I was banded June 28, 2004. I received my first fill of 1.5cc on Aug. 9. My band holds 4 cc. I am very confused about the way my band is working. Sometimes I take my very first bite of food, chew exceptionally well as always, and I feel like I have a golf ball in my chest that won't go down. It takes me forever to eat a very small amount. Because I have been restricting myself to 4 oz. to 6 oz. of food at a time and counting calories, as my dietician recommends, I am finding this past week that when I come home from work and eat dinner I am suddenly shamefully famished and would binge all at once. The food seems to slide right down into a "bottomless pit" without that "golf ball" feeling in my chest. I can eat endless amounts of food if I don't force myself to stop. I don't know if I need more restriction or what is going on. I am guessing that if I eat faster and stuff myself that maybe the band is forced open by the volume of food and therefore bypasses restriction??? I had been losing about 2 1/2 lbs. a week. I have gained back 2 to 3 lbs. this week. I am having a real hard time maintaining a strict diet. I have been doing so well for two months and never was able to find this type of willpower before. I can not seem to deny myself anymore. The willpower is disappearing quickly. I don't like feeling that constant growling in my stomach. I seem to be feeling painfully hungry every 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. now. A hard sugar free sucking candy seems to help extend my hunger by 1/2 hr. I am drowning in Water. Water doesn't seem to help fill me up when I am really hungry. It just makes me feel uncomfortable. I also don't know what a full pouch is supposed to feel like. Is it that "golf ball" feeling???

Has anyone ever experienced the same phenomenon? Does anyone know the answer to this mystery?

Gail

I have a few thoughts. First, you haven't been banded that long and the band is a somewhat mysterious and finicky device and it does take some time to learn how it works for you and how to take full advantage of it. I say how it works for you because while there are general principals that apply to all, the band/human relationship seems to be a little different for everyone.

A lot of us have found that various factors can affect the tightness of the band temporarily. These include time of day, exercise, having your period, stress, etc. Personally, I cannot eat much at all after I exercise.

Also, some foods go down easier than others and some foods almost never will work. You don't mention which food gives you the golfball after one bite, so it might just be a band-unfriendly food.

There has been some discussion on the boards of a phenomenon experienced by people whose band is very tight in the mornings (that time-of- day thing). They can't eat in the morning. It gets easier throughout the day. By evening they are famished and eat and eat. Their band has loosened up by then. There is a theory that going to bed with food still in the pouch makes the food sit there which irritates the pouch. Then in the morning, you feel very tight again and the whole cycle starts all over again.

Now for my personal opinion, which others have heard me say before. I did not get the band so that I could continue my previously unsuccessful attempts at food restriction otherwise known as dieting. If you were going to follow your nutritionist's advice and limit yourself to four ounces of food at each meal, there was really no reason to get the band. That prescription is a prescription to use willpower, not to use the band. To quote Dr. Phil, "How's that working for you?" To me, it sounds as though you are experiencing the same failure, discouragement, and bewilderment that we have all repeatedly experienced when we try to diet. We begin with high motivation and strong willpower. We lose weight, we feel great. But sooner or later, hunger or other triggers begin to gain the upper hand and our willpower fades.

The way I have chosen for myself is to try to eat foods that are nutritious and work well with the band: Solid foods that won't flow right through the band, but will keep me full for a while. I do not measure my food even informally. I do not count calories. I let the band tell me when I've had enough. That's it's job. Even with minimal restriction, if you eat solid Proteins and vegetables, it will do it's job well enough so that you should lose weight or at least not gain. In fact, even when I lost willpower and ate thewrong foods - even with no fill at all - the band worked that way for me. Now that I'm doing better in my food selection, I hope to start losing again soon.

In other words, I learned in the pre-band years that willpower and diets don't work for me. The band does.

Do you need another fill? Maybe, but I would give it more time before you decide. Experiment a little and try to let the band do what it was meant to do. If you still find that the band is not limiting you in any way and you are gaining weight, then get a fill.

Good luck,

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Wow! You make so much sense! I've been trying so hard to play by the dietician's rules even though it seemed so hard for me. I trusted her because she was referred to me by my surgeon as a mandatory condition before surgery. No one else in his office had told me how to utilize the band. I only learned the principle of how it is supposed to work. Perhaps these things were discussed at the support group meetings that I was unable to attend because of conflict with my work schedule and distance to the meeting locations. I just felt like this was another restrictive diet and have been beating myself up and ashamed that I am having trouble sticking to it. I have also never been able to sustain willpower for any length of time and was amazed that I did it for almost 2 months before faultering. You are so right! If I was able to stick to a diet before then why would I have needed the band. I have been so disappointed with the dietician as well. Once she saw me and collected a great deal of my money (outside of the insurance loop) pre-surgery, it is almost impossible to get her to return my calls when I have a question post-surgery. When I do finally reach her days later about questions regarding her plan, she has an attitude that I am bothering her with non-emergency concerns.

