1st Fill! Very rough day....

[DeeDee40 3]

Okay today was my 1st fill. I was very excited this morning,because I thought great some restriction! I had my fill at 8 13am, by 816 I was throwing up! I was in the office to sip the 4oz cup of Water (that they make you drink before leaving) which is a good thing. I was throwing up crazy. God, it feels horrible. She takes me back in the room right away. I couldn't lay down for her to even check me because by now I'm really throwing up! She told me to lean against the wall and she would unfill me there. I had to stand up. WOW! She unfilled me just to get me to stop throwing up! With the needle still in she said she was unfilling me at least .75. It felt better than but I am still not great by a long shot! I am so MISERABLE right now. All I can drink is hot tea. I'm hungry but nothing is working. She said I proably would be swollen and uncomfortable after today. She says if I'm not eating solids by fri to come back to office. Please someone tell me this is gonna get better, I'm so scared of never being able to tolerate a fill EVER?? Any suggestions?? And when does this swelling go down that is making me so depressed right now. I was so excited, I'm really in the dumps right now. Please help! Dee

[Nicole74 4]

Woa...slow down and take a breath.....how much did she put in? sounds like she just put too much too soon....I see you had surgery just about a month ago..possible you were still swollen or had some in there already before the fill. Try not to freak out...you just may be only to get like a half of a cc each time and slowly build up...wait and see how you feel after a few days to a week....you will look back in a couple weeks and things will be much better! no one said this whole thing would be easy .... hang in there and try to relax.

[DebH 1]

So sorry that you had such a horrible experience today. My first fill I felt absolutely nothing. My second fill I could barely get the Water down in the office and belched constantly for the next 30 minutes, then sporadically throughout the rest of the day. I also could barely get down my clear Protein and water that day, but the next day was much better and two days later I was eating as before the fill, just not as much. Hopefully you will feel better when your swelling goes down.

[Cocoabean 430]

Got to agree with Nicole. Are you on Clear liquids for a few days to let things calm down? After a fill there is usually some swelling, if you were vomiting there would be more, then the unfill was even more trauma.

If you are still miserable tomorrow ask for a further unfill earlier. But if you can get fluids down, you won't get dehydrated. You might only be able to handle very small fills at a time. Just go very easy right now. Sip Clear Liquids, slowly.

Hope you feel better soon!

[DeeDee40 3]

Okay, I'm calmed down now. Sorry, this really has me messed up in the head. Thank you for putting a response so quickly. I personally think I got to much for my first fill. She started with 5.5 cc she took out .75. So i guess I have 4.75 cc right now. I'm sitting here trying to get some Jello down. And hopefully stay down. I know they are the professionals so I'm going to try to get through this tonight and PRAY it is a little better tomorrow. During our class to day she says they try to be aggresive the first fill only after that we will only be getting small fills. Is that how everyone else went.? I still love my lapband this is just one more little bump in the road to being healthier!!!! Do you think I had to much today? What was everyone elses first fill amount? sorry for the questions just curious. I know I'm swollen somewhere in this body so I'm just going to try and make it for these next two days. thanks everyone, I think I just panicked! I'm way better now. Dee

[anewlife10 0]

Okay today was my 1st fill. I was very excited this morning,because I thought great some restriction! I had my fill at 8 13am, by 816 I was throwing up! I was in the office to sip the 4oz cup of Water (that they make you drink before leaving) which is a good thing. I was throwing up crazy. God, it feels horrible. She takes me back in the room right away. I couldn't lay down for her to even check me because by now I'm really throwing up! She told me to lean against the wall and she would unfill me there. I had to stand up. WOW! She unfilled me just to get me to stop throwing up! With the needle still in she said she was unfilling me at least .75. It felt better than but I am still not great by a long shot! I am so MISERABLE right now. All I can drink is hot tea. I'm hungry but nothing is working. She said I proably would be swollen and uncomfortable after today. She says if I'm not eating solids by fri to come back to office. Please someone tell me this is gonna get better, I'm so scared of never being able to tolerate a fill EVER?? Any suggestions?? And when does this swelling go down that is making me so depressed right now. I was so excited, I'm really in the dumps right now. Please help! Dee

Ohhh no!!! I'm sorry you had that experience! I'm sure it will get better... just hang in there. Go slow, I'm sure it will get better. Maybe she needed to take more out.

