Hi,

I was just wondering has anyone ever tried to do a self fill? I mean just take a syringe some saline and fill yourselves? What would the risks be?

Hi guys,

I'm a registered nurse. Living in Saudi Arabia and I had my band in Malaysia. Had my first fill on the 20th November. I had it done by one of my collegue at work just because i'm scared of needle :cursing: But I still think that if you're not medical professional, dont do it yourself. Its too risky. Good Luck

Huber needles are made by All-Med Medical Supply and are very easy to find on the internet, as is sterile saline and lidocaine cream. I have an emergency kit because I travel constantly for work and thank heaven I have never had to use it. But I can feel my port very easily and I know my tubing is above it because my doctor uses flouro. So therefore I would try to hit the bottom of the port and sneak the needle upward.

That being said, no one should do their own fills because of cost, distance, or recreational eating. Real emergencies would be the only time I would consider it.

I have a friend who does self fills. He has had no problems, always uses a sterile needle and hits his port dead center.

It's not something I personaly would do, but I can understand why he does it and he has never had a problem.

He does have a tendacy to unfill himself when he wants to play and eat more and then fill up again after, which kind of defeats the point, IMO, but he has still lost quite a bit of weight and it is his choice.

If you are not inteligent enough to use sterile proceedures and skilled enough to hit the center of your port instead of peircing your bowels, then it would be best not to try it but, again, with a clear head ,determination, and just a little skill, its VERY easy.by the way, sepsis would not result from peicing the tube,but it would ruin your lab band,resulting in an additional surgery.

No, sepsis would result from introducing bacteria into the body due to insufficient sterile equipment and external conditions.

I am a medical professional. I would never attempt this and am flabbergast that anyone would.

While I know I have the skills to fill or unfill myself, I will choose to let my physician do this. It gives me time to discuss my success or failures with him. Since the port only leads to the band and not the bloodstream as a typical "port" does, a simple alcohol wipe to the site works if using a sterile needle....but...if you miss the port, you could mess it up by hitting the tubing and develop a leak. There is a technique to accessing a port, and a certain "feel" that you have to get used to....I wouldn't recommend it except in an extreme emergency using a sterile needle and sterile saline solution. Just my 2 cents.....stay safe!

I am also interested in self fill because I currently live 12 hours away from my doc. and the one down here will not fill a band that he didnt install without an $1800 fee for one year service.I am a former er tech and EMT and have no issue with port injections I just need to find source of huber needles. I have not had an adjustment in 18 months and i have little or no restriction. I wiil not pay $1800 for what might be 1 or 2 fills in a year. I am self pay and recently paid a fine surgeon $750 to repair an inguinal hernia, which requires a lot more expertise than a port injection.

I was banded 2 1/2 years ago and lost 100 lbs. but have recently gained back 20 and I am getting desperate

did you do a self fill? Let me know how it went