Too Tight or Just Right

[fancyface 0]

:cursing:Hi my name is Donna and Im from Melbounre Australia, I read your too tight or just right, and i would love to known how would i known if it was to tight or just right????. Because there are days that i can eat ok and then there are days i dont eat. Is this how it should be, or not??. The little food i do eat is very little and it feels like i have heartburn not all the time. would be great to hear back from you , thank you Donna ( fancyface ) :rolleyes2:

[CoachCher 1]

Hi Leilaann,

I'm not sure about flem, I have never experienced that issue. I've been banded 4 1/2 years so this is a new sympton for me. I would discuss this with your surgeon or post on the main board to see if others have experienced excessive flem.

[CoachCher 1]

Hi Donna,

If you are just right you should be able to eat a "Normal" meal without complications.

If you are throwing up everytime you eat you might be too tight. You also need to make sure you are taking small bites and chewing your food to liquid before you swallow.

If you are doing these two things and still throwing up you very well could be too tight.

I hope this helps.

[hippi 0]

THANK YOU THANK YOU. I JUST GOT ON HERE TO ASK THIS VERY QUESTION. YOU ANSWERED IT GREAT!!! I HAD MY FILL LAST WEEK AND HAVE THROWN UP TWICE, BUT I THINK IT WAS MY FAULT. NOT CHEWING GOOD ENOUGH. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! SK IN NM...

[lspeeler1 1]

Hi -

I'm going through something kind of like you are talking about. Friday night I was fine and I was shocked that I ate pizza and had no problems. Last night I had steak for dinner and chewed very well and was sick after the first 3 bites. I threw up all night but it didn't seem like it was out. I was even throwing up Water. Then it seemed to ease up and this morning I had coffee and now cottage cheese. Maybe I need to stick to soft foods for a few days because I'm feeling sore.

[Lanakila 1]

I am generally feel tighter in the morning and then feel that I loosen up during the day. If you think you are tighter than you need to be, see if this might be contributing to your troubles too.

[SBNYC 0]

:cursing:Hi my name is Donna and Im from Melbounre Australia, I read your too tight or just right, and i would love to known how would i known if it was to tight or just right????. Because there are days that i can eat ok and then there are days i dont eat. Is this how it should be, or not??. The little food i do eat is very little and it feels like i have heartburn not all the time. would be great to hear back from you , thank you Donna ( fancyface ) :thumbup:

Yes, the phlegm thing has happened to me many times with my last fill (8.1 in a 10cc band). My take is that the food gets stuck and the saliva builds up and is unable to go down. Once you throw it up it usually allows you to swallow. As for the Pavlov reaction....I've been there. The head wants to eat but the body doesn't allow it. Believe me, it gets easier from that perspective.

[HD Gloria 0]

Your article sounds like you might understand my problem. I had my surgery 6 months ago. I recently had a barium xray and the tubing is not leaky and working properly, the band looked nice and snug with 7ccs.

The problem is that I have no sensation of fullness - I never feel any different. I do get the hiccups occassionally. I've talked to the DR and since the mechanics are correct, he can't really help me. I've talked to two people who've had the surgery with success and they're totally surprised, can't understand it.

Do you think I just need to try alittle more fill or maybe a little less so food will actually get stuck and tell me to stop.

I know that I'm not doing my part as far as wise food choices and exercise but the point is the band isn't helping me at all either.

So far this really, really expensive for no results.

Gloria

[CoachCher 1]

Hi Gloria,

It sounds like it could be two things. One you will not feel full in your tummy, you will feel full in your chest. I'm not sure if you are waiting to feel full in tummy or not so that could be one thing.

Two being adjusted might not be the way to go either. If you already know you are not making wise food choices; getting an adjustment is not going to make it better. In order to know if the band is working correctly is by eating good solid Protein. If you are eating slider foods no amount of fill is going to change you from being able to eat those types of foods. Try eating good solid protein first to see if that makes a difference. The band is only a tool and it's up to us to make it work correctly.

[jarsari14 0]

I have asked the doctor why is I never feel full, his answer is he doesn't want me to lose weight to fast. But I am discouraged and still hungry. I walk 3 miles a day that is the only reason I do lose some weight. Because I can eat anything

[luckyfive101 6]

it seems in the 5 months i have had the band, i have experienced ALL THE SYMPTOMS mentioned on this site! LOL! At times, I am unable to eat anything... others, i can eat pretty normal. Those "normal meals" make me think I need a fill, and the "eatting nothing" meals make me feel I am too tight. I realized quite early in my journey I cannot eat when i first wake up. I usually have only coffee for the first 2-3 hours after i wake up, then i have a mushy meal to ease into a "real meal" later in the day. I have lost 40 pounds in 5 months, so this obviously is working for me. I am still figuring things out, but I still believe the band has been the BEST THING i could have done for myself at this time in my life! Hang in there....... we'll get there together!

