Do you feel food passing through the band? I do. Need a fill?

[hokiemama 13]

My last fill was November 2012. I have 7 cc in 10 cc band. I still do not think i have ever reached my "sweet spot/green zone". I have always struggled with not chewing well enough and taking small bites. I still eat to fast and do not chew enough. I will feel the food almost instantly stop at my band, then if I sit up real straight, take as deep breath, and move around a little, I feel it pass through. Does that mean I need a fill? I do have problems getting things down in the mornings. pills can get stuck sometimes. I do not throw up. I just hurts until a can wiggle enough to get it to pass. I instantly feel when it goes through the band. Do others have that feeling? I do have an appointment next week but I do not want to get too tight. My portions are back up to way over a cup of food. I ate almost a whole cheeseburger last night with the bun. I know a cheeseburger is bad. I'm trying to get myself back on track. I've had the band for over 2 years and still have 35-40 lbs. to lose. Any suggestions? Do others experience this?

[line-dancer 810]

If you can eat a cheeseburger with bun you either like pain or am need a fill. Good thing you have an appointment to discuss this with your doctor.. you have come a long way don't trick yourself into not finishing...you can do it

[willowcat 93]

My last fill was November 2012. I have 7 cc in 10 cc band. I still do not think i have ever reached my "sweet spot/green zone". I have always struggled with not chewing well enough and taking small bites. I still eat to fast and do not chew enough. I will feel the food almost instantly stop at my band' date=' then if I sit up real straight, take as deep breath, and move around a little, I feel it pass through. Does that mean I need a fill? I do have problems getting things down in the mornings. pills can get stuck sometimes. I do not throw up. I just hurts until a can wiggle enough to get it to pass. I instantly feel when it goes through the band. Do others have that feeling? I do have an appointment next week but I do not want to get too tight. My portions are back up to way over a cup of food. I ate almost a whole cheeseburger last night with the bun. I know a cheeseburger is bad. I'm trying to get myself back on track. I've had the band for over 2 years and still have 35-40 lbs. to lose. Any suggestions? Do others experience this?[/quote']

I do sometimes feel the food pass through. But, be careful! Yes, it seems sort of unusual that you can eat a cheeseburger with bun (not at sweet spot?). But if pills are getting stuck--how big are these pills?!--then you don't want to go too much tighter. If you're still eating big bites, getting a fill won't help you; you'll just end up getting stuck. Being too tight (for the size of bites you take and swallow) is awful. You'll find that pretty soon you can't eat anything but slider foods and after awhile your body starts yelling that it needs some NUTRITION--but anything healthy gives you problems--so you start feeling worse and worse.

[hokiemama 13]

Thank you for your feedback. I decided not to go for a fill this week. Although I ate a cheeseburger with no pain, I think I am just not listening to my band. When a pill gets stuck its in the mornings as that's when my band is the tightest. I am afriad if I get a fill that I will be too tight and resort to slider foods and that will be worse. I am going to do the 5 day pouch test and see how things feel. I started trying paying closer attention to stop eating when I am "no longer hungry" instead of full. That's the hardest thing for me when the food tastes good. After 2 years I should be passed that, but I am still struggling. If I do the pouch test and feel like I truly need a fill, I will get one. For now, I think it's behavioral!

[1goodmom 0]

What is a pouch test? I just got another fill last week and I too can feel when the food stops and then passes. It has started to hurt right in the middle of my chest when the food finally passes through. Is this normal? I'm worried that maybe I am too tight now. What do you mean by sliders? Im new to this band thing ( only 6 months in) and so far only lost 26lbs....so dissapointing. Any suggestions you can give is great

[dreamers 27]

I'm still a newbie also (3 months) but I noticed I was able to eat bigger portions even though I was still getting fills and can feel the food going down. I also noticed people talking about the 5 day pouch test or versions of that which is basically the same as shrinking your stomach to its natural size.

You know how pre-band when we started a new diet and exercised Portion Control, the first few days were the hardest cos your stomach is used to more food? But then as u went along u got used to it and your stomach got smaller?

That's how doing the pouch test felt for me. I followed it closely and now my stomach feels smaller and I don't need anymore fills for a while.

That is if I now work harder to stop when 'satiated'. I still struggle with it often but now if I can see my portions getting bigger but I still feel my band is tight enough, I know I can go on liquids a few days and get that full feeling back.

