Well I have just realized that I have been eating alot of slider type foods because I feel tight I guess. chocolate, Ice cream, creamy fat Soups (Outback Soup) have never come up on me and I like them. The minute I eat a piece of chicken or steak it starts to hurt and I think the stress of knowing that is making it worse.

This is such a weird experience to me. I have hit my goal with no issues but I cant find the sweet spot to stay at a certain weight. The worse part is that I went in and paid 150.00 to take out .5 of Fluid and you would have thought that the band was completely empty. What the hell? Should I try again and now just take out .3 or .2 of the band. Can that little of amount really make a difference? Protein equals pain these days and that is not cool for a 6'3 guy to not get protein.

.1 can make a big difference. i've had 2 unfills because i couldn't get down solid proteins & some complex carbs and must say that when all i can get down were slider foods - my weight stalled or i gained a few, due to the sodium in all the soups.

after 11months i'm at the right place, can eat what i want - just small amts....it just took 9 fills & 2 unfills....LOL i'd like to lose a bit more - but we'll just see how things go. hope you find that spot!!!

I had .2 taken out of my band and it feels like I've gone from good to nothing restriction wise. I was just a bit tighter than I felt I wanted to be for maintenance (didnt like the thought of living that restricted forever) but I wish I hadnt mucked around with it now. I am loser at 2.8 now than I was when I was 2.8 the first time, and I can eat normal quantities of food- Cereal AND toast for Breakfast for example.

I've not gained, I've been super duper careful and kept up my running, but I want to put .1 back in. Those tiny fills and unfills definitely make a difference.

But I think back a few weeks and I was doing the samething. Avoiding good foods because they were hard work and eating crap, which is why I had an unfill. So I'm not sure what I ought to do at this point. If I can just trust myself to choose the right foods, my fill level is not a problem. But I have appetite again, and I want to eat between meals etc. I've been resisting but I have this lapband, why should I have to work that hard at NOT eating?

Eating cereal and toast poses no problem if you're not gaining and I do still eat a carb based diet - that works for me. Its just this mindset of I shouldnt be able to eat that much. Yet I burn it off, so why shouldnt I? I dont know. This is harder than the actual weight loss part for me.

Edited September 10, 200818 yr by Jachut

I am facing a slight unfill as well and am concerned about how this will affect me. I am suffering from reflux now and I have been at the same fill level since April, but the reflux is new. How much is enough to keep the restriction but lose the reflux issues??? I just don't want to backtrack if you know what I mean.

The bottom line is that being too tight is not good for your band. You're risking it. If you have symptoms like reflux, it really is best to unfill a bit.

I'm in the same boat re the fills/unfills. A month ago, I had an 0.5ml fill which was disastrously tight. I spent a really uncomfortable 2 weeks until I could get in for the unfill of 0.25ml. The relief was instant, but now I feel just like I did before I went for the fill in the first place - able to eat solid healthy meals but just a little too much of them and having to fight the snacking urge in between. I'm going to leave it though, for another month, as I have a tube correction surgery on 1st Oct and suspect that I will end up entirely unfilled from that and have to start all over again. No point in mucking about with the level for just these few weeks

The slightest unfill can make a huge difference. It's such a fine line between having perfect restriction and being too loose or too tight.

Living the Dream, let your doctor decide how much should be taken out.

Jacqui don't beat yourself up like that! You are plenty active and unless you are downright hungry all the time, don't worry about being too loose. Eat what you want as long as you aren't gaining. I know you eat a healthy diet.

What kind of pain did you feel? I haven't felt much restriction since having the surgery, not enough to lose weight at least, until my last fill. Now I hurt in my chest and throat on and off all day, so I'm pretty much living off of Protein drinks and mashed potatoes or Soup. I really don't want to get an unfill b/c I have to drive 3 hours and can't get off work, and anyway, I've finally started losing weight again!

Is the pain in your chest and throat? It kind of feels like I have to burp except that the air is trying to rip out my chest! I've been trying to find out what it is. Does it mean I'm too tight?

I am having some isssues as well and I wonder should I unfill or not. I had a fill around mid August and it was perfect. A couple of weeks ago it got too tight-I got a slight unfill. Now I am back to being able to eat mashed potatoes, soup, vegetable meatballs but any turkey, chicken, salmon, shrimp comes back up. I spoke to the nurse who said since I have a sinus infection I might be inflammed and wait a few days to see if it gets better. In the meantime today I am eating yogurt and chocolate!!!!!!! I feel like I am on a sugar frenzy, I feel like I am sooo hungry and frustrated:unsure:any thoughts?:embaressed_smile:

You both sound too tight to me. The band may loosen on it's own as you lose fat around your stomach.

You should be able to eat tiny bites of meat the size of an eraser as long as you chew it up until it's liquid in your mouth, without experiencing any pain of any kind.

I am glad to see this post. I had my 5th fill a week ago and I came home and could not get anything down. It was on a Friday. When I went to bed I threw up twice in my sleep. This happened the whole weekend. The acid reflux was awful. When Monday came around, I was going to call my doctor but it seemed like the fill loosened. I gave it another day or two and now it seems like I am able to get some solids down so I think I am O.K. now. However, if this continued, I would have gotten an unfill. It is not fun to be too filled or tight. I had read about the possibilities of unfills before I was bandned and now I know what everyone was talking about. I would rather lose weight the healthy way than on liquids alone.

That throwing up in the night while asleep is awful. I don't get why it happens to me when I am very loose in the daytime.

I had the same problem about a month ago, throwing up in my sleep, but I had to get an unfill . I could not get anything down without it coming back up. I felt horrible.