I am so discouraged this morning... No restriction!! So afraid I am going to gain the 28 lbs back that I have lost. It's been 4 months since surgery. Called my doctor to see if maybe I can get a fill early since I feel no restriction and he said I have to wait the full 4 weeks before a fill. Will I ever feel restriction???

I can only share my experience..... I, too, can only schedule appointments 4 weeks apart. I didn't feel too much restriction with the first three fills. Thought I was in the GREEN with the fourth fill. That lasted for only about a week, so I will probably get another small fill next visit (Feb 10). I am five months post-op now. From everything I've read and from everything my doctor has told me, it often takes four or five fills to get to the GREEN. You sort of need to watch calories and exercise to help the tool help you. You probably will continue to lose (maybe at a slower pace) until you get good restriction. I'm really learning to just enjoy the ride (and the weight loss) along the journey...... Even if the journey is at a slower pace than I imagined!

I am so discouraged this morning... No restriction!! So afraid I am going to gain the 28 lbs back that I have lost. It's been 4 months since surgery. Called my doctor to see if maybe I can get a fill early since I feel no restriction and he said I have to wait the full 4 weeks before a fill. Will I ever feel restriction???

Ok I'm a little over a year out (12/28/12) and I am just NOW starting to feel restriction. Patience is a virtue, down 80 lbs 60 more to go.

Good luck and hang in there!

My feeling of restriction comes and goes. I've had about 5 fills, and have 7.5 cc's in a 10 cc band. There are days I feel like I can eat as before (even though I really can't). Then there are days when I'm signaled after 4 bites. I can't quite figure it out, but I just know that sometimes I have to work harder than others. The only thing I can surmise, is that the daily changes our bodies naturally go through, effect sensations with the band. I've pushed far past the faint signal, and it scares the s-hit out of me.....that the scale will start going in the other direction. I don't know if I could live with that.....it's a struggle sometimes.

I had my last fill last week. My doctor always gives me the "talk" about how I have to work on my head, and not lean on the band to do the work. I HAVE been working on my head; not always successfully, but it's a continual work in progress. It's very confusing when you lose that clear/loud signal to stop eating, at 10 months out from surgery. My doctor said that maybe this is the time for him to remove all the Fluid from the band, so I can see what THAT feels like. He said that we get used to the band, and don't realize just how much it really is doing. He also said (always says), that we have to work on changing our habits, in order to have life long success. I get it.... But even still, miss the LOUD signal I got in the first months post-op. As we've all been told ad nauseam, the band is a tool, not a cure. It's work....but SO worth it!

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by mrsto

Give us a rundown of a meals you eat in a typical day? And what date was your last fill?

And you were banded in November so it's 3 months but I still understand the frustration part.

I am def. feeling you right now with frustration. I have had my band for over a year and have only had two fills so far. I am in dire of need of one REALLY BAD right now which I feel like I am just an eating machine.

I can say you will eventually feel the restriction. For some people it happens right away and some people it can take them over 5 fills or even more. I encourage anything to keep the mind off of food but I am only going through the same thing right now!

Are you continuing working out? walking? some form of exercise as well?