Was wondering what one experiences with an unfilled band. Is it like you don't have anything there at all or do you feel a restriction even when its unfilled ?

I'm curious because if I ever decide to remove band it might be easier to just have it unfilled.

I was banded 01/07/08 and I feel no restriction, I have had 2 fills. I have another fill on Monday and getting a fill has been a pretty traumatic experience since I can feel the doctor fishing around in there with the needle. I asked, how do you know you got it, he says, he doesnt know???? he said because he can pull some saline out, but I gotta tell you it hurts! so he is having another surgeon present on monday and they are gonna take a stab at me and see if he can find it. i said I think that the port has flipped and he said, no that almost never happens.....I am almost afraid I am never!!I can eat like before and I feel no restrictions. I have gained 2 lbs and am afraid the scale is moving the wrong way!

Wow Destined2befree. Can't they easily figure out if it has flipped or not? Good luck to you.

Can anyone else out there tell us if you feel the same to be completely unfilled as you did without any band at all.

I guess I have never been completely unfilled, but I remember right after surgery when I had the lapband and barely any fill. I could pretty much eat anything, but just had to take it slower because I could feel that it was slower going down.

Hi, I am a newbie, I had my surgery 3/25 so my band is on but is unfilled. I can't feel anything, but I know that it is working because for example last night as I was eating dinner (still liquid diet, ugggh) I did not measure and I know there was more in the bowl than I should have had but I am trying really hard to be aware of that "signal that tells my brain I've had enough" and it worked. I threw away the rest of my dinner. My doctor told me that even unfilled, the opening is only as big as a dime, so unfilled is still smaller than someone who has not had this done. I am excited and nervous at the same time about my first fill, although I will be focusing on not having more than I should, I know we will all have that first dreaded experience when we do over do it, and get or feel sick. I am nervous about being out in public when this happens, but I do think it is inevitable. PS - I go on "real" food next week 4/25. For the first couple of weeks I thought I would die if I had to have more yogurt, but now its not really so bad since I have included a few other things. Its exciting to not feel hungry.

I was banded Nov. 14th 2007 and I still have not lost. I have gained about 20 to 30 lbs. since. I have had 2 fills of 4cc's each and I am having another one on the 6th of Aug. with a doctor from my area. I noticed that I tend to still take large bites and do not chew like I should. I feel ravenously hungry all the time. I am so heavy now that I am unable to do much of anything. I actually was concerned because when I first started considering the surgery I was not heavy enough. But I quickly took care of that. This is the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I hope this next fill will help. I do notice that things get stuck but I attribute that to not chewing enough and the too big bites. I know several people who have had the other surgeries and they have lost and gained back. I didn't want to do such a drastic thing to myself but now I wish I had. If I keep on the same track it will be as though I just tossed that cash out the window. Could have had lipo or a mini face lift....... LOL LOL

I had GREAT restriction till my first fill, I didnt even really need the first fill. I lost tons of weight right after surgery.

Later on however, I was more open with fill in the band than I had previously been with the band unfilled. So my restriction was definitely due to post op swelling.

I have no idea what I would be like with an unfilled band now.

I could probably eat as much as I could pre-band but I never did. I did however eat more than 1 cup per meal. It took willpower to not eat too much between weeks 2 and 6. But even with very little restriciton I still had to take it slow because I could still get stuck.

Edited September 4, 200817 yr by Jodi_620

I am currently unfilled. My surgery was almost 10 months ago. I was having problems eating, and it kept getting worse instead of better.

I had no restriction before my first fill.

I had 6ccs at the highest. That was too much. I couldn't eat anything.

1cc was removed, and I ate fine, and then it got harder. We don't know why yet.

Two weeks ago my band was completely unfilled. I have absolutely no problem eating. I can eat stuff that was hard to eat, nothing ever gets stuck and I am never in pain.

I have lost 6 pounds since my band has been empty. I can eat a normal amount sometimes, and sometimes I think I have restriction. I believe the 6 pound weight loss is because I eat healthy and I am active. I guess sometimes I feel I have restriction, and sometimes I don't. Maybe it's just because I have been used to eating so little for so long.

I will have my first fill next week. Let me tell you if I eat too fast I get indigestion. If I eat any kind of fried food it hurts when it goes down. (Hey give me a break I'm a newbie) I know you all are saying or thinking (fried food...what is she doing). But I definitly fill the band so to speak.

Once I had the band I could tell that there was something to cause me not to eat as much. I have had 3-4 fills and did feel restriction for at least a couple of days and longer. I will see the doctor next week for my one year and will see about getting a fill on the following Monday not sure how much. Just like everyone else has said I have had some problems with eating to fast, not chewing enough, eating foods that I thought I would not have problem and having problems with. Ie: rice, some types of large breads etc.

Chris

I don't have a fill yet, but I still feel some restriction! It isn't constant like it was the first few weeks but I am still eating less than I normally would. Today I had a Protein shake for Breakfast, one piece of cheese and 2 saltine crackers with a small bowl of fruit for lunch. Tonight however I ate a hamburger and a salad. I didn't finish the burger..ate about 3/4th and was satisfied.

I haven't pb'd but I have got that stuck feeling 2 times and it was enough to make me not hurry. You are always different once you have the band. If you follow your surgeons rules you probably can't forget it's there. My surgeon says no carbonation for 6 months, no eating and drinking at the same time (so hard for me), no stuffing yourself on junk. It's not like a "diet" where you can just decide to take a day "off" and go to the buffet and have a food fiesta. Everytime I forget the band it reminds me it's there, lol. I was hot one day and grabbed a beer and opened it and took a swig...OMG...the burning..the ouch..I just completely forgot..but I won't again, lol.

:redface:

Was wondering what one experiences with an unfilled band. Is it like you don't have anything there at all or do you feel a restriction even when its unfilled ?

I'm curious because if I ever decide to remove band it might be easier to just have it unfilled.

Well i am very restricted and i haven't had a fill yet, i can hardly eat i get extreme pressure and bloating cannot eat big bites can feel it just sit there for hours.. i am kinda miserable at the moment..

I was banded 9/4/08 I feel a huge restriction. feel pressure, feels like even my shakes don't go down.. I had my band down in texas but live in Az. Cannot even eta soup very miserable..

Didn't realize this was posted a while ago......

Can anyone else out there tell us if you feel the same to be completely unfilled as you did without any band at all.

My band had a leak and I had no fill (obviously). As long as I chewed well, I could eat a large quantity, but there was a limit and I would get full on less than I used to pre-band for sure.

For the first 7 months of being banded I was very careful to chew my food well so I rarely got stuck. After I found out my band had a leak, I figured I wouldn't have to chew as much, boy was I wrong! I ate a piece of corned beef, I chewed, but not as well as I normally do and I was really stuck and I spent the next few hours trying to PB and I was making it worse by trying because I would keep making the stoma swell. I got to the point where even warm liquids wouldn't go down. I just had to stop eating/drinking for a few hours to let the swelling go down.

I learned the hard way that even without a fill, the band was still there.

Edited December 24, 200817 yr by RedTulips3