Hope41

Thanks everyone. This is very helpful. I can eat 1/2 cup of food per meal and feel satified but not long enough to get me to the next meal.
I have the 4cc band. I am currently filled to 3cc's but haven't lost any weight for 1 year. 30 pounds to go.

Start weight 275, heght 5'7
3 months, 20 pounds lost
6 months, 25 pounds lost
12 months, 50 pounds lost
17 months , 85 pounds lost
The first 8 months I had my band I did not get off my butt and exercise. I also kept making the wrong food choices. So my weightloss was very slow!
Then one day I started exercising and watching my calories and the weight is falling off. Lost 10 pounds this last month. Down to 190 now.
I don't think there is anything I don't like about the band........maybe sometimes it has a mind of it's own. One day I can eat every thing on my plate, then the next day going out to dinner with friends it only lets me get a couple of bites down.
But thats probably not a bad thing! Lol
Everyone loses differently though it all depends on you and how hard you make yourself work to lose weight. I am a slow loser while some people on here can reach goal within a year.
I think skin is an issue no matter what rate you lose weight. If your young you have a better chance of your skin returning to normal, also it depends on how long you have been overweight. It's a wait and see type of thing.

I don't regain pounds I lost years ago
Best thing ever!!

Losing 114 pounds!

My hubby hugged me today and said "you're so tiny ! " That's is all.

Thank you @julienorton & @horsegirl315....I believe the whole starvation mode thing may have been an issue...but good news! I have finally seen the scale start moving again. Not fast but moving. I do some lifting and cardiovascular and have recently incorporated "insanity" into my routine....which may possibly be the death of me! Started adding Protein mix to more drinks and drinking more water....which is tough for me...anyways thank you for your help!! *as of today 168! Wooooohooo!
Dang spell check on my phone..just cardio not cardiovascular...lol!!

I think I felt it shrink, two times already. ..!!!lol !... I felt pain like when your uterus is shrinking after child birth!! Lol..
I just excersided with y son's, and am really watching my food intake..but the weight gain is fast....and Totally scary..(and uncomfortable)

Yes you can see my port if I pull up my shirt. Highly unlikely
I get a fill about once a year. I get an unfill about once a year. The doc and I are used to experimenting with small fills. Over time they expand for me, so I get a small unfill. Like 6 mos later
I do keep my band under inflated most times. I think it is better for me as I don't get problems.
I am happy to say I will be banded 9 years the beginning of Dec.
Love banded life!

Banded October 2014.
9 fills 7.2cc in a 10.0cc band and still not in a green zone, haven't lost a single pound in 7 months but haven't gained any either. Only after last fill I can control hunger for about 3 hours but I can still eat bigger portion than I should. I asked the nurse to remove Fluid and check the total amount that's in the band and my Dr refused to do that saying that the band is settled in the spot right now and if he removes the fluid potentially could slip so he told me not to worry I will get there. Patience with yourself is the key, okay I guess I will try to be patient and not to think how I paid 16G for this and wait for a year or so before starts working.
I will be celebrating one I hit the Green Zone that's for sure

Normal food the day of. I've had 6 fills ranging from .1cc (teeny!) to 1.0cc and have never had any problem. My first fill I was nervous and stuck to liquids that day... there was no need.
I had a fill 2 days ago (.2ccs) and had chicken and green Beans that night. (VERY WELL CHEWED!)

I just had my eighth fill this past week. I am at 7.90 in my 14 band. We have added 0.1 at the last several fills because it is that close. I don't want to overshoot and regret it.

@@arimerm1 Hello there! Sounds like you are doing everything right while creeping up on the Green Zone!
I'm curious that your surgeon has told you exactly how many fills it will take to get you to the Green Zone. That goes contrary to all the research I've done around fills on this forum.
I've learned that there is no predictable magic number of fills that a person can be guaranteed that will get them into the Green Zone. This is supported throughout the forum by hundreds of posts from people like you and me!
How many fills and the quantity of the fills (ie; a teeny .1cc fill versus a whopping 1.5 cc fill) is something that varies wildly from bandster to bandster... a band can be placed with no Fluid in it and an individual may be instantly in the green zone with not a single fill (rare), or a bandster may be on fill #7 and still not quite there.
Everyone reacts differently to fills, and often the effect of the fill can take a couple of weeks to "settle" in. Its great that your surgeon likes to get you to the Green slooooooowly. I have lived that, and although it was frustrating not losing a lot of weight for the first few months, now I am full steam ahead and grateful that the process was a slow and steady one.
Keep us posted! You are doing AWESOME!

