Gleaning the information from this site, I noticed that some doctors take the cautious approach and fill 1cc at a time. But for me I had to drive from Redding, CA to Medford, Oregon (150 miles) pay $1000 dollars for my first visit and be prepared to pay $275 for followup fills. I wanted to take a more aggressive approach.

I got my VG Lap-Band from Dr. Joya in Mexico on Oct 8th 2007 with no complications. My fill doctor (Mark A. Eaton) used Barium and fluoroscopy to compared the normal flow with the flow with 1cc then the flow with 4cc then the flow with 5cc. It was clear to see my normal flow through my stoma was about 1" wide and when he was done the flow was about a 1/4 of what it was when he started.

The doctor then gave me 8oz of water to drink and I noticed right away if I drank fast I got the sensation of being able to burp some up if I wanted to. I have no problem with warm liquids like tea and coffee. As of the second day of fill I have not got past two gulps of cold water at one time.

I think using the Barium as a tool saved me over $1100 in fill costs not to mention getting off to a great start.

My Question: Does anyone have experience with first or followup fills using Barium?

My doctor uses a barium swallow each and every time I get filled to check the flow.

I personally would not go by the barium swallow and fluro. It doesn't always garuntee that you are filled perfectly. I had 1.9cc in a 4cc band and could eat almost anything I wanted. So, I decided to go for another fill. This time my doc filled me up to 2.7cc total and the barium passed with no problem. I stuck around the waiting room doing my water test and horked up all the water I had sipped, which was about 3tablespoons worth. So my doc unfilled me to a total of 2.5cc, the barium went down fine again and the water slowly went down. So I thought "Great, I can deal with this!" Well, let me tell you, I was so tight the next 2days I had to make an emergency drive to get unfilled. It was awful. My point is, even though it looks ok on the screen, it is no garuntee!

I had another fill yesterday 3cc so I have a total of 6cc from fills and 2cc Dr A added when he put the band in. I ate today and everything was fine went right down (chicken and peas). So my question is maybe I don’t know what I am looking for is it a fuller feeling? Also how would I know if I have a leak?

I think I did fill up faster and as a result ate less is that the “sweet spot” I know throwing up is not good and I have read about a lot of symptoms of being over filled but there is not much out there on being filled just right

I think it is a personal thing. Some people prefer to be tighter than others. As long as you are staying full for long periods of time and loosing weight, I'd say you are at your sweet spot. Everyone is different. I can't give you any insite on how to tell your band is leaking. If you think it is leaking then have you doc draw out all your fill to see if you are still at 6cc. If you have lost some than you might have a leak.