Thank you so much for your advise. You do make a lot of sense, and have given me much to consider. My only concern is that as slow as I am eating (and believe me, I wait a minute or so before taking another small bite) how will I know when I have eaten enough if the food just seems to slide down so easily at times without that feeling of restriction or fullness? Alexandra also stated the she felt that the "Golf Ball" feeling on the first bite is due to esophageal spasms. I do chew everything down to a mush.

Gail:confused:

Hi, it's me again,

I THINK I FOUND THE ANSWER!!!

I called my surgeon's office this morning to get some real answers to this problem. I really do understand that many of us are so new to banding and are very confused because we are expecting our bodies to give us the feedback and the answers we deserve. The answers I got from my surgeon's assistant was that the "stuck" feeling is a very real phenomenon that has come up and they really do not have an answer for it. I was told though that "stuck" by no means means that the pouch is full. I have given this a whole lot of thought and have read everbody's posts on this subject (in "General Discussion" and in "Talk Lounge"). My theory is that the stomach is a muscle like any other muscle in the body. Sometimes when I start to exercise my muscles feel tight until I work out for a while. Other times I feel no tightness at all. In the evening when I am starved I find that I still chew as well as before but may wait less intervals between bites because I am so hungry and can eat a much larger amount of food than I have ALLOWED myself to eat during the day while at work. I'm more occupied during the day and do not have the time to eat as often and am much too busy trying to concentrate of the amount of Water I have to drink to satisfy the requirements. I do allow my self a couple of multigrain crackers or a heaping tablespoon of low fat peanut in between meals to hold me over. I believe that by dinner time the stomach muscles and esophagus are so lubricated and relaxed by working out all day that food slides down much more easily. I also believe that there is a certain amount of elasticity in the stoma to allow it to hold more food once the muscles are relaxed. As food slides down there is more room in the relaxed stoma for more food.

I also was told by my surgeon's assisant that I will never again get that full feeling I used to get when I knew it was time to push away from the table. At this moment I am throwing away my expensive dietician's menu and my food scale. If 2 oz. of Protein and 2 oz. of carbs means that I am going to still experience hunger, then forget it. I will still eat my Proteins first and healthy carbs after. The only difference is I will stop when my stomach stops growling to the point I feel satisfied. If my stomach talks to me 2 hrs. later, I will give it what it wants until it shuts up (a healthy food choice of course!). As long as I am losing and not gaining more than a few water weight pounds at the end of the month I will be happy.

When I prepared to start all of this I had purchased very small inexpensive containers to portion my food and freeze. So when I get hungry I no longer have to wait until I first prepare a meal. That used to be the time I would snack because the preparation took too long to satisfy me. (I don't always eat what the rest of the family eats or at the same time.) When rushing off to work I grab an already prepared container out of the freezer. I always keep a jar of low fat Peanut Butter and multigrain crackers with me. Until now I have avoided going out to restaurants. I have, however, been to get together's, a barbeque, and a cocktail party. I used good judgment, and because I ate very slow, I finished eating at the same time everyone else did. Everyone just thinks I am dieting. I am not really public about my surgery.

I can not thank everyone enough for trying so hard to help many of us figure out this dilemma and continuously give us your encouragement and support. I would be totally lost without this website.

By the way, did you realize that you will weigh more on the scale after drinking a ton of water than you would before you drank. I realized that it doesn't matter if I hold 16 oz. of water in my body while weighing vs. holding it in my hand. I don't worry about the extra pound because I know it will pass (literally! LOL!)

Love you all,

Gail

I am new to posting here but I have been reading y'alls posting for six weeks or so. I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one for whom eating has actually become a challenge. I used to try NOT to eat, but since I was banded (8/6/04) eating has become pretty complicated. (lost 22 though)

The Dr. says that eventually I will only eat 1/2 cup of food every two hours. Eventually? That is all I can manage now! I am so jealous when people say that they can eat a "whole" anything. I FEAR a fill. It isn't that I want to overeat, I just want to eat. And exercise? Who has the energy?

Geez, this post just seems to be all over the place. Can someone just tell me what to expect? Are my experiences common? Normal? Bizzare? Am I certifiable?

Thanks in advance,

Kate

Mesquite, TX

Originally posted by KayTeeEss

And exercise? Who has the energy?

