I have a full band yet can eat anything!!

[Seaman 0]

Although, I had the surgery 2 years ago, because of moving to Houston which resulted in having to find a new fill doctor, plus my job keeping me out of the country every other month, I just recently had my band filled fully. How do I know it's filled to the brim? My last fill made it hard for me to drink Water. Also, for 3 days afterwards, when I tried to sleep, liquid and or food would come up into my throat making me cough. I even tried no food or liquids 6 hours before I went to bed with the same results. I did get some relief on the last night by putting phonebooks under the front legs on the bed. In an attempt to figure out what was happening, I did some online research concerning the problem with my coughing at night. The concenus was it meant my band was too tight. Even with this 'too tight' band, I was alarmed to find that I could still eat almost the same foods as I had for the past 2 years! I made an appointment with my fill doctor (Dr. Fill anyone? No? Well, I thought it was funny.). They confirmed that my condition was caused by my band being too tight and the doc even said during the previous fill that there was a lot of pressure when he added the saline. Anyway, he removed just a fraction of the amount he had put in the previous week, and I found I could now drink water as normal.

OK, now that I've gone through my boring history, here is my question. Why can I eat amost any food, including steak, if I take small bites and chew throughly? I understand the principle behind the band and know that I can pigout on ice cream anytime I want to. I don't do this, and I always try to eat chunky meats so the band can be effective. I can eat 6-8 slices of pizza as long as I take small bites and eat slowly. Occassionally, I will eat too fast and I have to barf, but I don't do this intentionally and if I suppress the barfing for a few minutes, the food passes and I can continue on. When I told my doctor about my eating habits, his suggestion was to take bigger bites and not to chew so throughly!! This is not what I was promised by the FAQS concerning lap bands!! Is this procedure just a joke at our expense and we have to pretend it's working? What am I doing wrong? I know that if I get my band filled even more, even small bites of food will not quickly pass, but I think being able to sleep at night is more important. Any suggestions?

[Daisalana 33]

It sounds like you just need to work more of you and rely less on the band. It's not easy

The band isn't a magic wand. If you are PBing from food, don't wait till it passes and keep eating. If you're anything like me, a PB makes you not hungry anymore. You may be head hungry, but your stomach isn't going to ask you to put more stuff in it. So you need to tame the head hunger. It does not take 6-8 slices of pizza to be 'full' or 'satisfied'. Pay attention to your stopping points. Again, this is all easier said than done, I've done the things you're talking about.

[Seaman 0]

Thanks for the reply, but this is what I'm on about. What you're saying is that the band doesn't stop you from eating. Instead rely on will power which is one of the things we've agreed we don't have in order to get the $20K piece of elastic. Sorry to sound so negative, but I couldn't (or wouldn't) control my eating on my own and thus I paid big bucks to have a somewhat dangerous medical procedure performed to help me. It isn't working. We all admitted that we couldn't lose weight, and keep it off, as part of the screening procedure to get the band. Otherwise, we would have just done it on our own. I want the band to do its part and then I'll do my part.

[argon 3]

Seaman, you should post your question somewhere else, like in "General' for example, and I think you'll get a lot more responses. This area is more for recipes and stuff like that.

Also... tell us about yourself. Has the band not been successful at all, or are you almost at goal? I feel for ya, I do. And I don't have any answers. I don't understand the thing myself.

[Alexandra 55]

The fact that you need to take small bites and chew thoroughly IS the band doing its work. How long does it take you to eat 6-8 slices of pizza without problems?

When I had good restriction, that would have taken me all day. Literally, half a slice of pizza would take 20 minutes to eat, and was plenty to make me not hungry anymore. Then I could go ahead and focus on something else. A couple of hours later, I'd actually be hungry again -- still human, remember -- and I'd eat again.

The band's role is to slow.us.down and make us think about every bite that goes in. Is it not doing that for you at all?

[Seaman 0]

Well I do eat much slower than before, but I can still comfortably eat 6 slices of pizza in about 20 minutes. Even though I'm certain that I eat less than before, it's not going to make a signifcant impact on my caloric intake. The idea behind the lap band if that the majority of people will not constantly eat ice cream or candy bars just because they can. food variety is necessary to overeat. Even the Atkins diet works by limiting the variety of food. If one were to go on a all you can eat chocolate diet, it would actually work (temporarily) because chocolate would soon become boring and you would soon dream of the day when you could eat brocolli again. I crave meat and that should work well with the lap band. It isn't and I'm curious as to why I can eat meat and pizza so easily.

[Daisalana 33]

I do find that odd, even with not as much restriction as I want, I can eat 1.5 pieces of pizza comfortably. Towards the other 1/2 of the 2nd slice, I hurt and don't want anymore. I can't imagine being able to eat that much right now.

I have PB'd and kept trying to eat tho, and it turned into a PB after every bite, and I think myself sick in the head that I continued.

Have they checked your band to make sure it's in proper position?

[tanderson 3]

Seaman, imo, there has to be something amiss with your band's position or something....it simply is not possible for 6-8 slices of pizza to fit in a pouch! Where did you have your surgery and when they did an unfill, how much did they remove?

[Seaman 0]

Not being an expert in lapbands, I can only make a half-assed guess as to whether or not my band has slipped. Even though I can eat tons of food, after 2-3 bites of pizza (or other solid foods) I do feel full and if I eat another bite, I will have to barf (what does PB mean anyway). But, if I wait 30secs to 1 minute I can actually feel the pressure subside and I assume that means the pizza has gone down into my lower stomach. This seems to point to the band holding the food in the pouch as it should. The problem is that it obviously isn't keeping it there long enough. If I try to drink when this happens, then I usually don't make it to the toilet in time as the pressure is overwhelming. My best guess is that I do need tightening to 'fix' my problem. Unfortunately, I know it will cause the problem with food coming back into my throat when I lie down. If I lived at home all year, I would actually just raise the headboard 6 inches and could probably live like this. I work at sea for 6 months each year and I can not adjust my bed out there. Why does overtightening causing this reflux problem?

[MollyBrown 0]

Seaman,

How much have you lost since getting your band? How much did you have to lose originally?

[Daisalana 33]

One thing I would worry about if you do this often, is you will eventually stretch your esophogus out to be another stomach. You can't cram all that food in that small little pouch.

[Candle 11]

I was also going to say possibly a stretched pouch? (or a slip - could be the cause of the reflux?)

Your doctor should be able to tell under floro.

How much confidence do you have in your new doctor? Recommending you take bigger bites and chew less concerns me a little. How experienced is he with the Band?

I hope things get better for you.

[acs 0]

I had the band in 4/25/07 and it is full but i could still eat way to much who could hlp me.

[peaches9 3]

Sounds like "Pouch Packing" to me and you've STRETCHED out your pouch, food is backing up into your esophagus and causing the reflux.

This could be dangerous and might cause your band to slip out of position.

I'd ask for an evaluation under floro.

N.B. PB'ing means 'Productive Burping' its not really 'barfing' as the food comes back up with just a gob of mucus around it and the food hasn't been mixed with stomach juices (lower pouch) yet.

[skyeblu79 0]

"If I try to drink when this happens, then I usually don't make it to the toilet in time as the pressure is overwhelming."

Part of the reason you aren't staying full maybe b/c you are drinking and eating. You should be waiting a period of time after eating before drinking. I have heard different people say different things, but I wait an hour. Also, the same thing before eating. Are you waiting between eating and drinking?

Good luck w/this. I understand it can be frustrating sometimes. I am still trying to figure this out myself.