I got my 4 cc band on 7/30/07. So far I have had three fills. I think I'm at a little over 2 cc now. I thought at first it was working this time. I was having difficulty eating bread, but now I'm not. The last fill was 3 wks ago, and I haven't lost a single pound. I haven't tried white bread, but I can eat crusty parts of bread or biscuits, etc. I do have a little difficulty if I eat too quickly, but haven't actually thrown up. I do stay full for about 3 hours after eating, but problem is I can eat much more than a cup - probably more like 2 cups.

Do you think I need more fill? I'm scared to get too extreme, but I need this to work badly. THOUGHTS PLEASE!!

Get a fill. Better than gaining back.

Before you do that, are tracking calories?

Are you following all the bandster rules?

Are you exercising?

If the answer to all of these is YES and you are still not losing weight, then you might consider a very small fill....and I do mean small! Being too tight is pretty miserable.

Actually, I'm not exercising as much as I should be, but a little. The only other rule I have broken is that I had some carbonated drinks. I'm wondering if that didn't cause a problem. I know it was a big "no no" but you know how hard headed we can be sometimes!

So, I have had my band about a year and a half. I'm the King of not doing things right. Since being banded I've only had one carbonated drink and that was almost by accident. I think the carbonated drink is more of "you'll be sorry if you do" because of the gas.

One of the maiin ways I haven't been having success is drinking right before, or during, or just after eating. This is probably the major no-no on my part. I do other bad things but that is probably the worst.

However, not having enough fill is like the little snow ball at the top of the hill. I think that gets things going down the wrong path.

I got a 10cc band a year ago in April. Lost some weight before surgery and some after. Got my first fill right on time. 3.6cc. Things seemed OK and I may have lost a little more. But then eating more became easier and easier. Eventually I went back and there was only .6cc in the band. They put in 2.2 more. I went a long time with that.

Just had an Endoscopy a couple of weeks ago and the Dr. said he there was ANY restriction on my band. When in for another fill (This gets expensive at $375 a pop) and they said there was still over 2cc in.

The bottom line. In the future I'm going to error on the side of A LITTLE more fill than not. This will help you police yourself on what and how much to eat.

The other mind set is. Don't think about that you can eat, think about what you should eat. For me it generally takes getting something stuck. Like Rice. I got a big ball of it stuck one time and now I RARELY if ever eat rice.

I have roughly 4cc's in my 4cc band...... we don't know for sure but we have put 4cc's in and never drawn it out to see how much is still in there..... I am at my sweet spot.. FOR ME! Some would probably think I'm too tight for their liking..... meaning...

ANYTHING gooey or gummy is OUT! NO Bread, NO crust, NO Pasta, NO rice, NO super gooey cheese that would glump up and act as a cork.....

Ground meat of all type works the best for me..... I did have some lovely chunks of beef in a stew over the weekend and had no problem with it......

My last fill was August 27th, and I may be losening up a TINY bit, but if I hold this level of fullness I will not have another fill until Novemember.

I eat Weight Control oatmeal w/milk every morning with no problem........

Crunchy Crumbly goes through just fine.....

My firsts thought would be to evaluate where you want to be with your band and then get your fill level adjusted accordingly...

(for me.. if I COULD EAT pizza...... I would, I can't so I don't)

GOOD LUCK!

we have put 4cc's in and never drawn it out to see how much is still in

ANYTHING gooey or gummy is OUT! NO Bread, NO crust, NO Pasta, NO rice, NO super gooey cheese that would glump up and act as a cork.....

Ground meat of all type works the best for me..... I did have some lovely chunks of beef in a stew over the weekend and had no problem with it......

My last fill was August 27th, and I may be losening up a TINY bit, but if I hold this level of fullness I will not have another fill until Novemember.

I eat Weight Control Oatmeal w/milk every morning with no problem........

Crunchy Crumbly goes through just fine.....

My firsts thought would be to evaluate where you want to be with your band and then get your fill level adjusted accordingly...

(for me.. if I COULD EAT pizza...... I would, I can't so I don't)

GOOD LUCK!

"we have put 4cc's in and never drawn it out to see how much is still in"

Wow, I have never heard of not taking it all out to see how much is there. Every time I get a fill they take what ever is in there out first and then put the amount they want back in. Of course, I've never had a blind fill.

"

My firsts thought would be to evaluate where you want to be with your band and then get your fill level adjusted accordingly...

(for me.. if I COULD EAT Pizza...... I would, I can't so I don't)"

That's exactly the fill level I need. Even with the floroscopy I don't think I got enough fill. If I get an adjustment with in two weeks it's still $150.

My doc does everything "blind" no fluro, no numbing agent... he just feels for it and pops the needle in... (he is really good) He said that he wouldn't draw it out unless he suspected a problem........... (a year of aftercare is included in my approval) so I had prebooked appointment through January, and if I go.. it's a $20 copay. I was able to just cancell my September appointment because I knew that I didn't need a fill............. I feel that I've loosened up over the weekend because I was able to eat stew meat with no problems (although I chewed the heck out of it because I WANTED it to go down)

Before you do that, are tracking calories?

Are you following all the bandster rules?

Are you exercising?

If the answer to all of these is YES and you are still not losing weight, then you might consider a very small fill....and I do mean small! Being too tight is pretty miserable.

How would I know if I was too tight?

How would I know if I was too tight?

When nothing goes down without a fight...except maybe Water....then you're too tight. If it takes me 45+ minutes to eat 1/2 of cottage cheese, I'm too tight. If eating tiny bites of tender fish gets stuck...I'm too tight. If I find myself avoiding solid foods and eating Soups and shakes, then I'm too tight. If I find myself wondering "What in the world am I going to eat for lunch??" ...then I'm too tight.

In other words, I should be able to eat just about anything (except bread, rice, fried stuff) as long as I have small bites and chew well. But if I'm getting stuck even when I'm following those rules, then I'm too tight and there's no way I'll get adequate nutrition if I keep that up.

if you can eat 2 cups of foods you definitely need a fill.

Good restriction will only allow you 1/4 cup of food. Good luck.

Well, I got a fill. He got very aggressive this time and put 1cc in it. He drew out 2.5, so I guess I'm officially at 3.5 cc. Can't get much more restricted than that.

Anyway, now I know what many of you have been talking about. I can hardly even drink Water fast. I got a little sick this morning eating Cereal, but never actually threw up. I'm going to leave it for now. Hopefully it will loosen up just a little bit.

Hi Becky,

You may be a little more restricted in the mornings. I think this is the same for women as men. Sometimes drinking something warm like herbal tea and help loosen it up a bit.

If you're slimming all the time then you are too tight. It's not a good thing to get things stuck. First, it hurts and is very unpleasant. Next, it's bad for the band or your stomach and the band.

NWMarc

i just got another fill monday and yesterday i got stuff stuck twice, im now listening and chewing but you have no idea how much it sucks to get something stuck until something is stuck. it hurts. but yes, i agree, you prolly need a fill.

i currently have about 8 in mine and i think we have a winner with restriciton!