Hi all,

Been banded 19 months and still haven't found restriction - briefly experienced it after a large fill but it went when the swelling went down.

I'm at 8.9ml in a 10ml band - was too tight before at 9ml and had to have some out - the fill provider said some fill is lost at every fill so the 8.9 amount might not be accurate.

Now my surgeon thinks I've got restriction and just eating around it - I can't eat certain foods like Pasta and other things get stuck but I can still eat bread and large portions - I feel like having the whole fill out and going on a diet again - the only weight I lost was when dieting in the first six months and I've just been maintaining since then.

Anyone going/gone through the same? I feel like a failure.

Yvonne

x

I can not remember my last message, but I had my last fill which put me at 7 cc. The office puts in it and then wants you to drink Water to make sure you can get water down. I couldn't get the water down, so they took out a half cc.

Now, I am throwing up most of what I eat. I have given it three weeks and am starving, not losing weight and excusing myself from the table to get rid of what I just ate. I used to wish I could have bulimia, but I wanted it because I wanted to lose weight. No fun if you arent' losing weight.

Finally, I got so hungry I ate a half a can of Princles and some chocolate. If I was going to lose anything I made up it up in one afternoon. Obviously, this isn't working for me. Not sure what to do from here.

3 months and NO restriction..........this is tough, such a disapointment. I can eat whatever I want as much as I want. In fact most of the time everyone is done eating their plate of food holding their stomachs because they are so full, and I'm sitting their after eating the same portions they did and I could eat more and not even feeling full. I say all the time, I'm the only one who could have weight lose surgery and still out eat the table.........of course I work hard at just stopping becuase I know there is enough food in there. Just praying for restriction. Go in for fill #3 next week, hopefully 3rd times a charm..!!!

Be careful. I was the same way. I was so disappointed that my fills were doing nothing. Then, WAM. Now, I am throwing up all the time. I am conflicted about whether to have some taken out. I am afraid I will go back to no feeling of fullness, but sometimes all I can eat is the stuff you are not supposed to eat - chips and candy. Doesn't do much for the weight loss.

What is first bite syndrome? If it is what it sounds like, I think I have it. My food gets stuck earlier in the day, by late afternoon I can eat most anything. BUT I am not eating junk, am writing down what I eat and am exercising. And at 55 years old, I'm slowly losing weight and healthier than I've been in years! Look, this is not easy. We like food that isn't good for us, we eat to numb our feelings, when we're bored sad andy alone etc....But even if you're starving, you don't have to eat pizza and potato chips. I wish I was losing quicker and that I was more restricted, or at least more consistently restricted. But this is a TOOL and we have to learn how to use it properly to help us reach our goals. Don't give up, but don't expect magic, either.

I am going through the same thing. I had my surgery in September 07 and I have had four fills. The first two fills I noticed I had some restriction. With the last two fills I have feel like I have no restriction. I never was able to lose weight fast, but I was ok with that because I was losing, but now I am stuck! I haven't lost anything since March .

I just got my fourth fill on June 20 & I keep hoping that I will start to fill some restriction, but I don't think it is going to happen. It is really hard not to give up, but I am not going to quit! I am still going to work out and eat right. Good luck to you all!

I did the same thing i finally got my 4th fill i think and i was so tight i was pb-ing every time i took a bite of anything i stayed over the trash can or the toilet choking up every thing i ate. I couldn't eat for 5 months. I didn't lose anything. I went to get some taken out and my port was flipped over so back to surgery i went and now it was a year june 30 and the last two months i have just given up. I gained 7 pounds. I am so heart broken over this surgery i could cry. I know i have to get back on my diet or what ever you call it and on top of everything else i am 46 and disabled and it's so hard to exersice. I have both legs bad with one knee replaced and not a success and the other one is ready to be replaced and my spine is totally messed up to i get shots every 2 months and i am on pain med's for cronic pain plus i have fibromyaliga, and i think all that medication i'm on don't help with my eating. I just don't know what to do. I think i need another fill now. And i loved meat before the lap band now i don't even want to eat it. Someone help !!! Sorry i took up so much space...

