Should that be the case? I had my surgery on October 15 and having my first fill on November 18.

I do get full faster, but I feel like I'm always hungry? I'm almost forcing myself to feel restricted.

It was around four fills for the band to start working for me. I'd didn't see any weight loss until the fourth fill, and that was a good four or five months out of surgery. For the first few months you're still healing--there are sutures holding the band in place. You'll know when the band is working--you'll start feeling full after a small meal; and that is your signal to stop. It sounds like it is starting to do its job, but be patient, it does take time to find the green zone.

I'm in the same boat. Surgery on 10/23. First fill scheduled 11/13. The first week post op I guess I was really swollen so I felt really restricted in a good way. I hardly had anything to eat and list 10 lbs. Right at one week my hunger came back HUGE. My PA said that would happen and it will probably take 3 fills before I'll feel it again. Fills every two weeks. Means six more weeks of hungry and am just white knuckleing it:( I just keep reminding myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Also, that the weight didn't come on overnight and unfortunately isn't going to come off overnight.

Stop expecting so much in the very beginning. Everything you are feeling is normal, and you are perfectly fine.

I've had 2 fills now, and let me tell you ... it's VERY different. I feel restriction now. I may not stay full the entire time, but MAN do I feel restriction. I've learned that in the mornings, all I can tolerate is a Protein shake and maybe half a cup of coffee. At lunch time, I can handle something with a little more substance, but not much. At dinner time, I can handle solids, but I have to be careful about which ones they are. This is different for everyone, but everyone gets to that point eventually.

So .. chill. Enjoy the ride. It's ALL worth it. ^.^

Thank you all so much for the support, I learned something new and ill definitely hang in there!!

re: "I feel like I'm always hungry? I'm almost forcing myself to feel restricted."

IMHO, the REAL 'restriction' comes when we *first* begin to notice the difference between 'hungry/not hungry' is totally unrelated to concept of 'full/not full' and 'restricted/not restricted'.

I believe dealing with actual 'hunger' vs my own unanticipated FEAR of becoming hungry, produced a lot of over eating behavior unrelated to physiological 'hunger'.

When I noticed the component of 'enjoying the act of eating' rather than 'hunger/not hunger' played a large role in my own compulsive sport eating, an essential non-physical element of over-eating became visible. Of course, the self-reinforcing nature of high carbs/high blood sugar levels overwhelm the rational brain.

Hunger is not as big a deal postOp as it was preOp. Old habits of striving to 'stay full' are doomed to fail. IMHO 'restriction' must become a MENTAL response more than a physical one.

'Not hunger' first began becoming noticeable in my early return-to-solids phase. As little as "one bite" literally DID take away that 'hunger'...along with the anxiety of becoming 'hungry'. When the effects of that 'one bite' lasted for minutes/an hour or 2 I became fascinated that the sensation of 'restriction' really didn't seem to matter so much. I began to focus on the concept of 'satiety'....something never experienced other than looking it up in the dictionary.

'Satiety' is related to 'not hungry' far more than 'restriction' or 'full/not full'. As far as I can tell, all of the Tribe of the Morbidly Obese suffer a common Grand Notion of Fail: the goal of eating is to 'get full'. That is simply wrongWrongWRONG.

This may not work for everyone, but seems to have a positive effect on *me*.

Cheers on your journey. You can do this.

Edited November 2, 201411 yr by Jack

I had surgery 9/5/2014 and was told my band didn't have any fluid in it! Was controlling myself on my own. Had my first fill and was shocked to find out I had 5 cc ' s in it. Had 1 more cc at my first fill. I feel fuller faster...but I can eat pretty much anything. I am going for another fill tomorrow. Hope I get this restriction thing everyone is speaking of?