GOT FILLED LAST MONDAY, TOO TIGHT NOW! What should I do?

[New Hope 37]

Aurora, are you pbing (throwing up - like baby spitup) often? If you are, this is not good and could be because you are filled too tight, eating too quickly and/or swallowing too big of bites. Were you doing this before your fill -- as often? Bites of solid food should be no bigger than a pencil eraser and chewed to a pulp before swallowing. If you're doing this since your fill, then a very slight unfill (even 0.2) may make all the difference in the world and still give you good restriction. How about tracking your calories on www.fitday.com for a few days? This is a good way to see what types of food choices you are making, calorie contents, etc. Are you getting consistent (routine) exercise? Are you getting your daily Water load in? Good luck and please let us know how you're doing.

[donali 57]

I did 2 days liquids only, then got to the tuna stage, even had a hard boiled egg around 10:00 a.m. on Friday & was looking forward to a lovely dinner of cornish hen. Then around 3pm on Fri I had some lentil Soup. I've always sort of just drunk it, not chewed it, cause it slid right down. Well, this time it got stuck, I PB'd & haven't been able to get down much since, besides Water (which gurgles a LOT) a few Protein drinks (maybe it's hard cause they're cold) and chicken broth. That goes down the best, with no gurgling.

Hi Karen -

On the third day after your fill, you were able to eat tuna and a hard boiled egg with no problems - in the morning, no less! When most people can't eat solid foods until later in the day. That does not sound "too tight" to me - particularly since eggs are one of the common problem foods.

Your big mistake was being complacent with the lentil Soup - it got stuck, and now your stoma is irritated and swollen.

Yes - it CAN stay that way for a long time, depending on what exactly happened. Unfortunately the problem was compounded with the cold liquids you drank. Cold liquids generally = greater restriction.

If you don't get a slight unfill, this is my recommendation. STOP taking anything by mouth for at least 24 hours. After that time frame, sip very slowly only hot liquids for a day or two. Then branch into less hot liquids, and only when evening comes (assuming there has been no problems with the hot liquids), try something colder if you like. If it won't go down and stay down you probably need an unfill to let the swelling go down, whatever may still be stuck pass, and your stomach rest and get back into shape.

Be particularly careful in the mornings, since most people do tend to be more restricted then. I always started with hot liquids to see how they went before eating anything, and generally stuck with mushies until lunch. YMMV.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

[HarleyNana 10]

Hey Karen, Just curious how you're doing, if you conquered the tightness or if you had a little removed. Please let us know. Now I think I should have hung in there longer than 10 days, pooh.

[Mariposa Bella 3]

HI Karen, I just went through the same thing. But luckily I am fine now. I had a fill last Wed., I went from 1.2 cc's to 2 cc's and was so miserable the next day. I couldn't keep anything down, and was getting worse everytime I tried, but I discovered my mistake, from now on after every fill I will stay on warm liquids or broth for three days, then go to mushies for three days, then solids, my doctor ( that did my surgery) suggested to me that after every fill it is necessary for you to treat is as if you had just gotten your surgery, since your body has to adjust to the fill, well as of Friday morning I was desperate to get an unfill, but becasue I am three hours away from Dr. Gomez in Coral Gables, Fl, and he was in surgery all afternoon I couldn't get one. So I decided to do the next best thing and relax and follow my surgeons advice, well guess what it has worked, I am now eating mushies (and some crackers) with no problem, I am giving my body time to heal from all the pb'ing I had last week and time to get adjusted to the new fill. It all seems well now, I was prepared to drive over there to get an unfill, but I don't need one now. On the good side of all my problems, I did lose 5 lbs since Wed, so that is great, hopefully I will continue to lose weight with this new fill. And from now on every fill I get, I am following my surgeons instructions to the T. Good luck to you and hope you get to feeling better, because I know how miserable you feel.

