Whoever said they had ZERO pain post surgery is a LIAR!!

[Cangel76 1]

I had my surgery on November 17th and I'm happy about it, however, after reading all of these posts I was led to believe there would be minimal to no pain...HAHAHAHA THAT'S A JOKE!!

I was certain that death was imminent on the day after surgery until I got my hands on the GOD-SENT GAS-X. My doctor prescribed Demerol and I say TAKE IT!! There is no need to walk around thinking, 'Oh a little extra strenght Tylenol will get me through it', that's a crock of crap!!

I'm totally paranoid about how much I eat. I'm sustaining myself on about half a cup of food per meal. I'm scared of what a stuck situation will be like. Also I'm chewing everything 28 times. So having a conversation while eating is out of the question. Imagine counting in your head and talking... bad idea!! food isn't fun anymore, after you have chewed something 28+ times it doesn't even taste good anymore...I had 31 years of food tasting unbelievably good, hence needing the surgery!!!

So now I'm 7 days post-op and I generally feel fine. I'm nauseated when I wake up in the morning, could it be because I haven't had a bowel movement in days... um yeah!!! I can't find a comfortable sleeping position and I don't know if i'm coming or going most days but I still think this was the best procedure for me. I have made a call to my doctor to better understand why I feel the need to sleep sitting straight up in the bed, she called me back and laxatives here I come. This is less that ideal for longterm so I hope we can nip this in the bud. Best of luck Bandsters, please don't take my rant as advice not to get the surgery. I think this tool is going to actually work, heck I've lost 6lbs since last week!!!

My appetite has increased which means the swelling around the band must have gone down. I guess this means I'll be increasing my intake to 1 cup of food per meal. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I'm still excited about the new me that is waiting in the wings!!

6lbs down.... 78 to go!!!!

First of all I haven't heard of chewing 28 times. It just has to be small enough to swallow. So don't beat yourself up. I was not allowed to eat regular food. It was liquids first, then puree/musy and then regular food.

Now I never said it didn't hurt, it was minimal for me, by day 7 or so I was over the worst of the gas issues. I walked a lot and most of the gas was out by day 5. Some people just have a harder time getting the gas out of their systems. IT is also more painful for people who had to have Hernias repaired so none of them would tell you it is a walk in the park. It is a major surgery.

Oh and I also slept upright for one week.

[kellyodoran 12]

I also had no pain, I did spend the night in the hospital, and loved what they had me hooked up to.....Best sleep ever!:Banane04:

I had no gas pain, no incision pain, no shoulder pain, no poopy problems either !

[loserbob 11]

I am not lying when I say, "I felt no pain at all!"

I am having a panniculectomy next week and expecting some pain with that. Luckily, I still have the pain killers I didn't need. So, I can use them after that.

Im just wondering, what are you doing to lose. I know you lost alot even before the band. Are you feeling restriction, are you exercising regularly? I havent lost for a while(I dont think, I only weigh myself at the drs) and I know I need to exercise but I cant find the time and especially the motivation. I dont feel close to restriction, when I chew properly I can eat a good amount. My attitude is that hopefully Ill have restriction soon, I go for a fill in Dec and Im going to ask my dr to be a little more aggressive this time. At this time Im just not ready to starve myself(diet) to lose, Im content on waiting until I feel more restriction. Hopefully very soon. Hopefully that will motivate me to find time to exercise more regularly. Ive lost about 50# since March, most in the first month. Right now Im not sweating my slow loss, Im attributing it to no restriction. I was just curious to see what others are doing to lose weight. Right now I just feel like I didnt do this to diet, I did this to restrict the volume of my intake which is not happening yet.

[DeeDee40 3]

I agree with everybody. I had surgery on the 11th of November and it wasn't an easy road by far! I had those gas pains so bad I personally thought I was going to lose my mind. But it did get better. It was about 8 days when i really felt relief enough to get my self together. I had to go to the doctor to eben get some air that was left in my band out!!! Things happen I know that. I have the shoulder pain that comes and goes (and when its here ,MAN it hurts like a son of a gun.) But just like everyone said I would start to feel better I know that it will. Just try and take it easy and remember this to shall pass. But I will never tell you or anyone that this surgery doesnt hurt (after) especially with my situation. But know it gets better. Best of luck to you.

