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Constant forcing food up can cause your band to slip.But we have to look at the difference between vomiting and PBing. Vomiting comes from below the band and usually involves a lot of force.This can cause problems. PBing comes from above the band, it is not usually very forceful and is unlikely to cause problems. If you are PBing often then you do have an issue. Either you are not eating correctly or you are making bad food choices or your band is too tight.Ignoring this can lead to problems. As for steak - I know how you feel. I have been banded almost 3 years, have a fairly loose band and thought i could eat steak. Well it seems I can't. I spent the evening PBing/vomiting with force and when that stopped and I went to bed I couldn't sleep as I was waking every couple of minutes choking on acid. I was terrified I had slipped my band so I went to emergency. They did a CT scan and partially unfilled my band. Apparently everything is still Ok but it is now being refilled slowly. The thing that usually(but not always) works for me after an episode like this is sucking on crushed ice. It helps to reduce swelling . Hope you feel better soon.

Yes , very positive

You can also try sucking crushed ice. that helps to reduce inflammation and swelling. Andrea I agree that it sucks to be too tight. Life with a band is not supposed to involve medically induced bulimia or near starvation. Life with a properly adjusted band should mean that you are able to eat a wide variety of healthy foods , not be constantly hungry and that you should be able to lose or maintain weight. There are many people on this board that seem to advocate having a really tight band. It may work for them and if it does then great but it worries me that they seem to encourage(push) others into getting just a bit more fill. It makes people believe that there is some kind of Nirvana where they will truly eat minute amounts and never be hungry and never think about food - for most this is not true.

Thanks for the suggestions. Yesterday for lunch I had roast lamb and salad on french bread followed by an apple and it was divine. I had forgotten how good apples taste. Wasn't so good today as I went on a garden group trip followed by lunch. Typical Aussie pub with the usual choices so I had fish. Normally I would only be able to eat 1 piece but today i finished both and had Pav afterwards! However that seemed to fill me up for the rest of the day as I didn't feel like a proper dinner - I ended up having a toasted Hot X Bun! Maybe not a good diet choice but it tasted really good and as "dinner" I didn't think it was so bad. PM - sorry not sure about how to avoid the ups and downs. Maybe some days you are more stressed than others, dehydrated, hayfever affecting it more? You need to see if you can work out a pattern because then it might make it easier to be prepared and deal with it. Denise - that sounds like typical Murphy's Law! Glad you are able to eat again.

You may have a small slip from all the vomiting. You need to go and see your Dr so that he/she can check everything is OK. It is possible that you may need some Fluid taken out so that your band can rest and reposition itself. I have just been through something similar after stupidly trying to eat steak . I got stuck, vomited all evening, stopped , went to bed and couldn't sleep as I kept waking up choking on acid (the whole night) so took myself off to emergency the next day. Had some fluid removed and they did a CT scan to check everything was still in place. I have had some of the fluid they took out put back in and have to see my Dr again in a couple of weeks.

and the first couple of years are like being on honeymoon, and then reality sets in and you just get on with it. Sometimes you wish you and your band had never met. Sometimes you love your band more than life itself And sometimes you contemplate ditching your band for another form of WLS.

I can't stand any of them. I have tried a couple of times and given up. My fitness pal is annoying because it does not have some of the foods I eat and the serves are strange. For example instead of a serving of crackers being listed as 1 cracker or 2 or whatever it will give it in weight - I do not weigh all my food. I have tried Calorie King which has more local Australian foods but still does not do what I need it to do. I think they probably work Ok if you exclusively eat preprepared or convenience foods. I cook and there is no way that I am going to measure and weigh all my ingredients and then enter my recipes. That is too much pain for not enough gain. I am also trying to avoid the diet mentality. I got the band so that I could stop dieting, if I am constantly obsessing over every mouthful and entering it on the computer then that is very much being on a diet. For me my band is for life and it helps me to eat like a normal skinny person. I know what sort of foods I should be choosing.

I also think that there seems to be a competition or race to see who can get the most fill the quickest! Instead of focusing on what their band is doing for them people focus on how much fill they have and constantly want more even though they may not need it. They then end up too tight which is counterproductive. The amount of fill required will change depending on how long you have had your band as well. I am currently in a similar situation to you. I had 6ml in my band and had 4ml taken out about a month ago as I had a complete blockage. I have since had 2ml put back in so am now sitting at 4ml. It feels as though my band is empty! Yet for a long tome 4ml would have been enough and would have given me perfect restriction. So effectively the amount required is a moving goal post and it is different for everyone.

