Struggling, Need advice..feel free to comment. dont be too critical

[tmx000 0]

I was banded on 1/27/11 after losing 49 pounds in my preop diet (I started early because I was just so ready). The surgery went well and my Ins paid out as I expected they would. I was unable to do anything for than drink Water for 2 days after the surgery and when I did try to drink an powders? utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury shake my problems began. Immediately after just a few sips my stomach started heaving and "explosively rejected" what I had gotten down. For the next day my stomach was clenching and loosening painfully in these 30 second spasms. After a trip to the emergency room where my surgeon took out 3 CCs from the band and caused me to bleed allover due to a hematoma that had developed around the port site I actually started to feel better. I have since had 1cc put back into the band. Now for the real issue, I cant eat any solid Protein, it doesn’t matter how long I chew it, it gets stuck and up it comes. I have a really difficult time not drinking when I eat. Every time I eat I get the stuck feeling after a few bites after I wait a bit it will go away and I can eat almost normally….as long as it is soft or really easy to chew up small. I cant eat any bread……not even a bite. I am losing weight but it is quite miserable. I was hoping that the band would make it somehow less like dieting and more like not really needing to eat more. I find myself eating till my hunger is gone but not being satisfied in my own head with the amount that I have eaten and wanting to eat more. At the time I am writing this my weight loss has slowed and I am struggling with what will be a marathon and not a sprinting diet, I only hope I can somehow gain the will power to push the plate away and just tell myself that I am done eating. I know that some of the things I mentioned are common problems and I knew them going in, like the bread thing, but others are issues that I really didn’t know. After having the band for only a month, I have learned a great deal about myself and why I got to weighed 354 pounds, the real reason is within myself and the fact that I use food like some people use recreational drugs….just to feel good.

[TKW 501]

Well... does your doctor know you still can not eat solid protien? Some people, although it be few, never need a fill. The band itself, with no fill should create some restriction. Perhaps you should be totally unfilled for a while. It changes as you loose weight... you may need some fill down the road. If you haven't been back to your doctor, go and tell him what is going on. You can't survive on "sliders" and eventually you will not lose weight on "sliders". Good Luck to you, keep us posted.

[reverie 49]

I'd say you're too tight. Maybe you need a complete unfill again. What size band do you have? To me the band is about Portion Control, not something that should dictate what you can and cannot eat. If you can't keep solid Protein down then I'd go back to the doctor, explain, and hopefully an unfill is in store though I'd be worried from the get-go at the fact that you couldn't even keep Protein down in the very beginning...

Good luck.

[tmx000 0]

I'd say you're too tight. Maybe you need a complete unfill again. What size band do you have? To me the band is about Portion Control, not something that should dictate what you can and cannot eat. If you can't keep solid Protein down then I'd go back to the doctor, explain, and hopefully an unfill is in store though I'd be worried from the get-go at the fact that you couldn't even keep Protein down in the very beginning...

Good luck.

Its an AP Standard with 1cc in it. I have an appointment on the 4th with my Dr.

[reverie 49]

Its an AP Standard with 1cc in it. I have an appointment on the 4th with my Dr.

I'd definitely talk to your doctor. As the other poster said, you can't live off sliders, it's not healthy and it's not natural.

[honk 780]

Hi. I don't understand why doctors put fills in during surgery. I can't tell you how many people post on here that they are having huge problems post op and it turns out they have a fill.

My other concern is it sounds to me like you doctor is progressing you to fast regarding your "diet". You actually are not a month out more like 3 weeks. Based on my doctors plan this week would have been stage one mushies: cottage cheese, ricotta cheese. Tomorrow would be stage two mushies: adding mashed potato, canned chicken and tuna. I would not have been allowed solids until 3/3.

Considering my doctors rules and the huge problem you had I don't understand why he is having you eat solids. Why not be more conservative? Yes Being on Mushies and liquids is sucky but you would probably be less sick. Please understand I am questioning the doctors judgement and not that you are following his/her orders.

I am hoping that after 6 months yesterdays fill will give me the right restriction. The nurse was emphatic "If you can't eat solid Protein you are too tight! If you can only eat sliders and liquids you are too tight. Having the band too tight is bad for you in the long term.

Not only can having the band too tight cause the band to slip and require another surgery. Which would be very bad! But if you can only eat eating slider foods they are probably going to be high in calories. There is nothing wrong with white potatos in the natural form. Having the mashed would not be a problem if you made them with some fat free milk; the problem is we don't do that we add cream and butter.

I think you should get a complete until. I did not even get a fill until I was 6 weeks out.