Edited November 14, 2008 by luckyfive101
needs to be finished.. ended too soon

[jeansk 0]

As with many of you, I have experienced all of these symptoms. I generally have a Breakfast drink smoothie in the a.m. Some mornings, even that doesn't go down too easily. I really don't do well at lunch, as I feel frustrated that anything healthy would be too difficult to attempt. So I often have milk and carbohydrate.

I start to get hungry by late afternoon, and snack sporadically.

dinner goes down more easily with small sips of wine. Interestingly, I often have more success when eating out. I think it may be that I'm more relaxed . At home, I'm still working on bite #3 while everyone else is finished and ready to leave the table. Having said that, I went out with friends on the weekend, and was only able to eat a few bites of my dinner. I had to go to the washroom a couple of times to bring up lots of phlegm and my dinner. In spite of that, I continued to have that uncomfortable tightness in my chest, which I find quite distracting. I often need to belch to relieve the pressure.

The really interesting thing is that I have never had a fill. My surgeon's policy is to wait until 6 wks. post-op for the first fill. Since I was losing, he felt it was unnecessary. That was 2 yrs. ago. I did really well for the first 10 months, losing 75 lbs. Since then I'm sure that I have regained some (although I have never weighed myself), and I'm disheartened as I have about 100 left to lose.

[HD Gloria 0]

Hi all - you might remember that I sent a message last month about the difficulties I was having - after 6 months, no results.

Well I had a procedure in the doctor's office - just local freezing, I'm awake and he cut me open - not a procedure I'd recommend for the squeamish - in fact I don't think I'll do it again. Anyway the results were that he couldn't find any problem with the port or the band at that relatively surface level. So the presumption is a problem (maybe a kink) with the tubing closer to the band or a problem with the band itself. This means another surgery. It'll be seven months since my original surgery by the time this happens next month. Anyway it's some kind of action.

What I wanted to say was that after the second and third fills, I was saying that the extraction they did was less than what I'd been told they'd filled (they weren't keeping too great of records on this in the office). They didn't pay any attention to this but obviously that was an indicator right then. So if anyone is having a similar situation, be persistent - identify a problem that you're aware of - don't let the staff slough it off. You're the only one with your wellbeing as a priority.

If anyone has a similar circumstance, I'd be glad to discuss.

Good luck everyone.

[luckyfive101 6]

Don't give up on the band! You have the tools at hand to get to your weight! Just need to get back to business! And by the way, 75 pounds is NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT! Good luck and Hang in there!

[michellelei 0]

Hi everyone. I have been banded for 3 months and only felt real restriction for the last 2 weeks(since my second fill). I was given 5 cc's first fill, felt a little restriction but could eat wayyyy to much. I was given 1 and 1/2 cc's my second fill, making it 6 1/2 cc's in a 10 cc band. Now it is where I want it. Don't get me wrong. I still feel sorry for myself when I am eating something I like and can only eat maybe 3 bites but it is alot better than no band where I would totally pig out having absolutely no ability whatsoever to admit that I was full and NEEDED to stop eating! I've read quite often about not being able to eat in the morning. I am grateful that I can. I get up at 5am, get ready for work, eat bowl of oatmeal with blueberries with coffee every morning during week then I go work out at the gym for 45 min.(I drink quite a bit from the Water fountain with no problem) then off to work. By lunch time I am so hungry but this is when I just cannot eat. I try and always feel the tightness and sometimes push it then get sick. I dont tell anyone, I just casually go to bathroom and spit up what I need to(w/ phlegm) then I am alright. Supper is hit or miss, sometimes I can eat and sometimes I cannot. I have found that on the days that I cannot eat, I MUST EAT OR DRINK SOMETHING healthy(I really like the Boost chocolate drinks and a banana) because I WILL BE able to eat later on and if I didnt eat something my band allowed earlier then my hunger will make me eat w/o CARING about my goals(meaning, I will eat bad choices almost ravenously). Not sure if this was of any help but it is where I am at. By the way, I LOVE my band. It is the best thing I ever did for myself!