I've only had one fill, on 1-5-09. I'm doing well with my eating, but am getting hungry between meals. I'm guessing I just need another fill. I know the goal is to find my sweet spot. But how often is "normal" for fills? My next appt. is Feb 13th. Is that normal, or should I go in sooner?

There isn't really a "normal", but what is "normal" for you and your surgeon! Yes without much restriction it is almost as if you did not have a band because food flows through your pouch into your stomach "almost" as freely as it did before the surgery. My doctor does the first fill at 6 weeks (or later) and then every 4-6 weeks after. He just will not do them sooner than 4 weeks apart. His take on the research has him coming down against aggressive frequent fills, but some surgeons disagree and DO frequent aggressive (or just one BIG) fill. If you're following your surgeon's guidelines, you're doing what's normal for his patients....and eventually you'll come in for a landing on your sweet spot. It's hard to be patient, but I see my Doc's point...time to practice and adapt without PB'ing, being unable to swallow my own saliva, no panic, etc. And so far I can still eat anything, but I AM filling up on way less and really not grazing or snacking any more. Hang in there!

How often depends on how aggressive your doctor (and you) want to be. It is also an individual thing as far as how many fills it takes. My doctor wants to see me at least once a month for the first year, he allows me to come back sooner if I need to.

To get to my sweet spot...

I got my first fill and didn't feel much

Went back almost two weeks later and got my second fill, restriction was better and I lost a good amount of weight so within two weeks I lost restriction (the band gets looser if you lose fat around it)

So I went back for fill number three, again lost a good amount of weight and lost restriction within two weeks

So I went for fill number four. That lasted longer, went back in a month as required and got fill number five and have been doing good on that for a while now. My monthly visit with my doctor is on Tuesday, I am finding that I can eat a little more than I want to so I think I will get a small fill which will hopefully get me through to goal.