Disappointed Big Time

[PhotoNut 7]

Sally69 - I have seen many experienced bandsters on this board respond to posts like yours and they always say that when a band is as tight as you say yours is, we often resort to eating soft foods or liquids in order to get anything through the band. The trouble with soft foods and liquids is they usually tend to be high in calories and sugars. So you'll actually be gaining weight, rather than losing. You should be able to eat hard Proteins like chicken, fish, possibly some red meat and also veggies and fruits. This balanced diet of Proteins and good carbs is what will help you lose those poiunds.

I would suggest that you go talk to your doctor and let him know what's going on with you and have him check your band and your esophogus. I would also suggest getting an unfill. Having the band so tight, and putting yourself through this is only going to produce damage to your esophogus or possibly cause your band to slip. Don't put this off another day.

[Vanhos 0]

Thanks for the info. I had him do a scope a couple of weeks ago. My next appt. is to unfil back to when I could eat real food. Yeah, this is just not working right for me.

Thanks for the input:) Have a great day!!

[mdl 0]

Hi All,

I experienced a lot of gas after being banded... it was horrible and painful. I do have to say that I noticed spicy foods, milk, and letting myself get hungry were usually the times when gas began to get crazy. I had to get rid of some things... For example spicy foods and milk products, things I had no problems with before the band. But you have to remember, even though it is not bypass... It is still a HUGE change on your body... I also went and had a cholonic... I hope you know what that is because I would hate to describe it.. Anyways, I swear by it! It worked beautifully! I went from having a ton of gas, to no gas at all!!! Hope that helps! mdl

[Cheri 0]

JAnet, that sounds like gas from the surgery...how far out are you? Mine lasted for several weeks (at least three, some residual for a few after that). Your pain levels and frequency a just like mine were! I also think you aren't putting enough in your poor tummy - are you still on liquids?

Let the doc know, although there is no big treatment for it (except gas-x, which helped lots of others on here, but not me!!!)

[Vanhos 0]

Thnks for the advice. I had a scope a month ago and doc says all looks well but bottom stomach is not emptying as it should, therefore the gas. He gave me some meds to increase modility but they made me fell horrible(worse than the gas). My family doc said to tell him to give me Zelnorm for that same reaeson and maybe it will help. It has been a year now of horrible gas and I think about having the band taken off a lot lately. Not for everybody I guess.

[legallyKristin 0]

Please be proud of yourself that you care enough about your body NOT to get the GB like your friends. They may have lost the weight fast, but 50 lb in a year is great! If you keep that up, you'll be at your goal when they need plastic surgery for all the saggy skin!

Congrats on the weight loss. Don't succumb to the peer pressure of not being "in" or "a loser" because you didn't get GB. You still had WLS, you are still taking control of your own health and life. You just have to follow different rules than the GB patients. You can do it, and are doing it. Keep up the good work and get determined to use this tool to the fullest extent possible- put down the cookies!!

Kristin

[rachele 0]

Thnks for the advice. I had a scope a month ago and doc says all looks well but bottom stomach is not emptying as it should, therefore the gas. He gave me some meds to increase modility but they made me fell horrible(worse than the gas). My family doc said to tell him to give me Zelnorm for that same reaeson and maybe it will help. It has been a year now of horrible gas and I think about having the band taken off a lot lately. Not for everybody I guess.

You got some good advice here and some unsolicited advice, too. People mean well, though.

You know what? You're right. The band is not for everybody. I had my band removed and was converted to a Duodenal Switch Bypass. I have lost 73 pounds in 5 months and I feel completely normal. A small percentage of bypassers do regain some of the weight, moreso with the RNY proceedure than the DS, but I bet it's no more than Lapbanders that regain, too. Bypass has a very high success rate, no matter what you hear here. That is to be expected since it is, after all, a lapband board.

After looking at some of these fine folks suggestions, because one of them may very well be the fix for you, you should realize that every persons journey is individual. 50 pounds with the band in a year is what the docs expect, you know, 2 pounds a week right?

BUT, if you are not happy with your daily life, and are having unexpected effects, so forth, than the bypass may be a viable option for you. It was for me and it was (beside having my daughter) one of the best things I ever did in my life. Please feel free to contact me in the future should you decide to pursue a different option.

I wish you the best.

[mercedes 0]

I was going to post a new thread on about the same thing.

I'm with you Vanhos on the gas pain.

I got over the gas from surgery in Aug. 05. Now, in just the past 2 weeks it has become regular and so painful. On Mar. 1st I started a diet & exercise program with an MD because I had only lost 10 lbs w/ the band and promtly gained it back.

Since March 1st I have lost 9lbs ( yeah!). I exercise regularly w/ a trainer who pushes me HARD. I feel like I am doing it all on my own w/out much help from the band.

Now the band is giving me problems. Horrible gas and some reflux. I had a piece of chicken about the size of a golf ball and it sort of got stuck a few days ago. I did eat it too fast probably. I didn't BP, wished I could have, and that chicken stayed in the pouch all night. Reflux?? In the morning I couldn't drink or eat anything for a few hours. Then I drank Water and felt it push things through. It seems as though gas is not moving through my lower stomach. It just stays there right under my left rib cage for hours. Sometimes it is in my shoulder area so bad that my muscles hurt the next day.