I noticed in the 'surgeons' forum that we have the same surgeon. I am going for my 2nd fill tomorrow. Now I'm nervous, because Dr. P is supposed to give me my fill, the RN that normally does it was on vacation and she did such a great job on my first fill. I hope you feel better soon!!

[DeeDee40 3]

Hey I am going to send you a message in a few minutes. But I wanted to at least touch basis with you. I think I might need more out but im gonna wait til at least tomorrow. Amanda doesnt go on vacation until starting Monday. So you might still get her. good luck on your next fill. Dee

Ohhh no!!! I'm sorry you had that experience! I'm sure it will get better... just hang in there. Go slow, I'm sure it will get better. Maybe she needed to take more out.

I noticed in the 'surgeons' forum that we have the same surgeon. I am going for my 2nd fill tomorrow. Now I'm nervous, because Dr. P is supposed to give me my fill, the RN that normally does it was on vacation and she did such a great job on my first fill. I hope you feel better soon!!

[honk 780]

Hi. Five sounds like a lot to me for a first fill. I got 4 and when I stood up from the table I felt this swelling/constriction in my stomach area. Did'nt hurt really just felt super weird. I went and drank some Water and left. I think they just really gave you to much. Some doctors offices start with like 1-2.

[Bugaboo77 18]

Hey there! I had my first fill yesterday also. They put in 4 cc. When I got up, they had me drink Water and it just sat there. I told them it felt like I had something in the back of my throat like it was trying to regurgitate (water was stuck!) I had NEVER felt that before. They layed me down and took out 1 cc and that feeling went away immediately! So, I had my first fill with 3 cc. I was testing myself out this a.m. and ate a few bites of very soggy rice crispies (my daughter's left overs) and I got that same feeling! Crazy! It eventually went down. I have been drinking water all a.m. thus far. I made myself a carnation instant Breakfast with powdered milk (for extra protein). That is fine, but I need to take slow drinks. No more chugging like I did before I was restricted. haha. I get that feeling of being stuck again and lots of gurgling noises as it's trying to go through. It'll be okay, just having a fill has definitely brought me back to reality! I need to remember what I learned at surgery time and I need to remember those "commandments." ie. no drinking while eating, meat should be no bigger than a pencil eraser, chew your food 20x, etc.

[MellieW 0]

I know every Doc is different, but that seems pretty aggressive to me. My surgeon won't give the first fill until 6 weeks post-op and then it was just 1cc. My fills have been 1cc, 1.5cc's, and 1.25cc's and I have great restriction at this point. It seems that those with less conservative Doc's tend to have more issues short term and I wonder how that will translate long term. I know we all want that restriction, but maybe you could talk to your surgeon and ask for less aggressive fills in the future.

I hope you feel better soon!

[abraxasbear 16]

I also had my first fill yesterday. The surgeon had placed 3 cc in my 14 cc band at the time of surgery, and surprisingy, I was experiencing restriction and losing weight (31 pounds in the six weeks since surgery) at a good pace. The nurse practitioner who handles my fills said they usually like to go with five right away (not clear if that meant 5 total, or add 5 to the existing for a total of 8?). Since I'm doing so well though, he only added 1 cc. Like honk, I felt extremely "weird" when I got up from the examining table, but I was able to drink Water without any problem and the feeling subsided in a short time. The nurse practitioner said it was more likely from him manipulating the band, than from the fill itself. He had to do some real poking and prodding to find my port. I'm back on liquids for two days (he even suggested taking three days), but so far I'm having no problem with my Protein shakes or other liquids.

Personally, I'm hoping I didn't make a mistake by agreeing that an addition of only 1 cc was a good idea. In the last week I've been able to eat more than before--still a much smaller portion than pre-band, but more than when I first advanced to soft foods. My next fill won't be until January 26th, and I don't want to end up slowing down my weight loss due to such a small fill.

[SecondHandRose 0]

I got a total in my band of 2cc in a 10cc band on my first fill yesterday. My son got the equivalent of same in his 15cc.

I feel fine, drink a cold slushie all afternoon to avoid swelling. Today I am doing well with mushies and small meals. It is strange to be hungry yet feel full.