How do I know if I'm eating too much? Where should I feel discomfort? Is it different for everyone? Should I be feeling it in upper abdomen, mid abdomen or lower abdomen?

What do each of those areas mean if I feel discomfort in them?

The problem Is I don't know if I'm uncomfortable because of eating or because of surgery. I am 6 days out and still taking pain Meds.

I have no restriction. Today I ate 2 eggs with a Gortons fish filet patty. It took about 15 minutes.

I Ddnt feel uncomfortable. 3 hours later I had a half a cup of lasagna. Felt great.

Am I missing something?

Please let me know your thoughts.

J

Firstly I am surprised at what you are eating so soon after surgery. My Dr still had me on liquids at that point but every Dr is different so as long as you are following your Dr's instructions that is good.

When you have a band with some fill and a reasonable level of restriction if you eat too much you will normally feel it in your chest, around about where you would expect your heart to be. The feeling can range from mild discomfort to OMG I'm going to die. You are not going to feel full in your stomach the way you would have felt preband.

Your message does have me confused though. You say you don't know if you are uncomfortable because of the meds /eating or whatever then in the next line you say you felt fine.So are you uncomfortable or not? And when do you feel uncomfortable?

At this point in the process you generally won't have much restriction so you will not feel the full benefit of the band yet. That only happens once you have had a couple of fills.Do not rely on your band to stop you overeating, serve up the portion your Dr recommended and only eat that - even if you feel that you could eat more.

Elcee,

I'm confused too. I feel pain. But is the pain from incision and surgery or overeating ?

I'm suppose to still be on liquids per Dr orders but I was hungry.

I feel pain first thing in the morning. I eat a yogurt. 3 hours later I eat real food, soft and mushie but real food.

I can't bend down and pick something up off the floor without discomfort(Pain).

If you cant bend down, its probably surgical pain. I'm surprised too at what your eating and very surprised that you actually can eat it! Just to be contrart, i feel full the same way i always did, with chest discomfort if i really overdo it.

I didnt eat solid foods for 1 month after being banded so I cannot tell you what it should be feeling like at 6 days.... however now that I am almost 10 months out... and am in the green zone and eat too much 1 or 2 things happens to me. I feel like I have been hit in the chest with a brick for about an hour or the food comes back up... usually not in a violent way but its still comes back up.

I have only felt that way a few times and looking back it was more becasue I ate too fast...not too much.

In your first post you mention you have no restriction but then in second post say that your Dr wants you on liquids but you were hungry so oh well you ate lasagna??? Dear if you are giving in this early you need to call the nurse/Dr/therapist you were seeing and get in to have your head looked at. Do you realize that you can HURT yourself by doing that? Your doctor gives you instructions for a reason and that is so that you will be successful and so that you will HEAL- not sure how you paid for your surgery but if insurance was involved you might want to check on the coverage for complications caused by noncompliance- most wont pay... Just an FYI.

It's fascinating that none of you tested the limits of your band. Your self control is remarkable.

Moving forward, I found out what it feels like. Won't be testing band limits anymore. Incidentally, I don't like lasagna anymore.

It was the worse sensation and pain. I was scared. I thought my stomach was going to blow up.

On all liquids now.

J

I have tested my band plenty and have experienced plenty of pain and thrown up many times...but if you ate like that only 6 days after your procedure, well, lets just say you probably have a long road ahead.

Anyway the pain of overeating (for me) is like the sharp pain of needing to burp or a bad hiccup and it is right under the middle front of my bra.

I am 5 days out. I can drink a few oz of Protein shake or about 10 small sips of creamed Soup and i feel this discomfort in my chest....kind like pressure. NO WAY could i do one bite of lasagna let alone 1/2 cup. I began to experiencd hunger today....i curbed it by adding a spoonful of greek yogurt to my Protein Shake, drinking Water, broth and creamed Soups.

J

Do I detect some sarcasm?

I've tested the limits of my band, for sure. I can say hand on heart I've never done the "I wonder what will happen if I eat this" kind of testing, but unintentionally I've overeaten and thrown up on quite a few occasions. None of us ever said we were perfect or indicated that you should be but come on - six days? Its worthy of comment because of the danger of what you're doing, not because some of us want to sound morally superior. It took me a whole year to have my first pb, you've done it after less than a week - sorry, but you're placing the success of your band AND your health at quite a risk.

However, I think the newer bands are much more problematic. They may have less risk of slippage long term, but they seem to make the post op periods WAY harder than the older bands. I had superb restriction for about 12 weeks after surgery with my 4cc band - wasnt ever hungry, didnt think about food. It was easy for me. And I was full of new motivation. I find it so strange that gettign to the point of needing and having weight loss surgery isnt enough to get people even through a couple of weeks of hard core dieting. But perhaps that's just me.

@jachut,

Is that what I experienced, bp'ing? I thought that included saliva and other unmentionable liquids.

Could you please explain.

Well I just assumed that you threw up the lasagne. Pbing is productive burping, which is the food exiting the system. Some people can do it nicely, like a baby regurgitating. But my head spins round and I make a lot of noise.

But even major pain and sliming (where you get a lot of saliva) is very dangerous for your band, particularly this early in. Its good that you're back to all liquids.

Thanks.

There was no saliva. I ate the lasagna and was fine. About 6 hours later when I went to get in bed. My stomach felt like It was going to explode.

I got cramps and bad bad bad pressure down low in my stomach. The band is not down low. there was no saliva just pain, bloating and pressure.

I am done with testing this band. I just thought it was weird that I could feel nothing when I ate. I hope my band forgives me.