Hi all. I'm going on 5 years with my band and thankfully no problems as yet. I have however regained a lot of weight because of bad old habits, an extra portion here and there and now everywhere. I'm still happy with my band and as I still get fuller faster and I still have episodes where my food gets stuck so hoping that means all is still well with it. I wish to fill my band but even the slightest fill prevents me from swallowing and give extreme tightness and pain in my chest. Anyway I have this great tool amd wish to kickstart again. So as bad as it mau sound I need a kickstart with max weightloss. What is the best way to start? I am from South Africa where the specialist are few and far between and the dieticians do no know much about the surgery. The products are also non existent. I still have all my menus and I am wondering whether a puree diet will be the best? I will starve to death on liquid? Please give me some pointers. Thank you.

Some folks have suggested getting a fresh start by trying to do an accelerated version of the post-op diet. I'm not 100% sure what that means for everyone, but I would thing 1 week of liquid diet (supplemented by protein shakes), followed by a week of puree (keeping servings to 4oz or less), followed by sane portions of healthy foods.

I don't know anything about the band, but I would think that "even the slightest fill prevents me from swallowing and give extreme tightness and pain in my chest" is not how it's supposed to work and might be worth having a call with your surgeon (or some expert) even if you can't see them in person at this point.