I Don't Know What To Do

[HotButterFly 981]

I'm scheduled for a fill tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should get one. I'm very close to green... If I'm not already there. I'm hunger-free for FOUR hours, but I can definitely eat more than a cup of food; also, I don't wake up hungry, but I've been sliming & throwing up a little too much lately MOSTLY because of eating too fast and not chewing as much as I should. I need to chew better, eat slower, and take smaller bites and that should take are of the sliming & regurgitation

If I get it, I'll ask for .25 ONLY.... Help me sort this out, guys. Thanks.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

If it were me, I wouldn't get the fill. You sound like you're already in the Green Zone.

Remember, just because you can eat more than a cup of food doesn't mean you need a fill. It means you need to stick to band sized portions and be aware of when you're satisfied. The band isn't meant to physically stop you from eating anything. The saying around here is "just because you can eat more doesn't mean you should".

The band will tell you that you've had enough by means of no longer being hungry. Some people even have soft stops. But if you want to eat more than a cup, you can and will, regardless of Green Zone. Many people end up too tight by making this mistake and end up with complications and slips because of it.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Mis73

[terrydumont46 1,954]

i am opposite of you. i can't eat more than a cup, mostly less, but i am not satisfied between meals. it takes a bit of will power not to snack between meals. so i am debating on getting a fill on the 26th. but my doctor will discuss it with me and she is very good at what she does which is just lapbands. the other doctor does the other wls. she loves the teaching involved with lapband patients and being so involved in our journey or she says process. i will trust her

[parisshel 1,892]

I probably wouldn't get a fill if I were in your situation. If you are already experiencing PBing and slimming, even a slight fill might increase the likelihood that you will move towards slider foods, without even being conscious of this, due to the negative feedback loop you are experiencing.

[NaNa 878]

I'm scheduled for a fill tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should get one. I'm very close to green... If I'm not already there. I'm hunger-free for FOUR hours, but I can definitely eat more than a cup of food; also, I don't wake up hungry, but I've been sliming & throwing up a little too much lately MOSTLY because of eating too fast and not chewing as much as I should. I need to chew better, eat slower, and take smaller bites and that should take are of the sliming & regurgitation

If I get it, I'll ask for .25 ONLY.... Help me sort this out, guys. Thanks.

Hello...

Here is where the lap band gets tricky and get MOST people in trouble.

Remember the band IS A TOOL. Remember those 3 words and repeat them to yourself as long as you have your band.

We get a bit spoiled once we see the scale moving and we also get "addicted" to saline.

You are RIGHT NOW in the green zone, but you are not using it properly, if you don't pay attention to your GREEN ZONE SIGNS you will miss them and go right into RED and start having issues.

You MUST pay attention to your band right now, it is SCREAMING AT YOU...you also most slow down when eating....listen to subtle signs, like hiccups, burps, runny nose, even a sigh, to stop eating, measure out your food, only eat dense foods, slowly and stop at about 1 cup of food, remember the band does not start to control our appetite until about 2 hours after EACH meal, remember the band is about appetite suppression instead of restriction and vomiting.

You can choose to use your band however you want, the restriction and vomiting approach does not work long term, only cause complications and band removal.

Here are the signs that YOUR BAND IS WORKING:

1. You wake up NOT hungry -- this IS your tool to NOT eat and lose weight.

2. You say that you don't get hungry for 4 hours between meals - Your band IS doing its job right now. The lap band is designed to ONLY DIM your appetite for about 4 hours between meals, NOT stop you from eating. Remember, those who get the band so tight to restrict them to only liquids -- well they don't keep a lap band very long.

3. If you are struggling and not losing weight, it could be head hunger, remember the tighter the band, the LESS healthy foods you can eat, unless you learn how to puree, and live on Protein shakes, and this approach can still backfire, with a slipped band, it's not easy live with a very tight lap band with all the misery it comes along with.

4. If you are slimming and throwing up frequently -- YOU SHOULD NOT GET more saline added to your band -- the misery will get worse and even create reflux, you need to REALLY learn how to live with your band BEFORE getting more saline. If you are throwing up because you are eating too fast, always eat in a tiny bowl, take pea size bites, allow your food to go down before taking another bite, make sure most of your food is moist and band friendly, if you are still throwing up, you need saline removed instead of adding more.

5. Everyone that I've KNOWN to heavily depend on the band to stop them from eating and they could only get down liquids no longer have a lap band.

6. If your weight has stopped, you need to figure out why, are you being honest with yourself? Remember it's a 50/50 deal, are you truly doing your part? Are you exercising? Are you eating mostly Proteins? Are you counting your calories? No one said it's not easy, losing weight and KEEPING it off with ANY weight loss surgery requires work, and diligence.

Wishing you good luck and I hope you can find an easy safe middle ground to your journey.

[LynnR 42]

Thanks for your post NaNa!! This is going to really help me too. My biggest problem right now is still eating

to fast and to big of bites. I haven't vomited yet, and I hope I never do. But I do get a pain when my bites

are to big. Your post has helped me understand more too. I have only been banded since October 4th.

