Hi. My name is Erin and I was banded by Drs. Grossbard and Rehnke in December of 2004. Initially this was a godsend. I lost 120#'s in 14 months and felt the best I had felt in years. I finally fit into a size 10-down from a 24. Then about a year ago I started having problems with reflux and my band was completely unfilled. At the time I thought "Wahoo! I can eat some bread!!!" but this was short lived. I was able to eat pretty much anything I wanted, but since then my life has been a mess. I have gained back at least 50#'s and I am miserable. I have chronic fatigue syndrome which was better with my weight down. They have refilled my band, done swallow studies, etc and tell me my band if working correctly. I beg to differ. I know how my band felt before, and it is definately different now. I am hoping someone out there knows something I can do. If I could control my eating, I wouldn't have needed the band in the first place. Help!!! I am at the end of my rope and thought I had finally found the answer to my prayers. Hope to hear from someone who understands. Thanks!!!

Hi Dancing,

I'm sorry to be a wet blanket, but I doubt the problem is with your band. I believe that over time, the nerves and muscles in our esophagus become less sensitive with the unaccustomed pressure caused by food staying in the pouch, and it causes us to be less aware of the "full" signals. Thus we can eat more, because we are unknowingly using our esophagus as a storage facility once the pouch gets full. This can cause dilation of the esophagus, slippage, and various other negative consequences.

So it's not that your band feels different, it's your BODY that is different. And we long-time bandsters have to learn how to work with that new reality. My band slipped and had to be removed and I'm thinking this loss of sensation was at least partly to blame.

The mantra "just because we can, doesn't mean we should" rings really true now. The challenge is to learn what really is enough food without getting the stop signal. Being able to eat more in no way equates to still being hungry, and that's a very hard lesson to internalize. But I know if I get another band that's going to be my number-one mission.

Hello, wow!! your message to dancin from alexandra, that was so very interesting to me and so sounds true as to how i feel at this stage of my banding. i was banded 4 years ago and i will admit that i can eat more and yet when i do think about it - yes i are by passing that fill feeling, oh i are so gald i just read your response. thanks :biggrin: