I feel like the longer I have my band the less I understand it...

A little background info:

Banded 2/6/13 with a 14cc band

Surgery = 4cc

5/14/13 = 0.5cc

5/23/13 = 3cc

7/10/13 = 0.8cc

Before my last fill I was experience some tightness in the mornings. Since it is almost like I don't have a band at all.

I have only experienced one "stuck" episode and this was sometime between my 3cc fill and my last fill. I have never been one to throw up and I can only remember doing it twice. Once from nerves and the other alcohol. Which makes me wonder...is this why I am not experiencing more stuck episodes. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to have stuck episodes, but I also feel that I am overeating and eating to fast. I don't eat as fast or as much as I used to, but I know its more than a cup per serving.

My concern is not so much weight loss related as it is damaging my band or stretching my esophagus.

For those of you who are in the green zone...Does it take your hunger away or just your desire to eat? I only ask because I don't really want to eat most of the time, but my body is telling me I need to. Since surgery I get extremely sharp pains in my left shoulder if I let myself get to hungry. It also seems like my hunger comes on all of a sudden. One min I feel stuffed and the next I could chew my arm off...

So this leads me to wonder if I should get a fill or not. I assume the tighter I get the more likely I will be to damage my band from over eating. However, will being closer to the green zone assist me with not overeating?!? I know the band will not physically keep me from over eating, but assist with the desire to over eat. Does that make scene?

Ugh...

If you can understand my ramblings and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

*Sigh*

I think I understand what you are trying to say/ask. For me the band does not take away my hunger, but it does help to curb my hunger. I am able to go 4 hours without looking for a snack or a meal.

It does not stop me from overeating, I stop myself when I feel that "full" feeling or that soft stop which for me is a deep sigh and a hiccup. If I push it too far, the band lets me know I have REALLY over eaten and I am uncomfortable (not stuck) just uncomfortable with the amount I have over eaten. Like filling up a bottle too close to the top and then trying to put the cap on, with out spilling.

I pay attention to those feelings, so that I don't get to the point of having to vomit, or PB or feel stuck. I have pushed myself to that point a couple of times because the food was so good my mouth just wanted to keep eating it even after I was full. Now I don't do that. Once I have that signal if I have to walk away, or pour Water or something over the remainder of my food so I don't graze at it that's what I do.

Until you get the right amount of fill it's easy to eat more then that one cup of food. Depending on the type of food you eat and if it's lubricated in sauce or condiments. Learning about our bodies and what makes us eat, when and why we choose to eat what we do is the test.

Once you get all the signals your body is giving you it gets a little easier. Dealing with the head hunger of cravings, and mouth hunger cause it tastes so darn good...those are harder to cope with and factor into this new banded life.

I hope that helped...

Hi Redesigned,

The band truly is a living experiment, indeed. Sometimes we allow the numbers to get in the way of reality. For instance, if the average fill in a 10cc band is 5cc, people feel that surely they should be at green if their last fill brought them to 8cc for instance. Not so! Finding green is truly a 'listen to your body/band' decision. Sometimes it's learning exactly how to read those signs that can be most difficult. I'll do my best to help you on that.

Let me preface this by saying, everyone experiences the band differently from day 1. We all have different timelines as to when we first felt hungry, or felt restriction, or which foods fill us or which foods are no foods that get stuck consistently etc. So these are generalities, try to apply it your circumstance.

So, yellow is very easy to identify. That's the phase where you don't really appreciate any true restriction. You feel hungry between meals sooner than the standard 3-4+ hrs, when you do eat you can eat more than the standard cup and it's typically self will that's controlling your portions and food choices.

The way you are describing your situation, you sound yellow.

Green...ahhh green! This is a tricky land to be in. Because in reality, there's many shades of green. But first, let's just define it simply. Green is when you feel satiated between meals for at least 3-4 hrs. Green is when you are losing weight. Green is when your portions are under 1 cup and eating over 1 cup is uncomfortable. Green is when you can actually appreciate band restriction, where the food collects in your upper pouch and slowly passes through the stoma. This is something you can physically feel, whereas in yellow it feels like 'preop'. This is also typically the phase where most stucks occur because our stoma is smaller and is more sensitive to eating too fast, too large of a bite, or too overeating. This is when band rules are a must and we have to really follow our sensations from one bite to the next.

So let me back peddle real quick..shades of green ey? YES! I am not certain if this is an old bandsters experience or not, but I'm experiencing this in the maintenance phase. Please don't disregard this, because this may apply to you in an earlier phase. After getting back on my diet, I decided to get a tweak fill. It had been 3 yrs since my last fill. And it brought me back to green. But after the fill inflammation subsided and the stoma adjusted to eating/drinking again, I felt signs of green. But not like I did early on (first 6 months). So I got another tweak. Again, better..but not perfect. And I go tomorrow what I think will be my last tweak (these tweaks are 0.5cc although tomorrow's may only be 0.1-0.3cc) for that perfect green feeling. (See above for what that feels like). If any one of these variables is lacking, I say tweak it.

The band really tests our patience. There is no set timeline. There is no set green fill volume. It's highly individualized.

So get more of a fill and keep going until you feel green.

Other thoughts: I cannot overeat at green. I literally can feel the stretch in my pouch when I eat over 1 cup because the food slowly passes through the stoma. It's uncomfortable and it's negative feedback. I resist eating that much because I don't like the sensation and I fear it'll result in an unnecessary stuck episode. This is the blessing of the band. It gives you new sensations you didn't feel presurgery. The food sitting in your pouch is what activates the vagus nerve to send signals to the brain that you are full. And that is how we feel satisfied or full on a mere cup. But being in green is a requirement, otherwise it's just like having no band.

But than there is the red zone. You don't want to overshoot it by not being able to eat properly (frequent regurg, avoiding too many foods that get stuck, drinking meals instead of eating, difficulty with liquids, getting insufficient calories because you can only eat a bite or two per meal etc). Despite logic, this kind of restriction will actually cause the body to cease wl. So RED is baddddd ahahha

Hope this helps hon

Well let me put my almost 4 years input. If you are eating over a cup of food you will stretch your esophagus. That is the reason why you are given the amount to eat. Time after time when most people have erosion it is because they over ate and forced the band in to the stomach wall causing it to erode over time. I have 3 cc's in my band and I am in the green zone. It does not stop my hunger. Some people never get relief from hunger. Getting stuck is not a way of telling if you are in the green zone or not because I was getting stuck on things with nothing in my band. It all depends on what you will be able to eat. Everyone is different. You have to have some constraint as to how much you eat. You should be measuring your food at every meal and only eat that amount of food. Just because you can eat over a cup of food don't do it. If your esophagus gets dilated and it is not able to go back on its own then you can kiss your band good bye. Some doctors will just let it rest by keeping you on liquids for a few months to see if it will go back or they will take your band out. Sometimes you just have to stick it out.

Thanks ladies for all of your words of wisdom! It does help!!

Guess I should go ahead and schedule that fill. After all - whats the point in having the band if I am not going to utilize it to its full potential.

Is it weird that I get sad sometimes when I cant eat more? Guess that's the food addict in me. I think secretly (well - not so much now) that is why I haven't scheduled another fill. Fill = less food. Boo . Guess that is my fat kid coming back out...