KateP

If you were banded last November, why wouid you need liquid calories now? The band is designed to work with solid food and we can easily get enough protein from that.

For me a fill / de fill of 0.1 cc always made enough difference.

I am so sorry you have had such problems. I have been (happily) banded for nine years but have seen others banded around the same time having serious complications and for some, like you, removal. Equally, as you say, I know many people totally happy with their sleeve but a good friend of mine has had her whole life turned upside down by hers and has simply had to accept that this is her life from now on. All surgery carries risks and I am always concerned when people rush into it without real knowledge. Your post is a good reminder to those looking into surgery - it may not be what they hope. Please don't take this amiss if I just add one thing. Banded people cannot remove all risk. But they can minimise it. And the main way of doing that is by never keeping the band so tight that it physically prevents us eating or causes pain. If either if these things s happening, food is backing up into the oesophagus which can lead to oesophageal dilation or dysmotiliy or damage to the vagus nerve. Nothing is worth that!

Great! You had me worried! I imagined it much worse!

As well chewed food passes through a well-adjusted band in under a minute, as long as you wait for that minute there is no reason not to drink. When I was banded in 2006, we were taught food needed to remain above the band to stimulate the vagus nerve,. Research from about that time, widely accepted and taught to bariatric professional since about 2008, has shown that food does not and in fact MUST not remain above the band. Hunger is dimmed not by stimulating the vagus nerve but by the increased number of movements of the oesophageal walls. Food remaining above the band can lead to serious long-term problems. So there is no reason not to drink with meals as long as you allow food time to pass through.

Why? The band works with solid food not with liquid. If doing shakes helps you get your mind back in gear, fine, but otherwise, why not just go bavck to eating how you did at, say, 6 weeks post-op? The five day pouch test was supposedly designed (but not by medial professionals) for RNY but is generally considered pretty pointless UNLESS you aim is purely psychological - feeling in control.

Personally my concern wouid not be the number of calories but the fact you are some days PBing enough to make it an issue. PBing should be a really occurrence. In my nine years, I have never had "one of these days".

My suggestion wouid be move back from solids. Go gave to soft goods or even purées for a while. Sip warm liquid. As much as you can

Get some saline removed. I personally would have been back the next day.

Silly typos and my iPad won't let me edit! Adding fibre not fire!!!!

Why wouid you if not constipated? I didn't have a pre-op diet so can't comment on that and post-op I DID take it. But only because I became constipated. Here in the UK, our equivalent Fybogel comes in singie dose sachets to dissolve in Water and during my early losing stage, I took one sachet morning and night because if I didn't, I became constipated. I even needed to take a stool softener as well. Benefited can't be quite the same as Fubogel though as one of my sachets contains around 1-2 teaspoons in it, so that Is a max of 4 tsps a day. But although common, not everyone has thus problem. It seems logical to me that if your digestive system is working normally, adding fire is only going to cause discomfort.

Yes. For many people. I have been banded for nine years and can eat all foods, I have to be very careful with some and anything doughy comes into that category. But it is perfectly possible for me.

Indeed not! Sounds like you may be one of the many who find scar tissue builds up and makes the band tighter. Clearly your band is not working as it shouid and I can see why you want it out!

Very simple. Measure a reasonable portion. Eat all the protein, all the veggies and then carbs if you still feel hungry. The moment hunger stops, walk away! Drinking with meals is allowed as long as you wait a full minute after swallowing food. Food does not, indeed MUST not stay above the band and so the original pre-2008 guidelines no longer apply, One of the other posters finds it helps her to go back to liquids. We all do what works for us but That wouldn't work for me. The band is not designed to work with liquids and FOR ME going on liquids wouid be pointless masochism!

I can understand why you don't want to wait, but in the span of your life, this isn't a long time! And I can understand why, if he isn't your original doctor he wants to check things out. Also, he doesn't yet have a relatiobshipmwith you to know if you are someone who understates/exaggerates/dramatises etc..

I am not American so I may be wrong here. But the Americans I know cut their food into pieces, then put their knife down. I suggest eating European style. Cut a small bite, chew, swallow, then cut another piece, AFTER you have swallowed. Even put your knife and fork down while chewing, that way you eat slowly

I am paranoid about being tight. I truly believe that being tight is one of the reasons so many bands need removing and I do everything I can to keep mine! I wouid rather have a band which was looser than some like it thsn have no band at all. So many of those I have followed online no longer have their bands.

It's not inevitable! But the chances are you will get it wrong before you learn! Well-chewed food passes through a well-adjusted band in under a minute. So as long as you chew, swallow, pause - then you will learn how to avoid problems. If you do bring food back regularly you are eating too fast or your band is too tight. As others have said, it is not like vomiting. The good comes from above the band and so is not contaminated by stomach acid. I have never, in nine years, had a painful episode. And only very rarely brought food back.

It is a bit different as I have a small band. But believe me 0.1cc, which is almost too small to see when the doc showed me the syringe, for me can make the difference between just right and too tight.

2cc can make all the difference. I have had fills of 0.1 cc

If it persists, IMO, you are too tight. How big was the fill? In your shoes, I wouid give it a couple of days, being very careful and if it has not improved, I wouid have done of the saline taken out,

Can you please provide the link to the information about which manufacturers are saying this? I would be interested in the information.Thanks. Cleosmom. I feel very unscientific! I repeated a statement without checking it still exists. I can find no trace of the statement on their site and have asked others to look with the same result. So my apologies for inadvertently misieading you. I can only say that some time ago, maybe a year or more, a poster on a different forum posted what purported to be an extract from the Allergan website making this statement. If it ever was there, it is not there now. I have e mailed Allergan for their comment and will let you know if/ when they reply,

May I suggest slider foods for a few days? Very likely your band will feel tighter due to stress. Maybe even pop out and buy a few oprotein shakes?

My very, very best wishes and sympathy. I can empathise a bit as my father died when I was 13 and my mother when I was 33. But it is different for everyone and so I can only guess how you feel. Take with you the thought that his last feelings were pride in your achievement. Try not to turn to food but don't get obsessive about it.

The less you have to lose, the slower it gets. But 10-12 lbs in 2 months is within the average range of 1-2lbs a week and is not slow.