[GipsyGirl 6]

Hey there fellow bandsters... I do agree with you - my after surgery week was horrible even though they put me prescription painkillers ( the strongest they had )

I am feeling better now though.

It get better with time so don't worry.

[LowPSI 0]

Aside from pain being subjective, it seems that two factors influence our pain levels. Since we've all had the same surgery, there must be some variables that would account for the wide range of pain levels.

First, men seem to have fewer pain issues. Personally, I found the whole experience pleasant. I've had none no real pain issues. I got good drugs at the hospital and at home and took them.

Second, those that stayed overnight at the hospital seem to have less pain.

Third, and this is a little harder to tell, but it would appear that those with a lot of pain have other medical problems, including hernia repairs during their banding.

Lastly, my unofficial observation is that those with the most pain are also those that were not expecting it. I think that subconciously, if we are mentally prepared for the worst, anything less appears as a win.

Just a few observations. I'm not a doctor, nor a psychiatrist.

[honk 780]

I was very concerned about post op pain because a lot of people on this board said they had considerable pain. I am allergic to many perscription pain killers (as in stopped breathing)so I thought it was going to be a rough couple weeks. The fact I could handle it very comfortably with liquid Tylenol was a huge relief. From the Tylenol point of view staying on a schedule and staying ahead of the pain was very important. This plan however could be more problematic if you were on persription drugs.

[spoiltmom 44]

I think everyone just handles pain differently. I only had gas pain and I didn't need any pain meds for it.

[btrieger 21]

Im just wondering, what are you doing to lose. I know you lost alot even before the band. Are you feeling restriction, are you exercising regularly? I havent lost for a while(I dont think, I only weigh myself at the drs) and I know I need to exercise but I cant find the time and especially the motivation. I dont feel close to restriction, when I chew properly I can eat a good amount. My attitude is that hopefully Ill have restriction soon, I go for a fill in Dec and Im going to ask my dr to be a little more aggressive this time. At this time Im just not ready to starve myself(diet) to lose, Im content on waiting until I feel more restriction. Hopefully very soon. Hopefully that will motivate me to find time to exercise more regularly. Ive lost about 50# since March, most in the first month. Right now Im not sweating my slow loss, Im attributing it to no restriction. I was just curious to see what others are doing to lose weight. Right now I just feel like I didnt do this to diet, I did this to restrict the volume of my intake which is not happening yet.

Bob,

Congrats on the 50 pounds!! That in itself is no small feat.

I am doing nothing special. I am on no funky diets and haven't been inside a gym in 3+ years.

• I try to keep calories between 1,200 - 1,500 a day.
• Eat only 3 meals and seldom skip Breakfast.
• Take the low fat, low sodium alternatives when they are available.
• Drink more than a half gallon of Water a day.
• Don't drink with or directly following a meal.
• Take small bites and chew like crazy.
• Try to walk at least 3 - 5 miles a day.
• Most importantly, I keep a positive can-do attitude (even when I gain a few pounds)

I honestly don't know or care how much I can eat. I've never tested it. I try to stop eating when I am satiated. Sometimes it comes after 2 chicken wings. Other times 8.

I understand the motivation thing. I have/had the same issue. I think we all do but I have 2 gigantic dogs that need walking even when I am not motivated. Hence, I conquered that one. Let's face it: not having time is as lame an excuse as they come. You don't have to go and workout for an hour or even 15 minutes straight. Find a bunch of 5 minute periods here and there and walk around the house, office, supermarket, etc...

If you have stairs close by, take a couple of minutes to climb them.

If we have time to read and post here, we have time to talk short walks.