It also kick starts weight loss when facing plateaus. I highly recommend it. I know some veterans on here do that too and it works for them.

Good luck

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

I'm glad you didn't get the fill because I fear you'd be too tight.

Just because you can eat a lot (like a cheeseburger) doesn't mean you need a fill. That band isn't supposed to physically stop you from eating anything and this is why it's so important we stick to band sized portions. The band is supposed to keep you satisfied on less food for longer periods of time, not stop you from over eating.

Here's a great link I think will help considerably: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

[Lady VS 1,147]

Hi there. We have the same band and had the same amount of solution in it until I got my fill last week. I only had .2cc put in to help with me being able to eat a whole junior bacon cheese burger too. LOL Don't feel bad. I have had the same feelings that you feel and it does come from forgetting to chew your food and taking smaller bites. In regards to taking meds, I cut mine in half even though the instructions say not too. I'm not trying to end up in the er because I tried to swallow a whole pill. When you go to your appointment, just ask for a couple of point ccs to help with you not eating that junk food we love so much and don't forget to chew, chew, chew. Good luck.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

In regards to taking meds, I cut mine in half even though the instructions say not too. I'm not trying to end up in the er because I tried to swallow a whole pill.

You should talk to your pharmacist asap. If the instructions say not to cut or crush the pill and you are anyway, you could very easily end up in the ER from an overdose. That is why they say not to not crush or cut certain pills.

Please talk to your pharmacist before cutting or crushing anymore, for your own safety.

[Lady VS 1,147]

If that were the case I think I would have been in the er well over a year ago. Thanks for your input but I'm fine.

[hokiemama 13]

I am satisfied with my decision so far to wait on the fill. Since I have started actually trying to stop eating when no longer hungry- instead of FULL, I am noticing that I am no longer hungry after a couple of bites. It is so much about how I think mentally than what I feel physically. I have never listened to my body. I have always eaten until really full, almost stuffed. That's why I've been overweight all of my life. food has always been my comfort. Physically hungry or not. It's emotional hunger that the band cannot stop. If you eat even though you are not hungry or keep eating too much when you are no longer hungry, that isn't the band's fault. That's a behavior that I have to work harder to change. I finally decided that if I start to stretch, straighten, and move around because of some discomfort in my chest, THAT'S MY CLUE TO STOP. Duh. I've looked at it as maybe not being at the green zone or not chewing good enough. Either way, it's uncomfortable because my pouch is full. Even if that feeling passes after a few minutes, I need to stop when it first happens. If I can continue doing that, I will be much more successful because that happens within a few bites usually.

The 5 day pouch test is two days of liquids and three days of Proteins. There are lots of websites about it if you google it. It is helpful not only to shrink down the pouch but to get out of the cycle of cravings and eating junk. It can be very helpful, although I haven't made it all 5 days. LOL Slider foods are those foods that you really don't need to chew and they slide right through the band, allowing you to eat more. For example mashed potatoes, ice cream, pudding, etc. So, the good thing is that we can start over with the band. If we screwed up yesterday, do better today. This forum is packed full of success stories. And I have not seen any that were without stuggle or issues along the way. We had to have surgery because we have issues with food. It was nice to hope that the band would make all of that disappear and we would be different people because of it. But in reality, we still have to do a lot of work with our thoughts and behaviors. The band is a tool to help us with that, it won't do it alone.

[time4time 1]

I had the same issue with feeling my food pass thru my band. I had an appt yesterday and once I told my dr that I can feel the food drop thru my band she immediately made me take a swallow X-ray and found out that the pouch above my band was stretched. She said that if we had not caught it early I might have to have all the Fluid removed from band or surgery to reposition the band. When the pouch stretches you actually start gaining weight because you don't get full restriction. Like you being able to eat a cheeseburger She took out half the fluid out of my band did another X-ray to make sure the pouch size shrank and put me on the liquids for one week and soft foods the next week. Even though you are doing the pouch test you may also need a unfill. I hate to say it ! I had 6 cc in a 10 cc band now I have 3 cc. The unfill leaves you kind of gassy I burped the whole first day after and my stomach is swollen so I have not been hungry. I hope you go to the doctor and have them check you out sometimes self diagnosis will only make a easy fix ( unfill) more complicated by prolonging care.