yesterday i called my dr. about my appt. on the 23rd for my first fill. the nurse i spoke to informed me that i didnt have to come in for my first fill if i felt that i didnt need it. ok since ive just had this surgery on the 18th and havent had a fill before how do i really know if i need one, this is the question i posed to the nurse. she replied that i would just know. she also said that many patients dont come in for their first one for sometimes 3 or 4 months after surgery. im am not eating more, i am able to eat hard protein alittle better but still have difficulty at times. i have lost a total of 20lbs since the 18th, am i ready for my first fill? i would appreciate any comments, or advice on this matter. i am afraid of totally making this decision on my own since i am alittle frightned of my first time, and feel it is going to influence my decision.

yesterday i called my dr. about my appt. on the 23rd for my first fill. the nurse i spoke to informed me that i didnt have to come in for my first fill if i felt that i didnt need it. ok since ive just had this surgery on the 18th and havent had a fill before how do i really know if i need one, this is the question i posed to the nurse. she replied that i would just know. she also said that many patients dont come in for their first one for sometimes 3 or 4 months after surgery. im am not eating more, i am able to eat hard Protein alittle better but still have difficulty at times. i have lost a total of 20lbs since the 18th, am i ready for my first fill? i would appreciate any comments, or advice on this matter. i am afraid of totally making this decision on my own since i am alittle frightned of my first time, and feel it is going to influence my decision.

It is when you can't control how much you eat anymore or you only stay full for 2 hours or so, then you will need a fill. If you are having trouble still eating certain things and keeping things down, I would wait. Hungry too soon is the biggest symptom I can think of.

Good luck!

You will definitely know when you are ready for your first fill. And, when you are, you will be beating down your doctors door for it. Basically, like Faybie said, you will notice that you can eat more and that you are getting hungry sooner. Your weight loss will probably slow a little as well. It is recommended that we lose 1-2 pounds per week with the band. As long as you are doing that and it is not a major struggle to do so, then you should be good.

You need a fill if a)you are always hungry b)are not losing weight or c)can eat more than a cup at a time. You will definitely know if you need a fill. If you have lost 20 lbs in that short of time you may want to wait. Especially if you ever PB or get a golf ball feeling. Good luck.

At my docs office, they will not let you have a fill until 5 weeks post op, no exceptions, but if you feel you don't need one then you just tell them.

Thanks for this useful information!

I thought it was normal that I'm hungry every 2-3 hours! But I'm also able to eat a lot more than 1 cup per sitting. I've only been banded less than 2 weeks but I think my swelling has gone down & actually my band is empty!

SO definitely looks like it's time for a fill! However, I have to wait 4 more weeks...that's a whole MONTH!

So what do we do in the meantime, while waiting for a fill?

I have bfast, snack, lunch, snack, & dinner totaling sometimes over 1200 calories!

I try to fill in my Snacks with Protein shakes, to prolong my hunger coming back so quickly & it seems to help. Drinking a lot of Water between meals & snacks gives me a feeling of being full too.

Any tricks for those of us who are forced to wait?

So what do we do in the meantime, while waiting for a fill? Any tricks for those of us who are forced to wait?

Not much you can do, most Drs. require you to be fully healed before a fill, so the first month or so is just for healing not necessarily for losing weight. Just do the best you can getting used to eating slower and eating smaller bites. Once you do get a fill it is definitely easier to stick to the rules 100%.