Maybe some people can eat slow, not drink right after meals, and follow a low calorie diet perfectly right after getting banded, but as my posts clearly show ???? I really don't think I can stick to those rules or changes in my eating habits until I am forced to after having enough fills.
I am at 5cc now after 3 fills and definitely not in the green zone yet, I start off doing good after each adjustment but then as I realize I can eat how much and whatever I want still, etc. Its hard not too.. Obviously or I wouldn't have a weight problem in the first place.
Is there Anyone here that didn't adhere to the rules of the band until they had to? Until they had enough fills to have no choice but to?
I am waiting to get to that point! Because until then the struggle of dieting and trying to follow the rules is so tough for me!

This is how morning tightness was explained to me and makes sense, at least to me.
We sleep prone, and during that time our blood is no longer pooling in our lower extremities. I used to have severe foot edema. At night my feet and lower legs were like sausages. In the morning I could see the bones in my feet again, since the evening swelling had dissipated.
My stomach is made of living tissue, and the fixed band is encircling an area that swells and unswells based on many factors. Gravity is one big factor.
So it's really just like swollen feet, but affected by gravity in the opposite direction. During the day, gravity pulls blood down and away from my band area. The stomach tissue isn't squeezed by the band as much.
Overnight, more blood gets back up into that area because I'm not standing up. The tissue plumps up, and the band is a bit tighter around it. I wake up the "tightest" I will be all day. The more I walk around vertical, the more that eases throughout the day.
I'm no doctor, but this makes perfect sense to me and matches how I feel in the early morning and then as the day goes on. I have the least "restriction" late in the evening.

I 've heard that something hot to drink 1st in the morning "opens up " the band, which gets compressed from sleeping on it all night. I cant tolerate much food in the morning so I have a cup of hot tea or cocoa to wake the band up, then slowly nibble on "safe " breakfast foods , like almonds, turkey Jerky, a cheese stick or a homemade smoothie. Hope this helps, good luck !!

TheProfessor you are 110% right, if I don't have a drink for 2 days instantly 2 pounds gone but then they come back as soon as I have a drink. Going to strap a set of **** and stop drinking. Have to as there is no other way to it. Like you said we paid 16k for this surgery and we are doing the same habit as before the surgery
Thank you for reply

Thank you all for your kind replies. It's such a fine balance as many of us long-term bandsters can attest to. I think the common problem that I see in many of the posts of long-term bandsters (and that I myself suffered from) is that the "perfect" fill (if such a thing ever exists) ends up becoming too tight a few years down the line, which leaves us with one of two choices: 1) a small unfill + being extra careful in order not to gain weight back 2) complications that may lead to larger unfills (and thus more risk of weight gain) or revision surgery all together.
I am not the most compliant bandster but not the worst either so this continues to be a struggle for me, 5+ years out. I also suffered from an eating disorder in the past (binge eating) so need to be careful of not overly restricting my food choices as this seems to fuel it.
Thank you all again. I will definitely keep you posted...

I think that it is a real dilemma for many of us bandsters.
Too tight and we lose pounds, but can cause some physical problems.... Too loose, and we struggle with food and satiety issues.
It is a fine line to find the the right fill.... and a good mindset that seems
to work the best.
Even years out, I struggle with the thought of another fill???? Or keep trying my hardest to eat right .
Then I have to factor in appt, distance, and $300 every try I want to change my Fluid amount. Sigh
No easy answer.... But I want to keep my band forever so I err on the side of caution... And keep it under inflated
Best of luck. I hope you keep posting⭐️

TheProfessor you are 110% right, if I don't have a drink for 2 days instantly 2 pounds gone but then they come back as soon as I have a drink. Going to strap a set of **** and stop drinking. Have to as there is no other way to it. Like you said we paid 16k for this surgery and we are doing the same habit as before the surgery
Thank you for reply

