It's been a long time since I have been here

[ckiki]

Hello everyone, I got my band in January 2009 done by Dr. Ortiz. Loved it for the first year, lost 70 lbs, everything was going good. Then I started having problems with it around March of last year, I became severly anemic, I had the worst gassy and bloated stomach, to the point my stomach hurt so bad, and it made all of my joints ache, sometimes I could eat, other times I couldn't, or I was throwing it up. I stopped losing, and in fact starting slowly gaining weight, because I was eating foods that I know would go down easily, and they weren't always healthy. I got married in August, and dinner time was always an issue with my family, my husband wanted me to eat and all I could eat was salads. Fast forward to February of this year, my band got super tight out of the blue, I didn't have a fill or anything, for a week I was constantly throwing up, to the point my whole chest hurt when I layed down. I was so fed up, I made an appointment the next day at an office near me and had all of my fluid taken out, it was like instant relief. I could eat normally, I could eat things I hadn't eaten in a year and a half, and the best feeling was that I could burp, sorry TMI, but it felt really good, I hadn't burped in over a year. I could lay down even if I had eaten just a few minutes before, which is something I couldn't do before. If I layed down after eating, the food always felt like it was coming back up my throat. Well, I ended up gaining almost all of my weight back, so I decided to make a fill appointment. I had it done yesterday and they put in 4 cc's (my band holds 10 cc's) and I have officially decided I HATE my band. I hate the feeling of food being stuck, not being able to drink while eating, and not being able to burp, I get this feeling I need to, but it won't come up. I hate the way I look, and want to be skinny, but I hate how the band makes me feel. My husband is so sweet, and keeps telling me I look fine, he likes the way I look, and that I should just take the whole thing out. But I liked how I looked and felt when I lost 70 lbs. *sigh* I am so confused.

Anyone else have any of these problems, gas, bloating, etc..?

[CanadianBandster]

I remember you

I am sorry you are having problems with your band I still love mine. I only felt like you did when it was filled too much. Can they just take a little out so you arent having such a hard time? I can eat anything as long as I eat slow and I can burp fine. I have 2 cc's in my 4 cc band. Maybe you need to have half of what you have in there and see how you do. It took a bit of tweaking before I found what worked for me.

[ckiki]

Hi

Well I had 7 cc's when I was having problems. So I think that was too much. Yesterday when I went in for a fill, after being unfilled since Feb, they wanted to give me 5 cc's, but I asked for 4 cc's instead. I seemed to do ok at dinner tonight, so I feel a little better. I want to be like you, and be able to any anything but just have to eat slower. I hope that maybe 4 cc's will work. I definitely ate a lot less at dinner, and when I felt like it was going to get stuck, I stopped eating for like 10 mins, and then I was fine. So we'll see how this goes, if I can keep that up, I will be happy..lol. I can't wait to start losing again

[CanadianBandster]

I hope it works for you!! Definately dont give up though, your band can be your bff lol

[nothereanymore]

Ahhh, I'm sorry - its hard sometimes. Its easy to hate something when it hurts us or causes issues. But I think you can turn this around and make it work for you. Keep the band at a cc that is comfortable, allows you to learn how to eat less and learn to love it again. Also make sure you are exercising - it's only part of the success - we are the key to the bands success - not the band. Learn about food, I had to go to classes to learn how to eat foods that where good for me.

You're beautiful and smart - you can make this work!

Congrats on getting Married - lucky guy!

Lisa