When you choke you can't breath as the blockage is in the pipe that carries both air and food. When you get stuck the blockage occurs at your stoma which is at the top of your stomach, it is much lower.

I don't think this meal is a good indicator of restriction. A big Mac burger is not solid Protein, it is reconstituted meat covered in grease that slides down really easily.You didn't eat the bun and the french fries are also very skinny and probably very easy to eat. I am not a Macca's fan so I don't really know. As to the sundae , your band would need to be completely blocked for that not to go down. Icecream goes down so easily. I think you should stop eating big macs and start eating some proper home cooked food and see what kind of a difference it makes. You also have to remember that at some point your weight loss will slow down or even plateau, especially if you have had weeks where you have been losing 5lb, it takes your body time to catch up. That is not a problem as losing weight is not a race. I still think that you should discuss it with your Dr , making sure you are HONEST with what you tell him, and then take his advice.

Wow - that is a long hospital stay. I suppose the Germans are well known for being over cautious.

I have to disagree. Most people will feel some hunger when they are consuming too little. It is not realistic to expect that the band can assist us to be satisfied and not hungry on an extremely low no of calories. The OP says she feels a liitle hunger - I would say that is normal. She is losing between 1 and 5lb a week , that is excellent. I think she should tell her Dr everything she has told us and let him decide. I certainly wouldn't be begging for a fill if he doesn't think it is necessary. There is always that risk of ending up too tight and that is totally counterproductive.

Think I'll have to look into that

You managed to get through surgery and that would have involved a number of needles/drips etc. A fill is just a walk in the park.

800 calories a day is very low, I would also be getting hungry if that was all I was eating.

Same here. Also although the sleeve seems to be a good option I still think I would be quite hesitant to revise to one . The surgical and post surgical risks and complications sound so scary compared to a band. If something went wrong with my band I would be hoping that they could replace it. If they couldn't then I would probably go for a sleeve but I imagine it would take a lot of work to convince my DH that it was an option.

You must have been eating a lot of soy sauce!

Victoria, Australia! Our private health insurance is a bit different to yours.

Got on the scales this morning and I am up to 51.5kg. That probably has something to do with all the chocolate, biscuits and other junk I have been consuming lately. I decided I have to get this under control NOW before it gets out of hand. Step no 1 ignore the Cookies in the cookie jar - tick. Step no 2 have a sensible , calorie controlled, high Protein , quick and easy Breakfast - tick. Had a celebrity slim shake at approx 7.30am. Problem. 8.30am and I am STARVING. Trying to decide what to eat that will not set me off on a morning of binging as there is no way I was going to be able to make it until lunchtime. Decided to have some yogurt. My band at the moment feels like it is doing NOTHING. I have noticed that I am unwittingly eating faster. I was finished at the same time or before the rest of the family at dinner last night, OK I had a smaller portion but that is still not good. I have always been a fast eater and it seems without any restriction I still am. I only go back to see my Dr in about 3 weeks. How do I keep this under control until then? Should I be doing liquids, or low carb or just eating lots of bulky foods like fruit and veg? I'm confused - I haven't had to diet for 3 years and now that it looks like I need to I am finding it just as confusing as ever. Suggestions appreciated.

I think many people stay overweight because they are scared of what may or may not happen when they lose weight. In some ways weight is a shield to hide behind. If we haven't got a partner we blame it on our weight. If we haven't got a good job we blame it on our weight If we are not happy we blame it on our weight etc Once the weight is lost then we can no longer hide behind it and we have to start facing the reality behind our problems.That can be a very scary prospect.

Can't imagine why anyone would want to eat baby foods. It is easy enough to cook and pulverize your own mush and that will taste a lot better than stuff designed for babies. The only exception would be the pureed fruit, that is not too bad.

If you are able to eat and drink then you do not have a blockage. If you have a blockage then NOTHING goes down. You are not likely to choke in your sleep. It is possible if you have bad reflux that Fluid could seep into your throat whilst you are asleep but normally when that happens you will wake up coughing.

What kind of job do you have? Is it an office job or a physical job? If it is an office job I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be fine to go back after a week, most people are feeling Ok by then although everybody is different.

I am so glad that you are happy, you deserve to be.

Sorry to hear that and wishing you all the best with your new surgery.