Hello fellow bandsters,

I had a fill about two weeks ago and have been struggling with my level of restriction ever since. I am sooo tight . . . I am now at 2.5 in a 4cc band.

I am curious how common it is not to be able to get hardly anything down until late afternoon - ???

I have seen that discussed on here before and really don't want to have an unfill, but also don't want to risk complications from being too tight.

If you don't mind responding, I'd love to know how many of you can barely get anything down until late afternoon.

Thanks in advance for your input ~

hi

as i am reading your post...dr spivak came on the television on his commercial.

i havent been able to eat in the morning since i was banded. i can drink Protein shakes so that makes my mornings quite simple.

i know when i asked spivak about not being hungry in the morning he said, "then dont eat" he went on to say he hasnt eaten Breakfast in 25 yrs.

not sure if my situation is the same as yours....

in july i was too tight and couldnt even drink Water. i happened to be on vacation and was miserable. got a little out and felt better.

maybe call brenda. i find her to be very practical and not just have "pat" answers.

good luck

Hi I had my ninth fill two weeks ago going from 12cc to 13 cc in a VG band. For the first time I know what real restriction is. I cannot eat until late afternoon and I have to be VERY careful to chew well, wait between bites etc. I had my band palced on March 15,2007. I am so glad to finally have restriction, I don't want to have an unfill.

Please let us know what you decide. Good Luck!

Carol

Hi everyone

I had my fifth band fill on 9/11/07 and an really tight i can hard drinking in morning but it does relax in an evening. Still on soup... am worried about complication band slippage or eriosen ?? if it's too tight, how long is it pratical to wait till you go for a unfill. i feel every monthful and have terribel wind throughout the day.

i am not new to the band i was band in july 2006 i currently lost 5stone 8llb so far.

:help:i would be very greatful for advice and if i can help anyone i will !!!

Lana

HI all,

I have recently had my 2nd fill and now have 3.5 cc in a 4cc band. I cannot drink Water in the night. I cannot do anything but Protein shakes in the morning, mushies ( soup- purees) around lunch and real food chewed VERY well at dinner> at first I thought I was too tight, and that I'd have trouble getting enough nutrients, but I'm OK. I do a Protein shake int he morning and eat a protein Peanut Butter bar sometime in the afternoon. I eat a chewable Vitamin in the morning and a chewable Calcium or two in the afternoon. I drink V* with lunch, which ( if I've had some tea a bit earlier) can even be something like tuna, but is usually beef vegetable soup. SOmetimes I have a yoghurt for a snack. dinner is about 1 cup of food and tonight I even had some Pasta and it didn't get stuck.

The danger for awhile was that I was hungry in the evening and I would eat then. Now I have a BIG dinner of solids ( a cup or so ) and I'm so full I can barely move. I'm losing less quickly now that I'm pb'ing less, which is because I have figured out what works and doesn't.

Yesterday I tried to eat a wee piece of banana in the morning - just to see if it would go down- nope - it came back up.

Currently I'm ok with this level of restriction, but will see how it feels as I carry on. I am seeing a 1-2 pound loss per week. Of course I think it should be WAY more, given how little I am eating.. but it is what it is.

Hi there

Im Laura and I had surgery January 12 of this year. I weighed in the day of surgery at 267 and I now weigh 195. I had my first fill in APril and it didn't really do much. I felt a little restriction but I had another fill on Sept. 25 and this one is really tight. I have noticed that I can not eat anything until later on in the day. I just saw my doctor this afternoon (Nov 12, 2007) and Dr. Spivak (Im in Houston, TX) told me that it is not uncommon to NOT be able to eat until later on in the day with a heavy fill. Reason being is that your band tightens up more while you sleep so the morning time you are at your tightest. You also collect mucus around the band during the night which makes it tighter. I usually drink a slimfast or some sort of protien drink for breakfast and then by lunchtime I can usually eat some yogurt and a piece of cheese. Sometimes I have to wait until after 6 or 7 pm at night to really be able to eat solid food. If you are a breakfast person and want food first thing in the morning then Dr. Spivak told me that drinking something hot first and waiting 30 minutes with loosen the band up to where you can get food down easier. I have to say I have noticed that if I sip on some broth or hot tea and wait a little while and then try to eat I can usually get it to stay down without it coming back up or experiencing that horrible acid reflux feeling. I had the option today to have some of the fill removed but I said NO WAY. With the hoidays coming up I can manage now that I know what the deal is. Hope this helps you out!

Hi there

Im Laura and I had surgery January 12 of this year. I just saw my doctor this afternoon (Nov 12, 2007) and Dr. Spivak (Im in Houston, TX)

Hi Laura ~

I wonder if we were there at the same time on January 12th ??? That was also my surgery date with the wonderful Dr. Spivak . . . Did you have your surgery at Park Plaza ?

I decided to 'ride this out' and it seems to be getting better. I must be really hard-headed and have realized that I have been fighting the band. The reality now is that I CAN'T eat anything early in the day and if I don't try to, it's not an issue. Duh - huh? :rolleyes I can eat a small amount in the evening and I am not starving. That is the beautiful thing about this - I am really never hungry, I just eat out of habit.

Thanks everyone for your responses - it really helps me to hear what other bandsters have to say.

Thanks Jack - I always read your post with great interest as you seem to be an 'experienced bandster.'

I find myself posting this again because it helped me so much today.

A good read.

