16 Fills and no restriction

[AZDave 0]

I was banded in Feb 2008 and I am down from 397 to just under 300.

For the first 6 months, I had fills every few weeks or so. Many were 1/4 to 1/2 cc. I gradually got more restricted until it got to where I had sliming and throwing up but still was eating too much at a time.

I went in for a follow up in October 2009, mostly because it had been 6 months and I thought it was time. I went ahead and got a fill to help with the overeating.

From that day until now, I have had almost no restriction. I can even drink with food! A flouroscope showed no issues and I even had an endoscopy which was also clear.

In Nov, I got a 1/2cc fill, another 1cc in December and another 1cc in February. That was my 16th fill.

I still feel very little restriction and have to fight to not overeat.

The surgeon has no real ideas on what might have happened. He speculates that the band may have settled a little or that I've lost fat under the band. Also, he says that a fill might have missed the port somehow. He drew most of the Fluid out and says that it seems to still be there and is also under adequate pressure to assure him that there is no leak in the system.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

[Melinco 1]

I don't see where you say how large your band is (how many cc's it holds) or what your total fill level is. It could be that you don't have enough in it yet.

Also, are you trying to limit your food, or totally relying on the full feeling to stop eating? I've had to do both, as sometimes it feels like I can just eat and eat.

Hopefully someone with more experience will post with suggestions.

Congrats on the almost 100 pounds you've lost so far! That's great!

ETA: Okay, based on how many fills you've had and a couple of assumptions on my part, you have about 7 cc's? Give or take a cc? So if you have a 14 cc band, you may indeed need more fills to get to restriction. My band is 10 ccs, though it can hold 12 ccs, and I'm at about 6.75 ccs. I'm approaching the green zone (sweet spot). Just as your doc said, as you lose weight, you'll also lose the fat around your tummy that your band encompasses, which means it'll loosen up, needing additional fills to maintain, or even achieve, restriction.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Melinco

[AZDave 0]

The surgeon said that I have about 10cc in and about 5cc room left.

I'm more interested in what happened after 13 fills to suddenly cause a significant loss of restriction.

I read a lot of people talking about their 2nd, 3rd, 4th fills.

Has anyone else had 10-15 fills?

[TN_girl21 1]

It seems like your doctor has not been too aggressive with fills in the beginning. If I read it right, you have 5cc's in your band. You probably aren't at your sweet spot yet. My surgeon told me that I will really start to feel restriction when I reach about 6-7 cc's (my band holds 10 as well. I currently have between 3.5-4 cc's). Talk to your doctor. Ask him why your fills have been so small.

[thinneranniesoon 0]

I also have a 10cc band, however I have 6.5cc's in it now, and have not had a fill since October. I am very much in the zone of needing a fill, eating too much at a meal and hungry again not too long after.

I have had 3 fills to get me to this point.

It is very possible due to the fact that you were having such small fills 1/4 to 1/2 cc at a time, you have not reached proper zone yet, and need a new fill.

[lovelyLorna 0]

It is truly amazing the differences in approaches by our doctors. I just had my first fill last week. 7.5cc in an 11cc band. I can't believe that a 1/2 of a cc would do anything, but I'm not a doctor so ....

[coloradobanding 5]

I don't think it matters at all how many fills you've had--1 or 15, it's how many cc's are in your band.

Every doctor is different, and clearly yours is ultra conservative. I can tell you the longer I have the band, the more finicky it seems to be.

I had a fill recently and felt LESS restriction than I did before I had it. This lasted for about a week! It seemed like I was ravenously hungry 24/7. Then, on day 8..POW..restriction like CRAZY! I thought I needed an unfill for a few days...now it's perfect.

At certain times of the month or year, my band acts completely differently from the day before. I had a complete untill in May 09' and then 3 months later had serious restriction (unfilled band people) for about a week..then none.

I've learned to just take it as it comes and go with the flow. It seems to me that you don't have anywhere near the right amount of cc's in your band.

I would ask the surgeon to go up to at least 1cc per fill next time...or maybe even more if he's aggreeable.

[4weightlosssake 8]

I've had 8 fills since my surgery last May. I didn't have any restriction till late Nov so I kept bugging my doctor for fills. my last fill was in Jan and I have good restriction now. the funny thing is that I don't even know how many cc I have in my 10 cc band because my doctor flatly told me that he doesn't keep records of ccs.