I was banded on May 20th of this year and I've had one fill so far of 2cc's. I'm down 27 lbs, but only 6 lbs lost in the last (almost) two months. I feel like I never even had surgery. My second fill is tomorrow, and I hope it's an aggressive one. I'm curious as to what other realize bandsters have experienced with the effectiveness of their fills. How many cc's until you "felt" something? Were you ever worried that you'll never lose weight successfully with the band? I know everyone is different, but I need some hope here! Please tell me I'll eventually feel something from my band!

I'll take any input I can get. You don't have to have a Realize band to help!

Little Teapot,

The first 5 months after my band was like I had not had surgery at all. I could still eat large portions and not feel full. It took until my 3rd fill before I felt "it". I started out at 248 and almost 2 yrs later, I'm down to 151 with about 16 more to go. I love my band. I just had my 5th fill 3 weeks ago (my 4th lasted over a yr) and that's boosted my weight loss again. I have a 14cc band and I didn't feel anything until it reached about 8cc. I had to have 2cc removed in Dec because I irritated my band and couldn't keep anything down. He put back 1cc 3 weeks ago. I'm now at 8cc and it's perfect. I'll be extremely happy if it lasts another year like the last one did.

You're just starting this journey. Most people take a few fills before they reach their "sweet spot". It's very rare that I see someone on here with no fills or just one fill and they lose all of their weight. You could be right around the corner from your sweet spot right now! Good luck to you!

Oh, and I do have a Realize band also

Marci

I've been bounded since June 2011, lost 26 pounds total....I just had my 2nd fill....for a total of 3.9

Doesn't seem like much though....I noticed today I didn't get hungry between Breakfast (egg mcmuffin) and lunch OR between lunch and happy hour (4:30 taquito) and even since making dinner for my family, I didn't eat it. I've sipped on Water and decaf tea all day long. Normally I can only go 2-3 hours before I feel hungry (or at least THINK I'm hungry!).... was super busy at work today so maybe that helped keep me from snacking.

So, while I know it may take a few more fills to be in the green zone, I think I am getting closer!! So far it has been a struggle to lose the 12 post-op pounds. I hope soon it won't seem so hard to lose even 1 pound a week!!!

My doc said the rest of the fills this year will be .5cc each time.

Good luck!!

Thanks for the responses guys. I just needed to hear that what I'm going through is normal. I just need to be patient with myself.

I am a May 2011 Realize bandster (11cc). My first fill was 6 weeks post op. Doctor wanted to try to fill it half way. She got in 4.4 cc's and I was too scared to have anymore so we stopped there. I had decent restrictions (4 hours before I was hungry and felt full after about half of a normal meal) for the first 4 weeks but the 2nd 2 weeks I was back to doing it all on my own again. I had my second fill this last Monday of 1.4 cc's and I am not tight at all. It feels exactly like it did before this last fill. I am reserving judgement because last time it took about 10 days for me to really feel the restriction. However, I can now go back for a fill every 4 weeks for small fills if I want to. If this one doesnt really do the trick I will go back in. I have lost a total of 42 lbs from pre op diet to now. I lost 13lbs in the 6 weeks between these 2 fills so I am completely happy with that. I struggle a bit not too eat too much but I would rather that then PBing.

How did your fill go? I have an11cc realize band. I got 6cc on my first fill, 6 weeks after surgery, then 1cc 3 weeks later, then 1cc 2 weeks later. I didn't feel really any restriction til the 8th cc went in. Then it was like, oh this is what I wanted! Lol

How did your fill go? I have an11cc realize band. I got 6cc on my first fill, 6 weeks after surgery, then 1cc 3 weeks later, then 1cc 2 weeks later. I didn't feel really any restriction til the 8th cc went in. Then it was like, oh this is what I wanted! Lol

I am still waiting on that this is what I wanted feeling. I am truly satisfied for longer on less food but I could still over eat if I wanted to with no problems. I will most likely go back in 2 weeks for more fill as this one did not seem to make any difference.

I was banded on May 20th of this year and I've had one fill so far of 2cc's. I'm down 27 lbs, but only 6 lbs lost in the last (almost) two months. I feel like I never even had surgery. My second fill is tomorrow, and I hope it's an aggressive one. I'm curious as to what other realize bandsters have experienced with the effectiveness of their fills. How many cc's until you "felt" something? Were you ever worried that you'll never lose weight successfully with the band? I know everyone is different, but I need some hope here! Please tell me I'll eventually feel something from my band!

I have an 11 cc Realize band. At 7cc I felt 'real' restriction tho I did lose weight before then. I just had another fill this week of 1cc, so now @ 8cc I think I'm at my 'sweet spot'. I always thought I had restriction, but I really didn't have much before I reached 7cc. I lost weight before due to me really trying to comply. I've had 5 fills total. No problems. Love my band.

I have an 11cc realize band too. you can see my fills in my sig- I didn't feel any difference until fill #3 (6.75 cc's). Fill #4 was awesome (7.25 cc's), but when I stopped feeling satisfied after meals I didn't get back in to the doctor soon enough... fill #5, I haven't felt any sort of difference. FWIW I've never been stuck or slimed or anything, and never had problems swallowing anything.