Find a partner, whether it be your wife, a friend or a coworker that will motivate you to get up and walk around. As I mentioned, I have to walk my dogs at home but I also have a few guys at work that I take a short walk around the office with. It only takes one to get the others up and out.

YOU CAN DO THIS!! I was a lazy fat slob (now I am just a lazy slob) and I am positive that if I can do it, anyone can!

Hi Kelly and thanks for the kind words. I spend entirely too much time on Facebook these days.

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread on pain. I apologize for the brief hijack

[btrieger 21]

First, men seem to have fewer pain issues. Personally, I found the whole experience pleasant. I've had none no real pain issues. I got good drugs at the hospital and at home and took them.

That's a slap in the face to all of those women that say, "If men were the ones that had to give birth, the human race would die off."

[jedivy21 2]

I wanted to respond that pain level is 1) subjective, 2) depends on the person, 3) can be affected by the doctors skill level/techniques. I did stay over one night in the hospital and had pain killer there. When I came home I used liquid Tylenol (I did try to stay ahead of the pain by taking a dose every 4 hours) for the first few days. I did have pain in the port area for at least 2 weeks. It did hurt to stand up and sit down; but not horrific. I don't want to minimize anyones pain; I do think visitors to this site need to understand there can be a sliding scale of pain. I would hate for someone to read this thread and say "There's no way I can have this surgery done; I would'nt be able to take the pain.

I agree. I had pain but it was hard to differentiate (at first) whether it was physical pain or gas pain. One week out, I'm pretty sure it was mostly gas pain. Now the pain I feel is more or less discomfort from tenderness around my abdominal muscles.

[Devo-tee 0]

That's a slap in the face to all of those women that say, "If men were the ones that had to give birth, the human race would die off."

Agreed. There are just more women getting the band on here.

I had horrible pain with this surgery, especially with the port area. Different surgeons put the port in different places, using different methods. This is VERY DIFFERENT between people. Some people (like me) have reactions to dissolvable stitches. That is not fun. Some people have restriction, some don't. I never did. So I was in a ton of pain, but could gulp down whole vicodin very easily and never had trouble reaching my Fluid or Protein goals.

I was upset with how my surgeon responded when I called about the pain, and my inability to tolerate the vicodin due to rebound headaches. My pain was definitely under-treated. I had to be away from work for two full weeks.

FYI, my pain scale is: the worst pain I ever had was horrible back labor that turned into an emergency c-section. So my 10 really is a freaking 10, and little a guy goes through can match that 10. (I hear kidney stones are up there, though.)

So it really just does vary for so many reasons. Usually I don't take painkillers after surgery (I had sinus surgery, both carpel tunnel surgeries, shoulder surgery, etc.) I think it would have been better had I had adequate pain relief.

I had surgery two weeks ago and I am on soft-normal foods now. Weight loss completely stopped a week ago. I'm probably gaining now with the complete lack of restriction. I am walking 2 miles 5 times a week at minimum (did a few 3 miles in there), so that's ahead of the curve in terms of expected exercise. I'm just looking forward to that first fill, and hopefully I"ll get restriction in not TOO long! hopehope!

[msdeevee 0]

I had no pain after surgery. I took one pain pill because I felt I should to avoid pain but I really had none at all and I had my lap band installed and the hernia repair.

I still have that full bottle of pain pills .

Why would someone lie and say they had no pain if they did?

Your Thread title is very abrasive but I'm sure you didn't mean it that way (I hope) ...I'm not a liar!!

[girlie3 0]

Banded yesterday and in pain!

[bwhitty 1]

Must agree, had my surgery on the 18th. My 'pain' was from gas not from the surgery itself. Gasx was a life saver. I took my pain meds for the 1st couple days, but only 1/2 doses cause the pain I was in was just gas. I haven't chewed anything in a week, on 3 weeks liquids and 3 weeks puree, so I won't be chewing until closer to January

Its been worth it, everyday the gas gets less and less. Hang in there, I'm sure it gets easier but remember it just a tool, we gotta use it well.