I was banded on 4/29 - had my first fill on 6/7 - nurse put in 4.5 cc's. Yesterday I had an appointment for my 2nd fill - nurse calls the second fill the "oh S**t" fill because by this one your REALLY start to feel the restriction. She put in an additional 2 cc's - for a total of 6.5 cc's. I had my mandatory 2 tiny cups of water before I left the office. The water went down slow but felt okay. On the way home, I started having EXTREME pain (similar to being stuck) and started throwing up around 4:00 PM - was throwing up about every ten minutes and couldnt even swallow my saliva - had to spit into a cup because it was just coming back up. Misery right?? Finally around midnight when I couldnt sleep, I decided I couldnt wait another 8 1/2 hours for the office to open so I went to the ER to get some taken out. The ER doc told me they don't "do" slight adjustments in the ER - they either take it all out or leave it all in. So what could I do? He ended up stabbing me THREE times before he could access the port (SO PAINFUL!!!) and ended up taking 5 cc's out. :ohmy: I was given NO IV fluids, no pain meds, not even a blanket! Talk about a nightmare! So my questions are:

1. does an unfill normally HURT?
   
2. has anyone experienced an unfill at the ER?
   
3. how long before you were able to have fluids put back in?
   

I feel like such a FAILURE and like now I have to start ALL over. Now I only have 1.5 cc's in and the office won't see me until next Thursday for a fill. :eek:

I have had an emergency unfill, but not in the ER. I had been vomiting up everything, including water and saliva, for 24 hrs. My surgeon was worried about me becoming dehydrated and had me come in at 8am the next day (it was a Sunday). It took him two pokes, and it hurt like nothing else I've ever known. Of course, he had to go through the bruise that had formed from the fill two days prior. He ended up doing a complete unfill because I was showing signs of dehydration.

I waited three weeks before getting refilled, only because I was so swollen (from the vomiting) and weak.

I have had a small amount taken out at my Dr's office and it was exactly the same as having a fill. It didn't hurt at all.

It sounds as though your Dr's practice has a very aggressive fill routine.My total fill is less than you had in your first fill and I have sufficient restriction! Its amazing how things differ from practice to practice and country to country.

@ Laura - That sounds terrible! I never thought I'd experience the feeling of not being able to keep your own saliva down - it was truly scary!

@ elcee - yes, my nurse is pretty aggressive - she says she wants ppl to get to their "sweet spot" pretty quickly. I'm wondering how much she'll put back in next week. SO glad an unfill doesn't "normally" hurt - I thought he was ripping my stomach out!!

I have had an unfill in ER..........same reason couldn't get anything down!! Didn't hurt but I got all my fluid out too. Took me 7 months to get my fluid back in.

Jazz do you have the lap or realize? Seems like the folks I know who got realize get bigger fills... I got 5cc in my first fill my co worker has a lap and her max she can get is 4cc...

SEVEN months?? Why so long & what did you do in the meantime?? that's SUCH a long time!! I dont know WHAT I would do - I'm so frustrated bcuz I have to wait a little over a week to get back on the "horse"!

No, I have the Lap Band - the nurse that does the fills really believes in an aggressive approach (obviously!) - maybe a little TOO aggressive if you ask me! Already wondering how much she'll put back in next week....

Jazz - If they aren't doing these "aggressive" fills under flouroscopy, I imagine what you went thru is pretty routine in their practice. It took several months for me to get to the proper restriction and the last couple were very small amounts, because when you get close - just a .1 or .2 cc fill can make a world of difference. I don't know if I would feel very confident in their practice knowing what I know now with fills. Some people are incredibly sensitive to fills and have alot of swelling. It kind of sounds like they just don't want people coming in again and again for fills. I'm not trying to knock your doctor's practice but in the interests of your well-being I would DEMAND smaller fills until you get to proper restriction - or at least get them under flouroscopy so they can see what is going on during the fill and not guessing. Sorry to hear you had such a rough time. That is terrible!