Hi from Ireland!

[Coco 0]

Was jsut wondering if anyone (ie. Allure, Coco, Gerri etc) who's had success with weight loss with the band would mind telling me what their daily diet would consist of when you're at your sweet spot? How much weight did you lose on a weekly basis? Did you feel weak from lack or nutrition or your hair fall out?

Thanks

PrincessLK

Hi Princess,

How is your restriction now, if you only have 3cc in you probably won't have great restriction yet. From 4 onwards is where I felt restriction but it was when I was at 5cc that I started to lose 2lbs every week. Every Friday I stood on the scales and I would be 2lbs down it was a great feeling. Then when that slowed down I got another 1/2 and again the weight started shifting at 2lbs a week even the week I was on Holiday, I came home and was down 2lbs, my band slipped two days later since I had it redone its not been the same and while I'm still losing its not as regular as before. I now have about 4mls in and will have another 1/4ml in at the end of May to kick start the weight loss again. I want to lose at least another stone and a half so I'm hoping to do that before the end of the summer. We'll see how that goes :rolleyes2:. As for what I'm eating, well to be honest, apart from not being able to eat bread and potatoes while they go down they feel very heavy so I don't eat them too often I can eat more or less anything I want. I don't eat meat or chicken, by choice, but I am aware of some people who find it difficult if not impossible to eat meat once the achieve good restriction. I am glad to say I still have all my hair :thumbup: but I put that down to making sure I get my Protein every day and even if its days that I'm on liquids only I make sure I have a good healthy Protein Drink a couple of times a day. Its important to remember to make healthy choices when we are banded because I only eat about a quarter of the food I used to eat I have to make sure it well balanced. I don't mean to sound like I'm brilliant all of the time, I'm not, I regularly fall off the wagon,:scared2: and the chocolate monster is always sitting on my shoulder:lol: of course I feed him I have to.:tongue: So the thing is if you try to eat healthily all of the time, most of the time you will.:tongue2: Best of luck and wishing you bucket loads of weight loss.:thumbup:

[PrincessLK 0]

Hi Coco,

Thanks for that, I have no restriction at the moment. I know because I can eat bread and meat no problem. I think I'll call and book my next fill. My port is in a really awkward spot so he couldn't get at it easily (took 9 attempts with needle) and then he took everything out but couldn't get it all back in, the band kept rejecting it. I don't know what that means, so I need to see them again fairly soon as I now have less than I had to begin with (only 2 in now I'm sure even though he said he got another 1/2 in I don't think he did).

[Coco 0]

Hi Coco,

Thanks for that, I have no restriction at the moment. I know because I can eat bread and meat no problem. I think I'll call and book my next fill. My port is in a really awkward spot so he couldn't get at it easily (took 9 attempts with needle) and then he took everything out but couldn't get it all back in, the band kept rejecting it. I don't know what that means, so I need to see them again fairly soon as I now have less than I had to begin with (only 2 in now I'm sure even though he said he got another 1/2 in I don't think he did).

Hi Princess,

If I'm not mistaken weren't you operated on by Jan? If so, just a thought, but he is heading up a new clinic here in Dublin doing bands, bypass and sleeves. By all accounts its a great set up and providing all that was lacking in ACS. It might be worth your while to give him a call as tell him that since you were banded you have had all this trouble and ask if he would review you and xray you and basically check you out. He's not obliged in any way but it might be worth the phone call. The clinic is called Obesity Solutions I don't have the number but I'm sure you can get it if you google it. Alternatively, you could ring Kim, ask her to sort out an xray for you before the 8th of May when the Belgium nurses are here again. Either way if I were in your shoes I wouldn't leave it any longer, it won't get better on its own, you need to find out what position the port is in and if the tubing is twisted, that would explain why the fills are not going in. Kick up a bit of a fuss, you should be well on your way to serious weight loss now. Chin up and let me know how you get on.:thumbup: Princess, I've PM'ed you Jan's number. I hope it helps.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Coco

[lil 0]

Hi everyone well I'm worse off now than before I had my tiny fill:eek: wonder if he didn't put it all back in or something. I've very little restriction at all, could even keep Pasta down last night which I haven't been able to do in over a year. I'm paranoid now in case I have a leak or something. I'm getting sick of this bloody band now:cursing::cursing: I'm eating rings around me, have even put weight UP this week:scared2:

[ailbhe 1]

Hi all.

