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I disagree with everything that has been posted above but I'm not in the mood for arguing or typing the alternative view for the gazillionth time. A quick search will bring up lots of threads on this topic where both sides of the argument have been argued to death!

This seems to be a common problem.After a long period of time your band seems to get less and less effective, you get hungry quicker, you can eat anything or almost with no discomfort whatsoever. According to the charts those are all the reasons for getting a fill but as you have discovered doing that gives you problems. It would be good if solving this was as simple as an unfill but for the majority of us it isn't. Although it might sound as though removing Fluid will help it doesn't. This happened to me last year and I have been struggling ever since. I got reflux, got a blockage, got a partial unfill and slow refill and have struggled ever since to get to the green zone. In the past year I gained 4 - 5kgs. I have now had another fill that eventually seems to be making a slight difference. I have lost 1kg of the weight that I gained but that has taken me 2 months of watching every mouthful, logging what I eat and daily exercise. All things that I never had to do to lose the weight initially. Good luck in figuring out what the best solution for you is.

Hi Scott Wondering why you chose now to join LBT and what the purpose of your post is?

I was given a choice of a balloon or band. I didn't see the point of a balloon as I felt that was only a temporary solution. Noone mentioned a sleeve at that point and a bypass was considered to be "overkill" for someone with my starting BMI.

I imagine that a possible complication could be necrosis of the stomach. Potentially this could be life threatening.

Dry meat. Dense meat like steak or pork chops. Dried apricots Then there are some foods that were a problem in the early stages that I can eat OK now. Sweetcorn, mushrooms,

I'M GLAD THAT YOU READ THE SLEEVE FORUM AND FOUND THAT NOT EVERYTHING THERE IS ROSY. Sometimes the way sleevers talk you would think that everything is perfect but obviously it's not. There are issues with reflux,dumping,strictures,leaks etc Band bashing seems to be the sport of choice for most(but not all) sleevers. Clever people are able to see past that and find the truth

Have you ever had anything waxed? Legs, bikini line, eyebrows? If you have then you have willingly suffered far more pain than there is having a fill.

I would have thought that the simple answer would be more food. 800 - 1100 cal is extremely low for maintenance. Your BMR with no exercise at all would be higher than that. genenerally the recommended foods for stable blood sugar are low GI carbs. Wholemeal bread, grains, potatoes, bananas etc

Get a sodastream. You can add as much or as little carbonation as you are comfortable with. With a dash of lime or some chopped up fresh fruit or juice it is really refreshing. BTW in America carbonation makes bands slip, here in Australia it doesn't. Probably because we are upside down!

Where do you live and what type of band did they use 25 years ago?

And the reverse of this is that once you are at or close to goal it becomes really hard to lose or maintain. At age 50 , height 5'/153 cm, weight 119lb/ 54kg my BMR is dismal. 1221! No wonder it is so hard to maintain. It doesn't take much to go over that in terms of calories eaten.

Try really concentrating on how you are eating. If after that you are still having issues then yes you may need some fluid taken out. But be careful that you are not doing because you have not adjusted your eating habits the way you should.

Well the theory used to be that it pushed the food through quicker, that was back in the old days when we were told that food stayed in the pouch for a long time. Now we have been told that the food goes through in about 1 minute so it's not quite as relevant. In fact many Dr's and Nut's will tell you it is OK to drink with your meals so long as you are not washing the bite through. What you need to do is avoid making the food so wet that it slides straight past the receptors that need to be triggered to tell you that you have had enough. But each person is different, many can't drink with meals as it is too uncomfortable.I do sometimes have a glass of wine with dinner, but that is slipped slowly. I no longer drink other liquids with dinner.

If you had to have a pacemaker to save your life but were told that it does not last forever and that you would need further ops in the future to replace the batteries, replace with a newer model etc would that stop you going ahead? I presume the answer is no? So why should the lapband that is also going to improve your health/save your life be any different?

Well said TMF

I hate it when people do that

Are you following your diet? You may be eating foods that are too difficult for this stage or you might not be chewing enough or not waiting long enough between bites. It takes a while to learn how to eat after being banded but generally if it is painful it means there is something wrong with your eating technique.

it is perfectly possible that you do still have weight to lose but the way in which you are doing it is what makes you anorexic. You are obsessive. You don't seem to care about your health. You are eating far too little to be able to get the optimum nutrition. You definitely don't need a fill at this stage. You need to start eating properley. Your loss will probably slow down and shock horror you may even gain a few pounds initially. Once your body gets used to the higher calorie intake you should start losing again. A safe healthy weight loss is generally regarded as 1 - 2lbs per week.The closer you get to your goal the harder it becomes and the slower the weight comes off. But so long as you consistently burn more calories than you eat you will lose. There is nothing wrong with a goal BMI of 22( this is still in the normal range). Just make sure you do it safely and not at the expense of your overall health.

is the band the problem or is it the plication?

You see this is where there is an issue. The fact that there is such varying info out there. Most of what she said actually agrees with what I have been told and is the way that most banded patients in Australia eat. There is no rule that say's you can't eat bread,pasta,rice. I eat most of these things regularly but in small quantities. Some of these may cause discomfort but everyone is different. There are as many Dr's that say that carbonation is fine so long as you can tolerate it. I regularly use my sodastream to make soda Water and add a dash of lime to that. I have never been told to only eat meat/protein once a day but also here we do not focus on low carb the way that Dr's in the USA do. Yes I do eat the same way as I did before being banded but not as much. Maybe that is because my meals have always been fairly healthy. I don't eat much fast food, rarely eat pizza, have never been into fried foods etc etc. So have a chat with your Dr but you may be surprised by his answer.

I have been banded 31/2 years and haven't had any real complications. I did get badly stuck last year and have to have an unfill but that is something that is easily solved, it isn't a real complication. My band is not as effective now at controlling my hunger as it was initially but I think that is fairly normal as well.

Burping like a sailor is quite common, it's something you get used to. Just think yourself lucky that for now it's coming out of the top...............

I'm not surprised that you are having trouble if you are trying to eat grilled chicken and veggies, grilled chicken is NOT a band friendly food. It is way too dry and gets stuck far too easily. I suggest that you try a moister way of cooking your chicken and try thigh instead of breast. It is far tastier and far easier to eat. Often the difference between success and failure can be down to some of the choices we make. Grilled chicken sounds like it should be a good choice because preband that is one of the things that we have always been told to eat when dieting but for most it isn't, it causes problems.

Well done