Can someone who has a large amount of fill please tell me what it is? I am at about 3.60 and getting nervous since I really don't have a lot of restriction. Yes I did have an Endoscopy and I do not have erosion and yes the doc takes out my fill and then replaces it with new so I know I'm not losing any. Thanks.

Chris, what type (brand) of lapband do you have? A Inamed Lapband, Swedish Lapband, Midband, etc.? Also, what size is your band? Different types (and sizes) hold different amounts.

Are you sure you have a 4 cc band? For me 3.6 cc's I would be completely closed off. I realize we are all different. You have had 9 fills?

I have the Inamed 4 cc band......and yes, I've had 9 fills. I think I once heard of someone being filled to almost 4 cc's.

I have the Inamed 4 cc band......and yes, I've had 9 fills. I think I once heard of someone being filled to almost 4 cc's.

I have seen this too, Chris. I believe on Yahoo Smartbandsters. I recall Jessie Ahroni saying it is possible to put a bit more in the 4cc bladder, but it would need to be someone who was very well acquainted with the band. If you are a member of that board, you might 'pm' her or ask on the board.

I am sitting on 2.9ccs myself.

Good luck!

PS. The 9.75cm band holds 4cc saline. I think that is what you are trying to get across, right?

hey chris!

well i hope i can provide some relief for you! when i was first banded i to had a BUNCH of fills atleast 10 i got filled to 4.1 and STILL had NO restriction...

the band WILL hold up to 5.0 cc's mine was filled that much at one point..

this is an excerpt from my SECOND barium swallow..

"3-11-04

i had my swallow study don't today this is how it went...

go in drink barium look at band. NO RESTRICTION. check to see what's in the band 4.1 cc. everyone is very confused how can this be yada yada. fill me to 4.5 cc. drink barium. no restriction. fill me to 5.0 cc. no restriction. the Fluid in my band came out a little murky. they decide to change the t-shaped fill needle thing. when changing them out the dr wants to access the port himself (pa had done in past and today) he is poking jabbing stabbing etc. he even BENT the needle trying to get it in. switched again, got it in. removed all fill. still not happy with the connection so they switch access needles again. thank god they decide i need another numbing shot. so they fill me again to 3.0 cc and have me drink. i had a little restriction, bump me up to 3.2 cc now my opening resembles a bandster!!! remove fill, fill, swallow barium. remove fill, fill. swallow barium. they leave me at 3.2 cc.

they concluded that when i was getting filled before, while they were accessing the port they were not getting the fill fluid into the part of the port that would send it to the band. when they would withdraw fluid it wasn't coming from the band but a pocket in the port.

i don't know. i don't care. all i care about is if i have restriction!!!! i had a can of cream of chicken Soup just now and was able to drink the entire can with relative ease but that's just soup so we'll see as i get more adventurous tomorrow and this weekend with foods of substance.

they were also VERY impressed with my loss since the band hasn't been offering me any/very little restriction.

my dr has banded 200+++ patients and i am the only one this has happened to so don't worry i am an oddball! i guess i am in the 4% complication rate...but not anymore!!!!! i hope!"

maybe your dr could do a fill under flouro and use contrast saline so he knows the fill is going into the band? and yes the band does hold 5.o cc's. once you get close to restiction even .1 cc will make a HUGE difference.

after i was filled to 4.1 cc's still with not much restriction (and AFTER my dr did the FIRST swallow study and told me nothing was wrong) i ended up contacting inamed. the contacted my dr and the VERY next day they spent 2 hours poking and prodding me BUT i left with restriction!!!!

michelle

Thanks Shelly. I am printing out your post and next time I go to the doc will show it to him. They don't do fills under flouro but they do remove all the saline first before refilling so they make sure it was all in there. I'm wondering if I stretched my pouch by eating more then I should. I guess they could give me a barium swallow to see what's going on. I did have one back in August and then an Endoscopy in Sept. to check for erosion since I was up to 3 cc's and didn't really feel restriction. All was fine except for some mild gastritis. Again thanks.

hey chris...when i was getting fills they were removing all of my previous fill too. it WAS in fact going into the port. for some reason the Fluid was getting trapped in a pocket in the port. so yes i was getting a fill and yes all the fluid always came back out BUT it never went into my actual band.

my dr noticed that before they got it fixed that when he would fill me he didnt have the same resistance he got from others he filled. like when he was putting in the saline on people without problems as he got put more and more saline in he could FEEL resistance.

when i got filled he couldnt feel any resistance. AFTER they got it out of the pocket and in the right spot they could feel the resistance.

i dont know if any of this helps but i hope so!

michelle

OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!! I am jumping up and down for joy to find someone like me!!! I was filled to 3cc's on Jan. 11 and after a week I can't feel much restriction anymore. I had a swallow and everything looked fine when they did the fill under flouro. Shellyj, thank you so much for sharing your experience and Chris S., thanks for posting the question. I am printing this out to show my dr.

hey blossom...what ended up being my level of perfect restriction was 3.4 cc's so in the end i STILL require a pretty hefty fill.

3.0 cc's for me means no restriction. you STILL may just need a little more fill. i hope your not having any problems like i was and that another fill might do the trick.

how often will your dr do fills? mine did them every 2 weeks till your at a good restriction level.

