Restriction confusion.....

[daisydoodle 0]

I've been banded a little over four months and with the help of my fourth fill (I'm at 6cc in a VG band) I've finally felt some restriction. Finally had my first PB thanks to sausage on a stick at Schlitterbahn waterpark last week.

Here's my question: I now sometimes get the feeling of being "stuck" if I take too big of a bite or eat too quickly, but then I can feel the food slowly pass through the band and I'm fine. I can still eat large portions of food (eating hard Protein first) if I eat slowly and take small bites. How long should it take before the food passes through your pouch? Am I still not tight enough? I don't do well with doughy foods now that I've had my last fill so I thought that I was where I was suppose to be.....but last night I ate an entire steak and then some salad and felt comfortably satified. (This was no bandster sized steak, I assure you!)

What does it feel like when you do get full with proper restriction? Does your pouch just feel full? Is it when you get the golfball in your chest? Does your tummy just smile and say "thank you very much?"

Please help me understand....

Thanks

[giveyouthemoon 4]

Whoo, fanTAStic question. Thank you for putting it more eleoquently that I could have. I'll wait alongside you for some answer.

I seem to start to cough a lot when it appears I'm full. Or at least I usually stop at that point. But it seems like I can eat A LOT. I haven't had a fill yet....but then again...there are times when it seems like I can hardly eat at all.

Anyhow, enough rambling...I can hardly wait to see what the experienced LBT'ers have to say.

[Guest cas shu]

Thanks for the great question I am having the same problem. I eat way to much.

I will be waiting with you for someone to answer.

CAS

[Parvathi 2]

*bump*ing this back up, in hopes to hear the answer as well LOL. Great question, daisydoodle!

[paula 4]

This is a G R E A T question Nic.

Ive wondered myself... am I full or am I stuck???

Im gonna sit back and wait for the others to give us some answers

[daisydoodle 0]

Come on....surely there's SOMEONE out there that can help with this.

Don't make me come find you!

[LapBandFan 22]

Hey, I too have a VG band and am currently at 6 cc with wonderful restriction after only about 1/2 cup solid food which is great! When eating solid foods please chew thoroughly and do small bites. As far as how long it takes for the food to pass through....if I just eat solid foods and no liquids whatsoever in the foods (like no Soups, stews, chili liquids etc) the food stays in my pouch about 2 and half hours. If you are still able to eat as much as you say, you still must not have enough restriction. Because after eating the 1/2 cup solid food I mentioned, I feel satisfied not FULL in my pouch which feels like it is in the center of my chest actually. You should not get the golfball feeling only if you have eaten too big a bite or wrong type of food. You may need to ck with your surgeon about getting another adjustment with more in your band. Good luck....

I've been banded a little over four months and with the help of my fourth fill (I'm at 6cc in a VG band) I've finally felt some restriction. Finally had my first PB thanks to sausage on a stick at Schlitterbahn waterpark last week.

Here's my question: I now sometimes get the feeling of being "stuck" if I take too big of a bite or eat too quickly, but then I can feel the food slowly pass through the band and I'm fine. I can still eat large portions of food (eating hard Protein first) if I eat slowly and take small bites. How long should it take before the food passes through your pouch? Am I still not tight enough? I don't do well with doughy foods now that I've had my last fill so I thought that I was where I was suppose to be.....but last night I ate an entire steak and then some salad and felt comfortably satified. (This was no bandster sized steak, I assure you!)

What does it feel like when you do get full with proper restriction? Does your pouch just feel full? Is it when you get the golfball in your chest? Does your tummy just smile and say "thank you very much?"

Please help me understand....

Thanks

[LapBandFan 22]

I meant to say too, you need to not drink anything with your meals whatsoever in order to maintain the full feeling longer and do not drink any liquids for at least one hour past your meal, this is how I maintain the full feeling for 2.5 hours. It is just one of the band rules that work for me.

130 pounds gone forever and counting....

Hey, I too have a VG band and am currently at 6 cc with wonderful restriction after only about 1/2 cup solid food which is great! When eating solid foods please chew thoroughly and do small bites. As far as how long it takes for the food to pass through....if I just eat solid foods and no liquids whatsoever in the foods (like no Soups, stews, chili liquids etc) the food stays in my pouch about 2 and half hours. If you are still able to eat as much as you say, you still must not have enough restriction. Because after eating the 1/2 cup solid food I mentioned, I feel satisfied not FULL in my pouch which feels like it is in the center of my chest actually. You should not get the golfball feeling only if you have eaten too big a bite or wrong type of food. You may need to ck with your surgeon about getting another adjustment with more in your band. Good luck....

[the best me 6]

Yep, Paula, it's the "am I full or am I stuck?" For me, stuck hurts, but it IS very similar (since my fill) to the "OMG I took one bite too many!" hurt. But think about it. There is a definate difference between being stuck at the band and being so full your food is in your esophogus, or barely past the valve into your stomach/pouch.

