I'm so confused and frustrated! It has been almost 9 months since I was banded. I have 8cc's in a 10cc band. Surely!!!..I should feel restriction by now!! Each fill, I am so hopeful that "this one" will help and do what I "thought" the band was supposed to do. I tell myself each time that I feel a difference, but after a few days, it's obvious that..once again...no difference. I have lost about 70lbs. to date and I know that is GREAT, but I have done it with my own fortitude (I want to succeed!!!!), and the FEAR of hurting my band and screwing up my last chance to change my life. The last couple of months, I have lost and gained and lost and gained. The same as I have done my whole life. I have reached the "set point" that my body gets to.....between 60-70 lbs. and I just stop losing. That's when my willpower fades and I start to overeat. I was counting on my band to get me through this and so far, no luck. My band never tells me I can't eat a particular food. I can eat anything I want---bread, rice, pizza crust, steak, chicken, ANYTHING!! I could eat as much as I want (I choose NOT to, as I'm trying to make this work!)---my band doesn't say "No..that's too much..stop!" What my band DOES do for me; I can't eat too fast, and I can't take large bites and "gulp" my food or drinks. I get chest pain if I do and I have PB'd and slimmed a few times, but only if I eat or drink too fast. Never because I've eaten to much or the wrong things. Is this all the band is going to do for me???!!! Am I going to pay all this money (I was self pay...that was HARD!) and be able to gain weight as long as I chew good and slow down? I know this is not a "cure all". I know this is a "tool". I know I have to do the work...forever. If I was not willing to do all that, I wouldn't have lost the 70 lbs., but I certainly thought that I'd get to experience a "full" feeling. I thought I'd have a band that would tell me "your full...stop". I thought it might just say "no....you can't eat bread, or steak, or SOMETHING, but nothing doesn't agree with my band. I'm nothing like what I read on the message boards. I'm worried that this is all I'm going to get! Do I have to do it all on my own even with a band, or is something wrong with me or my band???!!! I just went for my last fill 2 wks ago and no difference. My doc said come back in 2 months. I am losing willpower every day. I could be up 10-20lbs in that time, and who's to say the next fill is going to do anything either! Please forgive me for going on and on, but I just need to know if anyone else has experienced this. My doc is pleased with my weight loss, but as I keep telling him....I've gotten this far and I'm thrilled, but I need some help NOW from my band. If I could do it solely on my own, I wouldn't have needed the band! Please don't misunderstand....I KNOW I wouldn't have lost ANYTHING without having my band put in. It totally has put me on track and gave me incentive to do my best, I just need more help than I'm getting. Can anyone help me please?

i to am wondering if the band is working for me. i can eat like i did before surgery for the most part. there are some days that i get full quick though. nothing gets stuck and i dont have pbing anymore like i did for the first two months. i am frustrated. i,ve had two fills though and can definitely get more. i just want good restriction like i did in the beginning. i feel that i am going to have to count on will power until my next fill because i have been making bad choices lately and i need to smarten up. if the band isnt working 100% then i need to do my part and eat better. i know the band is a tool and not a cure but thats why i had surgery because diet and exercise didnt work.

andrea

So Andrea, why don't you go get a fill?

OKAY-SO WHAT IS "PB-ING?" (I know I know-duh-right??)

I know what it feels like to have little or no restriction. The one thing I can tell you is that when you have it, you will have NO DOUBT that you have it. I could no more gulp down a piece of pizza than fly to the moon. You aren't there yet, keep getting fills til you are. It is also possible you don't have quite as much fluid as you think you do so maybe have them remove it and check. I have 7.5 ccs in a 10 cc band and it wasn't until this fill that I felt restriction either and I was getting worried. Hang in there!

Ok Queen Jane...I am with you...what does PB mean? Burping up vomit?

Andrea, sounds like you and I need another apt. ASAP! ha! I know I intend to follow-up until I can post comments like "kbinaz"!! The "NO DOUBT" part sounded like what I paid for. Again.... I don't want to be tooo-tight, but I want to know I'm at my sweet spot and then I can work from there with my band. As for PB?...it stands for "productive burping". Obviously, I haven't had much experience with it (not being restricted), so I'm counting on a more seasoned bandster to explain what exactly happens.

thanks for the clue about PB-ing. I am going for a fill today--let's hope I can "mo more gulp down a piece of pizza" because right now it would not be a problem. I won't know for a couple of days as I go an liquids again for 3 days following a fill. Like andielmt I want to feel the restriction I felt for the first couple of months so I don't mind making the very large monthly payments I make!!! Keep your fingers crossed--Sweet spot here I come!!

Ditto Queen Jane!!! I could finish your sentences!! You are in my prayers and wishes!! I will be waiting to hear from you! You go girl!!