Think You Need a Fill? THINK AGAIN

By Nikki Johnson

Do you remember that feeling you had when you first had your band placed? For a while, everything was great. You didn't experience hunger, you felt satisfied with a small portion of good food, you had more energy, and you were thrilled with your initial weight loss progress.

If you are like most people, your experience changed over time, Some of those feelings of hunger returned, and you stopped losing weight. You knew you needed something, so you went to your surgeon's office and asked for a "fill" right? If so, you might be surprised to learn that it is your thinking about your band, and not the band itself, that needs adjusting.

The LAP-BAND Bad Word

Paul O'Brien, MD, FRACS, is a skillful, compassionate surgeon and a foremost expert on the LAP-BAND System. he was involved in its design in the early 1990's and placed the first band in Australia in 1994. Since then, he has treated thousands of patients and is recognized worldwide for his expertise. When his patients utter that worst of four-letter words, "fill," in his office, they are asked to throw a dollar in the Red Cross donation bucket--a reminder that, according to Dr. O'Brien, thinking about a "fill" is just wrong thinking.

How can a concept that we hear about so constantly be so very wrong? Dr. O'Brien's answer is simple: "Any adjustment to the band is something that only takes place in the context of clinical consultation--part of a relationship of trust, honesty and communication between patient and surgeon--that is much more key to the success of the patient than the precise number of milliliters of Fluid in the band. This concept of partnership is the central theme of Dr. O'Brien's new book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership of Weight Loss.

Patty's Note: Available on Amazon.com ISBN#9780522854121

Like many people, you might assume that weight gain or a sustained plateau means an incorrectly adjusted band; in fact, you may be right. But you may be surprised to learn that weight gain sometimes results from a band that is too tight. This is part of the reason why the "fill" concept is so misleading. If your surgeon determines that you are not losing weight as you should, then discovering why that is happening is crucial. Sometimes adding fluid to the band will only make matters worse.

Life in the "GREEN ZONE"

Most people who have the LAP-BAND operation will have an amazing feeling of disinterest in food for the first week after surgery, before any adjustments are even made to the fluid in the band. According to Dr. O'Brien, that lack of interest in food is referred to as satiety. A related but different feeling is satiation, or the feeling you get as you are eating, precisely at the point that you don't need any more food to eat but you do not have an uncomfortable feeling of fullness. These two feelings--satiety and satiation--are what the properly adjusted band helps you achieve, allowing you to maintain your new healthier eating habits.

Your careful observation and truthful sharing of your feelings and eating behaviors, combined with the expert care and training of your surgeon and his or her staff, can make the very individual determination of whether your band is properly adjusted much more accurate. In order to help create the most effective partnership between themselves and their patients, Dr. O'Brien and his colleagues at the Australian Centre for Obesity Research and Education have developed a concept they refer to as the "Green Zone". When patients are in the green zone, they experience satiety, satiation after properly-sized small meals, and satisfactory weight loss or maintenance.

However, there are also yellow and red zones, both of which indicate that the band is not optimally adjusted. If your band is too loose, you will not have the benefits the band's hunger-controlling mechanism. If your band is too tight, you will have trouble eating properly and may actually gain weight because the foods you can eat more comfortable, that tend to be liquid and calorie-rich, like ice cream and chocolate, do not provide the proper nutrition. Learning to recognize when you have the feelings and eating behaviors that signal a problem can help you give your surgeon the information he or she needs to help you keep the band optimally adjusted.

Thinking Adjustment

Once you have eliminated the concpet of "fills" from you Lap-Band vocabulary, you will be able to let go of much of the conventional thinking connected to it. Perhaps you have heard talk about the "ideal" amount of fluid in the Lap-Band. While it may be helpful to have some idea of how much fluid is in your band, Dr. O'Brien says there is no magic number. No perfect amount of fluid will provide the best results for everyone. He says, rather, that "whatever volume of fluid is needed to achieve the [feeling of non-hunger] is the correct volume." When you notice that you are feeling hungry or are not losing weight, your body is telling you it is time to revisit your partner in weight loss -- your surgeon. your success absolutely depends on this relationship. So rather than thinking "adjustments," adjust your thinking, and, in partnership with your surgeon, find a lifetime of health!

For more information about all of the themes discussed in this article, please see Dr. O'Brien's book, The Lap-Band Solution--A Partnership for Weight Loss, which is available fro Amazon.com. We also invite you to visit LAP-BAND® System Forum - Home for more information and supportive resources.

Wow - that was interesting, and does make sense. Thanks for sharing that . . .

Thanks so much for that excerpt. It really helps. I'm going to order his book from amazon, as I seem to have lots of questions about how to know if I really need a fill.

Thanks,

Leena

Warm liquids may help you in the a.m.

I had a fill about two weeks ago and have been struggling with my level of restriction ever since. I am sooo tight . . . I am now at 2.5 in a 4cc band.

My suspicion was right . . . I went in for an x-ray with fleuro today, and as I feared - was way too tight. I have severe edema (swelling) in my esophogus and had to have about half of my fill removed. As much as I hated being partially unfilled, I will say I had almost instant relief.

Hopefully after my esophogus heals I will be able to have some of the Fluid put back in, but for now I just have to take care of it . . . I think the way I am feeling is crazy - but I don't want to risk losing my band completely, so I'll just have to work harder to eat less on my own.

Thanks for all of your input ~