bamamom911

I will admit I haven't been around the forums as much but that's because I've been successful, It's unfortunately true that the more successful you are with the band the less motivation you have to hang out on internet forums and talk about.
But I want to show support for all of you new Bandsters out there. Feel free to send me a message if you have questions.
The long and short of it is that I have continued to lose weight at a steady pace by watching my calories and exercising as regularly as possible. I've had no complications from the band of any kind yet.

I started out at 268. I am now 196. 72 lbs. lost. Surgery on 5/5/14. Love my band

I fluctuate between 125 and 127 lbs. so I've lost 140+ lbs. That's more than half my initial body weight before surgery. I imagine myself literally cut in half when I think of before and after. I post this picture sometimes to show people what this amount of weight looks like. Yes...those are both pictures of me and I think it says it all.

I have also had a similar issue with an unfill. I kept getting stuck and having acid reflux to the point I had to start taking OTC meds. I felt satisfied with about 1/2 cup (sometimes less)of food just had bad acid reflux. Dr said I might be too tight so he took out 1 cc. Needless to say, I had hardly any restriction. I gained 10lbs. I had a 1/2 cc fill which is where I currently am. I still don't have hardly any restriction and I am not getting satisfied when I eat. I am hungry after just a couple of hours. I find myself grazing and just wanting to eat. A lot of it is my fault for not eating right and exercising like I was doing. I've lost some of my mojo. I think I messed up by getting the unfill. It was probably more me than the band. I go back this week for another adjustment. I'm a little embarrassed b/c I know I have gained again but I have to keep pushing on. I don't want to go back to the weight I was. I started out at 269, got down to 190. Now I'm at 200. I was banded in May 2014. Thanks for your post. I thought I was going crazy. Good to know others are having similar issues. Good luck to you.

Update! I went to the Dr on Monday and saw the physician assistant. I explained I was getting no 'signals' and that I vomited at the 7.3 fill at the previous appt due to guzzling Water. So, we went from the 7.2 I had in there back up to 7.3. He handed me a bottle of Water and told me to drink. I drank with no problem. I felt no restriction at all though. No gurgling sound that I normally get to let me know the band is alive and well. So, he upped me to 7.4cc. I finished a bottle of water. He kept asking if there was restriction. I told him probably. It is very hard to make the decision as to whether there's enough in the band when he's standing over me waiting for my answer with the needle sticking out of my stomach. I can't really tell until I can go back to eating solids. So, here I am 3 days after the fill to 7.4 and I feel no restriction at all. I had my surgery at Virgnia Hospital Center and saw the surgeon until a month and a half ago when Kaiser Permanente disapproved my referrals because they had a bariatric surgeon on staff now that'd I'd need to do my follow-ups with. Since I've gone to the Kaiser Dr, I've not had any signals of satiety at all. I am so torn at this point. I wonder if I have a leak in the band. The physician assistant I've seen pokes around quite a bit trying to find the port. I'm wondering if he sprung a leak somewhere. So, I will have to send them an email that something is wrong and I need to come in and they need to do it under fluro or something so they can see what is going on. I am really getting worried. Last night, just to make sure, I ate quite a bit. Normally, after a fill, I'd get the hiccups or feeling of getting stuck. I could have gone on and on eating. No signs of anything. So, again, the band isn't doing what it is supposed to do. If I could diet normally, I wouldn't have to have gotten the band. What good is the band if it allows me to keep eating? They will think I'm crazy if I write back and tell them something isn't right. But, I have no choice. So, I'm really bummed out wondering what the hell is going on. I guess I will have to give it a few more days just in case I suddenly start to feel restriction but somehow, I doubt that's gonna happen if it hasn't already.

So today I went to the Dr. b/c I went from just right to too tight. I had about 7cc in a 10cc band since July. I have been doing great, and suddenly after a few extreme things. Car accident, medications and getting sick...my band was too tight. I did what B52 does, went to liquids only in the hope that the swelling would subside and I would be OK. Then yesterday one sip of Water and a hiccup and it went flying out and I nearly choked on it.
This morning I couldn't swallow my own saliva and that is just too tight, I knew there was an issue I got myself right to the Dr. at 8 am this morning.
After barium swallow it showed the pouch was dilated. They removed 5cc of Fluid and put me on a full liquid diet for 3 weeks.
They did this because they want the pouch to rest from all the stress on it shrink back. Think of a ring that's too tight on your finger, the longer you leave it there your finger doesn't shrink, it just continues to swell as the blood pools above the constriction. It's the same for your stomach and your band. Not just from the volume of food or Water in the pouch but from your own body fluids, blood, stomach acids, enzymes and blood.
Don't mess with it, if you are too tight and it's not right go to the Dr. and if they suggest and un-fill don't fight it. I'd rather have the ring cut off then my finger....just as I'd rather have my band unfilled then have it slip or prolapse and need more surgery.

