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People are told to eat slowly once they have a band but i think some people eat TOO slowly. Eating your meal over a period of about 20 minutes is fine but once you start taking longer than that you are more likely to overeat. This is because your band has already started emptying so you can fit more in.The same thing with waiting too long between bites. If as i have seen suggested you wait 3 minutes or more between bites it is going to take so long to eat that your band will be emptying and you will never get that signal that you have had enough. So I think often people think they have good restriction because they have to eat really slowly but in doing so they are then able to eat too much. So again it is all about balance and trying to find what is right for you.

I agree. If I am thirsty I often have a drink just before I eat as I know I shouldn't be drinking again for a while. My dietician did try to explain once. Something about if you are drinking before the liquid may fill you up so you eat less than you need and will then get hungry again sooner than you should. I suppose it does make some sense as we( everyone not just bandsters) are often told to have a big glass of Water if we think we are hungry as it can help to fill you up.

You are at the sweet spot. You are eating less than before, are not overly hungry and you are losing weight. The problem is the way that some people talk about the sweet spot you would think it was some amazing , magical , utopian state and that you would know you were there because there would be bells, whistles, a whole fanfare. It is much more subtle than that. The fact that you have the success you have and can still eat bread etc is a bonus. Surely it is better to lose the weight being able to eat anything rather than having only a small list of foods that you can eat. Congrats on your success.

If you can't eat solid Proteins and can only eat mushies then i would say you are too tight. If you are too tight then you are probably eating sliders which do not satisfy you and are often high calorie so can lead to weight gain. It is possible that you ended up too tight as you thought, as many mistakenly do, that a tighter band equals better weight loss. The converse is actually true. A band needs to be tight enough to help slow down the passage of food and increase levels of saiety on smaller portions but it also needs to be loose enough for a person to eat the right types of food . It is also possible that you thought that a tight band would stop you wanting/eating all those bad foods but that is something a band can never do. I think you need to go and have some fill out so that you can eat proper foods again. You should work with your dietician to see what and how much you should be eating. You will need to realise that the control is in your head or hands and that you are the "driver" of the band. You have to make the correct choices for it to work. If you have a problem with this as many do then you may need to see a food psychologist to find out why you eat when not hungry and techniques for managing it. Hope that you are able to get back on track and achieve the success that you want.

I eat ground beef frequently. Burgers can be more of a problem as they are dry. Fish can also be dry so no I don't think it is the way you are cooking it.

You have lost 60lb, I would say that is quite an achievement and it is one that you probably would not have made without your band. Time and time again there are threads here about being too tight and how dangerous it is but a lot of people ignore them believing that the tighter they are the better. Be aware that if you have your band removed without revising to another form of WLS you will probably very quickly regain the 60lb you have lost and possibly even more.You may need to see if you can work with your band for a while, if not then research the alternatives.

You have been living on mash and soup since 2010 and only ask now if this is normal?? I'm shocked. Who is your Dr, what did your Dr say. What kind of support have you had? Presumably you live in the UK somewhere, I don't know if that means that you were banded in the UK or if you went to Belgium and as a result have very little contact with your Dr which might explain things a bit. If you are not in regular contact with your Dr then you need to either start seeing him or find a new one. Cazzy is from the UK she may be able to help. The band is designed to work best when you eat proper foods such as solid Protein and veg and healthy carbs. If you can't eat those you are too tight and you need some Fluid taken out.You have obviously lost weight but I dread to imagine what your health must be like if that is indeed all you have been eating. You must have the patience of a saint to go this long without complaining , either that or you belong to the generation that do not question their Dr's. Fortunately these days that has changed. It is important for a person to look after their own health and if something does not seem right to question it and if you don't like the answers you get do more research and if necessary find a new Dr.

Just found this which explains it pretty well and it seems the main cause is GERD. http://www.ehow.com/about_5146728_esophageal-erosion-symptoms.html

So Mis73 can you please explain for us what oesophagal erosion is and what causes it?

Just confused as to whether your thyroid levels are high or low. Hypo in front of something always refers to a low level e.g hypothyroidism,hypothermia,hypotension etc If it is high then it is Hyper. Not trying to be picky just trying to clear up which you have. And listening to Dr's, newsreaders etc it can be difficult to tell as they never seem to enunciate this well which means it is easy to confuse what they have said.

Generally if they are doing something like that I would have thought they would have used tests such as x rays or ct scans first to determine if it was necessary. The band shows up on these quite clearly.

Even without a band don't you think you will worry? You don't need a foreign body inside of you to worry about what may or may not go wrong.

To answer some of your questions:- If you can't swallow it means your band is too tight. You will not feel full the way you used to. Full is no longer felt in the stomach it is felt in the chest. You want to try to stop eating before you are full as it may feel very uncomfortable. The band puts pressure on various nerves which gives rise to the sensation of feeling that something is in your throat. It is a referred sensation. Often if you can feel it in your throat it means you have probably eaten too much. With a well adjusted band you should be satisfied ( not full) after eating a small portion of healthy food (protein/veg/good quality carbs). You should not feel hungry again for an extended period. For some this could be 3 hours for others it is longer. Although you may not technically be hungry you might still desire food. That is because a lot of "hunger" is in your head not your stomach. The band will not make you magically lose weght. It will not make the correct choices for you and it won't make you exercise. Those things you have to do for yourself. HTH and keep asking questions.

