jkend50035

Your story was mine for the first 3 fills. After fill #4 my restriction came with a vengeance. AND it was only .5cc's more! Plus it took effect almost 3-4 weeks after he gave me the fill. So you should be paitient after a fill, because alot of the time there is a delayed response. That is why they schedule fills at least a month apart. I believe I am at my sweet spot now, however, with my hard head I still eat too fast and too much. Once I can regulate the small amount of food I really need, I will be fine. Good luck!!!

Ever since my 4th fill which kicked in 4 weeks afterwards I have NO Idea what to expect from my band. I understand that the stomach is constantly churning, but my band changes from meal to meal. It's most troublesome when I go out to eat. Order a just Soup, or order something more solid. I just have no idea what I'm going to get. Finally, if I am a bit stuck from eating something, and it is not going down very well my wife says I should get up and move around, go for a short walk or something. Has anyone found that to be helpful? I am trying so hard to follow the band rules......

I've decided to try to eat slower, chew more thoroughly, and in the meantime I am going to try to calm my stoma down by staying with liquids pretty much for the next few days. Hopefully my stomach will be better in the next few days. If it isn't, then I will go in for an unfill. I hate to get an unfill if the problem was me, and how I was treating my band. I think I am so close to having it just where I want. As you can see, I am conflicted.

Well, I am convinced at this point that the inconsistency of my band (looser sometimes and tighter othertimes) is due to the fact I haven't let it fully recover from my PB's and I need it to calm down because it is probably swollen still. So I will stay with liquids today, and liquids and mushies tommorow and then see where I am at. I sure don't want to damage my band long-term.

Thank you Kiz--Your description of an overfill gives me pause. I am VERY close to this description of an overfill. I am conflicted because I am losing weight where I am, but I don't want to sacrifice my health. So I better figure this thing out, and fast.

Thank you for your very pertainent input. I needed to read it twice to gather it all in.

You seem to experience exactly my problem. Please keep in touch. I really don't know what's going on yet with my band, but it is confusing me. Thanks for your input.

Why did he lose his band? Did he destroy it somehow with his bad habits? Please elaborate. With all the PB ing that I have done I wondered if I did some kind of damage to my band. It still restricts, but sometimes looser, sometimes tighter.

Wow, that seems kind of severe going from 5cc's to 10cc's in one fill. My Doc would never do that--he just snuck up on getting to my proper restriction maybe 1cc or 1 and a half cc's at a time. Good luck!!

My surgery date is very near yours, and I have only lost 46lbs in that time frame. However, I have only been at my optimum restriction for less than a month now. So I figure the weight will start coming off more consistently now, and also since it is March I am hoping the weather will break soon and I can get outside more, walking and riding my bike. I am getting very sick of my stationary bike in the basement!! My biggest issue now is I simply cannot tell from meal to meal whether my band will be loose, or tight. Just can't tell. Driving me nuts!!!

Yes!!! The band can have a delayed reaction--- It took almost 4 weeks since my last fill to feel a serious restriction. I had a hard time with everything so I went in to talk to my Doc. We talked it over and after he told me I should feel some restriction even with drinking Water, we decided to do nothing. Since then, my band has been looser some days and tighter other days. I can surely relate to the lying down and then PB'ing thing. I was a night eater and that grinded to a quick halt when I found that after eating a bit of food at night I would lay back down in bed and then it would be stuck in my throat and I would then lose it. So I am now careful not to eat anything before I am going to lie down. Even if it is my pills. I am at the moment drying to get a liquid Meal Replacement shake down and I am having difficulty. This is after having quite a normal meal last night with absolutely no problems--go figure!!

I have always drank alot of fluids (ice tea, Water, etc.) while eating my meals. However they recommend after banding that you do not eat during meals. Here is my question: Is that because you "wash down" the food in your stoma too quickly? Or is it because you fill up your stoma with liquid and then there is less room for the food? I have experienced the latter. Can anyone clue me in?

Thanks for your reponses. Like last night we took my mother in law out to eat and I had been tight earlier in the day so I just ordered some soup. It went down with NO restriction so I asked my wife for a portion of her pasta. That went down like I had no band at all. Strange. Later in the evening I had a banana and I had trouble with it. I wish I could decifer the signs ahead of time--I need to get my protein in!! :wink:

I do have trouble with breads, so I avoid them completely which is good because I am carb sensitive anyway. However I had some rice pudding the other day with no problem. Also I had no problem with the dumplings in chicken and dumpling soup. I don't eat pasta unless it's the noodles in chicken noodle soup, which gives me no problems. I don't eat potatoes at all since I have been banded, since they are just "filler" food anyway. My problem now is the inconsistency my band shows from one day to the next, and even from meal to meal. I don't know what to expect.