My surgeon believes in "creeping towards the green". Tiny fills, nicely spaced apart (4-6 weeks)... Now that I'm in the green zone I cannot help but agree.
I had surgery on December 18th, 2014 (7 months ago), and started out with 4.1 ccs of Fluid in my 10 cc band. Here's my fill history:
5 weeks later: Fill #1 was .5ccs
2 months later: Fill #2 was .3ccs
1 month later: Fill #3 was .3ccs
1 month later: Fill #4 was .2ccs
1 month later: Fill #5 was .1ccs
2 months later: Fill #6 was .2ccs
I am now in the green zone with 5.7 ccs of Fluid in my band. Hooray!
I was reminded by very experienced, professional and compassionate nurses at each fill to be PATIENT, and trust in the process. At the time, it made no sense to me why the fills had to be so small. I was like, "Fill me up! Let's get this show on the road!"
I was told that I needed to go slow and approach the green zone, as an overfill would result in vomiting, food sticking, etc., and would require a de-fill that would be GREATER than what I had been overfilled. In other words, one large mistake forward, 2 enormous steps backwards.
In my experience fills can take up to two weeks to 'settle' in. (This delay is, apparently, a mystery to bariatric surgeons). This has been true of 4 of my fills. My last 2 fills took effect almost immediately, and this one in particular I have struggled to eat even 1000 calories each day since being filled as the feeling of satiety was so strong. (Yay!)
Not one fill has resulted in heartburn, night cough, vomiting or discomfort.
It's been a 7-month test of my patience to get here. Now I'm here it feels SO GOOD. I am immensely grateful to my surgeon and his team for their wisdom around fills. Had it been up to me, I would have way overdone it.
Every BODY is different. I'm in the green zone at 5.7ccs. Some people finally get that elusive sense of satiety after 1 fill, some after 8 or 9.
All I know is my surgeons were right. "Creeping towards the green" has been a terrific way to get there.

I have had only three fills totalling 3.5 mls and I am no where in the green zone. And to be totally honest, it sucks. I have a ten ml band, but this waiting in between fills blows. I am trying to wait patiently for the slightest feeling of restriction, but it's driving me nuts.

I like it how one lady state it, right now we are dieting until we reach the green zone. Don't stress about it, yes we paid huge $ for this and we want a fast results but take it as this is a life time journey not a few months thing. I haven't lost a single pound in 6 months but I also haven't gain any being its summer and I do like my cocktails so I'm on a plus side already drinking all summer and not worried about getting a plan in the fall to lose what I gained over the summer. I'm two steps ahead already. Green zone will come one day I do believe in that ????

I think we are all a little different in this regard and to make it more complicated post-fill protocols vary as well. My surgeon has no restrictions post-fill whereas some people are on all liquids for up to a few days. I notice that my fills take some time to "settle in," that I don't feel it right away. "It" being the dimmed appetite. But I just had a fill last Friday and am noticing how I can't chug liquids now and I also can't drink while I'm eating -- I have to wait now and that's new for me. I take it as a good sign, that there's some there there, that the dimming is happening me my body is responding. Good luck to you and keep us posted.

May
First.. Glad to see you posting????
Please remind yourself, tho you don't care for the size you are, it is the AVERAGE size of American women.
You exercise and eat right so know you are healthy!
That said, I get you are frustrated over the numbers after years of being lower.
I'm suggesting you try to love what ya got today... And hope for what should be a drop in numbers soon
Best wishes
Jewels

First of all, it's normal not to be losing until you find your optimal fill level, so don't beat yourself up about the gain. Until your fill level is correct, you are "just dieting" with all that implies.
For me, I usually have a headache following a fill (not sure why) for a day. It's easily mitigated by taking Tylenol so I don't worry about it. I also get stomach-sick from the barium they use for my fills (my fills are done with fluorscopy, hence the barium milkshake) so I always schedule a fill for one of my days off...'cause I know I'm not going to be feeling well.
Congratulations on the start of your banded journey. Stay on those liquids for the time prescribed...the fill-area will now be irritated and swollen for a bit and you don't want to go putting any food down there while it recovers.