This "tightness" you all speak of

[delopez3 0]

Hi!

Newbie here. Have been a lurker for awhile. I have a suregery date of March 22, 2010 and I am starting to get just a bit nervous. Not too bad.

I am wondering.

When you all say you feel more tight in the morning or just feel tight is then when you drink or eat?

Or, is a feeling that you have localized physically to your abdominal area regardless of drinking or eating?

I hope I am making some sense. :wink2: Is the tightness something you have like a muscle cramp that you can pin point or just a sensation when you dring or eat?

Thanks

Dee

[jalomum 1]

Hello Dee

The 'tightness' only refers to what will pass through the band. It is not something you can physically feel.

When you try to swallow something that will not go through, that is when you can tell how tight it is. Even then, it is the feeling of something being stuck not the feel of the actuall band around your stomach.

When I have enough fill- I never feel hungry before lunch time. If I do try to eat before then it does not seem to pass through the band no matter how long I chew. I can eat things at 4pm that I would not be able to eat at 10am. I can tell when I need a small fill because I start to feel hungry before lunch time.

It seems that there is less tightness later in the day than in the morning. My surgeon says that if you go and lie down in the afternoon the morning tightness resumes. He thinks it is to do with the distribution of fluids within your body. I have never tried this.

I had my band in August 2009 and it took until January 2010 to work all this out and I'm a quick learner!! I'm still learning to live with it but 30kg down and I would not like to be without it.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck with your op and the learning curve that will follow it.

This site is a wonderful place to find information and guidence.

Edited March 14, 2010 by jalomum
right sentance...wrong paragraph!

[onikenbai 33]

I disagree. I can completely feel the tightness. The intensity varies from I can feel it but it's not really uncomfortable to holy crap I'm completely and totally stuck! Take your thumb and press it against your sternum and that's sort of what it feels like, only from the inside. I have the former when I wake up and I can feel that I need to get some fluids into me before I even think of eating anything, and I feel the latter when... well when I'm stuck. Why the feeling is in the chest as opposed to the stomach though, still a complete mystery to me.

When you wake up in the morning everybody is slightly dehydrated from not drinking for 8hrs or however long you sleep. Hence the tightness. I also get the same feeling if I've been out doing field work all day and haven't had a lot to drink. There's no way I could come in from a day of field work and have a good meal without a lot of Fluid replenishment first.

I got my band in October and, like the previous poster, am still working out the kinks. Since no two people react to the band in exactly the same way it does take time to figure it all out. You can get all the direction in the world but it's one of those things you have to work through yourself.

[ElfiePoo 109]

It probably varies with the individual. When I say I'm tighter in the morning, it's not something I can actually feel. It's just something I've observed from eating. If I try to eat solid foods in the morning, I get stuck. So I do a Protein Shake because it doesn't get stuck.

.

[BetsyB 9]

I'm with Elfie; my morning tightness is only discernible when I eat. When not eating, I am not even aware of my band--except inasmuch as it reduces my hunger.

[Ohm 0]

I have to say I am totally with BetsyB, ElfiePoo and Jalomum: I cannot feel anything to do with the tightness but simply find that I can't get food down so easily inthe morning. I just find that a single mouthful of food makes me feel really full - and I need to make sure that I drirnk my tea before I try to eat anything or I will have to wait an hour or more before I can manage a drink.

Mind you, we are all different, and I really do believe that experience with the band varies wildly from person to person. Everyone has to suck it and see!

[delopez3 0]

Thanks for all your replies. The majority answers was what I was hoping to hear.

Dee