Well hello restriction!

[KartMan 58]

After being banded in February and filled at the end of March I had some restriction. I could eat about 1 ½ - to 1 3/4 cups of food (about 1200-1500 calories a day) with an occasional stuck episode and some random PBing. I was doing pretty well on weight loss, losing about .2 to .4 lbs daily (down about 50 lbs since 1 week pre-op ). I just had my second fill (up to 4.5cc now) on May 13 and boy am I feeling it.

After the fill, I tried to eat some chili and could only get in about 6 bites before I hit the wall. Last night I was able to eat about 3 bites of dinner. Today is not much different, 3 bites of eggs for Breakfast and 4 bites of chili for lunch. I have been trying to suck down Protein Drinks between these tiny meals to keep my nutrition up. At this rate I am probably looking at about 900 calories a day, which is probably too low for me. I expect the restriction will ease off a tiny bit like it did on the first one. If it does, this might actually be my sweet spot. If it stays this tight, I might need to go back in and have .5cc removed.

[zukagirl22 1]

congrats on your sweet spot!!!! it took me a while for me to get to mine. i think maybe like 5 fills and 2 unfills.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

My doc always has me do liquids for a day or two after a fill, does yours not require this? Because if your band and stomach are agitated from the fill and then you eat and PB etc...you are not doing yourself any favors!

Restriction is WONDERFUL! But you may want to go to liquids only for 24 hours and then start with a mushie.

[KartMan 58]

I asked him that and he said regular food is ok, just don’t push it too hard which is why I stuck to chili and eggs (both of which have been good to me so far). I’m not really worried at this point, I think it will ease off a bit. I do find that I have to chew even more and eat even slower than before.

[NurseMelly 0]

Whew, you give me hope. I kept thinking something was wrong with me. I have 5.5 cc and can still eat pretty normally. I've never Pb'd, slimed, or gotten stuck. I can still eat a whole sandwich. I feel like I'm never gonna reach restriction! I exercise and keep my food choices healthy but I'm definitely not full on just 1/2 cup of food.

So it took you over 7.5 cc to get restriction?

[Libbyjane1976 1]

Wow that's awesome that you found your sweet spot so fast! I'm 4 months post op and I'm almost there. I figure 2 fills from now i'll be there. Although I am steadily losing. I lose about 2 lbs a week.

[KartMan 58]

Whew, you give me hope. I kept thinking something was wrong with me. I have 5.5 cc and can still eat pretty normally. I've never Pb'd, slimed, or gotten stuck. I can still eat a whole sandwich. I feel like I'm never gonna reach restriction! I exercise and keep my food choices healthy but I'm definitely not full on just 1/2 cup of food.

So it took you over 7.5 cc to get restriction?

Sorry, I probably could have been a little clearer. I went from 0cc at banding to 3cc on the first fill and a total of 4.5cc in this last fill. I did have some restriction from the beginning though and have had minor bouts of PBing and sliming since the first fill.

[MSan914 3]

I can not WAIT for my first fill!!!

Congrats -- I am sooo jealous!

[KartMan 58]

Ok, so it seems I was a little over-filled. Even several days after the fill (which was on 5/13) I wasn’t able to keep most solids down or I could only eat a tiny amount of food. While I liked the idea of tiny meals, it didn’t feel very good and didn’t really improve my weight loss. On Friday 5/22 I went with my sister to Tijuana to get her band at Dr. Ortiz’s OCC clinic. While he was counseling her I explained my situation to him and he said I was at risk of a slipped band :eek: due to being overfilled and recommended they have a look under fluoroscopy while I was there. I don’t usually get my fills under fluoroscope so this sounded pretty intriguing to me. I got the fluoroscope and could see that even the barium was going down way too slow so they backed me off from 4.5cc to 3.7cc. I feel so much better now. I still feel restriction and I am not PBing at every meal.

BTW, for anyone considering doing their surgery in Mexico I would highly recommend Dr. Ortiz and the OCC :smile:! The facility was top notch and his entire staff was fabulous, in fact it seemed cleaner and more organized than most hospitals and doctors offices I have been to in the US. Dr. Ortiz was fantastic, very empathetic and super charismatic.