I'm over six months out of surgery. I lost a lot of weight right at first, and then progress stagnated. I think I was just never getting tight enough. The method my provider uses for the fills is to sip from a glass of Water and adjust it to where it takes approximately three seconds for the water to pass through the band.

I think my problem is that it takes longer for fluids to pass through than dense foods. A few days after getting my last fill, I was able to eat an entire french dip and serving of chips... but I couldn't drink water quickly. Is anyone else having this problem?

I finally got them to give me a really tight fill this last time. I have to drink fluids very slowly, especially in the morning, but it seems like I'm finally getting the restriction I need on food. Of course now I'm worried I'm too tight. I'm having reflux now during the night. I'm going to try not drinking anything an hour before bedtime and seeing if that helps.

I'm just really wondering if maybe I don't have a "sweet spot." I know it sounds weird, but if I can process solids better than fluids, how will that ever work for me?

Bah!

I don't understand why so many people here have gotten unfilled (and then gained or plateaued) when they have had symptoms of reflux? Why not take a medication (I take Protonix) to reduce the acid and keep on losing to a healthy weight?

Maybe some tried that and it didnt solve the problem but I am just trying to understand why wouldnt the doc just treat the reflux as you would in any other person?

I would love to hear from anyone with an opinion on this...thanks!

southern - something you said in your later post really caught my attention - i'm about 1-2 months behind you on surgery i think (i was july 5) - just had my 4th fill - 7.5cc in 14cc band - and this last fill was the first time i felt "anything" - meaning that i could tell i had a band in there. What i feel at this point is about 1/2 the time i eat (no rhyme or reason on time of day) i feel the food slowly (and sometimes painfully) moving through the band hole - right after i ate it. So, nothing was staying in the pouch for any length of time - which is ultimately the goal. Is that what you experienced before you had this last fill? And now is it that food is staying in the pouch for a while so you feel the saitey (sp?)? Just curious - if that is the case you are giving me hope that maybe my next fill will "work" - because even though i now feel many times the food "passing through" the band - i'm still hungry much sooner than i should be - so i'm really hoping the next fill does the trick by actually keeping the food in the pouch for a while before it passes through. How many cc are in your band and where is it at now? THANKS!!!

I don't understand why so many people here have gotten unfilled (and then gained or plateaued) when they have had symptoms of reflux? Why not take a medication (I take Protonix) to reduce the acid and keep on losing to a healthy weight?

Maybe some tried that and it didnt solve the problem but I am just trying to understand why wouldnt the doc just treat the reflux as you would in any other person?

I would love to hear from anyone with an opinion on this...thanks!

Well that is exactly what I thought too. And I did try every type of acid reducer out there. But here is the problem explained to me by my doctor: if you are having the types of acid that I was having, it means your band is too tight. If you keep your band too tight you can have serious problems that will result in your band having to come out, or worse. The worst case that I have heard about, on the 5:00pm news, no less, is the acid that continues until it srarts to eat away at your esophogus, resulting in cancer. So that is why it is such a big deal to not try to deal with a too tight band.

yes, mine would always slip through. i could feel it as it did. i would usually get tired of eating before i got full. it did help some in that i couldn't eat in big gulps like i used to. i had to slow down, but that was about it. i could eat way too much as long as i chewed it pretty well. now i have to eat way smaller bites and chew, chew, chew like the nurses kept saying i would have to. and it stays in my pouch and makes me feel full for a long time.

this was my seventh fill. i'm at 6cc in a 10cc band. of course it varies for everyone. how does your doctor judge when you've had a big enough fill?

southern - something you said in your later post really caught my attention - i'm about 1-2 months behind you on surgery i think (i was july 5) - just had my 4th fill - 7.5cc in 14cc band - and this last fill was the first time i felt "anything" - meaning that i could tell i had a band in there. What i feel at this point is about 1/2 the time i eat (no rhyme or reason on time of day) i feel the food slowly (and sometimes painfully) moving through the band hole - right after i ate it. So, nothing was staying in the pouch for any length of time - which is ultimately the goal. Is that what you experienced before you had this last fill? And now is it that food is staying in the pouch for a while so you feel the saitey (sp?)? Just curious - if that is the case you are giving me hope that maybe my next fill will "work" - because even though i now feel many times the food "passing through" the band - i'm still hungry much sooner than i should be - so i'm really hoping the next fill does the trick by actually keeping the food in the pouch for a while before it passes through. How many cc are in your band and where is it at now? THANKS!!!