Glad to hear you've all been able to get your fills sorted. Can't wait for my next one as restriction is going day by day. I think I'm up a pound but I'm refusing to acknowledge it!

Just wondering if anyone else gets pains around the band. I get the occasional sharp pain under my port or on the other side around where the band is. They were particularly bad this morning but are gone now. Just wondering if these twinges are normal. I sleep on my stomach which probably doesn't help matters

[roe 0]

Hi everyone hope MOST of you are all happy with your fills.:Dancing_biggrin: I have no restriction as yet ,I dont think thers going to b any this time.:glare: So I called up for another fill I got an app..for may 8th I wish I didnt need one buy thats how it goes. Its 7 months since I got my band and its time to get down to shifting this weight. How is everyone doing sorry Lil your restriction is gone its hard to get it right. Im nearly afraid to get another ml in case its to tight:scared2:. Jan told me I had a 6 ml band in. Dosnt leave much more place for fills, I have 4 ml in at the moment. Princess was it Chris that did your fill, I was lucky one needle and no pain. Also had a call from Kim on Friday to see was I doing ok, and keeping everything down. What a change it almost felt like someone cared:lol:. Gerri Im thinking of you and hope you are feeling some restriction. If you think you need a fill next month call as all the am apps.. may be gone soon, you can always cancel if you dont need it. must go now talk soon.

love roe

[Gerri 0]

Hi all,

Roe, glad you got another appointment relatively quickly. The 8th doesn't suit me as the kids are on mid term break so I'll wait until the 29th and see how it goes. Think I'm down about a 1lb and 1/2 since last Thursday. If I could loose between that and 2lb a week and keep it off I'd be happy.

Ailbhe, I get the odd twinge mostly around were the port is. If its still bothering you when your due your next fill make sure to say it to the Doc.

Lil, how are you doing, have you had any joy with restriction?

Coco, interesting to hear about Dr Jan he did mention that he was coming back to Ireland. Hope things work out for him think he got a raw deal from ACS.

Bye for now.

[ailbhe 1]

Hi all.

Some problems here. The "odd twinge" that I was getting turned into an all out stabbing pain whenever I move. It's ok i I'm sitting down but once I get up it's very sore. It's below my port (about 2" below) and restricted to that side.

I went to the GP today who said she thinks it's an infection in the port. I'm not sure as info I can find on port infection says that the port site is red and hot and tender. Mine is none of the above. Even when I press on it it doesn't hurt. The pain fels very deep if you know what I mean. I've emailed Dr. Chris too to see what he reckons. My GP gave me anti inflammatories and anti biotics so I suppose I'll have to wait and see if they work.

Hopefully they do as I can't bear the thought of having to go to the local hospital as I am sure they will not be supportive of trying to keep the band. I saw another post on the complication board where the lady had the exact same pain as I am having and it was a condition called diverticulitis which is where pouches form on the intestine and get inflamed. I know I sholdn't be trusting the internet fo health issues but I can't help but feel my GP is adamant that it is the band and is ignoring the fact that the pain is a good bit away from the port site. The bottom of the port just meets the top of the pain site but the main pain is lower than that. I just feel that if it was infection that it would be tender and it isn't. It slightly hurt when she pressed on it but she was pushing very hard and there is an object in there!

Anyway, fingers crossed for me girls.......

[Gerri 0]

Hi Ailbhe, sorry to hear you are having difficulty, hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and a trip to the hospital will not be needed. Has Dr Chris got back to you with his opinion yet?

