Just curious to see if we have dominant tendencies.

Wheetsin, I've missed you someting FIERCE! Glad to see you are back and hopefully will be back to 100% soon!

I have only been banded about three months, and I don't have a fill yet because I still am somewhat restricted either from the band itself or from whatever Fluid they may have put in my AP band at placement. I don't know if they did, guess I should find out, huh? Haven't been to the surgeon since 1 week post-banding.

Anyhoos, I do find that I have a very tough time eating shaved turkey deli meat, plain. I can eat it no problem in a wrap, but alone, it has a tendency to get stuck. I'm not talking about the dry stuff, I mean even the Oscar Mayer pre-packaged turkey. Doesn't happen with ham, occasionally feels a little "golfball-like" with the roast beef, too. I feel somewhat more restricted when I wake up, I work nights so sometimes that is in the morning, sometimes it is in the evening. I also seem to be a bit tighter a day or two before the TOM comes thru about two days into it.

4cc band filled at 2cc. Last fill was 6 months ago.

First thing in the morning, it's hard to get even a Protein shake to go down. It's better by noon - 1pm when I can eat about 1/4 cup of food. By night time I can eat about 1/2 cup.

Something has happened recently though in that I can't eat as much as I used to be able to. My last fill was six months ago, but starting about a 10 days ago, my ability to eat has drastically changed. Never had this happen before, so am waiting to see if it will go away on its own before calling the doc.

Random, random, random. I can never tell one day to next, one food to next. It ALL depends.

Only thing consistant is that I can't eat first thing in the morning. Other than that it's totally random.. some foods are okay one day and not the next... total crap shoot! :tired

Morning I'm ALWAYS tight!

Later in the day is better........

Crack(ers) go down toooooooo easy!

I am at my sweet spot and have been since my latest fill....

Nearly 4cc's in a 4cc band........

Tried steak, tried chicken... NO LUCK......... what goes down consistantly is ground beef and ground turkey, tuna, ... chips and salsa.......... and the damn crackers!

Faithmd I was banded on the same day as you. Do you inytend to have a Fill soon?

Like you Faithmd I have not had a fill yet as I am still losing weight. I do not have restriction at the momment except if I eat too fast or do not chew properly I was told to eat only ground meat or wafer thin meat for three months so I have not tried ordinary meat yet - hope to within the next couple of days. I was told not to eat ordinary bread for three months but could eat Toast Pita Bread or Wraps. These go down OK. I was also told not eat eat rice for three months as this can swell in the pouch causing difficulty in getting it down.

I would like to say Faith that your weight loss is awesome - good luck with the rent it it. Also good luck to everyone else

Nope, not planning to fill anytime soon, ingyrob. I may have to once my loss totally stops, but I'm eating about 1/2 of what I did pre-op and losing at an okay rate, so I'm happy for now.

I have only had my band for about 3 weeks now and am still on puree/mushie foods but yesterday I just did not feel full all day - and ate my way up to about 1100 calories - I am supposed to stick to 800 right now - but today I only ate 700 calories and could not eat another bite of food if there was a gun to my head. Don't have TOM cuz I am in the process of menopause. Has anyone else experience this because yesterday I was scared I was returning to my old habits. I am journalling all my calories and protein intake. Today ate about 95% protein.

thanks,

shelli:ranger:

OMG finally! A place to whine for a bit!

The only way I can tolerate a fill is if I take Luvox. Well, after a fill there is swelling and I can't take Luvox. I haven't taken Luvox in 3 days, got a fill three days ago.

I'm screwed. I can't even drink Water now.

2.1cc in a 4cc band. I've never tolerated more than 1.3 without the drug.

I seriously need Luvox, my band candy.

With Luvox I can usually eat from about 1PM to 7PM. Hours other than that and it's a no go.

what is luvox?

My restriction varies during the day. It also varies depending on what foods I eat. This is why I ticked both boxes.

And I am curious, too. What is Luvox?

Luvox is in the Prozac family. Some drugs such as this change the nerve impulses along nerves pathways. In my case it changes the nerve impulses between my stomach and brain so my brain doesn't think I have more restriction than I do. A *very* rare bandster complication. I'm the first in my doc's 1600 people. Another doc has done 3000 bands and he's had two people like me.

This particular drug also deals with stress issues. You know how when you are really stressed you have major mega restriction? Not so with Luvox.

I finally went to sleep about 6AM and just woke up. Will try Water in a few hours.

I've never come across a food that won't go down. Some things like bananas, processed eggs, applesauce, slimy strawberries (strawberry shortcake style), etc. go down heavier, but will still pass.

I think this confuses my surgeon. He uses food tolerance questions to help gauge how much fill is needed. Can we eat bread, chicken, steak, Pasta... yep!

My restriction is based on two things - time of day, and time of month. If I PB, it's 2 - 4 days before my period. Right around the same time the scale starts going up. I consider this my monthly PB. And it kind of doesn't matter what I'm eating, everything is fair game.

I no longer eat Breakfast, and lunch is Soup 85% of the time. If it's not soup, then I'm only getting down a bite or two before my warning signs start to go off. So usually, if I can't get a soup, I don't eat.

After 5 or 6 I'm pretty much wide open. I still get full fast, but I can eat beyond a typical portion and still feel hungry. I can also drink with meals w/o that "uh oh" feeling, which I absolutely can't do earlier in the day.

And likewise, for about 2 days, about 4 days after my period, I'm pretty much wide open 24/7. Then I go back to my "regular" restriction until the following month.

So so so so so so much of what I've learned in the past 18ish months has been how to listen to my body, and how to pick up on the patterns. With those two things unlocked, I have very, very few surprises.

My restriction doesn't last past a week or so from the fill. The time of day hasn't seemed to matter much since I'm not at a good restriction yet. I've never gotten food stuck or PB'd (yet). I'm about to get my 3rd fill and I'm hoping for more consistency. Then the time of day might matter more.

Wheetsin -

Thanks for your reply. I have often thought my restriction and food tolerances changed at certain times of the month. A male surgeon thinks its crazy, though.

I am glad to hear someone else experiences it.