It does worry me as there are a number of bandsters from a few years back such as wasabubblebutt that converted from a band to a sleeve because of problems with reflux. At least I think that was the reason.

It started happening to me just before Christmas. It wasn't every night but probably a couple of times a month. I was also waking up quite often with a sore throat which can also be a sign of reflux. I have no idea why It happened but it seems as though there are a number of people having a similar issue. Mine is OK atm as I had a blockage and had to get an unfill and am being slowly refilled. I am hoping that I can get filled to a reasonable level without it recurring.NB. I wasn't tight when it was happening and could eat just about anything.

Remember to be patient. Everyone is different, everyone loses at a different rate. Just stick with the diet you have been told to follow , do your exercise and you will lose.

Well said Cheri, I couldn't have said that better myself.

I think your Dr refusing to fill you back to the level you are at currently is crazy. To say the rest should be done with exercise doesn't make sense, you are probably exercising anyway. The point of the fill is to keep the hunger at bay. If your fill is at a level where you can eat a healthy ,varied diet then I don't see why there is a problem. If you are too tight and surviving on liquids then yes you shouldn't get filled to that point. What a lot of people, Dr's included, seem to forget is that the less you weigh the less you need to eat. Having the band helps you to not get hungry on that reduced quantity of food. When you get unfilled from a level where you were comfortable the hunger soon returns and with it so do a lot of the "bad" habits. I cannot wait until my Dr's appointment on Friday when i hope that I will be getting refilled to close to the level I was at a couple of months ago when I had to have an unfill because I had a blockage. The time since then has been a nightmare, I am constantly hungry!

I quickly go to the bathroom. Sometimes repeatedly. People may think I am strange but that is their problem. plus I have always had to go to the little girls room more frequently than most people I know so they are probably quite used to it.

Very true Cheri. I don't like reading the religious posts but some of them can be quite entertaining. You are right that they are probably still preferable to some of the sexual ones. There is nothing wrong with sex and most people do it but I think a lot of us prefer to keep what we do in the bedroom in the bedroom. The problem with religious posts is that people that believe are all so zealous and all so convinced that they are right. Christians(born again and traditional) think they are the only ones that are right, ditto Jews, mormons, Scientologists, Wiccans etc. Well either some are right and some wrong or else they are all wrong. I don't actually think it matters. To me what you do and how you behave is far more important than what you believe in. I am not going to live my life worrying about what may or may not happen after I die, I would rather try to be the best that i can be whilst i am still alive.

If you are not prepared to do your part then the truth is that no, we cannot help you. The band is not a magic wand that makes the weight disappear all by itself, it is a tool that helps you by controlling your hunger so that you can do what you need to do to lose weight. It cannot make good food choices for you, it cannot force you to exercise.If you are not willing to do these things then the band will not help you and neither will any other kind of WLS. The info that you have given us about the fill in your band is a bit confusing. It sounds as though you may be too tight and as a result have been choosing easy to eat sliders such as Cookies,icecream , shakes instead of the recommended types of food that will enable your band to help satisfy your hunger solid Protein, veg, healthy carbs. You may find that having a small amount of fill out actually helps you to make better food choices which control your hunger more. But it also sounds as though you had your band a year ago and only went for your first aftercare visit 2 weeks ago which if it is true means you are unlikely to have that much fill in. So I am confused, I think you need to provide us with clearer info. You also need to focus on why you got the band, what your goals were and why you spent so much money on it. That would help to refocus me, I hope it does the same for you. You should look at why you are eating as well. Is it because you are bored, stressed, nervous, .................. Figuring out the reasons for non hungry eating and finding ways of addressing them are important. Maybe a visit to a psychologist would help. As to exercise find something you enjoy as then you are likely to stick to it. No one says that you have to sweat it out in a gym you simply need to be more active. Go swimming,cycling, walking, take a dance class, go roller skating, horse riding the list of options is endless. But the bottom line is that in order to achieve success YOU have to do something. The band is not going to do it for you.

Just be aware that reflux can be a problem with the sleeve too. All sleevers have to routinely take an acid reducer for the first couple of months after surgery , at least.

It is referred pain. It might feel like it is in your throat but it isn't. It's a bit like the way that people often get pain in arms or legs from a trapped nerve in their back. Pain is not always felt in the area that it originates from.

The problem is that so soon after surgery you should not be eating solid foods. You are not ready for them yet. The piece of meat is probably sitting in the stoma trying to go down. Hopefully it will pass through quickly. Remember to stick to your post op diet and when you do progress to solids make sure you take small bites and chew really well before swallowing.

Your band can slip from VOMITING not from coughing or regugitating up food. Vomiting comes from your stomach , below the band and is usually forceful, coughing up the food comes from above or at the band. Good luck with things such as pineapple juice, papaya enzymes etc. They may work for some but for most they have no effect. They are also most likely to work if the stuck is caused by something that is bitty e.g rice, ground beef rather than something that is solid e.g a piece of chicken or meat. If you are stuck then it is not normally possible to wait for the food to go down, that can cause hours or days of pain and discomfort. If it is a solid item it probably won't move anyway. The ONLY solution is to bring it back up.