PB'ing is when food gets stuck - I never had it happen until I was at my sweet spot. You have to be tight enough for it to happen- then eat really carefully so it doesn't! Everyone has different experiences with PB'ing-for some people it isn't a big deal and the food just comes back up. For me it is pretty uncomfortable (painful) and I have to stand over the toilet for a few minutes and wait for the food to come up. It's gross. It happens from not chewing enough - especially dry foods (for me it's cake or dry chicken, it happened with meatloaf once)

Oh, one more thing- it isn't like vomiting. There is no huge retching thing it's more like a baby spitting up. And it isn't all acidic like vomit. It's just the food you swallowed in basically the same form as you swallowed it, surrounded by slimey saliva. (graphic enough for you?!)

For those struggling, I'm gonna copy/paste some posts I made in another area. Might help give some insight, or different point of view! I had several extended "no weight loss frustration filled months", then things changed.

::: I battle the fill - no fill dilema monthly. It's a blend of REALLY eating right, and having enough restriction to stop you. If you can still eat most everything, things others have trouble with (bread, Pasta, rice, fibery stuff) and mentally must stop yourself from over indulging, a small fill will help. If you are eating all the things that by-pass the band, no amount of restriction will help.:::

::: And getting fills that = true restriction can take forever! In hindsight, I think there's a grand-er plan in effect. It feels like for the first year, I used 60-80% willpower instead of band help. It was frustrating...but a year and 1 month out now, and probably 12-15 fills later (stopped counting), I finally have the restriction that most banders have been talking about! Just a few, like 4-6 bites starts feeling full, and I cannot even think of soft breads, rice or pasta. So...maybe, that first year was really designed to make me use my restraint, my willpower, my brain...forcing me to make the correct choices...making my behavior become habit. Anyone else feel this way? Because now, (after the last fill) weight loss is starting up again for me, and is pretty much effortless. I am full...ALL the time. And I've pretty much lost interest in food, due to that fact. It's great. Let's hope this continues! ::::

Hope this helps!

Congratulations Cindy!!!! Your weight loss is fantastic!!! I am so proud of you and so happy FOR you! I can't wait to be "full" with a small amount of food!! That was my dream when I started this journey. I'm so happy to hear you are now at restriction....that's great! Now I'm ready to take the "learning period" to the next level and kick start the weight loss again!!!

Im also glad to hear that Im not the only one in this situation. I have asked this same question and basically the response I received was that I should be happy that I can eat anything and still lose weight. Thats not the point, and Im so glad to hear other people who understand. I went for another fill on 3/10 which now puts me up to 10.75. My Dr informed me that he wouldnt do another fill, because the band only holds 11, and he doesnt understand how if I claim not to have restriction, how did I lose the weight. At this point I think he believes that Im crazy and that Im trying to develop some type of eating disorder. He doesnt believe me when I tell him that I can eat anything and in large amounts if I wanted too. But from what I have read on the board, it can be overfilled, and if he wont do it I will just find another dr who will. Like everyone else I feel like Im losing my will power and I was expecting the band to step in once that happened. With that being said I still love my band and as long as it doesnt give up on me Im not giving up on it. Im going to continue to do what I should.

Thanks for the compliments, Mimi!

Violet...you're on the right track being pro-active and not slipping to bad habits. I really believe perserverance (sp) pays off!

It does get frustrating...I'm again at that point, but can only turn around to see that fried catfish, tortilla chips and guacamole, and chex mix and some left over holiday chocolates (all in the last 2 days) were not wise decisions! I continue exercising like a mad woman...and it is totally rearranging my body. It's amazing, really. scales not moving too much, but the 'look' is definately different...tighter and trimmer. I am hard headed, and some days I just don't wanna play the food patrol role. Great thing about the band...can't even eat much of the "wrong" foods! :drool:

Im also glad to hear that Im not the only one in this situation. I have asked this same question and basically the response I received was that I should be happy that I can eat anything and still lose weight. Thats not the point, and Im so glad to hear other people who understand. I went for another fill on 3/10 which now puts me up to 10.75. My Dr informed me that he wouldnt do another fill, because the band only holds 11, and he doesnt understand how if I claim not to have restriction, how did I lose the weight. At this point I think he believes that Im crazy and that Im trying to develop some type of eating disorder. He doesnt believe me when I tell him that I can eat anything and in large amounts if I wanted too. But from what I have read on the board, it can be overfilled, and if he wont do it I will just find another dr who will. Like everyone else I feel like Im losing my will power and I was expecting the band to step in once that happened. With that being said I still love my band and as long as it doesnt give up on me Im not giving up on it. Im going to continue to do what I should.

I tell myself all the time that I don't have good restriction (still believe it's true) but I do wonder how it's possible then, that I have lost the same amount of weight in three months, that last time I dieted, took me ten months. The band must be doing something.

I do thing our bands work to help us but sometimes it really is head hunger or more accurately what I call carb craving. If I let too many carbs sneak into my day ( even if I am within my usual calories) I start to think I'm hungry even if I just ate dinner.

So I go back to tracking my Protein level and sure enough when I start getting those cravings, it because I was getting too many carbs vs. protein.

I am having this problem right now and tomorrow, I am doing a high protein all liquid day, to get rid of the cravings.

I know we really all do need the right level of restriction in our bands, but I think there are times when no matter how much we are restricted, we still have the head hunger and cravings. There is no other way to explain how we can eat but we still lose weight.