Hey everyone

I have been so excited reading everyone's successes! I feel like my band is finally at a place where it is working, but I am having some issues that worry me a little. I'm hoping some of you can provide some insight.

My doctor believes in tiny fills (only .5 at a month) to get to a sweet spot. I've been losing between 4-6 pounds a month, but I really have to be careful what I eat. The band wasn't really doing its job until the last month or so. I was just not eating fattening food. I had a fill last Wednesday that feels completely different than the results in the past.

I can't eat anything at all until afternoon. I have to take a thyroid pill in the mornings, and its all I can do to sip the 2-3 sips of Water to take it. (I break the pill up in tiny pieces) Hot coffee seems to do better, but I can't eat anything at all in the mornings. By afternoon, I can eat the small portions that we are supposed to, and by supper, I can eat probably a little more than we are supposed to.

I am having some real issues with a burning feeling in my chest. I guess it's heartburn. It makes me pretty miserable, and I've never felt it before. Another really weird thing is this strange gurgling sound in my chest. Have any of you experienced that? It's LOUD and very noticable. It's kind of like trapped air escaping, but it isn't really like a burp at all. It's a gurgle! lol So strange and embarrassing! LOL Today I was in a store and it happened and the saleslady helping me looked at me so strangely. I opened my mouth to apologize, and this weird sound came out of my mouth! It was like a little monster trying to escape! lol I was so embarrassed, but it made me laugh too! Oh well! I'd be upset, but it's all worth it! I bought size 16 jeans from the Gap this weekend, (down from a 20W) and I'm not to my 6month anniversary yet. I'm only 8 lbs from my 50lb first goal, and I weigh less right now than I have in my adult life. I'm pretty happy and really excited about the future

A lot of people are tigher in the morning and pretty open in the evening. Generally drinking hot liquids in the AM helps.

Maybe someone else who's experienced this will chime in.

Edited October 29, 200817 yr by MacMadame

Honestly i could have written this post....minus the monster in your chest...what's with that. I was banded in April and have lost over 60 pounds. This last fill is the one that I finally feel restriction. Like you, i need a thyroid pill in the am and have trouble getting it down. Coffee helps open things up....I too can't eat in the am by lunch maybe some soup. At suppertime i can eat more. At first I couldn't eat hardly anything but now i can eat pretty normal food. I went from a 22W to this weekend I bought a pair of Liz and Co. 16 whooohoo.....I have 5cc in a 10 cc band and go every 5 to 6weeks for a fill....after this fill i felt like maybe i was there...but now because i can eat so much at night.....i think i may need another fill....plus with the holidays coming i want to be in control...good luck to you....susan

Sounds like you might be too tight. I have had some issues of being tighter in the morning and loosening up as the day goes on, but it hasn't been really bad. On those days, I go with something warm to drink in the mornings, just to loosen everything up.

I'm still trying to hit the sweet spot! It seems that I am tighter right after a fill and really loosen up about 2-3 weeks later.

Hey everyone

I am having some real issues with a burning feeling in my chest. I guess it's heartburn. It makes me pretty miserable, and I've never felt it before.

You should tell your surgeon about these symptoms. GERD (which it sounds like you might have) can literally erode your esophagus. Stomach acid is very caustic and if you have reflux, it needs to be treated or stopped. Various things can cause it; best bet is to tell your surgeon your symptoms and see what he says. If it IS GERD, the sooner you resolve it, the better. It may not be...so let him decide!

Good luck!

Please go to or call your doctor. When the band is to tight it can cause aspiration. This could be the sound that you are hearing and the pain you are feeling. It is when the food comes back up into the asophogus. It can cause alot of severe problems. Remember the band isn't there to make sure we are NEVER hungry. The reality is that there is only so much liquid that can go into the band. As the stomach shrinks and fat around the stomach disappears the band gets looser. By the time we are at our goal weight we may never be able to get enough liquid in the band to feel the same restriction we do now. So it is so important now to learn how and what to eat and how to deal with hunger in a more productive way. Good Luck to you and I hope you feel better soon. Let us know how things go.

I am having the same problem. My Dr. told me to do Nexium and go back on liquid for 15 days...I am sooooo hungry. Even drinking water hurts. I think i might go in and tell them to unfill some because I need some relief....ugh....

I was banded 3rd sept and the gurgling and little monster trying to get out I am familiar with. But funnily enough after my first fill a week ago it got better and I had my second fill yesterday and haven't gurgled yet. I guess the little monster got scared and ran away, or I swollowed him.