Hey there, I Had surgery May 2005 and have lost 80 pounds since it started working in October. So latley I have been losing alot of hair in the shower and in my brush. I have not been eating right and have been lazy. So yes, I have been taking my chewables and my biotin pills. Is there any advice out there????

Hey there, I've got good news for you. I too have gone through the same ordeal as you. I'm gonna keep this short. I have the smallest band and have a fill of 4.76 and boy oh boy has this been a roller coaster. I had surgery May 12 and didn't have restriction till Sep. 29th, then port leaked on Christmas Day. Guess too many pokes. I have given my doctor soooo many research papers about what could possibly be going on, so we have come to the conclusion that my insides are smaller then the smallest band. I have talked to the manufactuer out in California, and he has said that we can fill it to 6.0. My sweet spot was around 4.4. You might want to talk to your doctor about Iso Osmolar liquid to be injected instead of saline. It is thicker and will not do the "Wave". That is when salene goes in and out of the band. Good luck, and keep on it.

thanks tracy, I appreciate the explanation, and I will ask for another fill soon. This is very frustrating, and I feel like I've been VERY patient.

All I can tell you on your first fill is that you may have the restriction in 2 days or you may have to get 2 more fills. Everyone is very different, and you never know, BUT for me, I thought if I went from 2cc to 2.5cc that I would have some kind of restriction, but my Dr. gave4 me a WHOLE 1cc on top of the 2cc and I feel NO restriction. Don't freak out until your on your 3rd fill like me. It is normal to feel hungry before your first fill. You are just getting over the swelling from the surgery. Good Luck.

For all the experienced bansters, please tell me what your after care program was like. Tell me how long between each adjustments did you have to wait? Did your Dr. listen to you when you told him you weren't restricted? Did you go to a very good dr. for the surgery and then find a good after care dr., and If so, did your surgery dr. fire you as a patient. I'm thinking my doctor was one of the great surgeons, but not a great after care dr. and I need advice.

Ok, so I was banded May12th. In June I had a total loss of 15 pounds, which was great. Then I gained 6 pounds before my first fill which was July 8th. I got 1.5 for my fill and lets just say I was able to eat 2 1/2 waffles the very next day. I have no restriction, which I know it might take 2-3 fills before I have restriction. So I called the doctor that next Monday and let him know what was happening, and he won't see me till exactley 1 month later. Right then and there, I felt why did I do lap-band when I can't get restriction when I need it. I gained another 3 pounds that week and felt I needed to do something, so I paid more money and joined Jenny Craige. I am confused on what to do here. Do I switch to a doctor that will have time to do fills, or do I wait and spend money on a DIET program? I expected him to have me in no longer then 2 weeks, but he is so busy that it looks like it will take a month at a time. Any advise will be of great help.

My husband works for XO and I'm on his policy and we had no problem getting approved. Just make sure you give them a 5 year weight history, cuz it took UHC 2 months to approve me. They just like taking time doing things, but other people got approved like within 2 weeks. Good Luck. Lea

My Doctor says to drink right up to the moment of eating, because the fluids go rights through you, as long as you don't chug it. When you have a fill, you should always get fluid down with no ptoblem. If there is a problem, then you are too tight.

You should only be worried about slippage if your constantley throwing up. Remember that your band is sown on the sides and not the middlle, and if you are throwing up, then the middle part of the stomach could come up through the band. Now if any of this is happening, then you call your Dr. other then that eat slow, and drink alot of liquids.

Hey Patty, 3 days------------Clear Liquids 4th day and for about 3 more weeks------------full liquids, runny oatmeal, runny mashed potatoes, creamed soups Last night--------------Craved Ice Cream, so went to DQ and ordered a small strawberry shake. Everything is staying down, and have no PB. When eating mushies, I limit myself to 2-3 ounces because I do feel full. I'm gonna stay on this full liquid and mushy stage for another 3 weeks then start adding pureed foods in. I've list a total of 14 pounds as of today. Good Luck, Lea

Thanks Bobbi, I will get some tomorrow. I will try anything. Sometimes I regret having the surgery, because then I wouldn't have this stabbing pain anymore. I just hope it will be fixed so then I can be happy about my sucess. Lea

Ok so I got banded May 12th and everything went GREAT, then on Sunday night I started to get a pinch on my left side. Then on Monday I would get these speratic pains on the left side again. My stomach is healing great, and I have no pain there. On Monday, I would be walking, and then BAM....... pain that stops you dead straight and brings instant teard. So Tuesday comes and no doubt this pain isn't giving me a tiny break that day. It feels like a balloon is blowing up under the bottom left side of my rib, and then POP it goes away, then I feel a rolling rumble. I haven't had the popular shoulder gas pain, so I know the gas is trapped on the 90 degree angle of my large intestines. I went to the doctor and he ran test and said everything is fine, and the dr. says its just muscle pain or maybe I need to go to a pain managment dr. I told him NO its not muscle pain, and no its not in my head, because I know what that feels like, this is intestinal. He said that he doesn't know then. So I have a Gastro Intestinal Appointment on Monday, but what I'm asking here is, have any of you had this problem and how long did it take to go away? The pain is so unbearable at times, so any advice would help. I have done the Gas-X and doesn't do nothing. -Lea