I received my first fill on 5/21/08. 2.5cc. I initially had a good restriction with a little more restriction in the morning than in the afternoon. I would drink some hot tea in the morning and it would seem to loosen everything up.

Now, I can't even drink Water or hot tea in the AM without problems. Just a couple sips of water hurts. I am fine in the afternoon, but in the evening I am restricted again. Is this normal? Does the band get tighter over time?

Maire

Banded 4/11/08

lost 20 lbs

I received my first fill on 5/21/08. 2.5cc. I initially had a good restriction with a little more restriction in the morning than in the afternoon. I would drink some hot tea in the morning and it would seem to loosen everything up.

Now, I can't even drink Water or hot tea in the AM without problems. Just a couple sips of water hurts. I am fine in the afternoon, but in the evening I am restricted again. Is this normal? Does the band get tighter over time?

Maire

Banded 4/11/08

lost 20 lbs

My band always tightened up about 1-2 weeks after a fill. I would honestly suggest that you get a slight unfill. There should never be a time when you can't get liquids down. You don't need to have much taken out .02cc's is sometimes enough. But you don't want to compromise your health. Speaking from experience, being too tight can sometimes lead to slower weight loss.

Good luck

Thanks! I was considering a slight unfill of .1 or .2 cc, but was holding off partly because of cost. Fills/unfills here cost $375 a pop!

Is it possible that it will loosen up as I lose weight? - or is this just wishful thinking? I am losing about 2 lbs a week.

The band for most people is tight in the AM, even weeks after a fill. Generally I sip warm tea, and then can get something down by 11am. So don't panic, morning tightness is normal.

Yeah, I too can't eat in the morning. I have to have several cups of coffee first thing before I'm even hungry. It's normal to be tighter in the morning.

FYI: For those of you who are allergy sufferers, you might not know this. I had to go to my doc’s office yesterday morning as a work in. The day before I couldn't keep anything but liquids down. Things I eat every day were getting stuck and I was throwing everything up. That night I had the worst heartburn I've ever had. It was still there in the morning and I panicked thinking I had done something to my band.

Over the weekend my DD and I went to camp and were outside the entire time. On Sunday I started having really bad allergies to the point where I would sneeze so much my nose was bleeding. I had a lot of mucus and it turns out that it was draining into my pouch and irritating my stomach. It was just sitting there and making my band tighter. This is evidently a common thing for allergy sufferers. My doc told me to take some Zyrtec and Musinex for the next week. I already feel better and was able to eat more today. I still had an "episode" at dinner and had to back off a little. I've been doing pretty much just liquids since yesterday, but no more heartburn.

So, if something like this happens to you think allergies if you have them. By the way, my doc looked at my band with fluoro and there's no problem there. Hopefully this will get resolved and I'll still be able to have my third fill next week before the July 4th holiday. It's a weird story, but it's true.