Loosing weight is all about calories consumed versus calories burned....
I once had a Dr. tell me the simplest truth once....he said I was fat because I ate too much! "STOP EATING"
Problem was, I could not control my eating on my own, and when my health and my life for that matter started to suffer, my PCP refereed me for WLS - Lap band.
Don't ask me what I eat, or how much,counting carbs, calories or anything that sounds like traditional Diet mumbo-jumbo, because I don't know or don't care....All I know is I eat very little, and when I do, it is always something aimed at Protein if practicable...I'll not waste that small window on something like a slice of pizza, etc.or anything that has no real nutritional value...., that is not going to do me any good....when I do eat, it has to be the very best!
Last summer I had 1/2 cc taken out of my band, for no good reason...just asked to have it done...immediately I started to eat more, and started to gain weight....went right back and had that 1/2 cc put back in...(had to put up with the Dr.'s and staff's "I Told you so's") and all that happened within 2-3 weeks. It can be that sensitive a balance.

Thanks to you all it's like being with close friends.
You can feel all on your own and this can't be happening to anyone else. But with the replays I have recently received I can see I'm not alone! Today was nearly a good day started of with a Breakfast of a single slice of ham and small slice of cheese. Not a problem then lunch had two very small bites of ham and bang. Reflux again. Was hopeing to make at least one day without problems but no!!!! I'm starting to get fed up drinking Meal Replacement drinks I hope things will settle down very soon, once again Thais to you all. Hope your well.

I have also had a similar issue with an unfill. I kept getting stuck and having acid reflux to the point I had to start taking OTC meds. I felt satisfied with about 1/2 cup (sometimes less)of food just had bad acid reflux. Dr said I might be too tight so he took out 1 cc. Needless to say, I had hardly any restriction. I gained 10lbs. I had a 1/2 cc fill which is where I currently am. I still don't have hardly any restriction and I am not getting satisfied when I eat. I am hungry after just a couple of hours. I find myself grazing and just wanting to eat. A lot of it is my fault for not eating right and exercising like I was doing. I've lost some of my mojo. I think I messed up by getting the unfill. It was probably more me than the band. I go back this week for another adjustment. I'm a little embarrassed b/c I know I have gained again but I have to keep pushing on. I don't want to go back to the weight I was. I started out at 269, got down to 190. Now I'm at 200. I was banded in May 2014. Thanks for your post. I thought I was going crazy. Good to know others are having similar issues. Good luck to you.

The Doctor put the band back into the correct position. I have some questions for him when I see him next - such as to why the band slipped and what I need to do to prevent it from happening again. he gave me the option of removing the band or fixing it. I choose to fix the problem. I didn't want to give up my band. But I did want a local doctor to take care of me. so I told him if he would take care of me then to leave it in and fix it. with out the band I would end up back at the weight that I started at. and I so didn't want that.
So I will go get a fill in about 2 weeks and continue my weight loss journey.

Hi all. I recently had 7.3cc in the band and was doing frequent vomiting though I was losing weight. After about a month, I went back to the Dr and he took me down to 7.1 when I told him about the vomiting. In a month at 7.1, I didn't lose a thing and felt no restriction so I had to call him back and go back in. This time, I saw a physician assistant. After explaining everything, he added some Fluid and brought me back to 7.3cc. I was a little ticked because I had told him that was probably too much and that 7.2 was likely what I needed. But, because I hadn't lost an ounce at 7.1cc, I decided to just give 7.3 another try and chew, chew and chew some more. However, before I could leave, he told me I needed to drink a bottle of Water. My previous Dr only had me do a few sips. The office is not convenient to me and I had to get back to work for a meeting. So, I ended up drinking faster than I should have and immediately had to throw it up. So, they wouldn't let me go. Instead, he removed some and put me at the 7.2 which is what I thought he'd do in the first place. I finished the damned Water but it took me a long time and I missed my meeting. So here I am now at 7.2cc and I feel no restriction like I did at 7.3. No circling the drain sound anymore which is how I knew the band was working. No burping which was another sign for me. Seems I can eat with no restriction at all. I'm going back in on Monday and will ask to go to 7.3cc again. Obviously, making me drink a bottle of water when I had to get back to work was a bad idea and that's why I vomited. I guess at 7.3, I probably was eating too fast and not chewing until I had mushy consistency. It would appear that 7.3 is my losing zone and that I'll just have to eat more slowly and less. But, at least I will be losing. At 7.2 now, nothing is happening. No restriction and no losing. I'm thinking 7.3 might be my green zone but I didn't recognize it as such. Does this sound like it could make sense and that if I am very conscious about chewing and Portion Control, 7.3 could be my magic number? Gosh, I wish I could just get acclimated to this band and be at the proper level in a continuous losing mode. Hopefully, it will come. Thanks!

