I have been banded for nearly 3 years. All seems well until I want a fill. Since having my band I have only had 5 fills and 2 of those had to then be reduced again as my brain panics and I then cant swallow.

My bad experience was on 12/9/09 - I went from 5.5ml to a 7ml and all was fine, the next morning I was bringing up froth and couldnt swallow. I rushed straight to the clinic i use but on the way there my hands were turning blue, the veins on my hands started popping out, I spat up half a 33cl bottle (sorry i know thats gross), I thought 'oh my god this is it, I'm actually going to die en route', bad I know whilst driving but I called my husband and told him I loved him and asked him to tell our children i love them, i was in so much pain and couldnt stop crying. I got there and went straight in, she reduced it down to 6.2 and i could breath again.....WOW the relief!

I sat at 6.2 for 7 months and noticed the weight loss was slowing down so decided to pluck up the courage to have a fill, I went up to 7ml and for 3 months I was fine, ate great, weight was coming off nice and slow but then I dont know what happened, panic or something triggered in my brain and again i couldnt swallow. I went back for another defill, down to 6.5ml.

I sat at 6.5ml for 8 months and on Thursday just gone (15th March) I had a fill, tried the 7ml again, sat in the clinic sipping a tea and letting it settle. Was fine for about half an hour and then for a second I thought what if i leave and it all goes wrong again. Everything then did all go wrong. She came and asked if I was ok and i said nope i need some out, i couldnt swallow again and was bringing up the froth again, she took some out, i sat up, felt ok, stood up and again the froth was there again. She then took out more and left me at 6.75ml which felt ok. She said i have a very sensitive body/band and will have to have very small fills of point .5ml each time to be on the safe side. I look at my cousin who also has a band and she goes up 1ml at a time.

How can I train my brain to tolerate more?

What goes on with me?

Does anyone else experience this?

Why cant I toterate 7ml?

Any advice or other people experinces would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much for reading.

Well I just wanted to let you know I had my last fill of 0.3cc and it helped me lose the last 10 and then 5 pounds easily. I have also heard of someone getting 0.2cc. I would never get more than the 0.2cc if I were you...also I think you are having a panic attack at the time you are perceiving being too tight...something to maybe ask your doc about.

My last fill was .1 and before that .25. I will never go higher than that either for myself. I'd rather pay $150 each time for a tiny fill instead of going through being tight again. I have had to have 2 unfills and they were not pleasant experiences leading up to them! I have an upper GI scheduled for Monday just to see how tight or open I am.

Thank you both for your advice.

I always thought the average fill was 1ml or more but after joining here today and reading through what people have I feel ok taking it slow. My nurse that does them only has me and another girl that cant tolerate a 'good' fill so I though there was something wrong with me.