I just had 3 bites of a maurice salad and 2 large olives. I could tell that it might be coming back up so I stopped. I could feel the restriction and that it wasn't going to go down. So I took it home and tried again. I could eat maybe 4-5 more bites and that was it. I know that I have to get used to eating alot less with this restriction, and eventhough I am kind of complaining, I really am not. I am so happy to have this band, and the weight is finally coming off. HALLELUJA!!!!!!!!!! I really am relating to everyone in this particular thread, and appreciate all the comments.

I can drink water but it goes down a bit slow. I believe that I probably STILL am eating too large of bites, and eating too fast as well. I am going to try very small bites and go very slowly today and then assess where I am. Thanks for the good input.

I have a q---How much are you supposed to eat when you are properly restricted? The reason why I ask is I had a difficult time getting almost anything down yesterday. I ate maybe 1/4 bowl of chili (maybe), I tried again later and I could barely keep down 2 or 3 spoonfuls. I couldn't even finish a small container of yogurt. I even had restriction drinking a meal replacement shake. I'm getting a bit concerned. It has been 4 weeks since my last fill, and 2 weeks ago it started to be kind of strict. Now this yesterday (and this AM) it got tighter!! Any thoughts on this? Thanks, Jim

What are the band rules? I presume it is eating slowly and chewing thoroughly, but I'm just guessing.:tt2:

Boy, I can really relate to everyone in this particular thread. I had my 4th fill 4 weeks ago taking me up to 7.5cc's on a 14cc band, but it kicked in 2 weeks ago. I really think I am at my sweet spot. I am so restricted that I cannot eat ANYTHING unless I do it slowly and with small bites. It is so hard for me to do that, since like most of us we are used to eating quickly and with big bites. And I cannot eat alot of food--maybe 1 cup or less each time. I have had alot of PB's which weren't fun, but it is sooooo hard to change and eat slowly enough. The weight is slowly coming off now, so I am very pleased. I must say, sometimes my band is tighter sometimes and not quite so tight other times. I don't see why that is. Does anyone know? --Jim

Please help me--I finally have some restriction after my 4th fill. On most solid foods and even other foods like salads I have restriction and if I don't chew properly and slowly it will back up on me. Yet on the other hand I was able to scarf down (eating slowly) an entire thin crust medium pizza the other day. ( I wasn't proud of that). I presently have 7cc's in my 14 cc band. My wife thinks I should have a bit more added, like .5 cc's on my next fill appointment. I am just not sure. I have lost a small amount of weight, but my wife attributes it to running around so much while the kids were home from Christmas. I don't want to go too far, however a bit more restriction might make me eat smaller portions of food. So should I get a bit more fill, or have I actually reached my sweet spot, or close enough?

I have a 14 cc band and have it filled to 7 cc's. This was after my 4th fill and I have significant restriction, but I still can eat a lot of food. So on my next fill I hope to add just .5 cc's and that should do the trick. Keep in mind that everyone's body is different.

Thanks Jodi for responding. I actually ate that pizza in a short time frame--like 15-20 minutes. It did surprise me that it went down so easily. From your comments it appears that you feel I am not there yet. I could ask the doc to fill maybe .5cc's. You are right that PB's really don't have a lot to do with the proper restriction--I really hadn't realized that until you said it. My wife and I went out to eat last night and I ate so slowly that after 20 minutes I was done and I only ate half the food on my plate--I was so proud of myself!! I should have learned this earlier and I wouldn't have needed the surgery!! LOL

BECAUSE it means the belt is finally showing significant restriction!! Also, in a weird way I was glad I had to throw away my dinner because I sure wasn't hungry anymore---AND it taught me the perils of eating too quickly and not chewing enough. Now, I wonder if I should get a 3rd fill, scheduled for the 19th of this month? The only other time I felt any restriction at all was once eating a dry chicken breast and also scrambled eggs but only then infrequently. So have I reached my sweet spot? Or should I get another small fill? Thanks! Jim

I am just starting to get some restriction after 2 weeks from my 2nd fill. I was wondering what other people found were the foods to watch out for or to stay away from. I have found scrambled eggs to be a problem and tonight I almost PB'ed on chicken, which I thought was a little dry. What other foods out there will give me problems? Thanks!! Jim

I had my 2nd fill a week ago and I am finally experiencing some restriction as well. But for me it only happens maybe once every 4 times I eat. I get this pressure building up in my chest and then it becomes like heartburn. If I wait a minute or two it subsides and then I am able to continue to eat more. Only once or twice was I unable or maybe I was unwilling to go on eating. I have not PBed yet, but I am very careful now when I get that feeling. Maybe I have just been lucky so far, don't know. Does this sound to others like I have the right restriction? I don't know what the proper restriction should be like!!