Love,

[KarenB 0]

I got a lot unfilled today. .7cc's from a 1.7cc fill! By the time I got there, i could barely sip water! I really blew it with that Soup, but was surprised that just staying on fluids didn't help...I just kept getting worse. I guess everyone's body is different & takes to getting fills differently. Next week she'll start adding back SLOWLY & we'll see what happens.

Marie, you were so right. The Nurse P. said to me after seeing the esophagram (?) (film of fluoroscopy) where almost nothing was going thru, "Well, Karen, what do you want to do?" I said "No, Dory, what do YOU want to do?" I have to realize that she's the professional, and a good one at that, and I have to respect that. At that point, I wouldn't have cared if she took it all out! 4 hours later, I still have a tiny bit of gurgling after drinking, but thankfully I can drink! I'm on pepcid a.c. for a couple of days, supposedly that will help.

Thanks everyone for your support & encouragement.

[KarenB 0]

P.S. I only lost 1 pound through all this! Can you guys all come with me to my next fill?

[Emmy27 1]

Karen, it sounds like a great plan. Over the next week you can give your stoma a rest... it must have been working overtime.

I bet you were close to your sweet spot, just a bit over. At least now you have a range to work in... you know over that 1.7 will be too much.

With the one pound... it makes sense - you weren't getting ANYTHING in... your body kicked into survival mode. I bet you lose some this week (unless you go crazy, lol).

Wouldn't it be wonderful of this band of bansters could go marching with each other from fill to fill, lol. What a force to be reckoned with!

Glad you listened to your body... hard to do sometimes.

Hugs,

[Vera 7]

Good to hear your doing better. You did the right thing.

[HarleyNana 10]

Karen, it's not unsual not to lose, your body's probably trying to hold onto anything it could get and storing it. I hope things get a lot better for you.

[Infaith 1]

Hi Karen,

Heading to Portland for my 2nd fill today and looking for support and info on LBT and JUST saw this thread. Hope you are feeling better. Sounds like you did the right thing. Our bodies can be so weird, can't they?

Take care.

[KarenB 0]

Hey Darcey! Let us know how the fill goes. I can't wait to hear how much you got & if it was w/fluoro or not.

[Infaith 1]

Hi again Karen,

My fill went good today. Sure doesn't take Dr. Fitzpatrick to find the port without flouro. She gave me .65 for a total of 2.5 cc. Last time she told me 24 hours of liquids, but this time she told me 3 days liquids, then soft or mushies. We also went over some supplement stuff and a "cleansing drink" to use. Also talked about my night eating (my unstressing activity) and alternatives like yoga and meditation.

Let me know how you're doing, okay? So happy to see you reached "onederland"! That is so awesome! You go girl!

[KarenB 0]

Hi Darcey. O.k, what's a cleansing drink? I got .3cc's back today. I'll let you all know how that goes.

[Guest RainyKiss]

wow i had no idea that we should do liquids after pb'ing, honestly i didnt even know that it caused damage, i have eaten too fast several times, where it would come up, ashamed to say i just had another fill since i havent lost for about 6 weeks, im at 3cc's now, im kinda scared it may be too tight but just had it today so ill know in a few days how its going, i only have about 30 more lbs to go and i think i was just excited and in a hurry maybe, weight loss is very nice and i guess i didnt want it to stop! i forgot to ask dr. today after fill if its ok to take pills, i just took a benedryl but i snapped it in half and drank plenty of Water so i hope that is ok...let me know if anyone knows out there

[KarenB 0]

Hi RainyKiss. Yes, you should do liquids for 1 or 2 days after pb'ing. Also, my Dr. says liquids 2 days after a fill (full liquids, Soups, etc.) pills are o.k. for most people...I find the smaller the easier. If it's larger than an oval-shaped tylenol, I break it in pieces. When I was filled too tight, I had to empty capsules, mash every pill, etc.

I do take liquid vitamins, as the pills tend to be too large & quite hard on the stomach. I've found that many other bandsters take either liquid or chewable vitamins. I also take calcium chews and powdered Vitamin C.< /p>

Hope this helps,

Karen