Were is all my Chattanoogians at?

[Carrie_C 9]

Nursing school is extremely difficult, but I love it! Stress affects my band too. That is part of my problem. It gets tighter, but I can still eat junk food with no problem. The problem is I can't eat much regular food.

[punkster 0]

i am happy you are enjoying it. doing pretty well after my fill yesterday. battling evening hunger.

[Carrie_C 9]

That's my problem too. I have good restriction until late in the day.

[Dwayne Bordelon 0]

With these last two fills, I have been getting indigestion every time I eat. Not heartburn, but the 'liquid on the stomach' kind. Is that normal?

[Corliss 0]

With these last two fills, I have been getting indigestion every time I eat. Not heartburn, but the 'liquid on the stomach' kind. Is that normal?

Unfortunately that sounds like reflux and is generally a sign that you are a bit too tight. I would try a couple of things, 1. don't eat for 4 hours before laying down. 2. Drink a little hot tea about an hour before going to bed, herbal is best. 3. Eat very small portions and chew extremly well. If the "Liquid on the stomach" doesn't disappear with any or all of these measures talk to your doc. He may want to give you some nexium or reglan or worst case scenario, take just a tad of saline out. Good luck! Corliss

[Dwayne Bordelon 0]

Unfortunately that sounds like reflux and is generally a sign that you are a bit too tight. I would try a couple of things, 1. don't eat for 4 hours before laying down. 2. Drink a little hot tea about an hour before going to bed, herbal is best. 3. Eat very small portions and chew extremly well. If the "Liquid on the stomach" doesn't disappear with any or all of these measures talk to your doc. He may want to give you some nexium or reglan or worst case scenario, take just a tad of saline out. Good luck! Corliss

Hey, thank you for the advice. I really do appreciate it. At this point it may be my own fault. I eat pretty fast, though not as fast as before the band, but until now, I have not had to follow much of the 'lap band guidance'. I feel like I need to start doing what I was doing in the few weeks after the surgery and eat slow and eat small amounts.

[Carrie_C 9]

Eating slow is very hard for me too.

[punkster 0]

There is something called the 5 day pouch test. It is supposed to help you feel the tightness of your pouch and is basically a short term post-op kind of diet. It also gives your pouch a bit of a break if it has been irritated which can also cause the reflux. I havent done this but know that a lot of people do it every once in a while when they start to feel like they need to eat more like an early post-op. Here is a link to it: Living After Weight Loss Surgery Blog by Kaye Bailey

definitely if you dont feel better soon call the doctor. corliss is a great source of advice and i agree with her. good luck and hope you feel better soon.

[punkster 0]

evening hunger has been better past couple of days and since i have been tracking with sparkpeople.com i have been doing better with getting in enough Water. :smile2:

[Dwayne Bordelon 0]

Okay, little update on my indigestion - I think if I eat too much, I get the indigestion. I think I am having trouble mentally adjusting to how much I should eat. I feel like for the first time, I really need to watch how much I eat. I have noticed that I do not realize how full I am until later. Though I know this is what is supposed to happen, knowing and putting into practice are two seperate things:D

I am actually very happy now that I finally feel like I am getting the help I wanted from the band. It is reassuring to know that it really does work. Until this point, I was starting to think that I seriously over estimated what the band would do for me. I am down 7-8 lbs from last Tuesday. Though I do not necassarily want to keep up that pace, it is a nice change of pace.

[Carrie_C 9]

I have heard that people with a lap band only lose about half of what they want to lose. Now I'm beginning to think that's true. I can't seem to lose anymore no matter what I do.

[punkster 0]

I have heard that people with a LAP-BAND® only lose about half of what they want to lose. Now I'm beginning to think that's true. I can't seem to lose anymore no matter what I do.

i understand. I have only lost about 1/3 of what i want to lose granted i have had complications. I am not always sure that I chose the right surgery.

[Corliss 0]

Hi Dwayne, Carrie and Punkster,

It is hard to keep the amount down, we always want just that one bite more. When I had a well adjusted band prior to complications I just measured my food if it was mushie, and when it was solid I didn't have to worry about it because I was quiet full on 2-3 oz meat and a couple of bites of veggies, but if I ate stew or cooked soft vegies or casseroles then I could eat loads more before the band said stop. I did have some "soft stop signals" which were sneezing and coughing. If I wanted to I could ignore them and eat past them on softs but it always made me miserable. I had no problems till my 14th month. I lost about 100 lbs during that period and I lost another 103 after I started having problems.

It was almost 3 years before I had my band removed. With this new band, I have had no wt loss at all, I have actually gained. I am on steroids for hand problems, and had a duodenal ulcer, both of which set you up for wt gain, and to top it off, I have gall bladder issues and can't have my band tightened due to frequent bouts of dry heaves. I have had two fills before the gall bladder made itself known, but i can still eat anything. I am afraid of a slip again so I am just trying to hold on till I can get the gallbladder yanked. I am finished with the steroids now, and the hand problem is still there, but I really don't want surgery and don't want any more steroids. I think I will try accupuncture for the hand issues which have largely improved.

Right now I am tentively set for gallbladder surgey and hernia repair Jan. 7th. I am actually excited. I feel like I did when I was awaitng the band, because I am fairly certain with an adjustment I can get this extra wt. off again. I have finished the treatment for the ulcers and I am so over steroids, so keep your fingers crossed for me. As soon as I am past the adjustment to no gall bladder I am setting up a fill apt. Complications will definately slow you down and in my case lead to wt gain. Someone asked me "why don't you just starve to keep it off?" Well if I could do that I would never have had a wt problem. :tongue:

I sometimes wish I had taken Dr. Zapata's advice and had the sleeve instead of a band replacement. I know I would be at goal now, but I didn't, I made this choice, and now I have to protect my band so that I can use it later. I hope this makes sense to ya'll. I am rambling but have a lot on my mind. Good luck to all.

Corliss:thumbup:

Edited December 23, 2009 by Corliss
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[Carrie_C 9]

Good luck Corliss. You will feel much better when you have your gall bladder removed. I just can't seem to get back into that zone that I was in when I was losing weight. If I could find a way to get back into that mind set, I know I would start losing again.

[punkster 0]

corliss - i didnt realize you had lost so much weight. that is awesome. sorry for your gallbladder problems. i am not so sure i shouldnt have bypass or something. i think maybe i could benefit from the malabsorptive part of that procedure. All my friends who have had bypass are under 200. I feel like I should have been tons more successful than I have been. I had this surgery because of the risks involved with bypass.

The scale has started moving a little for the first time in 5 months so I am hopeful. Probably going to try the 5 day pouch test after the holidays. Had 5 fills since band repair and can still eat more than i think i should. going back mid january anyway. doc said you can call and cancel if you need to but at this rate i would like to go back in early.

Happy Holidays to all of you.