I have had my band since June 2005. I lost 80 lbs with by total starvation in two years. I was so sick last October when my band shut off all together, and no food or Water could go down. My doctor sent me to the emergency room. He wanted me open because he said I was way to tight all this time. He said thats why I didn't loose tons. They opened me up and omg the weight poured back on.They said I needed a holiday to get healthier again. I thought im a malnuroushed fat girl:( They say my problem is medical and I can't have a slice of bread a day because my body does not process it. Every carb i put to my mouth they say sticks to my body. My Doctor has filled me and loosened me. My band has never been right. It is horrible. I feel like such a failure. I really had my mind set to this and tried only to loose 80 lbs in 2 yrs. I am so frusterated that I am looking at the mini gastric option. Im going to try again. My doctor says I can do it. He says he is so sorry i have not had a good fill. He only wants me to eat protien for 4 months. He will give me a pill to make this possible. Please cross your fingers. I'm so sad and frusterated :thumbup::confused: Also i am looking for someone who struggled in the beginning and was a success at the end. Please reply .

HELLO I SAW THE MINI GASTRIC AND SAID SOMETHING ABOUT IT COULD YOU EMAIL ME AND TELL ME ABOUT IT AND WILL YOUR INSURANCE PAY FOR IT? I'M NOT ON HERE MUCH BUT I PLAN TO START I THOUGHT I MIGHT HELP WITH MY NO WEIGHT LOSS AND GET ME OFF OF THE ICE CREAM YEAH I GOT SO DEPRESSED I HAVE BEEN EATING ICE CREAM BUT I'M STOPING.. MY EMAIL IS REDRUNNER61@AOL.COM BOY I SURE WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD EMAIL ME ABOUT THE MINI GASTRIC AND CAN'T IT BE REVERSED ALSO? AND THE SLEEVE OR SOMETHING IS REVERSABLE I THINK AND IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE PART OF YOUR STOMACH THAT MAKES YOU HUNGRY IT TAKES THAT PART AWAY. AND BY THE WAY I WISH EVERYONE WELL I KNOW HOW YOU ALL FEEL I'M IN THE SAME BOAT. SHARON :thumbup:

Ok, so here I am banded about 4 1/2 months and I have gained and lost the same 5lbs now 4 times, its like I have restriction them I don't. Not sure about this. Need to get back to exercising more. Still I feel like I eat WAY less then I ever have before in my life, yet nothing.

Anyone been banded as long as me with no loss?

Hi fellow "strugglers":

Like all of you, I was relieved to discover that I'm not the only one with these problems -- -but I wish we all were free of them.

In so many of these "struggler" messages, y'all seem to be blaming yourselves. It's not your fault! I had a successful band (old style - just a piece of surgical tape) for 10 years. After eating a small normal portion of almost anything, I felt full, satisfied. (I couldn't eat corned beef, nor steak unless it had gravy, nor pizza unless it cooled a little). If I ate past the full feeling, I got referred pain in the "saddle" between neck and shoulder, and a bit of a choking sensation. I never pushed it to the point of vomiting (I hate to throw up), and I lost 140 pounds and kept them off for 10 years.

With my adjustable lap band, I feel nausous, and experience the referred pain and that choking feeling from the first bite. Sometimes, I just feel as if I have to vomit - even though I've only eaten a bite or two and nothing will come up. It's a miserable, panicky, disgusting process. If I drink a bit of warm liquid (brandy's the best) the side effects go away -- but that defeats the prupose of a band diet. Have been through adjusting the fill from empty to this point, with still no restriction - but plenty of bills for all the "office visits" -- even though I never see the doctor. It has been expensive and inconvenient. I am miserable, and it sounds like a lot of you are, too.

It's not your fault! Restriction should provide a point whre you feel full, satisfied - not sick and pained and choking and vomiting. Is this the way these bands work? Does anybody find satisfaction rather than misery? My doctor has no answers, and I'm MAD!! Is anyone else angry? Or, better still, can anyone give me a way to work with this band so that I won't be angry?

