Reluctant at First...but Did It! No Regrets! - Marina Del Rey, CA

DAY 5 I woke up in the middle of the night and had a hard time falling asleep because of it causing me to feel fatigued the rest of the day. I began experiencing random sensations of sharp pain that would spontaneously come and go. I had some difficulty with clothing that placed any pressure along my lower abdomen. Initially, I wasn't going to work out because of the discomfort but I decided to anyway and it seemed to be the distraction I needed to keep me from fixating on it. By the evening I tolerated as much as I could take before finally giving into taking some Advil. It helped to take the edge off but did not completely eliminate the random sharp stabbing sensations.
DAY 6 I woke up feeling much better. It seemed the pain had eased up by 50%. I'm not sure if it was because I took Advil once yesterday evening but nonetheless I was much improved. I decided to take another dose of Advil just once in the morning to get through the day before the pain had any chance of escalating the way it did the day before. So far so good and I anticipate it should only get better from here...(crossing my fingers)...it looks like I'm starting to see some changes, although it may still be premature. I'll post new pics in one month.

I'm 36 years old, have been athletic my entire life but as I've gotten older my metabolism and my body has obviously not responded as well to exercise as in years past. After extensive reading about the procedure as well as reading practically every review I could find I finally decided that Coolsculpting was worth a shot. I'm petite, 5 feet tall and the way that fat has been depositing on my body is more noticeable to me now more than ever! I'm sure many people can attest to pictures of yourselves from when you were in your early twenties to now. I'd say many of us have to work hard to keep in great shape. I work out 4 days a week doing martial arts, boxing, and running at least 5 miles a day. Sometimes I'll make it a double day and yet I haven't been able to get rid of the fat on my lower abdomen and love handles. I don't eat terrible but I confess I could always eat more healthily. I do eat vegetables, brown rice, chicken, fish and avoid fast food. It's been years that I've been hoping something other than resorting to liposuction would eventually surface with a favorable percentage of success. I was looking for a non-invasive procedure. After having read some of the reviews about the pain and discomfort they've experience I too nearly cancelled my appointment but I thought if the majority were witnessing positive results it was worth trying...the odds seemed pretty good, that's my gambling perspective of it! When the device was initially applied over the white gel overlay, it was quite uncomfortable since my provider was trying to suck in as much fat as possible to give me "the most bang for my buck!" as she said. She had to remove it 3 or 4 times before she was able to get a good suction over the largest amount of fat. This process was pretty uncomfortable but not painful. After the device was attached it was pretty much smooth sailing, thank GOD! I had my laptop and pretty much relaxed the rest of the hour doing work but I knew I wasn't totally out of the woods yet. I also remember reviews that said the massage at the end of the procedure was painful so I braced myself to expect the pain at the end. The device was removed and the portion of my abdomen was raised up like a "stick of butter" or a "burrito" under my skin. She began to massage it down and, fortunately, it was a piece of cake. I went into this procedure always expecting the worst and perhaps that's what prepared me for any of the discomfort I felt. All in all, the procedure had minimal discomfort and was completely tolerable and perhaps my mindset is what made the most difference. I had it done on June 8, Friday. I am now post-procedure day 4. The days leading up to this were practically unnoticeable. DAY 1 redness quickly subsided in a few hours after the procedure, a tiny bruise, mild numbness. DAY 2 palpable tenderness and ongoing mild numbness with slight general discomfort. DAY 3 increased discomfort although mild with a "crampy" and sometimes "prickling" and tingling sensation in the skin layer. DAY 4 increased tenderness to touch, more noticeable today than the days previous but 100% tolerable and unnoticeable when I'm distracted doing things. I haven't experience any swelling which has been terrific or at least nothing I can see. So far throughout this all I've been able to return to my regular activities and able to work out boxing, martial arts, and running my usual 5 miles without it affecting me. I'm going to make an effort as well to eat a little better (since I should anyway) which may hopefully enhance my results. Bottom line at this point, I'm very grateful that my experience and recovery as been terrific so far and now it's just having the patience to wait for the results. I work in the medical field as a registered nurse and can say that not every procedure nor medication or treatment is right for everyone because everyone's body is completely different and we all have our own individual underlying problems and all heal in our own way. There's never any guarantee and if anyone ever says they can, I'd be skeptical. It's basically up to the individual to make the ultimate decision to do it or not but I would advise that anyone considering it do the research and understand that results will vary. Keeping in mind that it may not work and perhaps having lower expectations makes it all easier to accept. In the end, there's nothing wrong with good old fashioned exercise and eating the right way and that's what I'm going to stick to if this doesn't end up working out for me...it was worth a shot, so we'll see. I'll continue to update and good luck to those that choose to pursue it!