Ok, I'm thinking that maybe I'm paranoid, but I want to make sure I keep my band for a long time. I've had one fill, and sporadically feel restriction. I've become very aware of my body cues and stop eating when I feel pressure. My question is, sometimes I don't get those body cues and I can eat and eat and eat with no pressure - like 2 bowls of pasta, then some cereal (i'm totally on a binge like I was never banded), no PB, nothing. If i'm not feeling any cues is it possible to stretch my pouch? Or is everything just passing through easily? My fill is 4CC's in a 10CC band, so I would imagine that I should feel some regular restriction?

:biggrin2:

I'm only 15 days post op and I'm doing a little more than mushies. I find myself eating more than I should, and ALREADY feeling like a failure. Then (AFTER) I overeat, I worry about the band slipping or something. Has anyone been through this? I know now that HEAD HUNGER is going to be more of a struggle for me than I thought. I just want to know if I'm normal - I don't get a fill until FEB 11th! I've already lost 16 lbs as of last Monday but most of it was from my liquid diet. Mushies are good, but I'm eating a few more things than mushies. I went through this surgery as a final resort and now I feel like even SURGERY isn't going to help me :tt1:

Janet what your thinking and feeling is perfectly normal i did the same thing always worried i am going to fail even after surgery. your not going to fail it all takes time and remember this is just a tool it's still hard work! I am 4 months post op down about 25lbs doesn't sound like much but i can feel and see that 25lbs, i might be down more but refuse to keep scale hopping that is the most frustrating thing seeing your wt go up and down. keep on track and keep food logs if you have to. Your not filled yet so you feel like you can eat the way you did prior to surgery and yes that is true because you don't have restriction it took me 3 fill until this past dec to get good restriction and all i did is get food stuck and my best friend was the bowl:sad: I personally feel that i'm never going to lose the wt i need to lose but with hard work and keeping on track it will happen i know alot of people personally that have had great success with the lapband and they all felt the same way i did about failing after surgery keep positive thoughts and we all will win this life long battle!:biggrin2:

I found these post to be very incouraging! I thought something was wrong with me. I had my lap band done 6/26/07 with in two weaks I lost over twenty pounds I couldnt believe it! Then I was able to eat solids and i noticed i could eat more and more. I had two adjustments since and no weight lost and I can eat just about anything like before. i was unable to see my surgent for a couple if months due to no insurance with staring a new job. Now I have insurane and plan to get an adjustment next week. I was fearful of seeing my surgent cause I felt like I failed and want back to old habits. I know what i am suppose to do but its hard when you dont feel restricted. I put a lot if money time and affort to get this done and I was starting to feel like it wasnt worth it until I read some of these post. Also with being able to eat a lot I worry about doing damage to myself like slippage. Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated!

Everyone keeps saying that the band is only a tool. The thing is that for the first month or so until you have a fill it's like a tool without a battery. I had my surgery 12/31 and have no restrictio. I have gained back most of my pre-op weight loss and have been eating everthing since week 2. I feel discouraged but hopefully once I get my fill this band will do what it is supposed to do. Has anyone else gained and then lost the weight after their first fill?

I recently had my third fill and so far so good. After gaining weight I had a reality check. I felt depressed but not surprised I new I wasnt doing what I was suppose to but I was always hungy. My surgent said he sees this all the time with people who dont get restrictoins when they need to. After an adjustment my surgent has me do two days fluids two days soft food then work my way to solids again avoiding soups and soft food. I relieze more then ever after this surgery that i am seriously addicted to food. before this last adjustment I was eating ice cream like crazy and my portions where out of control. This may sound weird but I have been helping a relative deal with acohol adiction and attended meetings with them that has been helping me I learned that I have to survender and aknowledge that I have a problem. Then I thought to myself if my relative can give up drinking then I should be able to do this. I would like to attend my baratric support group however its not helpful much because must of them have had bipass surgery and all you hear is the sucsess stories this web site is way more helpful : )

imb - i hear you, i hadn't lost much weight and now i've only lost around 10 lbs, and that fluctuates. don't feel discouraged, once you get going with it (mine has only been filled 1 cc, and i had it done on the 8th of jan), i'm sure, just as i'm sure mine will, yours will start working. message me if you need any encouragement - plus there are plenty of othe rpeople here if i don't respond (i hadn't signed in until now since around the time of surgery).

I've had 9 fills during these past 3 yrs I've been banded. My doc tells me it's impossible to strech one's pouch and not having clear symptoms (discomfort, reflux, blockage, chest pain, etc) that something is wrong.

It is important to make correct food choices, try not overeating, take your time (the band doesn't like to be stressed out), remember to chew very very well. Don't worry too much if you're not loosing at the same rate as other bandsters. Each individual as its own pace and each one of us reacts differently to a new fill.

niki

I think stretching your pouch does not really happen very often, if at all. When you don't have restriction, the pouch isn't going to stretch because basically the food is going straight through. When you do have restriction, you get very clear physical signs to stop eating when the pouch is full enough. You would have to be a very brave person to continue past that pain and keep eating, trust me! Anyone who ever accidentally took too big a bite and had that heart attack feeling knows what I mean. The very last thing I would ever do would be take another bite. And my doctor actually never even mentioned the possibility of the pouch stretching and I wonder if some doctors use it as a scare tactic so patients don't overeat. I could be wrong about that but I have never seen any statistics on pouch stretching.

Hi everyone, I am almost 6 months post op I have a 10 cc band with 4 cc fill. I am very restricted, but for the first 36 hours after my fills I only have liquids to eat as Dr. reccommended. I take things slowly to keep me from vomiting which can be done if you don't watch what you eat or drink. My Dr. said I am doing very good all the way around. I have lost 83 pounds since September 2007. He said that due to my exercise program that I made up for myself is working and he only wishes that other patients would follow suit. Most people do not exercise and more eat what they want to eat and this is not how the band was designed. It is a tool and well we have to do the work to make the tool inside work properly. I had a fill yesterday and I was told that the fat along my stomach on the inside is going bye bye which is great but it is causing my band to lose its grip sort to speak and as for the sweet spot well I have found that for I really don't desire to eat all the bad things like I used to. I can't speak for anyone else that had this done but I can tell you that my results are very gradifying. I used to wear a size 24 today I am wearing a size 12 I used to weigh 279 pounds and now I am down in the 190's and I am losing from 7 to 16 pounds per fill. I have all my curves back in the right places like when I was in High School according to my husband. I have not lost much in the chest area which surproses me. I am going to turn 55 years old around the anniversary of my banding which will be in September. I can now run the distance and it feels great.

From what I have learned from my doctor, you do not "stretch your pouch" like gastric bypass patients do. What you do is move the band further down on your stomach (slippage) which makes the upper part larger. Similar but different occurrences.

Great Job, Can you tell me your exercise schedule. How many times a week and how long.

Thanks

Eulete

i went to the dr,yesterdaythinking i was going to get a fill would be mythird since nov. o6 and he didnt want to do it says he will only do 3 to 4 fills, after that it is just the other dr.wanting more money,it should be tight enough, thatwe lose the wieght from the stomach first so that is the second fill, have you ever heard this before?

How big is the band? How big are the fills? How much fat did you originally have around your stomach? How fast have you lost weight, and where has it come from? Too many variables. That seems like a gross generalization to me.