[Phranp 46]

I am sorry you are having such a difficult time with your band. Doctors are so different about when to eat mushies, when to eat solids. My doc had me on solids in less than 3 weeks. I did fine. But, I have to say that I don't think it was because my doc had such a "great post op food plan" (he is a general surgeon, not one that specializes in lapband), but because I just happened to be able to tolerate food at that stage. That said, perhaps, because your stomach seems to be more sensitve you might consider the more conservative path mentioned by "honk". It may not seem like much fun, but it could save you a lot of grief and aggravation -- and pain -- in the long run. Be sure to get all the nutrients you need and stay hydrated. Many a bandster has found herself in the emergency room because she is dehydrated.

As for your eating "just to feel good", I totally understand. I too, am an emotional eater. It is a complex problem because it is much harder to put a "band" around our heads, in fact, it is impossible. LOL But, for me, seeing a therapist that specializes in obesity has been extremely helpful. Because of my "head hunger" and the need to continue eating after my hunger is gone (a life long habit), my weight loss has not been "speedy", to put it mildly, but I have lost weight. I have lost because my therapist has given me tools to use when the "head hunger" hits. Also, I have learned so much about myself since being banded. And, I have changed in ways that has baffled and surprised family and friends -- and myself. I hate exercise, but I get up every morning and power walk at the park. I am up to 2 1/2 miles. I don't eat fast food anymore, I don't want it and I don't like it -- not anymore. I am not perfect with my food. But I am kind to myself when I am not. Beating myself up only leads to self sabotage. Emotional eating is one thing that the band cannot stop, but I have learned to use "self talk" which helps me to make better choices.

Remember, we have to be kind to ourselves both mentally AND physically. Do what you need to do to heal your stomach from the trauma you recently experienced (i.e., explosively rejecting the Protein, stomach spasms, etc.). And gently remind yourself that eating "just to feel good" doesn't feel so good when you get on the scale.

I truly hope that your troubles with your band are a thing of the past. Hang in there ... you are not alone.

[Jachut 487]

I would say that by having Fluid in your band from surgery, your doctor has set you up for a cycle of irritation. Its not the norm to have Fluid in there at the start, most people's bands are empty for the first six weeks or so, it can be a hard time to get through but it allows the swelling and trauma of surgery to subside. Personally, I had great restriction, just from swelling, for almost twelve weeks after surgery, so that's how long it was until anything got put in my band.

It sounds like you need it ALL out and just start again, from the liquid diet part and dont progress until the swelling has subsided. The reason you cant eat anything solid is you have too much restriction for now, if you allow your stomach to heal, rest and settle down you'll probably find it behaves much better.

[dits4golf 0]

Having had a successful banding 16 mos. ago, I think I have found a few 'tricks' to get thru that initial 'stuck' feeling when starting a meal. Have something hot ( i.e. coffee, tea, etc. ) to drink about 15 minutes before your meal. That seems to relax the muscles around the band a bit and makes those first few bites tolerable. If you feel the 'slimming' effect, stop eating immediately, get up and walk a few steps. You'll soon feel the onset of 'sliming' long before it gets to the point of vomiting. When you get the first indication of discomfort, back away for a few minutes & the sensation will ebb.

Also, you must control when it's time for a 'fill.' Only you know how you feel, not your doctor. Just say no.

I've lost 80 # in 16 mos & very happy I went through all the discomforts. You will be happy to. Just hang in there.

[54Shirley 105]

I also have a suggestion, But first the post before me is right in the findings. So don't drink a glass of ice Water and expect it to go down cause it won't!

I had problems with mine too, I couldn't eat without drinking something like hot tea to help it go down. I heard the term sliders on this post. Well,,,, that's not what it is if it means you must eat, but unless you drink something, your going to choke and puke something terrible. Plus that's not good for you at all. Like a lot of people told me your to sensitive ! Surgeon said the same. I said I am trying, but mushies won't even go down without problems. Yeagh., Yeagh, your just to sensitive. Well he was wrong ! big time !!! I have a 4cc band, I was going in for fills because I felt like was starving. "I was'' I couldn't keep it down, so he would give me a fill "what else can you do" He got me up to 2cc, and the band blew! It was DEFECTIVE !

These bands are made in factories, and they do pass of defective products."Unfortunately"

So what ever questions you might think of write them down, and get some answers. He is the professional right? So he should be able to answer you in a flash. If unfills,and fills aren't doing you any good,, tell him to look at it under fluoroscope, and let him see what's going on.

Trust me,I know the miserable feeling that you have.

Good Luck with your Dr. visit, I hope they can straighten it out.