Hello my fellow bandsters,

I need answers please!! I had my 2nd fill a month ago ( I have 4 cc's ) so far and will have my 3rd fill next week. My problem is that I have gained 5 lbs in the last week and when I eat after the first or 2nd bite it gets stuck ( maybe I'm not chewing enough ) I don't know. COULD my band have slipped or is it that I do need my next fill and need to chew smaller and longer? Oh and I had a floating hiatal hernia and my surgeon fixed it but my band had to go up higher then normal which is better for me she said. I'm really getting depressed about gaining the weight. A weeks ago I was able to eat 2 burgers buns and all. SHOULD I be concerned or do I just need another fill???? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

This was very helpful information about the stomach muscles and explains a lot of what I have had problems with lately -- thanks for explaining this!

Doreenviv, I had the same problem for a while about needing to PB right after I started eating. I think I was doing it just about every day for months, and when I talked to my surgeon about it, he explained it like this.

Your stomach has three strong muscles around it. These muscles are the ones that contract and relax, moving food through your system (and also cause your tummy to "growl" when you're hungry).

For a Bandster, we often don't have a lot in the stomach if we are not snacking between meals. When you sit down to eat a meal, these muscles are eager to go to work and are very stimulated when you smell the food, see the food, and first bite goes in and chewing starts. The stomach anticipates the food about to arrive and the muscles clench up all the way to the opening of the band. So if you eat too fast, with bites that are too large, the food can't go down at all and you'll start sliming and usually end up bringing it back up. My surgeon told me that the first 2 to 5 bites are critical in a meal.

So, what I've done is literally take a pea-sized bite as my first five bites, and take about 30 seconds between those bites with my fork down. I chew until it's disintegrated, and I'm not really swallowing as much as it just disappears. Once my stomach realizes that there's more food coming, it relaxes and I'm able to eat and not PB.

This may not work for everyone, but it took me five months to finally get some answers to this and I have not PB'd since I started doing this except for some scrambled eggs the other morning (which I'm always tight in the morning and usually I don't eat at all). I also found that definitely not drinking during a meal has helped and was also a cause of PBing - I make sure I don't accidentally drink by not even having a drink next to my plate. If I dump a bunch of liquid on top of anything I definitely will be seeing it again!

As for the two hamburgers - I haven't been able to sucessfully eat white soft bread since the day I was banded, but that's just me. With fills, your band opening is about the circumference of your pinky finger - it's not easy to get larger items down it, especially if it swells up.

Good luck, I hope this helps you as it helped me!

Hello my fellow bandsters,

I need answers please!! I had my 2nd fill a month ago ( I have 4 cc's ) so far and will have my 3rd fill next week. My problem is that I have gained 5 lbs in the last week and when I eat after the first or 2nd bite it gets stuck ( maybe I'm not chewing enough ) I don't know. COULD my band have slipped or is it that I do need my next fill and need to chew smaller and longer? Oh and I had a floating hiatal hernia and my surgeon fixed it but my band had to go up higher then normal which is better for me she said. I'm really getting depressed about gaining the weight. A weeks ago I was able to eat 2 burgers buns and all. SHOULD I be concerned or do I just need another fill???? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

Are you maybe drinking too much when you eat? That will make things "slide" down quicker and easier and you'll eat more.

Also, if you are taking too long to eat, you can eat more. About 20 minutes is all it should take. If you go longer than 30 minutes, you begin to digest what you have eaten and make room for more.

I should know, these were two of my tricks I used for eating around my band when something tasted good. Its the reason I gained back much of my weight. I had to do alot of work to "fix" my head and now I am back on track and stronger than ever!

Good luck to you!

Hello my fellow bandsters,

I need answers please!! I had my 2nd fill a month ago ( I have 4 cc's ) so far and will have my 3rd fill next week. My problem is that I have gained 5 lbs in the last week and when I eat after the first or 2nd bite it gets stuck ( maybe I'm not chewing enough ) I don't know. COULD my band have slipped or is it that I do need my next fill and need to chew smaller and longer? Oh and I had a floating hiatal hernia and my surgeon fixed it but my band had to go up higher then normal which is better for me she said. I'm really getting depressed about gaining the weight. A weeks ago I was able to eat 2 burgers buns and all. SHOULD I be concerned or do I just need another fill???? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

This happens a lot to me right after a fill and it is especially hard in the morning. I always drink a hot cup of tea (decaf of course) first thing when I wake up and 15-30 minutes before the meal and it really helped reduce the sliming and PBs

Oh and if your band had slipped you wouldn't be able to hold down anything not even water! and you would have known when it slipped it would have been terribly painful. My husband works in a bariatric center and sees this happen and the person definitely knows (btw thats not how I met him HAHA!"

Good Luck! You'll find your grove!

My surgeon has given me a diet plan and I follow it to a T. I eat eggs, Protein powders, skim milk,Greek yogurt, chicken, fish, veggies and a little bit of fruit,That's it. As you can see by my ticker it's a very slow process,

I dont think 33 pounds in two and half months is slow! Dont sell yourself short! We arent ice cubes melting away

Great Job!

i miss bread! i just had my FIRST fill after 10 monthes with the empty band...i started gaining and was very upset...now that i have my fill i feel like the only thing going down is soft foods still!! arg....i dont want to say it may be too tight tho, because im afraid i'll end up with no Fluid and gaining again?! i feel your pain ( in my chest) i vomit daily

Hello my fellow bandsters,

I need answers please!! I had my 2nd fill a month ago ( I have 4 cc's ) so far and will have my 3rd fill next week. My problem is that I have gained 5 lbs in the last week and when I eat after the first or 2nd bite it gets stuck ( maybe I'm not chewing enough ) I don't know. COULD my band have slipped or is it that I do need my next fill and need to chew smaller and longer? Oh and I had a floating hiatal hernia and my surgeon fixed it but my band had to go up higher then normal which is better for me she said. I'm really getting depressed about gaining the weight. A weeks ago I was able to eat 2 burgers buns and all. SHOULD I be concerned or do I just need another fill???? Any suggestions or help would be appreciated!! Thanks.

Thank you ALL for your advice it is helping me greatly and I appreciate each and every post good or bad. I had my 3rd fill today and I'm at 5 cc's now so lets see how it goes. 2days liquids and 2 days mushies before returning to solid foods. I hope I will feel restriction again. My Dr. said it's normal and my band didn't slip. So happy about that! Again thanks all .

Thank you ALL for your advice it is helping me greatly and I appreciate each and every post good or bad. I had my 3rd fill today and I'm at 5 cc's now so lets see how it goes. 2days liquids and 2 days mushies before returning to solid foods. I hope I will feel restriction again. My Dr. said it's normal and my band didn't slip. So happy about that! Again thanks all .

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I got my third fill today and am now up to 5 cc. He had initially put in 2 cc to make it 6 and I couldn't get any Water down. It was a very creepy, painful feeling. Hopefully now we will both get the green we have been desperately needed!! Good luck to us both!