Here is info will come in handy when thinking about fills/adjustments. Great information. I have seen this information before and it is really good.

How to Tell When You Are Perfectly Adjusted

You are losing 1-2 pounds per week.

If you are not losing 1-2 pounds per week:

A. You may need an eating adjustment

1. Are you eating 60 grams of Protein a day

2. Are you eating 25 grams of Fiber

3. Are you avoiding all liquid calories

a. Soup can be sign of “soft calorie syndrome”

b. Alcohol contains a lot of calories – 7 calories per gram

(1) It’s also a stomach irritant

c. fruit juice is just sugar Water

4. Are you making healthy food choices from a wide variety of

foods?

a. Are you avoiding soft foods

b. You can’t just eat what’s easy

c. cheese is glorified fat

5. Are you drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day between meals

6. Are you eating too much junk

a. chips, chocolate, nuts, ice cream, Cookies and other highly

processed junk foods are too calorically dense to be regular parts of a

healthy diet. But don’t avoid them completely to the point where you

feel deprived.

b. Stay out of fast food places

7. Are you getting in two servings of Calcium daily

8. Do you always eat the protein first

9. Then the vegetables or fruits

a. Five servings a day

b. Potatoes are NOT a vegetable

10. Is your portion size appropriate?

a. meat or fish

(1) 3 ounces – the size of a deck of cards

b. Vegetables

(1) ½ cup – the size of your fist

c. Starch

(1) If you eat the protein and the vegetables first you don’t need

much

(2) Avoid: rice, potatoes, Pasta

11. You might try avoiding artificial sweeteners

a. Some people think that artificial sweeteners stimulate the

appetite

b. They are HUNDREDS of times sweeter than sugar

c. They teach you to like things too sweet

d. There is no evidence that people who use them are any thinner

than people who don’t

12. Avoid most diet foods

a. Real food usually tastes better

b. Real food is more satisfying than low calorie substitutes

c. When you are only eating a tiny bit the caloric savings is not

that great

(1) Use a teaspoon of real butter instead of a tablespoon of diet

margarine

(2) The body has no way to break down artificial fats

a. They may go into permanent storage

b. Some people think liposuction is the only way to remove

hydrolyzed fats from the body

B. You may need a behavior adjustment

1. Are you eating only when you are hungry?

a. If you’re not sure drink 8 ounces of water and wait.

2. Are you eating three meals a day?

a. With maybe 1 or 2 small Snacks

3. Are you sitting down to eat?

4. Are you eating consciously?

a. No distractions, turn off the TV, put the book or newspaper

away, pay attention to your food and your companions

5. Are you eating slowly?

a. Put the fork down between bites

b. Take 20 to 30 minutes to finish a meal

c. Taking longer might cause the pouch to begin emptying

6. Are you taking small bites?

a. Tiny spoon, chopsticks, cocktail fork

7. Are you chewing well?

8. Are you drinking with your meals or too soon after your meals?

a. Practice water loading between meals

b. You won’t be thirsty if you are well hydrated before the meal

9. Are you stopping at the first sign of fullness?

a. Sometimes it’s a whisper: not hungry, had enough

b. Hard stop versus soft stop

10. Do not eat between meals. Stop grazing.

11. Do not eat when you are not hungry

C. You may need an activity adjustment

1. Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 3

times a week?

a. Over and above what you would do in the usual course of your day

b. Could you make it 4 or 5 times a week?

c. Could you make it 45 or 60 minutes?

2. Are you taking advantage of opportunities to increase your

physical activity?

a. Taking the stairs instead of the elevators or escalators

b. Walking on the escalators instead of riding

c. Parking your car further away from the entrance

d. Getting out of the car instead of using the drive through

e. Getting off the bus one stop before your destination

f. Washing you car by hand instead of the car wash

g. Playing with your kids

D. You may need an attitude adjustment

1. Are you committed to your weight loss journey?

2. Are you totally honest with yourself about how much you are

eating and exercising?

a. Log your food and activity on ww.fitday.com for 3 days

3. Are you using food inappropriately to deal with emotional

issues?

a. Have you identified what the emotions are that drive your

eating?

b. Can you think of more appropriate ways to deal with those

emotions?

c. Are you willing to seek help from a qualified counselor?

4. Are you attending and participating in support group meetings?

5. Have you drummed up some support from your family and friends?

6. Have you dealt with saboteurs realistically?

7. Do you have realistic expectations about the weight loss

journey?

8. Are you still obsessing about food, weight, dieting, eating?

a. Obsessive – compulsive thoughts

(1) Obsess about something else

b. Perfectionism

(1) All or none, black and white thinking

c. Patience with the pace of healthy weight loss

9. Are you acknowledging your successes with non-food rewards?

10. Have you learned how to take a compliment?

11. Are you giving up diet mentality?

a. Stop weighing yourself several times a day or every day

b. Stop dieting

c. Stop depriving yourself

d. Stop defining food as “good” and “bad”

e. Stop rewarding and punishing yourself with food

12. How do you feel about all the changes taking place?

E. You may need a band adjustment

1. You feel like you are making healthy food choices in appropriate

portion sizes but getting hungry between meals?