It is a fine line between restriction, and he foods and how we eat them....
My last fill, many years ago, I felt I was too tight and battled the same issues as you....when I called and asked my Dr. to come in to get some taken out, he talked me out of it...convinced me if I get that small amount taken out, I would be where I was before...in other words it was clear I needed that last small fill...I could not be going back and forth over the fence so to speak. There had to be another element and my Dr. knowing me, knew what that was....
So if it wasn't the band being too tight, then the answer had to be it was the food and how I was eating...and once again I HAD TO CHANGE...I was forced to alleviate yet again more foods, I had to yet again start applying more of the rules taught early on such as drinking while eating, etc,
That was over three years ago...everything has been as smooth as glass since, EASY as can be..a new and NORMAL life......and I am a different person in terms of how much I eat, and what I eat, and junk I will never eat again....
If someone showed me how little I would eat daily, and the types of foods I'll eat when I do....I would have said they were crazy, no one can survive that way.
Yet here I am as healthy as can be, being at my optimum weight, going to the gym everyday, even taking up running?
It's now 5am , I am having my coffee before heading out to the gym....what's everyone else doing this time on a Saturday morning????
They say the band will change your life...it's not cliche....and not in terms of being skinnier and happier (only)...it TOTALLY transformed me in ways I never thought imaginable....there was much of my old self I had to let get go of...if I was to have the band do it's thing.
But that' MY EXPERIENCE...people have complications for different reasons, and you need to seee people face to face to accurately know what's going on...like your Dr.....
One should never do what people on the internet do, of all places....

I have been banded 2 1/2 years - lost over 120 pounds with 15 more to go...that all being said in November I started that nasty acid reflux mess. I have been one miserable puppy. My doctor said I needed to have some Fluid removed from my band..in fact, he did a barium swallow and showed me where my band has been too tight for a while and now I have a bubble on the side of my pouch. NO, I did not want any Fluid removed..I didn't want to gain, but I need to get some sleep and that darn reflux wasn't going to let that happen. I was taking Prilosec twice a day and Nexium once a day. I have fluid removed on Friday, take nothing and not had any reflux. Talk to your Doctor...reflux can be dangerous..follow what he says even if it means having a slight unfill. Good luck, thoughts and prayers with you because I really know how you feel!!!!!

My doctor says if you can eat a 6 inch sandwich from subway then it's time for a fill. Now that's scientific. Lol!!

It is also determined at my appointments if I need a fill or not. Right now I'm at 2.5 in a 10cc band. The days I think I really need a fill I look back at my diet and remember that had I eaten on plan I wouldn't have been do damn hungry. Either that or I know I ate a ton of slider foods so really the band didn't come into play anyways. When I eat what I am supposed to (lean Protein, then veggies, then starches.....in that order) I feel satisfied and just fine. It's all a mind game in my opinion!

I have an appointment for a fill in the morning. I keep going back & forth on whether I actually need it. My capacity seems to have increased, and I get hungry more in the 3 hour range. I'm thinking, maybe 1/4 cc. They make us sit in the waiting room and slowly sip three glasses of Water before we leave. I would hope that if 1/4 cc is too much, that I'll know with the water??

I posted a MUST read article today on how the lap band works, you should really read it, it will help give you some perspective on to live with your band and if you are in the green zone.
http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/177913-must-read-how-the-lap-band-should-work-green-zone-in-fills/

Ask yourself, are you satisfied on a cup or less food for at least four hours? If yes, you may not need a fill. If no, you may need a fill.

I know. I hear alot of mixed reviews here. Last time I went to doctor she said I could have it if I opted but she wasnt sure I really needed it. I'd lost sufficient weight for the month and I wasnt hungry between meals. I opted to not take the fill. I don't necessarily feel I'm at green I only have 2.5 cc in my band. Of course, I also have the plication. But hey, I'm doing good and I know I can get a fill if I start getting hungry any sooner than 4 hours. Thats really what you are trying to accomplish is be able to go meal to meal without the hunger and overwhelming need to snack.< /p>

That's a great question. I was banded 7/15 and I have only had 1 fill on 8/30 and I'm not sure if I need another or not either. How do you know???

I had my first feel about 2 weeks ago and it was not bad at all. I barely felt it. No pain afterwards either. I went right back to doing normal activities after my appt. He had me gradually introduce solids again, 2 days Clear Liquids, 2 days full liquids, 2 days mushy foods, then back to solids. I got 3cc's in a 14cc band. He said it would be the biggest fill I would get.

Dr said I was doing good & could go to mushy stage for 7-10 days then on to solids. He took all but 3 of my steri strips off, he said they would be ready to come off in a couple of days. So far so good!

I'm going to the Dr today for my 2 wk post op checkup. Hoping all is well. Ready to get these steri-strips off, they are itching like crazy! I started walking again yesterday, walked for an hour. I weighed this morning & lost 2 more pounds! 27 pounds total! Hope everyone has a blessed day!

I'm going to the Dr today for my 2 wk post op checkup. Hoping all is well. Ready to get these steri-strips off, they are itching like crazy! I started walking again yesterday, walked for an hour. I weighed this morning & lost 2 more pounds! 27 pounds total! Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Good luck! Hope it goes well for you!