologist as the poster above me suggested and see what he/she has to say. It is also possible that Cialis or Levitra would be a better fit for you. My best friend is a Urologist and when the "blue diamond" didn't seem to help my DH he suggested trying the other two. Our PCP gave samples of each and they did seem to work better. But everyone is different. Also, are you on any antidepressants or beta blockers for blood pressure? Those can also cause issues. And yes, I think you will notice some improvement when the weight begins to come off.

I was banded in mexico on 5/22/08. I met 3 ladies who had been banded the day before. One of them had a 14cc band and the doctor filled it during surgery with 10cc. It was explained to me that US doctors fill very little either bacuase of cautiousness or greed. But this doctor did not want the women to become discouraged by that so he filled it initially so she would be restricted and start losing weight in a relatively shorter period of time.