Have had up to 9cc's and no real difference

[ashleysara 0]

This has been a really encouraging thread for me to read :w00t: I am working on my 6th month diet to get approved by insurance and I have been stressed that with the new AP lapband many people have not been finding restriction im so glad that you found yours.

[MrsAnnie 0]

I so know how you feel! It is soooooooo frustrating! I was banded in March 08, and I am hungry all the time, and feel very little restriction. I have had 5 fills and I too am ready to throw in the towel. Where is the sweet spot? I am so disappointed now that I eat out of frustration! I've only lost a total of 15 lbs and that's because I exercised and ate small, and tried not to eat between meals even though I was hungry. So if that's the way it is, why did I go through all the pain, effort and expense to do this. Although I did get something out of this... Throwing up! I can eat almost anything, but every once in a while, my body says no, and I get rid of it. THEN I'M READY TO EAT AGAIN! When I go to the Drs they ask me why I haven't lost weight and I feel even worse! This has not been a good experience or what I was hoping for.http://www.LapBandTalk.com/images/icons/icon13.gif

[Tuger 1]

I too am in the same boat as everyone else and very frustrated I have had two fills now w/ 6.5cc in a 10cc band. My band was placed w/3cc already in it, 1st fill added 3cc and 2nd added only .5cc. No restriction at all ever, I can eat anything, nothing gets stuck and I am hungry just an hour or two after I have eaten. I try to make the right choices and eat small meals but still no real weight loss. In fact, I just gained back the 3lbs I lost between my first and second fill! My calorie intact is between 1000 and 1200, I exercise with an eliptical machine & free weights 4 - 5 x per wk for at least 1 hour a day. I am scheduled for another fill Feb 16th and I am hoping they will put in at least 1cc or more. Do you think restriction will ever come?

[sisterc 0]

YES! My heart goes out to you to answer your question. I was banded in March 2008 weighing 300 pounds had several fill since then and no restriction and could eat quit a bit. In November, I opened up my book of what to eat and put myself on 800 cals a day and started losing weight. I had my fill two weeks ago and for the first time in 10 months I have lose six pounds in three weeks. I now understand the the "Sweet spot" I am not hunger during the day I eat because sometimes it's time. My doctor for the first time filled my band to the top and I now have total restriction where I can eat smaller portion and not hunger between meals. I have only lose 38 pounds in 10 months and three dress sizes, but for the first time I now understand if you will tell the doctor or nurse about not losing and working out three times a week for 1-2 hours and eating less than 1000-1200 cals a day what am I doing wrong. Finally I can say I am losing weight, please don't give up it took me 10 months to get what other had after 1 - 3 months with their band. I am not hunger at all or between meals you can do it.

[vegors 0]

Okay TCT2FLY, you suck! :tongue: To be able to eat that and STILL lose weight, you are sooooo lucky! Have made it half way thru day one of the 5 day pouch diet and have only had yogurt as the funeral I went to had lasgna and garlic bread and cake for dessert. I then got a frantic call from my hubby who has the day off and our hot Water heater had leaked water all over our basement, so spent the last few hours cleaning that all up. I am having a Fresca, which I know is carbonated, but has no caffeine, which is what we are suppose to avoid on this 5 day diet, but I have that old left shoulder ache, which tells me I have gas going on inside there and I need to burp or move around a lot to get rid of it. Amazing what you notice when you are not thinking about food all the time. Right now I am not hungry, which is good, but then I also have been so busy cleaning up that darn basement that I have had no time to think about it. My stomach did growl when I smelled that good old garlic coming from the kitchen at church!

[vegors 0]

Oh I hear you guys and understand the frustration! Why is it so easy for some and not others like us? I am just trying to believe there is a reason for everything and in my case, since I am a believer, I just think that God has a purpose to my struggles and that it is to teach me something. What that lesson is, I am not sure yet, but I am not going to quit, even though I have eaten like I have given up all hope. I got back into the saddle today and am trying that 5 Day Pouch Test to see if I needed to shrink down my pouch. Then we will see what happens with the upper G.I. next week. Suppose God is trying to teach me patience? Maybe better eating habits and exercise habits? All of it I need and I know I am not in the same frame of mind that I was when I started this whole process. Of course, I thought it was going to happen A LOT faster than any of this has! Guess the best way to think of this as our weight loss goals are our destinations and our particular journeys are taking us on some winding and curvey roads, while others get on the Interstate and drive straight there! Now if there was some really pretty scenery along way, I might not care so much, so guess I need to look for those pretty scenic spots in the midst of this very long and frustrating journey!

[lapbandmom89 0]

Lapband967,

Have read your post and would love to know how you are doing now. I am not banded but the mother of a 19 year old who is. She has the realize band. She just had a fill this week, which I say put her at 9 cc. She said she doesn't have restriction and definately didn't think shewa at a sweet spot. The office says it 8 cc. I think they are wrong. Anyway, things for her arent good. She was banded in Aprl 2008 and her weigh loss was -9, -10, +1, -1, +4, -2, and this week she wouldn't tell me but I know she has gained I can see it on her face and neck which is usually the first to go but now its back. :cursing: I ask her a lot but I dont want to nag but at 19 she is severly obese and I am worried about the future. She said she can tell a difference after this last fill but she doesn't say "oh yea I know I'm at my sweet spot." I don't expect that she would win any prize for following all the rules perfectly but I tell myself that everyone who has lapband is overweight/obese and if it were that easy to eat perfectly they would have the weight problem in the first place. So I assume she is not alone. Her self esteem is nonexistant. I'm worried that this band is going to be full before she reaches the sweet spot.:tongue:

[vegors 0]

I am on day 3 of the 5 day Pouch Test and lost 5.5 pounds the first day, and that was without drinking all the Water that is suggested. I gained a pound yesterday, and also didn't get my water in and had some really salty bean Soup the night before, that kept me up during the night drinking water. I have been busy with cleaning up our basement that flooded on Monday, so have not had time to think about food nor been in the kitchen to be tempted. I know that it gets very frustrating to go through everything that we all did to have the surgery, then go through the pain of the surgery, and then sit there and wait and wait for that magic sweet spot. Meanwhile, we get frustrated and tired of trying as it feels no different than being on a diet, and for most of us, diets don't work. We do have to take responsibility for what we put into our mouths, and those foods that people call slider foods,( my dietician calls them melting foods) we have to make choice not to eat those foods as they do not fill us up and do nothing but add empty calories, as I well know! Have your daughter try eating cut apples or grapes. Those two are what my dietician recommended in trying to see if your band is really starting to work or not. If she feels discomfort in eating those, then she has some restriction, just not enough yet to tell her to stop eating. If she can eat those and they go right down with out any problems, then she is wide open and it may be time for a upper gi to see what is going on. I have not felt hungry this week, but again, am not upstairs hearing the calling of my kitchen. I am choosing not to make Cookies for my son's event tonight as cookier batter is too much of a temptation for me! That goes down real easy! I will bake a cake or pie and then I can't sneak a bite or it will show! I have a son that is probably getting close to 400 pounds and there is nothing I can seem to do to get him to realize how hard it is on his body and what he needs to do to get the weight off when he is younger rather then at 44yrs. Both his dad and I were in the normal weight range when we were his age and it has been a battle for the last 15 years for both of us. Sure hate to see that for my son, but as you already know, we can't do it for our kids, they have to make the choice on their own. I can have this house stripped of all bad foods, but that doesn't slow down his Portion Control or stop him from going out with his friends and making poor food choices then. They have to want it for themselves, just as I have to want it for myself and somedays, I want the food more than the healthier body. Good luck!

[lapbandmom89 0]

SisterC, your post was great. My daughter was banded in april 2008 with a starting weight of 215 and I think she has lost about 10 pounds. I know some of you are thinking "whats this womans problem" but I have been through soooo much with this child of mine. A lot of the problems she has had I always felt was due to her weight which led to self esteem issues. My husband and I are both relatively small people eventhough I feel that I struggle with my weight too just not to this extent. My daughters two siblings, both girls, are both very small, for example my 22 year old is 4' 11" and weighs 87 pounds. Other sister is under 100 pounds. We've been through ADD, depression, panic attacks, cutting herself, sleep studies, thyroid tests and on and on. The carries a lot of weight in the breasts so you know what she went through in school and we have to go out of town to by a bra. No only has all this been expensive for me but it has wore me out. I feel like I know my child better than a doctor. I worry that she will be the one who doesn't make it. I want this sooooo bad for her. She is so beautiful and I think that losing the weight would change so many things for her for the better. Anyway, she got a fill this week, which puts her at 8cc in a 9 cc band and nothing amazing has happened yet and no more fills for another month. I'm afraid she's gonna give up before she gets to that sweet spot. Anyway thanks for your post. It help to know that not everyone loses 60 pounds the first three months after surgery.

[kiz 1]

LapBandMom, I've had six fills since I was banded in Sep (I also have the Realize Band), and it really wasn't until the 5th that I had good restriction, and even then, I went back two weeks later for 1cc, which they did under fluoro to make sure I was getting good restriction. That's not to say that I didn't have any restriction along the way, but it was never the sweet spot. Right up front, I have to say, that I don't have the emotional issues your daughter is facing, and so I could never put myself in her shoes, but I did want to let you know that my band is max full, and it's working for me. It took that much to get me to where the hunger was tamed like the brochure promotes ... from lion to lamb. I wish she didn't have to wait a month for another fill, but if she's not getting them under fluoro, and you can request it, I highly recommend it. The doctor can check her level of restriction right there, and she will be able to see it too. My heart goes out to her, and you. I have kids too, and there's nothing worse than seeing then suffer.

[lapbandmom89 0]

My daughters doctor will do fills no more than every four weeks and he is three hours away. The weather has also gotten in the way and we had to reschedule like three times so that has slowed her down. Her fills have been

4/08: fill to 5 cc

6/08: fill to 5.5 cc

7/08: fill to 6.5 cc

8/08: fill to 7.5 cc

10/08: unfill to 7.3 cc

11/08: fill to 7.5 cc

2/09: fill to 8 cc

So I guess you'd call that five fills. A family member asked me today is she had had her band removed. I assume because he doesn't notice any difference in her weight. Next visit is 3/4 and we are going with a list of requests - see the doc not the nurse practioner, take it all out and check how much is actually there, give her a fill and do it under floro. I'm paying dearly for this and its time for this to start heading the right direction.

[kiz 1]

LBMom, another thing they could do to check her restriction, is to have her do a barium swallow before they remove her saline since you're requesting fluoro anyway. When I told the doctor that I needed a third fill, after two fills in one month, they tested me that way, and sure enough, the barium went through in a swoosh. Also, the three times they remove Fluid, I'm missing some (around 1cc). They've assured me that I don't have a leak though.