I eat 100 grms of Protein a day. I'm trying to stay at 1000 cals, but usually it's a little more. I felt better when I was breaking rules and eating ice cream every day....except I wasn't losing!

I usually don't have a problem w/ the gas in the morning (I usually have 100 cal Protein Drink or Protein pudding) unless I try to eat something of substance.

As soon as I eat real food (no matter how slow I eat or how bland the food) the gas will kick in. Never had this problem before the band. Never had a sensitive stomach before. It's been 2 weeks of this.

What are the possible causes do you all think?

Something must have triggered this for it to come suddenly and stay for so long????

I am not lactose intolerant.

[rachele 0]

The time it takes to lose the weight has nothing to do with needing plastic surgery/skin issues.

That has to do with your heridity, amount of time obese, skin type, and age. It's kind of like saying if you let the air out of a over inflated balloon slowly it will not be as stretched out as if you let it out quickly.

[deniseb 0]

I understand your frustration. Sometimes the band has a mind of its own. I know from reading other posts, that this will be worth it once we figure out all the little nuances of living life with the band. I'm not sorry I got the band, I know I couldn't have lost this weight without it. Its just we are still learning how to live with it and sometimes it gets a tad frustrating. Hang in there, talk to your doctor, I'm sure together you guys will figure this out.

[legallyKristin 0]

I'm sorry. I completely disagree. It does work the way it was told for some of us. I had no surprises. I eat the "healthy" food and I am losing weight. I'm sorry you're disappointed in your band, but I don't think it's fair to generalize a grievance.

Additionally, if you lose weight rapidly there is a higher chance of saggy skin. If you lose slowly you can exercise and tone things while keeping up with the speed of your weightloss.

Rapid weight loss doesn't allow the skin time to slowly resume to normal. Yes-age, heredity, etc. affect skin. But giving your body time to keep it together is also worth a lot.

[DonnaB 3]

My band is working exactly as it was explained to me. I'm only a couple of months out but I'm eating solid food without pain or gas. I even went for a fill and decided with my doc that I didn't need it yet as my weight loss is ahead of schedule and I'm not hungry or thinking about food all the time.

Now if only they could cure this LBT board obssession. lol

Sorry if you're having problems deniseb but I also disagree with your generalized opinion that the band has been missrepresented. Maybe your doctor made it sound like a miracle cure but mine didn't. He said I'd have to do my share of the work and I am.

Sally69 - 50 pounds in a year is very close to one pound per week. That's a lot of weight. It sounds to me like you need an unfill, a rest and then a smaller fill. Being too tight isn't what makes the band work and is counterproductive. My best suggestion is to discuss this with your doctor and try to work on a plan to resolve your side effects. Next best adivise: Give your band a chance to work before you have another WLS.

[DeLarla 22]

I don't know what to say other than you are NOT alone. I had so many band related complications before having my band removed, and I still have a good 50-60 pounds to lose. If you ever want someone to talk to, yell at, cry on, just send me a PM and we'll freak out together, okay?

[gordonfamily3 0]

I can relate to the gas pains - but I knew that was something that could happen from when I was researching it. So I find what triggers it and try not to do it. Some foods, sometimes it's just to much air...everyone in the band journey is so different.

The band isn't for everyone some use to the fullest extent and some don't..the key w/ the band is that you have to use your tool the way it's suppose to be used. Changing your eating habits. I have a friend that is 1 year out of the RNY and has already gain 20 pounds back. Yes I am still lossing she told me she didn't learn to eat right when she first had her RNY and know she paying for it. I know SEVERAL RNY patients that have gain a lot of weight back. They will all tell it was because they didn't learn the "healthy" eating habits. So yes it is taking me longer to loose my weight but study's show that over a 5 year time I will have actually lost more weight then the RNY patient and kept it off. The RNY patient will have lost, gained, lost and could have gained more. One other thing w/ the band it says you should loose about 50 - 60% of your excess weight. Well if you are over weight by 100 pounds they say you should loose 50 pounds. Now I am not taking that I am going to prove them wrong.:eek:

Good luck on it..I hope your gas pains have gotten better and things are going better for you. Was there any chance you could change to the RNY now that you have lost some weight? Good Luck again and know the band isn't for everyone.

One last thing my thorey is the it doesn't matter what surgery you have we are all in the same struggle together - to get healthy and live longer.

[mercedes 0]

"The band isn't for everyone some use to the fullest extent and some don't..the key w/ the band is that you have to use your tool the way it's suppose to be used".

I don't know about everyone else, but I have a weight problem because I don't consistantly follow rules.

If I followed the lapband rules before I had it implanted I would have lost a ton of weight. If we all ate 1/2 c. of food 3x a day (even if it was ice cream)

we would lose weight. Right? I know I would.

If our gastric bypass friends followed the rules they wouldn't gain anything back either. Right?

I must say I have good days and bad days. Lots of times things will improve right when I was thinking that the problems where too much for me.