SInce my last adjustment last Thursday I can only eat after 5:00. The rest of the day is mostly Soup and drinks otherwise I pb.

Is that normal? I was going to go and have a slight un-fill but now I think I will leave it as is.

No it's not normal. You are overfilled. I JUST went through this same thing. It only got worse over the span of a month. Get an unfill. It was SUCH a relief to get that unfill. Run don't walk to your doctor.

What would happen if you don't get an unfill?

What would happen if you don't get an unfill?

You'll drink all of your calories, never lose weight and--and on the occasions you DO try solid food--damage your esophagus. And there are other ways a too tight band can damage the esohagus.

What would happen if you don't get an unfill?

Well you could do serious damage to your band and your esophagus. PB'ing is VERY hard on the band and a main cause for slips. Plus, you get to a point where you PB so much that your esophagus is so swollen that you can't eat ANYTHING.

Let me reiterate my surgeon's philosophy on fills...given to me JUST this week when I got my unfill.....

Paraphrased....being too tight causes bad behavior (like eating mushies to get around the band which aren't the best food choice). He said "I'd rather you be a skosh too loose and able to eat too much of the right foods (like chicken or turkey which I couldn't eat at ALL) than too tight eating the wrong foods."

Being too tight is a dangerous place to be.

I thought being too tight would almost be good....that I wouldn't eat and it would make me lose faster. Just the opposite happened. I lost LESS because I was eating poorly (Soups and whatnot) to get around the band.

The band was not designed to only drink your meals, you should still be able to eat solids before 5:00 pm..if you cant then I would say you are too tight and need a slight unfill, remember as little as having .2 cc's removed can make the biggest difference in you being able to eat solids but still have enough restriction to lose weight. Being too tight you are at a higher risk of slippage, reflux, gastritis, esophagitis etc...

From the Inamed Handbook That may be helpful to you

With the Lap Band system in place, you should be able to eat only small ammount so the food you eat should be as healthy as possible. Do not fill your stomach pouch with :junk: food that lacks Vitamins and other important nutrients. Your meals should be high in Protein and vitamins and low in carbs. solid food is more important then

liquid food or soft food. The lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid or soft food. It passes through the stomach outlet very quickly and does not make you feel full.

Here is another excerpt form the book

If the adjustment (fill) results in too tight of a stomach opening you could have a hard time eating most foods, sometimes this causes people to avoid solid foods. They may drink liquid meals or soft food meals and this may result in weight gain. A band that is too tight may cause reflux symptoms and can also cause frequent vomiting.

I'll take slower weight loss for being able to eat 3 squares a day anytime. It's not a race, it will happen. My main concerns with the band before I decided to do it were things like this, I felt there's a lot of people out there who sacrifice health and nutrition for a faster weight loss, that's so not what I wanted to get out of this.

I'd get an unfill.

By staying this way, I think you are risking your body's ability to keep the band long-term. Being too tight raises the risk of complications like slippage, pouch dilatatation and esophageal dysmotility.

By staying this way, I think you are risking your body's ability to keep the band long-term. Being too tight raises the risk of complications like slippage, pouch dilatatation and esophageal dysmotility.

I agree. Lauren you are too tight. Get a small unfill.

I'm not sure what thread its on but someone recommended goig on liquids for a day and that will help with being open only in the evenings, and let me say it worked MIRACLES for me. I did all liquids yesterday and was able to eat breakfast this morning. a nice lunch, and i plan on LIGHT dinner so i don't get myself into another bad cycle. I recommend you trying this before scdueling an unfill.