2. You can still eat white bread, fibrous vegetables and large

portions.

3. You are having to struggle to lose

4. You are gaining weight in spite of eating right, exercising and

having a good mind set.

F. You may need your band loosened

1. There are times when you can’t get fluids down

2. You are vomiting too much

a. How much is too much?

3. Do you have frequent reflux or heartburn at night?

a. Do not lie flat or bend over soon after eating

b. Do not eat late at night or just before bedtime

c. Rinse your pouch with a glass or water an hour before bedtime

d. Certain foods or drinks are more likely to cause reflux:

(1) Rich, spicy, fatty and fried foods

(2) Chocolate

(3) Caffeine

(4) Alcohol

(5) Some fruits and vegetables

a. Oranges, lemons, tomatoes, peppers

(6) Peppermint

a. Baking soda toothpaste

(7) Carbonated drinks

e. Eat slowly and do not eat big meals

f. If you smoke, quit smoking

g. Reduce stress

h. Exercise promotes digestion

i. Raise the head of your bed

j. Wear loose fitting clothing around your waist

k. Stress increases reflux

l. Take estrogen containing medications in the morning

m. Avoid aspirin, Aleve and ibuprofen at bedtime

(1) Tylenol is OK

n. Take an antacid (Pepcid complete) before retiring

o. Try other over-the-counter heartburn medications

p. See your health care provider

4. See your health care provider immediately (or call 911) if

a. You have a squeezing, tightness or heaviness in your chest,

especially if the discomfort spreads to your shoulder, arm or jaw or is

accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, irregular or fast

heartbeat or nausea. These could be symptoms of a heart attack.

b. If your symptoms are triggered by exercise.

c. If your pain localizes to your right side, especially if you

also have nausea or fever

d. If you throw up vomit that looks like black sand or coffee

grounds. Or if your stool is black, deep red or looks like it has tar

in it. These are symptoms of bleeding and need immediate attention.

(Note: Pepto-Bismol or other medications with bismuth will turn your

stool black. Iron supplements can also make the stool tarry.)

e. If your pain is severe

I know exactly how you feel my dear!!!! It is really frustrating and at this point your probably thinking what the hell have I done!!!! I got my third fill at 4.5cc and it really was very tight and I couldn't even get liquids down with out discomfort for a couple of weeks. Yes hot liquids do go down easier so start your day with a cup of hot coffee or hot tea. Everyone is different because I have girls in my support group with 8cc and they still don't feel super tight. I am at 4.5 and since Sept I still feel super tight. I would just wait it out unless you are feeling light headed because your body is not getting enough nutrience. At this stage you have to think of chewable multivitamins......Baratricadvantage.com has great quickly diasolvable ones that don't hurt at all. You also need to buy watery protein drinks. I could blend mine at this stage because it would come out too thick to go down. Make sure your sipping water all day long because it is easy to forget about the water. If your sick of protein drinks then sip chix broth to get another taste going. Your body will feel super hungry but by sipping drinks all day you will get a full feeling. The band has a mind of its own and you can feel super tight for two weeks after a fill then you open up and you notice that you can again start getting more and more in with out the PB feeling. Right now it is the test of patients. The biggest thing I have had to deal with was the really bad habit of eating very fast. You now take a spoon full of watery soup and then put the spoon down for a min or so. IF no pain you take another spoon full. You will learn to read your body and the pain is the saliva creating that yucky goowy plug that builds up and you have to throw it up or the pain gets worse. You will feel instand relief when that gets out. Your new with the band and it takes a long time to read the signs your body gives you to STOP and put it down so the pain does not get worse. Some that have shared in my support group PB a lot some never do. Everyones body is different so you just have to do what is going to help get the nutrients down. When I have days where I am just so frustrated and think why did I do this to myself I have to reflect on why I did this. The tool was to NOT get things in because I was a binger that ate everything in site but did it secretly so I was beating myself up inside feeling like a complete looser.....to myself....no one was saying this to me but the voice in my head. I am now finally starting to love myself again and the voice is going away because this tool has done exactly what I wanted it to do. I can only get a little in so at the end of the day I don't beat myself up about eating way to much all day and the wrong things like fast food comfort food. If the pain is just too much after a couple of weeks you might need to get some removed but if it costs a lot of money which in my case I have to travel to my Dr. in Mexico and it is an all day trip so I don't want to do it unless I have too. I had my fill in Sept and it helped me be so good threw the Holidays and I didn't loose any weight in Dec but I also didn't gain...............Good luck!! You can send me a personal message if you want to chat.