Shelly, my dr will do a fill every 2 weeks also. I am going to ask for more fill pretty soon, it will be my fourth. I still think your experience will be great for him to read though, since he is fairly new at this. I keep getting the feeling from him that he just doesn't believe me when I say I don't have restriction. The last time I saw him, he said he wanted me to write down every single thing I eat so that I could show it to him, even though I had told him what I had been eating. I'm not doing it. I have been on a journaling diet in the past that didn't work for me. I got the lapband so that I wouldn't have to do this kind of BS any more. With a lapband, it's SUPPOSED to be about RESTRICTION. I didn't get it so that I could go on another diet. I'm hoping your story will help me to make him understand that some people have a problem getting the restiction they need.

my dr had never filled anyone as much as me so they to couold not believe it when they had filled me so much and i didnt have restriction.

this is an excerpt from my FIRST swallow study:

1-23-04

SOOOOO i had my swallow study yesterday and i was told my band is fine. it has not slipped and my pouch is not stretched. so what gives??? my dr's PA (physicians assistant) told me just stop eating at a half cup. well hello if i could do that i wouldn't have gotten to 350 lbs. i told her why don't we do lunch one day so you can see me eat!!!! i asked her what will happen when i get another fill and am at 4.0 cc there is no adjusting left?? she said we'll cross that bridge....yada yada i had an appointment i thought she would address my questions! i personally think the band may be to low on my stoma where the tissue is thinner. i am going to have my dr call me after he has had a chance to review the x rays so he can answer my questions. I AM NOT BAND BASHING HERE. I LOVE MY BAND. WITHOUT IT I WOULD HAVE GAINED BACK ALL MY WEIGHT PLUS SOME. IT JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO BE WORKING FOR ME AS DESCRIBED.

every time i have lost with the band it has been from dieting and exercise. i DID lose 10 lbs this past month but that is from starting the atkins diet. if i don't diet i just stay the same. i hear a lot of bandsters saying "why would you have gotten the band if you were gonna diet?"

here is an idea of what i eat since starting atkins:

25 oz Water before i eat

breakfast~ 2 eggs scrambled with cheese, 2 sausage links

25 oz water

lunch~ 2-3 cups salad or 1 chicken breast with 1/2 cup veggies

25 oz water

dinner~ medium new york strip with 1/2 cup veggies

tea with splenda!

does that seem like to much??? does it seem the band is doing what it is supposed to for me? i eat all my food within 30 minutes. do not drink with meals.

Yep!!! This sounds exactly like where I am right now! Last week I couldn't eat that much, but this week I can. I can soooo feel your frustration in the excerpt!!! I'm gonna give it a couple of weeks so I can get through PMS and M and just make sure my fill isn't just being fickle like it has for some others, then I am scheduling another fill.

I needed to hear these things also. I have the 4cc and suppose to be just about 4.2 with limited restriction. I was worrying myself to death. I have scheduled a fill after like5 months of this yo yo diet thing. I know I have to work on this too. I cant eat antwhere near what I used to and I can go many hours without eating so I know its helping. I have to quit eating junk and get this band sinched up a little....

Dr. Martinez told me this past week that there is a dead space in the band that they fill first right before your first fill while they have the port accessed I know for a fact in my dead space I have .4 cc's which in all actuality would make me have 2.9 but you do not count the dead spcae as part of your fill for restriction,or a part of the 4 ccs your band will hold..this must be the pocket you are talking about Shelly.

hey michelle!

i have never heard of the dead space but it makes total sense. that may be the amount it takes to fill the just the tubing in the band. who knows!

my Fluid wasnt going into my band. they had filled me to 5 cc and i showed no restriction. after they broke through the pocket and the saline went into the band i only required to have 3.2 cc for real bandster restriction not anywhere near the 5 cc that just 30 minutes before was showing no restriction. (MY sweet spot ended up being 3.4)

go in drink barium look at band. NO RESTRICTION. check to see what's in the band 4.1 cc. everyone is very confused how can this be yada yada. fill me to 4.5 cc. drink barium. no restriction. fill me to 5.0 cc. no restriction. the fluid in my band came out a little murky. they decide to change the t-shaped fill needle thing. when changing them out the dr wants to access the port himself (pa had done in past and today) he is poking jabbing stabbing etc. he even BENT the needle trying to get it in. switched again, got it in. removed all fill. still not happy with the connection so they switch access needles again. thank god they decide i need another numbing shot. so they fill me again to 3.0 cc and have me drink. i had a little restriction, bump me up to 3.2 cc now my opening resembles a bandster!!! remove fill, fill, swallow barium. remove fill, fill. swallow barium. they leave me at 3.2 cc.

sadly after being to tight i am at 2.0 cc and WIDE OPEN!!! i get a fill on 2-7 which is my birthday!!! what a present! i have been unfilled since november 4!!!! FILLER UP PLEASE! well....because i am skeered i am only gonna ask for maybe 3 cc's and CREEP back up to the 3.4 i had once had...if i think i need it. i may go broke doing it, $150 a piece but i dont ever want extreme restriction again!!!

michelle