Hey everybody, first off your stories and tips have provided me with a great deal of comfort over the past few weeks. So thank you so much. It's great to know that there are so many others out there dealing with this all.

I was banded on 4/14. That morning I weighed in at 406 lbs. Twelve days later I'm 373 lbs. and (knock-on-wood) complication free. I haven't felt hungry yet but I've been thirsty every second so far. For the first 10 days I couldn't get anywhere near the amount of liquid I was supposed to. I was keeping up with the Vitamins but falling far short of the 48-64 oz. per day goal. It was slowly getting better but it was still tough to get even 30 oz of liquid down. Then, all of a sudden, from day 10 to day 11 it was like a switch was flipped. I can drink 64 oz in a day no problem and have to be careful not to go over because I feel like I can drink more.

I'm waiting to hear back from my surgeon still, but the question is is this normal? And if I feel good is it a huge deal if I sip a little more in an hour?

I was the same way. It seems that once all the swelling went down it is now easier to get the goal of liquids in. I don't see why you cannot drink more. Just be sure that you are meeting your protein goals (which I am having a difficult time on the muschies). Hope that will be easier when I get progressed to food (in 2 days). I was banded 3/29

64 ounces of fluids is a minimum, not a maximum. You should drink more if you are thirsty. Make sure you are getting your protein and that counts as fluid too. On day 11, you probably just healed enough to reduce the swelling and fluids started going through better. Next you may find yourself getting hungry faster - they call that Bandster Hell - when you no longer have the surgery swelling but do not have restriction from fluid in your band. Then you start thinking about fills. I was banded on April 7 and I just felt hunger for the first time today!

Thanks for the responses.