Need advice, encouragement and possibly a swift kick in the @$$

[BandedMomof2 0]

Hi all,

I was banded in January 2009, I have lost nearly 40lbs since then. I feel wonderful and guilty. Here is my story...

The band has given me the 40lb weight loss that has eluded me for years!! I have dieted, lost, dieted, gained, you get the picture. Well, I know exactly what I needed to do, but couldn't do it. I worked out 5 times a week for 1 1/2 each day but could only lose about 20lbs.

Once I got my band I was SO excited and stuck to the program religiously (40lbs lost!). Then I got the fill to end all. It made me absolutely MISERABLE!! I couldn't get anything down and ate slider foods. I decided to get an unfill, what a relief!

I have been afraid to get another fill since I've experienced the freedom of having it unfilled. I am scared I will be tight again and constantly throwing up and running to the bad slider foods.

I've been unfilled for 2 months and LOVE the freedom of not fighting with my band (what will and won't go down, will I throw it back up, did I chew enough, etc). I haven't gained anything, in fact have lost one pound. But I want to lose more.

I do FANTASTICALLY during the day, and follow my diet to a T (Protein shakes, Water, etc) and even go to the gym religiously still (4-5X a week). It's when I get home at night my demons come out. For some reason I get ravenously hungry and have some sort of "no-no" foods almost every night; and usually after 7:00pm.

I have my fill scheduled for Friday, but I am scared to death of having stuck episodes and losing the freedom to eat how and when I want without fear. But I am looking forward to getting "back on track" with my weight loss.

Basically, have I been avoiding the fill to keep eating like I used to? Do I really need this fill to kick start my weight loss again and get back on track, or can I do this without a fill and by changing my routine to quit the bad night eating.

I'm so confused, please help! Thanks!

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Banded Mom....Maybe my experience will help. When I got my band, there was .6cc left in after the doctor tested it to make sure there were no leaks. At my 4 week office visit, they gave me a fill of 4ccs. Sounded good since I was getting really hungry. Drank a glass of Water, headed to work. By the time I got to my office, I couldn't swallow my own spit. I called and said I was on my way back. They took out 1cc. It was like a block of ice melted in my chest as they withdrew the 1cc.

I was petrified to get filled back to that 4.6cc level. So much so that my next fill was was .5cc, taking me to 4.1. No problems. Hmmmmmmmm. A month after that, I got 1cc, taking me to 5.1. Guess what? No a problem at all.

Did you have all your Fluid removed? At what level were you when you were too full? It's perfectly okay to "sneak up" on the level with a small fill, but by the same token, don't do yourself the disservice of not using your band to the fullest to get you through your evenings. You're obviously struggling with the night eating.

Please understand that your band, if filled to your "sweet spot" or close to it shouldn't cause you a great deal of trouble. If you PB a lot, get stuck a lot, well you're too tight. That shouldn't require a complete unfill though. The removal of as little as .2cc can make all the difference in the world.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Bandedmom, unfortunately getting your band tighter is not going to make the food decisions for you. You may benefit from a very tiny fill. In the long run though, its yourself that is going to overcome what you put in your mouth. As you found out even being super tight you can still find ways of over eating. I learned the hard way too.

Best of luck! This is going to be a lifelong journey, not a quick fix.

What I suggest is trying out one thing at a time. So, for this month choose some healthy option that you will carry through forever. That way you don't feel too overwhelmed with all your new changes.

[FailureIsntAnOption 0]

Sounds like Cathy gave you good advice. I know what it is like to struggle to eat. I'm going through that now and have been since my last fill a couple of weeks ago. I have to spend a day of travel to get to my surgeon's office so I have been procrastinating. My advice to you is to get a small fill and then wait around your surgeon's office and drink all you can before leaving to make sure you are not too tight.

Good luck to you!

[MADE IT 2 MY GOAL..OH YEAH 0]

I know exactly what you are going through or have gone through...didn't look to see when this was posted. Up until last week, my band was way to tight. For almost 3 months, I fought with anything that I ate...I would eat it would get stuck and come right back up. I'd drink something, and it would come right back up. I knew that I was to tight, but I didn't want to believe it..you know what I mean. I was thinking, the tighter the better, the more I would lose but was totally wrong. I was so tight, that I ended up going to candy bars and anything with alot of sugar in it so that it would go down easier and I was able most of the time, to keep it down.

I went last week (finally) to get an unfill and confessed to my doctor what I had been eating. He was really nice about what I had been doing and me not calling him sooner. He explained what I knew. I was so tight that I couldn't eat and my body wasn't getting the nutrution that it needed there for, I wasn't losing weight like I should had although I had lost 15lbs since the last fill.

He removed 3ccs from my band and since the day after, I have had no problems what so ever. No throwing up, no PBing, no heartburn nothing.

Now my problem is, I can eat with nothing happening and I get hungry way to often. I feel like I can't get enough to eat although I eat probably more than I should and it seems about an hour to an hour and half later, I feel hungry again.

I now face the fact that I am to loose and need another fill. I want to get another fill because I want to start losing weight again. I am only a little over 30lbs from where my doctor wants me to be and 50 from where I want to be. I know that if I don't go get this fill, I will end up gaining some of the weight back. But, I just keep remembering the pain that i went through for right at 3 months when I was to tight.

I had already made an appointment with the doctor for a slight fill for august 19th, but I really want to go before this and he told me that if I needed a fill before then, to give them a call and they would schedule me in for one.

I am seriously thinking of calling 2morrow and getting in next week. I know that when I go in, he and I are going to have to have a serious talk about my being scared of becoming to tight again.

Just wanted to share my story with you just to let you know, you are not alone in this situation. Hope all turns out or has turned out well for you!

[BandedMomof2 0]

Thank you ALL SO MUCH for the great posts and advice, I cannot tell you how much they are appreciated!!!!

UPDATE!

Since I posted this, I realized that the power to change my bad night habits begin and end with ME! No amount of fill will stop me from eating foods I shouldn't, only my will power can do that. I've always known this, but actually focusing on it and changing the behavior is the hardest.

I decided NOT to eat the wrong foods and stick to my LBS diet and GUESS WHAT?? Lost 3 lbs!! :thumbup:

I continued going to the gym, drinking my Water and have been using "Slimquick" (LOVE IT by the way). Also eating my Protein and NO bad foods and no eating after 7:00. You guessed it, back to losing.

I have also decided to keep my appointment for a fill tomorrow, and I'm going to get 2cc (10cc band). I want to start using the band as a tool, now that I know I CAN do it without it. I'm hoping, at the very least, the 2 day liquid diet will give me another 2-3lb loss and kick start the 2nd half of my weight loss journey.

Thanks again all, I will let you know how this fill goes..wish me luck!!!