Also in the mix for me is the kind of food I have eaten. If it's hard protien, well-chewed I don't have any discomfort at all and my tummy says "thank you!" Veggeis do this as well. Since my fill, I have trouble with fibrous foods...pineapple (PB'd that the other day) or celery. Also zucchini is difficult because the skin is thicker than yellow squash, and I also have trouble with pastas unless they are swimming in sauce. Haven't had lots of practice with these though, just bites of Pasta salads that golf-balled. Ew.

I'd say work with the restriction you have, but I know how it is. If you can get an entire steak down with no problem, you need to be a little tighter. Just to slow the food from passing the band. The food is supposed to fill the pouch so it hits that nerve (the vega, vergal, vingal ? making up words here nerve) that sends the signal to your brain, "I'm stuffed!!" and it should stay that way for a good bit (hour?) until Water is okay again? That's how I'm thinking.

Anyhow, Nicole, you describe occasionally getting stuck if your food isn't well-chewed or you took too big a bite. But it does pass and you generally don't PB (unless it's the sausage!). That is how I was eating BEFORE my first fill. So you are close, but may want to get a little extra help with a fill tweak.

Since my fill, I have been forced to take smaller bites, chew better, even better than before! and I'm not as hungry at all. Some of it may the the full feeling, some of it may be just thinking, "man, it's so much trouble. I don't want to risk being uncomfortable so I'll just wait and eat a little something later" The danger of this is getting ravenous later and shoveling. I simply can't do that now. At all.

That's me I guess. Hope that helped. If someone sees me doing/thinking something wrong, speak up, people! I need the help!

[daisydoodle 0]

Thanks Brenda and Kathy. That's the information I'm looking for. I just had lunch and had a salad with grilled chicken breast and comfortably polished off the whole thing. I think it answers some of my questions. I never felt ANYTHING before this last fill and I think because I got a few golf balls and a PB from being careless that maybe I was filled enough. Now I know that's not neccessarily so.

The whole thing about the nerve that triggers you a full signal....well nobody talks about that much. I'd love to learn more about that.

[La_madam 20]

For me, if I chew my food very good and take small bites, I do not feel the food pass through the band and it seems to stay longer in my pouch , it is only when I forget to chew or take too big of a bite that I get the horrible feeling in my chest and then feel it pass through the band and my pouch does not stay full very long.

[the best me 6]

That's exactly what I do, too, Michelle.

Nicole, I looked up "nerve" on a search and got 4 pages...if I knew how to spell it, I could do a better search. Want me to start a new thread asking for info about that nerve? Or you start it. I'd like to get more scoop than..."there's this nerve" Of course, that may be all there is to it!

[Corgi 0]

I am just like La Madam, if I eat too fast, am agitated or rushing, and don't chew I get the golf ball feeling. What amazes me is that I have only had 2 fills and 1 unfill, I am currently at 1.85cc and I don't think I can tolerate another fill. I am schedule for another fill the end of August so we will see. The band for me is really feckled some days I am tighter then others, but mostly tighter...

Corgi

[vinesqueen 2]

For me, there is never any question about being "stuck" or full. Being full is a happy, pleasant feeling, being stuck is painful and not a happy nor pleasant feeling.

I think anybody could be able to eat lots if they eat slowly. Limit your eating time to 20 minutes.

[Persimmon 0]

Worrying about when food is going through the band is focusing on the wrong thing.

First and foremost: Are you losing, on average, 1-2 lbs a week?

Second (and almost as important): Hunger...are your sensible meals making you full (full = not hungry anymore, not stuffed/uncomfortable/golfball/puking) and not getting physically hungry again for 3-4 hours?

The VG band is much more "forgiving" than the 4cc capacity bands in terms of things getting stuck...it's more flexible. This is a 2-edge sword. It's the primary reason it's often used in band replacements due to erosions because it's lower-pressure on the stomach...however, you'll get less negative feedback from not chewing well enough.

Are you generally eating the bandster way? (3 oz solid Protein, 1/2 cup serving of produce, up to 1/2 cup serving of a starchier complex carb)

Are you at any point getting a "soft stop" (which might be something like a runny nose, sneeze, hiccup, burp, a little sigh, etc.)? This is your signal to stop eating.

Are your meals taking no longer than 20-30 minutes? The longer you eat the more you will be able to eat.

Are you waiting for the band to force you to stop? Or to have it help you stop? There's a big difference. The former is a crutch, the latter is a tool. Waiting for golfball etc. is the hard stop which means you've overeaten.

When it comes to too-big portions...as Jessie Ahroni says all the time: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Put a sensible portion in front of you. If your'e at a restaurant, ask for the take-home box in the beginning so you can divide your meal into more sensible portions before you take 1 bite.

Nancy

394/270/180