I don't know if this is normal, but it seems like what I can eat varies from day to day. I am currently at 5.5 cc's of a 10 cc band and I'm restricted. I mean, it's really at a good place right now and I've lost 45 lbs since Feb. 1. I find that I can eat various things depending on the day. I usually can eat sashimi no problem, but Saturday I got one piece of tuna down (no rice) and had to book it to the bathroom. I ended up throwing up three times from ONE piece of tuna. This has never been an issue. Yesterday I tried to eat some vegetable soup for lunch and I could barely get any of it down. Then last night I was able to eat an entire lean cuisine pasta meal. What's the deal? I feel like my band has a mind of it's own and chooses what it will and will not let me eat from day to day. Has anyone else experienced this picky band syndrome?

Oh I definately understand. I just recently had to have a slight unfill because i wasnt able to eat anything solid or even mushy and lost 13 lbs in 10 days. But now since my .4cc unfill I have the same problem. I will do excellent with a certain food one day and the next I will try it again and can't tolerate it. I am going to call my doc tomorrow just to make sure it's normal. Good luck to you!

I have had similar problems. I find that if I have to throw up from the food that for the next day or two I have problems. I am only assuming that I have irratated my pouch and that’s the reason I can’t eat right.

Funny enough today is the first time i had problems eating my small tin of tomatoe and onion tuna on crackers, have been banded in sep 2007.

The thing is that your stomach swells and shrinks from day to day. It might seem like the band is doing its own thing, but it's really your stomach under the band. Sometimes restriction changes because something has irritated the stomach and it swells due to that. But I think a lot of the time that people report being over restricted at some times and "wide open" at other times is just that the stomach tissues change a lot. How well hydrated you are, whether you are sick or have allergies, your hormone levels, or maybe a dozen other factors we don't even know about, all can have an effect on the stomach, which is a very dynamic organ.

Similar thing with being tight in the morning vs. wide open at night--but then I think it's usually the esophagus, which naturally tightens when we sleep, to help prevent us from aspirating in our sleep. Plus it swells a little bit from no longer being upright like we are when we are awake--so if it seems like the band is tight in the morning, it's probably a natural condition of the esophagus, not the band.

The thing is that your stomach swells and shrinks from day to day. It might seem like the band is doing its own thing, but it's really your stomach under the band. Sometimes restriction changes because something has irritated the stomach and it swells due to that. But I think a lot of the time that people report being over restricted at some times and "wide open" at other times is just that the stomach tissues change a lot. How well hydrated you are, whether you are sick or have allergies, your hormone levels, or maybe a dozen other factors we don't even know about, all can have an effect on the stomach, which is a very dynamic organ.

Similar thing with being tight in the morning vs. wide open at night--but then I think it's usually the esophagus, which naturally tightens when we sleep, to help prevent us from aspirating in our sleep. Plus it swells a little bit from no longer being upright like we are when we are awake--so if it seems like the band is tight in the morning, it's probably a natural condition of the esophagus, not the band.

Gwen, perfectly said - thanks so much. I am tight in the mornings and wide open in the evening and am still struggling with ongoing restriction.

I too struggle daily wtih my band restrictions. Most of the time I can't eat chicken, but sometimes, like tonight I can eat a BJ's rotisserie chicken no problem. It has to be extra juicy I guess. This frustrates me because planning and eating meals is very tempermental. Also sometimes I can have alot of restriction and others not enough. However if I make my fills too tight - all I do is throw up everything. I'm still looking for that proverbial "green zone" my surgeon tells me about. M