Where's the "I'm full" feeling??

[Kat817 19]

Whether or not your band is filled at all during surgery will depend on the size of your band, and your surgeon. The small bands I have never heard of them being filled, until 4-8 weeks out from surgery.

Everyone is somewhat different on the inside as we are on the outside. I mean just as we all have 2 eyes, they are not EXACTLY the same, some are big, some small, some close set....you get the idea, well we are the same inside. And even though the surgeon is inside placing the band and looking at what he is doing to the outside of the stomach, even he is not seeing the inside of the stomach to assure that similar placement of the band yields similar results.

The nerves that signal fullness are at the top of the stomach-which is why the old diet idea of drinking a full glass of Water before eating, worked....if only for a few minutes, until the Water travelled through! Sometimes the band is placed where it actually puts pressure on these nerves, and hunger is diminished, or your full signal is hit VERY quickly when you do eat. For others, the placement does not connect with the nerve, and it will take a fill to squeeze the stomach down to be able to get that feeling. Yet others----which is actually most bandsters, will require 2 or more fills to get this sensation.

While it sounds ideal to have the band placed where hunger is eliminated or lessened, it does not have any effect at all on head hunger. Where you eat from boredom, habit....or a craving you get from a commercial on TV. That has to be done with willpower alone.

As you go on and you do feel restriction, oftentimes your tastes change. Some from having to chew things so well....highly processed foods, do not chew down well! And also some aversion therapy often takes place....when something causes a PB or discomfort, you just learn not to care so much for it! Sounds worse than it is, you just learn not to want it any more.

As has been mentioned, this time between healing and filling for restriction is often referred to around here as Bandster Hell. I often liken it to finally getting the new car you have been wanting after all this time.....and now there it sits, and you have no gas to go anywhere!!

Some of you will feel hungry, others will not. Some will lose weight before their first fill, others will not. In the end though, when you can begin working with the band instead of working by yourself, it will be easier.

Good Luck to all of you....hang in there!

Kat