When I was banded on May 9th. Full was always in my upper chest and I knew I was satisfied when I felt a slight lump in my throat. Now 2 months later, 2 fills later, I feel everything down in the bottom of my stomach like I used to. Is this normal? Also, sometimes I can eat to fast and get something stuck but at the same time I don't feel like I have restriction. When you get the "sweet spot", where do you feel full? I just hope something hasn't happened to my band.

I was happy to read your post, I have experienced the same feeling. I feel as though I can eat more then I should however if I eat too fast I feel like something is stuck. I also fell tight in the morning and no restriction at night . . . when I need it.

OH my gosh!!! I was just sitting here trying to make sense of it all. I really don't know what I'm doing. I feel as though I need to learn to eat all over again. I don't know how to work with this new stomach of mine and I sure as heck don't know what "full" really means. if getting stuck means "full" then it sucks because I'm still hungry. What am I missing???

keeping it at the top

For me (and I believe I'm at my sweet spot) "full" is no longer something I feel. There are two options: 1) not stuck/no pain; and 2) pain indicating that I'm stuck or I ate too much. At some point, someone told me that the days of me having that Thanksgiving-dinner fullness feeling are over. Now, I don't feel full, but rather it is the absence of hunger that makes me decide when I've eaten too much or not enough. And this is tricky because you have to anticipate that "stuck/ate too much feeling" A LOT sooner. Some people call it the last bite syndrome, i.e. when that last bite puts you over the edge and now you're miserable.

I truly believe that the way the lapband is marketed and explained is not entirely correct. I thought that at my sweet spot, I would feel a nice full feeling with plenty of notice and time to tell me to stop eating, and then I would literally feel fuller longer. I've come to realize that this isn't the way it works, although perhaps it works this way in the beginning before you get to your sweet spot. Instead, I have to eyeball my food and decide how much can I eat before I get a painful reminder that I'm at capacity. And so the pain (which can be sharp or dull depending on what I'm eating) is my indicator to stop eating right now or I will be sorry soon.

It's kind of sad, really. I miss the flexibility of being able to decide whether to eat the last two bites of something and I miss the happy/satiated feeling that follows a nice meal. However, as I mentioned, I'm at my sweet spot and I've traded those feelings for a physical inability to eat beyond what I need to eat and on top of that I'm not hungry constantly. And this is worth it.

Tto conclude -- when you get to your sweet spot, it's not about feeling fuller longer. Rather, it's about not feeling hungry as often. It's the absence of hunger that is my indicator now rather than the feeling of fullness.

My surgeon tells me not to eat until I am full but rather until I am satisfied. As soon as I am satisfied I should stop eating and wait until I feel hungry again to eat.

I have had a few occasions where I had that bloated, too full feeling but for the most part, I try to eat just enough where I am no longer hungry yet stay satiated for at least three or four hours. I measure my food so that I know what that amount is. On soft foods, I was eating 1/2 cup at a time when I went from soft foods to solids I started at 1/2 cup and slowly moved up and am currently at about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of food. I will have my first fill on Thursday which will hopfully help me reduce that a bit. I try to eat the Protein first, then then the veggies followed by the carbs if needed. I try to eat more dense foods that fill me up and keep me full longer--fibrous meats and veggies satisfy me more as opposed to soft easy to swallow foods that pass through my pouch quickly and leave me hungry much sooner.

I only get stuck from eating wrong or eating the wrong things, not from eating too much.

I still don't know when I'm not hungry anymore. During the pre-op diet, I finally knew what hunger pains felt like. Since my surgery, I don't seem to feel those hunger pains anymore, so I eat when I start to feel bad. Therefore, I can't seem to know when I'm no longer hungry. I'm definitely not restricted (3 cc in a 14 cc band), but I've pb'ed a few times when I've eaten too fast or not chewed well enough. Luckily it doesn't last long. I'm just afraid that I'm going to stretch out my pouch, so I really need to work on weighing out my food. 1/2 cup to 1 cup of food doesn't seem enough to me. I hope it's just because I'm not restricted enough yet. Yeah, learning how to eat again is kind of confusing.

I was bended in May. I have a friend who was banded Feb. of last year. She has lost well over 130 lbs (yeah her!!) and I mentioned to her that I am eating more since I got banded. She said I am in Bandster Hell. I have had my first fill (6/24) and am still eating, I think, too much. My friend said that I need to slow down, put my fork down between bites, wait a few minutes before taking another bite, eating a meal should take anywhere from a half hour to an hour, and when I start burping I am full. Also to look for the feeling of hunger to be gone, not a full feeling. We are a country of eat till you can't eat any more. We need to be re-trained to eat till you no longer feel hungery, not stuffed. I know that if I feel stuffed I have over done it. Also be careful, if you continue to eat till you feel stuffed, you will begin to gain weight, and we don't want that: We are on the train to Loseville!

Hello all,

Jpet I understand how you feel!!I now have 5.6 cc's in my 10cc band .I cannot eat very much at all until I start PB ing or throwing up. Iam not feeling hungry at all. At first after this fill I thought maybe I was too tight,but now I believe I'm where I need to be. Please if any of you have an opinion about this tell me. I get a little confused about all this

jaunderwood:confused2: