Why?

Elisabethsew · June 21, 2006

I went in today for a second fill and asked the surgeon why it can take up to 2 weeks for a fill to "kick-in." He told me the real answer is that nobody knows but, based on his experience with doing over 4,000 fills, he speculates the following:

As a result of the banding, scar tissue forms. When you add Fluid to the band port to decrease the band diameter, the band presses against the scar tissue. It seems to take one to two weeks in SOME people for the scar tissue to stay compressed and THAT is when people start to feel the restriction. For others, restriction is felt right after the fill.

It would be interesting to hear the experiences of other surgeons concerning this phenomenon.

Nana~ · June 21, 2006

hmm, interesting! I wonder too sometimes I feel it asap, others It takes a week or two.

Alexandra · June 21, 2006

I agree with your surgeon, but would have explained it a little differently. Restriction is a result of a combination of factors, not just the amount of Fluid in the band. One of those factors is the thickness of the stomach tissue being compressed inside the band, and this is not a static thing. I think some people's stomach tissue reacts to increased pressure by "thinning out," which actually increases the size of the stoma temporarily. When it returns to its usual thickness, the stoma size decreases and voila! More restriction.

It's the reaction time that varies from person to person. My fills always have taken 2-3 weeks to make themselves felt, which when I think about it isn't too surprising. I'm a very slow reactor in general, it seems: it takes medication or anaesthesia longer to work and work itself out, both of my children gestated so long I had to be induced, and I'm always the last one in the family to catch a cold or be cured of one. It just seems like a pattern of biological slow-response, and this late restriction thing falls right into it.

Elisabethsew · June 21, 2006

I agree with your surgeon, but would have explained it a little differently. Restriction is a result of a combination of factors, not just the amount of Fluid in the band. One of those factors is the thickness of the stomach tissue being compressed inside the band, and this is not a static thing. I think some people's stomach tissue reacts to increased pressure by "thinning out," which actually increases the size of the stoma temporarily. When it returns to its usual thickness, the stoma size decreases and voila! More restriction.
It's the reaction time that varies from person to person. My fills always have taken 2-3 weeks to make themselves felt, which when I think about it isn't too surprising. I'm a very slow reactor in general, it seems: it takes medication or anaesthesia longer to work and work itself out, both of my children gestated so long I had to be induced, and I'm always the last one in the family to catch a cold or be cured of one. It just seems like a pattern of biological slow-response, and this late restriction thing falls right into it.

I hope that theory works with me, Alex. I need half the medication amounts that a "normal" person takes so I sure hope this fill is felt sooner rather than later (or not at all). Your explanation makes a lot of sense. Thank you.