[Coco 0]

Hi all,

Coco, interesting to hear about Dr Jan he did mention that he was coming back to Ireland. Hope things work out for him think he got a raw deal from ACS.

Bye for now.

Hi Gerri,

Yeah, Dr Jan is back in Ireland and has been for quite some time now. His practice is in Ireland and is called Obesity Solutions hes is charging 11K for the band with a years aftercare, dietitian, psychological support and fills. I hope things work out for him too, he did get a raw deal from ACS and he was left out of pocket considerably too. Anyway it looks like "ACS Europe" are trying their best to look after us now, well with fills anyway.:thumbs_down:

[Coco 0]

Hi all.

Some problems here. The "odd twinge" that I was getting turned into an all out stabbing pain whenever I move. It's ok i I'm sitting down but once I get up it's very sore. It's below my port (about 2" below) and restricted to that side.

I went to the GP today who said she thinks it's an infection in the port. I'm not sure as info I can find on port infection says that the port site is red and hot and tender. Mine is none of the above. Even when I press on it it doesn't hurt. The pain fels very deep if you know what I mean. I've emailed Dr. Chris too to see what he reckons. My GP gave me anti inflammatories and anti biotics so I suppose I'll have to wait and see if they work.

Hopefully they do as I can't bear the thought of having to go to the local hospital as I am sure they will not be supportive of trying to keep the band. I saw another post on the complication board where the lady had the exact same pain as I am having and it was a condition called diverticulitis which is where pouches form on the intestine and get inflamed. I know I sholdn't be trusting the internet fo health issues but I can't help but feel my GP is adamant that it is the band and is ignoring the fact that the pain is a good bit away from the port site. The bottom of the port just meets the top of the pain site but the main pain is lower than that. I just feel that if it was infection that it would be tender and it isn't. It slightly hurt when she pressed on it but she was pushing very hard and there is an object in there!

Anyway, fingers crossed for me girls.......

Hi Ailbhe,

Sorry to hear that you're not feeling the best. Usually I'm not in favour of self diagnosis, but in the case of the band, GP's know little and care less about the band, if you have some information from the Internet I would bring it to her attention and have it checked out. There is no point in taking medication that you may not need on a whim from your doctor. Infection is usually accompanied by redness around the port area, I'm no expert, but I would imagine that most of us here have more knowledge on the band than the average GP. Hope you get it sorted soon and keep us informed. :thumbs_down:

[ailbhe 1]

Well all. Dr. Chris emailed me last night

Infection of the port is not frequent (only 5 times in 11 years).

I do not think this has happened but can not tell 100% is can not see you.

Anyway you are well treated with antibiotics.

I can see you on 080508 in Dublin to check this out.

Did you do heavy weight or did you bend over a lot because this irritates

the port although this is not a infection.

Thanks.

Dr Chris

I was doing gardening before the pain worsened so I'm guessing he's right. The pain is almost totally gone now. Still a twinge here and there. So I'm going to keep going with the anti biotics and anti inflammatories just to be 100% sure. And no more bending!

Thanks for all the good wishes. I'm so relieved!!! Was terrified I'd have to have the band removed and I don't wanna!!!!

Lost another few pounds (am now down into the next stone bracket :biggrin2:) so I'm chuffed. My garden will suffer but I can live with that!

[allure 0]

Ailbhe - I met an Irish girl in ACS at one of my visits who was telling me about her story of when her port came away from her wire and it was the wire end sticking in to her that was causing her such pain. She ended up in hospital due to the pain and had to have her port replaced. Perhaps this could be another explanation that you could check with your doctor or now that the pain has subsided it might just be strain? I find that when I carry my shopping out of the supermarket that I can feel that strain on my band and need to be more sensible when lifting and carrying. Take it easy and hope you get a resolution to this soon!