yes, mine would always slip through. i could feel it as it did. i would usually get tired of eating before i got full. it did help some in that i couldn't eat in big gulps like i used to. i had to slow down, but that was about it. i could eat way too much as long as i chewed it pretty well. now i have to eat way smaller bites and chew, chew, chew like the nurses kept saying i would have to. and it stays in my pouch and makes me feel full for a long time.

this was my seventh fill. i'm at 6cc in a 10cc band. of course it varies for everyone. how does your doctor judge when you've had a big enough fill?

yes, mine would always slip through. i could feel it as it did. i would usually get tired of eating before i got full. it did help some in that i couldn't eat in big gulps like i used to. i had to slow down, but that was about it. i could eat way too much as long as i chewed it pretty well. now i have to eat way smaller bites and chew, chew, chew like the nurses kept saying i would have to. and it stays in my pouch and makes me feel full for a long time.

this was my seventh fill. i'm at 6cc in a 10cc band. of course it varies for everyone. how does your doctor judge when you've had a big enough fill?

You are right about where I was when my first acid problems started. I was around 6 or so in a 10 cc band. I had pretty good restriction going on but then the holidays were here and I sort of ruined it. I think I stretched out my pouch from eating too much. So instead of trying to shrink my pouch with a few days of liquids, I went in for another fill and I started waking up at night coughing and getting the acid. Looking back, if I could go back, and what I'd do if I could do it over, would have been to try adding in a snack or two instead of going in for another fill. You know, something heavy that will stay in my pouch for a while. Also I'd remember that the band can be very temper- mental. Some days I would be so tight and other days it felt like I could swallow a watermelon and nothing seemed to fill me. There is a lot of trial and error as well as patience. I am not telling you what to do but you may want to experiment with different foods and write them down. You know, kind of a list of foods that stay in your pouch a long time and those that don't keep you so full for very long. Read other people's posts. I learned a lot from reading what others have tried, what's safe and what isn't, you name it. it's on these boards. Just don't push it like I did. As I said before, you sound exactly like I did when I first started out. I did push it. I wanted to get tighter and tighter. I wanted to get that weight off and I wanted it all off now!!! And it bit me in the a*s . I shouldn't complain. I lost 100 pounds. But I still need to lose a lot more and all of this is such a pain. So anyway, slow down and remember that you are still new to all this and it is better to take it slow than to have to go backwards with an unfill. I am tired and have to get up early for work tomorrow. So good night to all and I will talk to you soon.

yes, mine would always slip through. i could feel it as it did. i would usually get tired of eating before i got full. it did help some in that i couldn't eat in big gulps like i used to. i had to slow down, but that was about it. i could eat way too much as long as i chewed it pretty well. now i have to eat way smaller bites and chew, chew, chew like the nurses kept saying i would have to. and it stays in my pouch and makes me feel full for a long time.

this was my seventh fill. i'm at 6cc in a 10cc band. of course it varies for everyone. how does your doctor judge when you've had a big enough fill?

Thanks for the info - i'm not sure when my surgeon will say it's "filled" enough - because up until now there''s been no restriction so he was just filling monthly in 1-2 cc increments. I'll tell him everything that's going on on my next visit Dec. 6 - but i'm thinking i may want another 1 cc so that food doesn't automatically go through the band and will stay in the pouch a while. We'll see!

Why are you eating French dip & chips at all?!!! No band will work if you don't change your eating habits dear. I understand your concern & how you feel but I'm worried your miss using the band as it's not there for the purpose of continuing to eat poorly. If you change the type of food your eating you may not get reflux or have ANY problems at all. I'm sorry if this sounds aggressive, it's not meant to be but seriously chips?

She and I and everyone else, including you, can eat wtf they want - as long as they dont over eat (is that not the mechanical point of the band??), although you can go and live on lettuce water and fairy dust if you feel better about it. Live a little and stop being so bitchy about what someone else puts in their body.