WOW, you said it. YES, I too feel angry with the results thus far from band. I feel the same way you do about this "stuck, painful, choking" feeling. I have asked before , is this what I signed up for for the rest of my like. I'm not losing weight, but I am choking with terrible pain when I eat, and yes I am chewing really good. I see my doctor next week, he needs to help me understand this!!!

My heart goes out to all of you.

I too had ENORMOUS problems with the band. I won't go into it here, but I had "it" in me for a few years. It did a lot of damage. It was removed on may 6th. And it's presence will impact me for the rest of my life.

I'll just reiterate what another poster said....it's NOT YOUR FAULT, MOST of the time. There are people who have the band put in, then a week later try and shove a Super burrito down their throats. I don't think that applies to any of the posters here.

The Weight Loss Industry has sold the LB and other procedures as a "quick, safe, practically painless" method of losing weight.

For some, it is. for some it is not. for others (me) it becomes life threatening.

Many Doctors do NOT educate their patients on how to live with the band. Some doctors are quick to sell you on installing one, but the support quickly disappears when you have the beast inside of you.

So, would I recommend someone having one installed? On occasion, I would. It all depends on the circumstances. I'm meeting with a young man on Monday, and I WILL recommend that he have one.....I think he will die if he doesn't. But it all depends on the circumstances. It's not for everyone. It's not a quick-fix.

I could go on forever about all of this, but i just wanted to step in and say to all of you, it's not really your fault that most of you are in the position of having a bad band experience. The Lap-Band is NOT an exact science.

My best goes out to all of you.

So how are you doing now? I have 9.2cc in a 10cc band. I don't feel much restriction. I do pb occasionally when I eat too fast w/o chewing good. I find that I either can eat a lot w/o problems or feeling full or take 1 or 2 bites and start pbing. Doesn't make sense. I go Monday for an upper GI to see what's going on. I'd love to hear what you found out.

THanks,

Kathy

help me, been 1 year since my banding and have lost 32 lbs and then gained 19 back. feel like a loser and not in a good way. Eat all the wrong foods and cant exercise at the moment cause threw out my back. but wasnt exercising before either.

I'm at 9.5cc in a 10cc band and have the same issues as you describe. Most of the time I don't feel full for at least 30 minutes past finishing the "appropriate" portions. so during that 30 minutes, I am a walking time bomb --- wanting to eat everything in sight. So far I have held in pretty well but I worry about long term. I know how I am and I can usually stick to a diet for 3 or 4 months but then I fall of the wagon, big time. I have just hit the 4-month date. I have lost 65 pounds and I am very pleased with that. But I want it to stay off! I do not feel restriction. I still get hungry often. And I HATE drinking water. I have been drinking the "at least 64 ounces" every day and I HATE it. I want my diet Cokes back. Everyone keeps telling me that my band will hold a good bit more than 10cc, that 10 is just a "recommendation" but I don't feel happy that I am so close to the recommended "full" point and still don't have restriction.

Thanks for listening to my venting.

Wow, I'm glad I read this thread. I was feeling bummed reading the other threads because I am not losing weight like the rest of the lapbanders. But I don't regret my decision -- yet. I'm still learning how to live with the band. My fills have given me restriction but it seems to "go away" after a while. But then again, I PB quite a bit and have that painful feeling in my chest on a regular basis. I too blame it on myself. I have to change. I need to go with the band flow. Mornings--forget it. Maybe liquids will go down, really slow. Afternoons, I am hungry and want to snack. I can eat a small, healthy lunch but I still want to snack later. (That's a mind game though.) Dinner is also hard. One to three bites and then I am miserable. So that's what I do. 1-3 bites, stop. Continue 1-3 bites later in the evening. Yes, the weight is slow in coming off. Of course, in the back of my mind, I knew this would not be easy. It never has been before and I am in my 50's. So, the band was my decision and I will learn to live & work with it. And I will take a slow weight loss any day because that's always better than the continual gain I had been experiencing over the last 2 decades. Most of the effort is psychological. This can work. Think positive.