Lil - I have struggled with restricion hugely in the past and one possible explanation is that the band might have just moved ever so slightly on your stomach due to previous fat loss of the stomach and then getting the small fill. This will rectify itself and restriction can return if you just try to stick to sensible eating and loose a few more pounds. I myself have always been able to eat Pasta, rice, potatoe and white bread and still can even at 7.5ml in an 8ml band but I eat them in moderation. The point I'm making is that it's not unusual to be able to eat pasta and keep it down but just continue to eat slow and not over indulge! I hope you enjoyed the pasta as it had been so long since you had some!! I'm still salivating after a bie of steak (Holly123 watch out!!!) but the morning sickness - all day sickness - is not allowing me to indulge! However, I am back eating popcorn, fruit and little squares of sandwiches since Monday, and after 8 weeks of no eating, really enjoying them!!!

Roe - do not give up hope with the restriction. If you go back and read any of my entries before Nov 07 you will see that it can take a whole lot of fills before you get to the sweet spot. However, the continued weight loss once

Coco - hope you are on target with the weight loss for your broter's wedding! Looking forward to seeing you looking stunning in the photos, try not to upstage the other sisters (or the bride the way you are looking these days) !!

Holly123 - I hope that the extra bit of restriction is working for you. Just keep remember to get that Protein in to you first and keep trying food that you weren't able to eat over the last few months, like chicken as I've found that different things have gone down at different stages of restriction! Looking forward to meeting up and catching up to get a look at you.

As for me I am still suffering with the morning sickness, constant nausea and can't even consider food, except for popcorn and smoothies. So I am still existing on a strange diet and have remaind at the same weight. However for someone who loves their grub and enjoys the variety of food I was able to eat up to getting pregnant I'm so looking forward to being able to eat variety again and I seriously miss whole fruit!!

[Coco 0]

Hi All,

Ailbhe, Delighted to hear you are feeling better. Hope all it was, was the gardening. Interesting to see that your dr only had 5 infections in 11 years. That's some record. Should give you even more confidence in him. Show your GP the email just for her information.:cry_smile:

Lil: Don't worry about getting small fills. I've been doing that since before christmas and they are better in a lot of cases. You may have to go every two weeks for the first couple but at least you won't get over filled. :confused:

Allure: popcorn and smoothies, yeah this baby is going to be so easy to please on treat day:lol:. Lets hope that your diet gets a bit more interesting as your pregnancy continues.:tt1: I've bought a dress for my brothers wedding. I went for a fitted size 12 little black dress from Coast. Yes of course I'm going to upstage my sisters and if my eldest sister thinks her new face lift gets priority in the photos she'd better think again.:rolleyes2::laugh:

[holly123 0]

Found an interesting website which compares the lap band which Jerome fits (heliogast) with the original Lap Band. http://www.profweiner.com/PDF/Blanco-Engert.pdf

It shows that the people in the study who had the heliogast band lost weight slower, took longer to get to the right restriction level, had more infections and more slippage!!!! Interesting reading for anyone who is finding it hard to get to the "sweet spot" like me. From reading that, it looks like the Lapband is a better band than the heliogast, I wonder why Jerome chose the heliogast? (Just read that the Heliogast is a French manufactured band - so I suppose that explains it!) It was interesting to see that people were not finding much restriction up to 5mls with the heliogast, so the surgeons contacted the manufacturer who told them to increase the volume from 5 - 9cc. So maybe that's why I have only found restriction now at 6mls? It would explain your case too Allure. Good to hear from you Allure. Haven't seen you since January. Hope you're feeling better soon and we can meet up. Glad you're a bit better Ailbhe. I was going to suggest that you might have a gallstone, because it sounded a bit like the pain I had when I had to have my gallbladder removed, but the pain didn't really ease off, so it sounds like it might just be strain. I think the Belgian Doctors use the Lapband, not the heliogast. Wonder is that why they have less infections!!

Edited April 25, 2008 by holly123