Hi

I was banded on September 18th and just had my first fill this past Thursday, I was filled 5 cc and I am in pain just by drinking water. It has gotten a little better with warm fluids but I just tried to eat a piece of cheese and fell to the floor in pain. On Friday I tried to have lentil soup but landed up throwing it up because it was stuck. Will this pain go away? I was thinking about having some fluid taken out. My doctor did this through flouro so he maxed me which is what I asked for since it was so expensive. I need some advise is this feeling normal? Should I wait it out?

Thanks

Jennifer

Banded 09-18-07

total lost 4 lbs

I would say as long as you can get liquids down, try and wait it out a bit. But, if you do have to pay everytime you get an adjustment, you may want to have a slight unfil before the window they give you is up. (i'm just assuming by what you said cost is a factor). I don't really think you should be in pain.....make sure you chew extremely well. Should be mushy when you swallow. Especially if you are tight. Good luck. :eek:

I had my first fill last thursday and got 5cc also. I was told to do liquids for 3 days which I did. I started eating yesterday and had no problems(knock on wood!) Mine was done with flouro also and since i fly to my doc(even though the fills are included for 2 years)--the airfare isn't--i told him i wanted him to be very aggressive.

Maybe if you just do some liquids for a couple days--let your stomach"rest" then start back soft and slow

Hi

I was banded on September 18th and just had my first fill this past Thursday, I was filled 5 cc and I am in pain just by drinking water. It has gotten a little better with warm fluids but I just tried to eat a piece of cheese and fell to the floor in pain. On Friday I tried to have lentil soup but landed up throwing it up because it was stuck. Will this pain go away? I was thinking about having some fluid taken out. My doctor did this through flouro so he maxed me which is what I asked for since it was so expensive. I need some advise is this feeling normal? Should I wait it out?

Thanks

Jennifer

Banded 09-18-07

total lost 4 lbs

I was filled to the max as well. I was completely miserable the 1st 2-3 weeks. I drank alot of hot coffee and soup's. Yes, I had terrible acid reflux. It was really ruff, but I have to say soooo worth it!

I was banded on 12/21/07. I went for my first fill yesterday, 1/30/08. I'm down 17 pounds. My doctor only put in 1cc. I've been getting hungry the last several days and I can't tell any difference from my fill. Has anyone else had this happen? Do you need to adjust to the fill? They said I could call back in a week or 2 if I don't feel any difference. Please let me know if you've had a similar experience.

Hi and Welcome to the Club. What you're experiencing is normal. Some doctore administer slow fills. Since you're recently banded your stomach is still in the healing stage. You will need several fills before you reach your or any restriction.

You'll read many posts verifying this. I myself have had 5 fills and I'm just now and this is the second time I am feeling any restriction. I now stay full longer, but can still eat a nice portion. I'm due for another fill next week, at which time I expect to be at a restirction where I can eat smaller portions.

The best you can do for now is drink your water and protein mix drinks. This will help stave off the hunger and keep you full. Eat your protein first, veggies second and carbs last and desserts for that craving. I'm quite sure your nutritionist and doctor have told you this. And see your nutritionist often, they should be able to guide you in what you need to stay full longer.

Take this time to learn the 5 W's, who, what, where, when, why and how of new and old eating habits. You're about to learn a whole new you.

Continue to come back and get advise and ingormation of what is going on with your feelings and what youkre are experiencing at the moment. Continue to do your own reading on this. But the experience of others will help you greatly on this adventure.

You're are truly not alone in anything you're about to go through. At the different stages you are about to be and go through, someone has been there.

Good Luck you have taken one of many big steps in your life.

My doctor charges 150.00 for a fill, and I think thats pretty normal

I had my first fill about 2 weeks ago and have not felt any restriction. My first fill was 1cc (my band is a 4cc-medium) I am going to call my Doctor and request another fill as soon as possible. I hear that it takes several fills to reach a good restriction. I pay $150 for fills without fluro.

Had my third fill yesterday, I feel different this time, feels like the food is staying higher in my stomach .

Is this an early sign that I might be about where I am suppose to be?

It also takes longer to drink water than it did before the fill.

Hey, just jumping in without reading all the previous pages, but I just wanted to throw out a word or two of caution:

Please be careful about getting overfilled. You should not have trouble drinking water! And if you are feeling like your food is high up, you could be stretching your esophogus which is not good.

You should never have reflux! Please tell your doctor if you are having reflux. This is important!

I'm not trying to scare you, but when I was early in band-hood, I thought the more restriction the faster I'd lose weight. I thought that was what people here kept telling us we should expect. I thought you should never be hungry and that being really restricted would prevent that.

The fact is that I went for a couple of months with too much restriction and I actually gained weight. I was hungry all the time because I just couldn't eat enough real food.