Geez, this post just seems to be all over the place. Can someone just tell me what to expect? Are my experiences common? Normal?YES Bizzare? Am I certifiable?

Thanks in advance,

Kate

Mesquite, TX

YES! YES! YES! As far as what to expect, it seems like every day is a brand new day with new trials and new triumphs!

What is an average day's menu for you? Are you getting enough Protein? Are you drinking enough Water?

You probably haven't given yourself time to recoup from the surgery itself. You will get to feeling better, soon! Best of luck to you!

Thanks for the reply Marie.

I drink water until 10, then eat some yogurt. At 12 I eat a little soup and maybe some apple sauce. At 3 or so I eat some cottage cheese. At 5 I eat soup again and then I get hungry...

Perhaps I am expecting to recover too quickly. It is good to know that the band is unpredictable. I really thought I was doing something wrong...

I get that "golfball" soon after I begin eating. I was wondering if that was my "signal" to stop eating. I was feeling "guilty" 'cos I never listened to the "signal"! I'd wait a second, then just keep going. From being on this board quite a while pre-op, I knew that I would be hungry at this point ( I was banded July 19), but I am still dismayed. For the last week I have been eating just as much as I did pre-op.

I start the day with one cup of half/caf with lowfat milk. 1/2 hour after drinking I will have an egg beater omellet or some oatmeal (Quaker's Women's nutrition). Today I had 2 pieces of toast w/ butter and peanutbutter. For lunch i've been having a lean cuisine or a lean pocket. dinner...whatever the family's having. Last night I went to Red Robin for dinner. My son and I split a Macho Nacho app and a just-in-quesadilla app. I had no problem eating this at all. In fact, I then ate about 1/3 of my daughter's hot fudge sundae. Then last night I had a Healthy choice ice cream!

I keep telling myself that if willpower and good choices were "do-able" for me, then I wouldn't have needed the band! I am trying not to be too hard on myself. But everytime I am filling my face I'm thinking, OMG, I went thru surgery, liquids, mush, FOR THIS? To eat as much as before? I know I haven't had a fill. Mentally I know that the band will work when it is filled, but right now I am really being tough on myself and I am disgusted w/ myself. I wanted the band vs. RNY 'cos I knew it was healthier, I knew it was a slower weight loss, I knew it was a life-long process. Yet here I am, whining away 'cos I'm still eating too much!

Sorry this is so long, but I really need to get this out, and I really need to have some good solid "been there, done that" advise! I keep thinking, "Am I stretching my pouch, am I compromising my band"? Geesh! Just like my dieting days, I know all the answers, tricks and tips. Implementing them is a whole other story!

Been there, done that!! You are not alone. I'm still waiting to get my first fill after being Rebanded, but yes, you CAN stretch your pouch.

Stretching your pouch just enough to have it feel full is one thing. This is good. You want your food to take awhile to move through the stoma and cause you to feel empty again.

Stretching your pouch by consistently OVER eating is totally another.

It is very frustrating and I curse my lack of willpower everyday. However, I'm doing so much better than before.

Don't beat yourself up. Change ONE thing. You can't tackle it all at once. Maybe you can just say okay, I'm limiting my intake to 1 cup of whatever it is I'm going to eat. Make protein first. If you find yourself hungry again 2 hrs from then, half the amount.

Change the things you eat. Carbs seem to cause you to crave more carbs. Instead of toast in the morning, switch to just a protein shake or a boiled egg. If you're hungry again at 10am, have a small snack - no carbs. I promise you you will not starve. Your body will actually become accustomed to less food and it will respond by losing weight and feeling less sluggish.

This is a learning curve and the first 6 weeks is definitely hard. We're conditioned to think our tummy growling means we're hungry and we might starve. Well, we all have plenty storage on board. We're not going to starve. lol. AND our tummy growling is NOT necessarily telling us we need to eat. It makes noise just doing it's job of digesting.

I think I rambled all over the place here, but you are definitely not alone. It will get better.

Gail, I'm so glad you found a solution and I'm proud of you for throwing that diet scale away!

Nancy

Debra, you've really done very well! Are you getting all of your liquids in? That can be tedious, but it's necessary. How about adding a Morningstar vegetable sausage patty to your scrambed egg in the a.m.? I've done that the last few days and it really seems to help hold me over. (They take about 1 1/2 min. to microwave). They really taste just like sausage and are good source of protein. I do allow myself one dessert each day. Maybe a fat-free pudding or ice cream stick. That helps my cravings. Some days I do really good, then others, I seem to stay continually hungry. It's a mystery I'm still trying to figure out.