I had surgery on 10/10/11. I have had 3 fills since then totaling 2.7cc's. My PA initally put in 3 cc's at my first fill, but Water wouldn't pass so she took 1cc out. Then, I got .5cc at my second and .2cc at my third. So far, I have noticed I need to chew well and slow down. I have gotten stuck a few times from eating too fast, but it has not helped with keeping me full for hours. I still get hungry about 2 or 3 hours after a meal. When will the band start helping me stay full? This is my biggest problem. When I force myself to wait for the next meal and struggle through the hunger pains, I find myself eating fast because I'm starving and then I get stuck.

My foods consist of Protein shakes, cottage cheese, plain greek yogurt, tuna, chicken, salads, cheese sticks, Protein Bars, and nuts.

I think I'm overeating sometimes because I try to eat more thinking that it will hold me over longer. I have only lost 20 pounds since surgery (about 5 pounds a month) and my stomach is still always growling. When will the physical hunger go away??

I have pretty much the same problem but have 9.5cc in a 14cc band. In the last month in a half I have fluctuated in weight 2 to 4 lbs. One thing I have found out about to do when you get a fill is not just sip the liquid but to take a big gulp and swallow hard. When I take a small sip and just swallow I appears to not want to go through but a big gulp and swallow hard seems to show it is going through with no problems. Hope I helped

It's still only been three months, and sometimes it can take longer to get the levels right. Don't get discouraged; your weight loss is going great!

It doesn't look like you're eating anything but Protein, should you mix some veggies and fruit in there? Myself, I find them hard to eat but others do well. Maybe you need a LITTLE more? I don't even know how much I have in my band (had several defills and refills, lol), and now some days I feel like I need a fill. Other days I PB everything I eat.

It's still only been three months, and sometimes it can take longer to get the levels right. Don't get discouraged; your weight loss is going great!

It doesn't look like you're eating anything but Protein, should you mix some veggies and fruit in there? Myself, I find them hard to eat but others do well. Maybe you need a LITTLE more? I don't even know how much I have in my band (had several defills and refills, lol), and now some days I feel like I need a fill. Other days I PB everything I eat.

I do eat a lot of salads (lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes), green Beans, and cauliflower. I'm not big on fruit. It is something I need to work on getting into my diet more. Until then, I get my Vitamin C from supplements. I'm hoping the next few fills I get will start to help with the constant hunger. I alway focus more on the protein because I know it's supposed to hold you over for longer.

I'm in the same boat and next week will be my 1 year anniversary. I have had 7 fills. I am told I have 6.5 in my size 10 band. I get hungry about 2 hours later as well. They put me on phentermine, but I don't want to take a pill to control my hunger. I go in on the 7th and hope that fill will do it.

I have found eating 6 times a day works for me so that I can control my hunger. I am the same way and had to find a way to handle it. I have 8.5 in my 14cc band and am going in for a small fill. Right now I can eat anything I want again so I know it is time(I had bread last week and I have not eaten that since last March!

For a lot of people it is not possible to go for 6 - 7 hours without food. Although we all hope that we will be satisfied on 3 small meals a day for a lot that doesn't happen. I can usually go from Breakfast to lunch without a snack but there is no way I can do lunch to dinner. Maybe you need to factor some Snacks into your plan. So long as the snack is planned and healthy that is fine. The problem arises when you just grab the nearest whatever as that could be high cal, low nutrition etc. And make sure you are eating because you are hungry and not out of habit or because it looks good etc.

Getting tighter won't actually help but could in fact make the situation worse.

If you are eating tiny meals it really is ok to eat quite often if you are absolutely sure it is real hunger and not just wanting food. My stomach growls like a crazy bear but it took me a long time to realize that wasnt hunger. I eat about every two to three hours but very small meals. When I was in the green zone and losing I lost about 5 to 6 pounds a month. I think it is CRITICALLY important to eat when you are hungry...otherwise its just deprivation which leads to trouble!

Yes, good advice. Every doctor seems to have a different plan for their patients. Mine advocates snacks, while others do not. As mentioned above, perhaps a couple of healthy snacks will help you!

I am in the same exact boat....I have had 2 fill in the last 2 weeks....I cant believe my doctor does them sooo frequently. He even said I could come back again this Friday which is a week later from the last one. Anyhoo...I feel no difference. Its straight will power. I dont even feel like I have a band in place. I have 6cc in my 11cc band. I have never gotten stuck with food or liquids. I dont know what to do!

Crystal

I was banded on 10/4/11 and have my 4th fill on on Thursday. I too am hungry within 2 hours of eating. My 3rd fill was 4 weeks ago and did nothing for me. I've been eating 5-6 small meals this month and have lost 8lbs as of this past Saturday. I have some restriction with what I can/can't eat but don't have any restriction in the amount of food I can eat. It feels like I don't have the band most days and I'm just on another one of my many failed diets. I'm hoping the fill this week will help limit the amount of food I can eat at one time but the small meals/snacks throughout the day have definitely helped this month so I'll probably continue to do this even though my dr doesn't like it.