I can not take big bites or eat fast. However if I eat slowly and throughly chew, I seem to be able to eat about all I could want. I'm afraid that if I get more fill nothing will go down. I have to chew until I quit because my jaw is tired rather than when I feel full. Is it just me? What does a sweet spot feel like? My band won't hold much more and it's not like I don't have pb episodes. Information please.:welldoneclap:

Are you eating hard proteins? Soft foods allow us to eat more than we think we should. Also, is your band a smaller band which only holds 4cc or a Vanguard which holds more? Some folks have thought they had a small one only to find out they had a VG and often that takes more tries to get to that 'sweet spot'. I understand the frustration. Keep us posted!

That's the million dollar question! Unfortunately... it is not easily answered but I think Leatha did a pretty darn good job! When I have a fill that is giving me a really good amount of restriction... no amount of chewing will allow me to get certain foods down. Right now I have a moderate amount of restriction and even if I chewed a soft slice of bread to death... it would still get "stuck"...lol. ( I have tested this hypothesis ) :welldoneclap: I have found that every time I started questioning the need for a fill... I needed one. Some people need a tighter fill to stop eating around their band... I am one of them. Good Luck!

I have the same issue. I have a 4 cc band with 2.9 cc and I can eat anything if I chew well enough. Once in a while I get a little chest tightness that feels a bit uncomfortable but it usually passes after a few minutes and I can just keep eating.

I am almost a year out and am still in search of the elusive "sweet spot". I am either too tight or too loose. I have gone from needing fills to needing unfills and back again. I had a fill a couple of weeks ago and am once again too tight. I am about 20 pounds from goal am probably going to go back for another unfill because I am unable to have any solids, am having back pain, and even have pain after drinking my shakes. Frustrating.

I've got similar problems. Got a fill and felt that it was tight, I could only get liquids down. Dr unfilled in his office and then I felt no restriction so 1 week ago he took me back to X-ray at the hospital and put in over 1cc, after a week I still don't feel like I have enough restriction. An hour after eating my stomach is growling like crazy. I hate to keep calling the Dr about this but I guess I'll have to.

I can only tell you of my experience. From what you described, I was there right BEFORE my sweet spot. I got one more fill and the difference was huge. When I'm at my sweet spot, I can only eat 3-5 bites of food without throwing up. It doesn't matter how much I chew, it's the amount of food. If I'm stupid and I eat a milkshake or chocolate bar, I can eat more of it. But, when I'm eating regular food, it's only 3-5 bites per meal.

After a couple of months being at my sweet spot, I started to lose restriction. I went in for another fill and am back at my sweet spot.

Hope that helps!

Jenny

I really appreciat the details of only being able to take 3 - 5 bites without throwing up because I am doing the same thing. Although tonight I ate chicke and salad with no problem I only had my fill 2 days ago that led me to this major decreased eating. Do I need to adjust to this fill, or will it always only be 3-5 bites befoe throwing up. I open this to everyone on the site. Thanks

Wow the elusive knowledge of the sweet spot...I have a 10cc band and have 7or 7.5 ccs in it(cant remember) I am able to only eat approximatly 4-5 oz of solid food (like tuna salad, or ground sirloin, chicken or things like that with veg or carbs included) I am having some issues with not chewing enough or eating too fast, cause then I do pb.. Im finding if I eat a bit softer foods I do better I may eat a bit more but still seem to stay full for a few hours Im thinking that not being so tight that I pb all the time but yet have restriction is a good thing as to not cause problems with slippage /erosion etc? Im thinking that although my lose is slower I will adapt and when I feel less restriction get another fill.Id love to hear any feed back from some of you .. I was banded 2-22-08 started at 232 and have lost about 23 lbs so far I also havnt been doing excersize as Im having a problem with my back and hip thinking as I loose it will feel better then I can step up that