Lynn

[SandyM 1,956]

I had the same situation when I went to my surgeon Monday. She went ahead and gave me a small fill and I decided to give it a test drive. I'll be very careful ( I start back on real foods tomorrow) and if I see that it's not going to work for me, I'll go back immediately and have part or all of that fill removed and be satisfied. I wasn't quite green but felt like I was pretty close. But, if I had to do it over, I might have passed on the fill. You can always skip one and give yourself a few weeks to train yourself to eat right before deciding. Do you think you could postpone your appt by a few weeks?

[NaNa 878]

Here is another thing to ponder while getting a fill when you do not need one:

If just "removing" saline after being too tight was "simple" there would not be that many complications.

Here is the problem with this:

1. Getting back into the "green zone" safely AFTER being too tight, may not work, many have complained and reported after removing saline from being too tight, NEVER puts them back into the green zone, they create a unfill/refill game and it becomes HARD to find the "sweet spot" again.

2. Every time you unfill and refill the band can sometimes create scar tissue (if saline is not removed immediately after learning you are too tight), and it makes it very difficult to get back into the green zone again.

3. If just removing saline AFTER being too tight for a while was simple and easy, then everybody who's band has slipped could just remove saline and then be OK, and not have to have the band removed or replaced.

4. The biggest problem what many do not understand is that "damage" is being done while the band is too tight, and this is why MANY report that UNFILLING the band AFTER being too tight never works for them to stop the reflux and they still complain of problems because once damage is done, the band is ruined and have to either removed or replaced.

You need to think of this possibility if you plan on moving forward with tightening your band even though you are already in the green zone.

Good luck

[B-52 7,113]

I'm scheduled for a fill tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should get one. I'm very close to green... If I'm not already there. I'm hunger-free for FOUR hours, but I can definitely eat more than a cup of food; also, I don't wake up hungry, but I've been sliming & throwing up a little too much lately MOSTLY because of eating too fast and not chewing as much as I should. I need to chew better, eat slower, and take smaller bites and that should take are of the sliming & regurgitation

If I get it, I'll ask for .25 ONLY.... Help me sort this out, guys. Thanks.

How much is in your band now? How many fills prior....?

Everything you mention sounds like you're there.....for me, after my last fill, I was definitely in the green but it took me a good 2 months, at least, to get it all figured out....it is a balancing act with a lot of different variables....learning a new lifestyle where all those rules started to come into play...

But the more I learned and practiced how to live with it, the easier it became....and now it is a no thought, day to day common thing...without any complications and little worries.

I have not been stuck nor slimed in over 2 years now....and I am never hungry, not just between meals...and my food portions are limited by the band, making it impossible to over eat, even if I wanted to. Which I don't.

Edited December 17, 2013 by B-52

[HotButterFly 981]

If I could hug each and every one of you I WOULD. Thank you for your responses; they were, for the most part, things I ALREADY knew, but I guess I just needed to HEAR it again to drive it home.

Missy, I know the band's job is not to physically make us not eat, what I meant by I can eat more than a cup is that sometimes I'm not totally satisfied with that little bit of food... Although that might be a "head" thing, and I'll probably sort through that issue as I learn more about being in GREEN. Thanks for all the info

Nana, I don't ever want to be near RED. I was there once after an aggressive fill, and I ran to the emergency room the same night because a sip of coffee almost killed me. Yes, I need to slow down. I noticed that all the times I've found myself in trouble, it has been times when I'm eating right before I leave the house, or when it's almost time to pick up the kids and I haven't had lunch yet, or when we are going shopping and its getting late...

I also have to start using my TIMER again. I had it set for every four hours and I wouldn't eat before it went off. I need to start doing that again. I definitely know I'm not TOO tight, as I'm able to eat dense food with no problem, as long as I take my time.

B-52, I have 6.5 in a 10 band and its probably my 6th or 7th fill (I lost track). It sure does feel like a balancing act. I hope I have this all figured out soon. I'll start with eating slowwwwwer. Thanks again to all of you for helping me figure out I DON'T need another fill (for now) and that I am, indeed, at GREEN!! Now I just have to learn how to really work this to my advantage. XOXOXOXO

[mjt0601 25]

I got banded on Sept 10...I am 46 lbs down from surgery so I am averaging 3 lbs a week...sometimes I get hungry at 3 hours sometimes I go 5 hrs before I get hungry I think the amount of Water I drink or don't drink affects that ...I haven't had a fill yet at all (I'm kinda scared to get one) I've said no to 3 fills and I'm making sure to exercise even if its a biggest loser video in my living room (yesterday my 5 yr old was "coaching" me through it wearing underwear and tennis shoes lol and telling me good job and he's proud of me... even though he was under my feet a lot it was so cute lol) I go back for my next appt the beginning of January so we will see how I feel then...I figure if I'm losing I can put up with a few hungry growls good luck and Merry Christmas!