Hi Everyone, I have been banded for 5 months now and already have had 4 fills. It is only nopw that I think I am experiencing restriction. For the first time since being banded I am struggling to get some food down. I wouldn't even attempt a sandwich now as I know it will cause me a lot of pain as it goes down and I wil probably PB.

But here is my question, I eat the bread and then I instantly get pain as it is trying to pass through my band. I thought the idea of the band is that the food sits in the pouch making you feel full. Why do I feel it passing straight through my band? I'm still not getting a feeling of fullness, just discomfort when I attempt to eat certain foods.

welcome to the real band. i too thought that i would feel pleasantly full and then the band would slowly feed my stomach. not so, with good restriction, i have found that i am not comfortable when i have food in my pouch. only when it has moved through and my pouch is empty do i feel good. truthfully, the band itself is not so much fun, but the weight loss rocks... a trade off i guess. i hurt more times than not when i eat - unless i eat liquids, mushies, or crunchies, i usually feel so discomfort. if i eat a sandwich i eat teeny, tiny bites - but i have had maybe 2 sandwiches in the past 6 months... maybe you'll get better news from others but this has been my experience!! good luck!

oh, and the part about feeling it passing through the band - with restriction you have such a small hole that when the food finally passes through - you feel it! sometimes it feels like a kerplunk.... and if you raise your arms or stretch your stomach different ways you can feel it fall though too! a while back i started feeling it going through much too easy so i thought i needed a fill - even though i was still tight at times. i was wrong - my fill was way too tight and i had a nightmare of a time getting normal again. i plan on waiting till it gets to where the food is going down easy all of the time - not just sometimes - then filliing it just a little bit.

My Dr told me that bread was a no no as I go on being banded. The problem with bread is even if you take small tiny bites the gluten in the bread will cause it to expand and cause a lot of problems. You should really be avoiding bread if you want to avoid the pain.

Also for me restriction is in my throat. I know I am full when I feel it up there, it is my esophogus telling me that I am done. Then I never have that yucky pouch full feeling if I listen to it!

Good luck!

I don't have issues with bread (very, very grainy bread only) but I *am* 30 and a bit months post op, and have practically no saline in my band.

But when I had a fill, bread was something I had on very rare occasions, and when I did I had very little, and chose very grainy brown bread only.

Lucky girl; the feeling you are describing sounds like being over full to me.

Most bandsters I know are never able to eat bread of any kind except maybe very crunchy toast. Bread is just a memory if you have a band.

Many of the infomercials and even some of the surgeons tell you beforehand that with with a LapBand you can eat whatever you want, just less of it. I don't know of anyone that has had that experience. There are usually a number of things that you just can't tolerate with a band. And if you really need to lose a significant amount of weight, there are many things you can't eat and get the weight off (starchy white carbs - bread, corn, Pasta, rice, potatoes, etc are all evil as far as weight loss goes).

Most bandsters I know are never able to eat bread of any kind except maybe very crunchy toast. Bread is just a memory if you have a band.

Many of the infomercials and even some of the surgeons tell you beforehand that with with a LapBand you can eat whatever you want, just less of it. I don't know of anyone that has had that experience. There are usually a number of things that you just can't tolerate with a band. And if you really need to lose a significant amount of weight, there are many things you can't eat and get the weight off (starchy white carbs - bread, corn, Pasta, rice, potatoes, etc are all evil as far as weight loss goes).

Not everyone can't tolerate bread. Not everyone has trouble with corn pasta, potatoes or rice either.

I know for a fact that *I* can eat all of the above without trouble, and I can eat just about anything (I just chose not to eat some things because they are poor choices)

I had quite a bit to lose (I lost over 190lbs) and I never "dieted" or cut out food groups.

It's not all doom and gloom.

Thanks for all your replies.

I've still got a few questions though. Is it right that I feel the food passing through the band as I am eating it? I thought the idea was that it would sit in my pouch (making me feek full on only a small amount of food) for a while before gradually passing through into my stomach?

Surely, if I stick to mushy sloppy food it will just pass straight through and I won't be getting that full feeling?

Dave

Dave, how many cc in what size band? It is very possible that you do not have any real restriction as yet.

Hi Chickie,

I have about 7.5cc in a 9cc band. Although my Doc has told me he has fill them before to around 12cc.

The way I feel now is that I do struggle to eat some foods, but what I am getting is pain as it passes through rather than that lovely full feeling I was expecting. I lost 28 pounds initiall but have not lost any further weight for about 6 weeks.

In honesty, if it is just pain when you eat *some* foods, and other foods do not cause that feeling, I would stay away from the offending dishes.

You may, or may not need another fill to get to your sweet spot (for me, my sweet spot was when I ate about a half a cup, maybe more, and felt full for at least 2 hours after)

My best advice is, to eliminate the offending foods, or at least reduce the amount and frequency you eat them, and pay attention to your body. If you are eating other solids, and are staying full for at least a couple of hours, all is good. But if you feel hungry very shortly following a meal (less than an hour) you might want to think about booking in for another fill.

Hi everyone,

I just had my 2nd fill last Weds. I don't know how much my first fill was but this fill was 4.5. He said I wouldn't need to come back for 3 months and that I would be very restricted now so be careful.

Before the fill I could eat anything (rice, popcorn,bread, steak, etc) in small quantities. However, since the fill - WOWWWW is all I can say. I was wondering if I should go back but after reading some of your posts I guess I am just now on the "real" deal of being banded. I was comfortable with my last fill but noticed the weight stopped going off which was why I went ahead with a another fill.

I tried eating a few French fries because I was craving salt and even 4 McDonald's small fries hurt! Pasta salad with small hunks of chicken hurt. I am worried that I am too restricted. I want to loose weight, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to drink shakes for the rest of my life to loose the weight.

You think this is normal since it is so new? Give it a few weeks to adjust to the smaller hole? I am thinking that is the case but wanted feedback as well.

Kitty

I love all this info about fills. I go for my first one in two weeks. I have had my band 24 days and have lost 18 pounds. Have not lost anything in the last few days though. So far i love my band. Donna