Throwing In The Towel...

[PhotoNut 7]

er.. one more thing.. My band feels like it opens wide and beckons the entire supply of food on the planet into my stomach when its my TOM. I feel ravenous and like nothing can stop me. But reality is, I'm still not eating too much for a reasonable bandster. Are you journaling your food intake? Try it and get a clear picture of what you're eating. Throw in a bit more Protein when you get hungry like that. chicken, tuna, beef.. all great ways to feed that TOM band (fickle bitch that she is) *smiles*

[Jachut 487]

I get it, totally. I have been soooooooo lucky with this band and whilst I cared enough about my weight problem to have the surgery I was and have always been pretty fill shy. The way other people talk about living with their bands, well I know I could not live like that. I could not live with entire food groups disappearing off the radar, I absolutely could not live with PB's being a regular feature of my life.

It might comfort you to know I'm now up to 2.5cc in my band (4cc band) and I dont have those problems. Its harder now, I have to eat more carefully but I can still eat virtually anything and I still eat enough so that people wouldnt notice how little I eat kind of thing. I'd still eat a cup, cup and a half of food at a time.

I'm losing weight just fine. You dont need to give up anything. The most I notice now is the band is sometimes a bit finicky, I have sat down to eat a few times and just not really wanted to perservere. I still need my willpower at those times of day when I tend to get head hunger, becuase I can eat plenty of crappy foods, lol.

Get the fill, inch your way up, for me, I havent hit that spot yet where the band stops becoming a tool and becomes something that strictly polices what and how much I eat and I personally want to stay shy of that point.

But that magical after surgery restriction where its so easy to lose - hmm, not sure that will ever return (for me anyway). Dont know that I want it either.

[health1st 1]

I"m a NO FILL and I can totally relate! I'm with you Kabberah. (as usual)

I am NOT afraid of the needle. I can live with that. When I finally went in for a fill they couldn't find the port and poked at me for 20 minutes and I never got the fill.

So I waited a few weeks and still lost weight but I am hungry at least part of the time and can eat most anything.

BUT I had serious complications with surgery and I don't want to be too tight and end up with ANOTHER slipped band. I see my Doc this week to talk about all of this and I guess he'll try to do a fill, again. However I'll request it to been done under flouro this time.

I think I'll ask for .5cc, do you think that is too little?? I have a VG 10cc band.

[vinesqueen 2]

Wow, You've done so well without any fill! Well done! It's likely that you will only need a small fill.

Since you did so well without a fill for so long, it's a good bet that you will only need a small fill. Not everyone who is properly restricted has to have microbites.

The band is not about being restricted, it is about losing weight. It's not about surgically induced bulimia.

[health1st 1]

Saw my Doc today and l had lost 5 pound in 3 weeks so he said "why fix it, if it ain't broken!". I thought for sure he was going to push me for a fill.

He also said that the latest stats show that 30% of bandsters in Australia lost weight WITHOUT ever having a fill.

ALSO, that I need to be eating more protien. 5 small meals a day, mostly protien. I have not been doing that. So I'll focus on that and see how it goes and see him in 2 weeks.

I think we are told to get a fill at 6 weeks and we assume were are SUPPOSE to. And my Doc is learning too.

I am so grateful for this site. Kabaleeh, keep up posted and do what is right for you!

[kabeerah 0]

Health1st that is great. Thanks for the update. I have been doing 3 meals (2cups) no Snacks. Maybe I will change it around to 6 meals (1cup). what do you think?

Jachut, I am so glad you understood what i meant. i was starting to question myself.

Jack, you beat me to reply to Vinesqueen.

VQ, I love that quote. Thank you for your support and well wishes. Just read your comment on the thread killer board and I was glad to see that you still responded. I hope everything works out well for you. You have amazing patience.

Photonut, I'm just now seeing your posts here. Thanks for the link, I saved it in my favorites. Are you saying that you are completely unfilled now?

[health1st 1]

When I was first banded I was "nearly" religious with the 5 small meals a day, mostly protien. As I started to add foods, I just stopped doing it. I was pretty much eating like a normal person, just not nearly as much as I used to pre-banded. BUT for the next 2 weeks I'm going to try the mostly protien, 5-6 meals and see how it goes with the hunger. And see if I contintue to lose weight. I do get a lot of exercise for a fat girl, so I think I need more calories at times.

[health1st 1]

Oh, yes. My Doc said 4-6 ounces of protien per meal. So 1 cup 5-6 times a day of protien really isn't that many calories. You are probably doing 6 cups now, you'll be doing the same, just spaced out.

[PhotoNut 7]

Photonut, I'm just now seeing your posts here. Thanks for the link, I saved it in my favorites. Are you saying that you are completely unfilled now?

I am saying that. I have been unfilled for a month. I too am tempted to get a fill, but now and then I have that pressure feeling behind my breastplate and it makes me wonder if I really need one. I know I haven't been eating as well as I should. I'm not journaling my daily intake. I'm not drinking 64oz of Water per day. I'm not getting 30 mins of exercise per day.. ha! per week.. ha! per month! *laughs* And, I'm drinking about 500 extra calories in wine per day. Who am I to say I need more restriction? How would I know? Until I am doing all of those things, I won't know. If I were doing them, I might be losing 3 or 4 pounds a week. Why would I need a fill?? And how would one fix those things? It won't.

Anyway, I replied again to your other thread about this. I think I'm being so wordy because while I'm talking to you, I'm also talking myself through this. So thanks for giving me that opportunity!

[kabeerah 0]

Wow! Healthy1st and Photonut, we are basically all in the same boat! How bout we be each others accountability buddies? Just don't hold me to the excerise thing yet..not for about a little over a week so that I can get a new stroller and take the kids with me for my 3 mile walk (at least the baby and dh can take the others).

[health1st 1]

Kabeerah, I'm up for it. I do need accountability. Not so much for XXX pounds lost but for what I am eating.

By the way I do have restriction even with no fill! I ate some cherries last night, 12 of them and didn't PB or anything but I was definetly uncomfortable! The volumn of 12 cherries is a lot so what was I thinking? I WASN"T!!. . . .just some old mindless stuffing food in my mouth.

[health1st 1]

Check this out - long-term bandsters with fill problems. Another reason not to get a fill!!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22031

[stinaNYC 0]

I guess maybe I'm confused. If you all don't have fills, then how is the band even working? The purpose of the band is to have restriction that limits your food intake by force. If you're losing weight without that restriction you're just losing weight the old fashioned way...limiting portions.

Or am I missing some crucial piece of info? I just don't understand how the band is serving as a tool if you don't *activate* the tool.

[health1st 1]

Even with no fill there is restriction. Have you ever held a lapband in your hands. If you look at a lap-band you can see that even not filled there is a very small opening, depending on the band, about an inch in diameter. Then picture your stomach is inside the band. That makes the opening even smaller. With the stomach inside the band and the band (unfilled) my guess is the hole is at the most 1/2 inch and in most cases much smaller. I still have restriction. It also makes sense on why the band is so fickle, filled or not. The slightest irritaion make our stomachs swell and the hole gets smaller. It may change day to day.

[health1st 1]

"The purpose of the band is to have restriction that limits your food intake by force."

NYC: It is just my opinion but I don't think the band's purpose is to limit our food by force. The band is to help us feel full faster when we work with it. I don't think it was meant to be a horrible experiece that makes us vomit and be in severe pain when we don't make good choices (I know you can make good choices and still be in pain, hence the over-fill). I try to make good food choices and then the band helps me feel full faster. My Doc made it clear that I'd still have to make some behavioural changes and learn what head hunger is.