You should be able to eat real food and keep it down. If you can only eat a couple of bites of food without getting that stuck pain, you're too restricted and eventually you will probably pay for it one way or another. And not in a good way.

Please do not ignore warning signs. The band is great if it is working FOR you. If it becomes something that causes damage, it is the opposite of great. Take your time and become friends with it and use it only as a tool. Don't expect it to take away all of your hunger and don't expect it to make the weight fall off faster than 1 to 2 lbs. per week.

arkie when I got my last fill which was 1-30-08 I felt restriction with drinking water. This stayed like that for a few days and then it stopped.

yours will probably stop also. My doctor was aware of this as everytime I

get a fill I have to stay untill the doctors thinks that it is okay with my swallowing

The tight feeling has settled down this morning thanks .

Maybe it was just becasue I had just gotten the fill?

Does erosion happen often? Do they replace it?

Hey, just jumping in without reading all the previous pages, but I just wanted to throw out a word or two of caution:

Please be careful about getting overfilled. You should not have trouble drinking water! And if you are feeling like your food is high up, you could be stretching your esophogus which is not good.

You should never have reflux! Please tell your doctor if you are having reflux. This is important!

I'm not trying to scare you, but when I was early in band-hood, I thought the more restriction the faster I'd lose weight. I thought that was what people here kept telling us we should expect. I thought you should never be hungry and that being really restricted would prevent that.

The fact is that I went for a couple of months with too much restriction and I actually gained weight. I was hungry all the time because I just couldn't eat enough real food.

You should be able to eat real food and keep it down. If you can only eat a couple of bites of food without getting that stuck pain, you're too restricted and eventually you will probably pay for it one way or another. And not in a good way.

Please do not ignore warning signs. The band is great if it is working FOR you. If it becomes something that causes damage, it is the opposite of great. Take your time and become friends with it and use it only as a tool. Don't expect it to take away all of your hunger and don't expect it to make the weight fall off faster than 1 to 2 lbs. per week.

BJean,

I totally agree with what you said above. I have read many post on this site and was thinking that I needed the restriction that most everyone talks about and that is where you can only take one or two bites and that is it. I have had three fills so far. After the second fill I was so tight I couldn't eat anything solid. I thought that I was suppose to be that tight. The tightness never loosened up. After 9 days I went back to the doctors and had a small unfill. Boy what a relief. I was able to eat solids but only a small portion. 2 weeks later it was my time to get another fill. I got the small amount .5cc put back in. I was able to drink the water without any issues before I left the doctors office. But later that day I was so tight again that I was unable to eat anything. I waited over 2 weeks this time to see if it would loosen up but it didn't. Yesterday I went back to the doctors and got .3cc taken out. Again, what a relief. I am on liquids for 2 days so that my stomach can heal. I did take a small bite of grilled chicken today to see if I could swallow it without it getting stuck and me standing over the sick slimming. I was able to swallow it without any problems. I look forward to tomorrow when I can eat solids. I can even drink water without any issues today.

In saying all this, everything that you said in your post is very true. My doctor told me the same thing yesterday. So for anyone out there that thinks they need to be that restricted to lose weight faster it isn't wise. It is unhealthy and will only make you gain weight in the future because eventually you are going to want to eat solids and your stomach will store the extra calories because it thinks that you are starving it.

Thank you for posting what you did. I felt like I was the only one out there that felt that way.

biggestloser-thanks for your post. I really think this is more important than some people realize and if you wind up having major problems, it may be too late.

If you can't eat anything, eventually you actually can stop your metabolism (like you said) and you just won't lose. Once you are able to eat - and eventually you HAVE to - you will gain. Not at all what we want or expect from the band. It's is just very, very hard to be satisfied with a 1 to 2 lb. weight loss per week.

Btw, Congratulations on your nice weight loss - you're in a good spot right now with only 22 lbs. to lose!! That's great!

Tyme 2 Shine- As I understand it, erosion is not real common. Although I have heard of several cases both here at LBT and through my doctor. I believe that erosion is a slow process and that is one reason we may not even realize that it is happening, so there are various degrees of erosion. But we definitely do not want any erosion ever!

The band is a very good thing if we realize that we have to take care of it and baby it when we need to. My doctor doesn't ask us to go on liquids after a fill because he is extremely conservative with fills. He is for very good reasons - slippage and erosion are just 2 of them. You can also enlarge your esophogus and that can be a big problem down the road. You can develop a hiatal hernia. And I am sure there are other problems that can arise that I've never heard of.

If your doctor is aggressive with fills, the whole area can be sensitive and you really need to be careful for several days after a fill. I've heard lots of bandsters say that they managed to keep pizza and sodas down. I ask at what price?

Hey, we only have one body folks and we need to take good care of ourselves and our friend, the band. No one wants to read another story about someone having to be hospitalized and suffering due to the abuse of themselves or the band.