So I’ve been banded since April 08 and lost 65 pounds. My last fill was in August, I have 5cc in a 10cc band. My restriction has always been moderate but in the last month, I’ve gone to being really restricted. At times, I used to be able to eat a 1 cup of food I’m lucky to get in ½ of that and then I’m full. I went last week to get an Upper GI and the doctor said everything looks good. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this strange phenomenon of not being restricted to being restricted without getting a fill.

Yes it happens to me quite a lot.

Just as an example, after my last fill I went a few days without feeling any real change. Then for the next two weeks, I could barely eat anything - I felt WAAAY too tight. Then I went a week of feeling just right. Then last week, I felt like I lost all restriction, and could eat far more, and got hungrier sooner.

Then this week I'm tight again. I booked a fill for this Friday and really don't know if I actually need another fill now.

So yes, the band is pretty fickle for me too.

It does happen to everyone at some point. Here is what I know. When you tighten up you MUST not fight it. It seems that any type of irritation will swell the area thus causing more restriction. Go back to mushies and light eating for a few days so as not to cause more irritation. PB / slime will just make it worse and WILL cause a slippage. I speek from experience. If diet does not change the symptoms then you should get a little bit taken out. Being too tight sounds like a good thing but it is a recipie for disaster with the band.

I have been reading this site for some time now and I have a question. What is PD?

According to my doc also 2 weeks prior to your period a woman will get more restricted the closer they get to that time.

I have a dr. appt on thursday b/c I really cant take the pressure in my chest. everytime I drink something it just sits and then I can feel it trickle down or I'm burping and a little comes up. When I go to bed at night I cannot drink anything prior b/c again it just comes back up. I never had this pressure before and I dont want it now. God I hope everything is okay.. I just had the Upper Gi last week and he said everything was fine..what else could it be??

you shouldn't be that uncomfortable, so I agree that if it's affecting you that much, you should perhaps see your Dr to see if you can resolve it.

BTW I'm back to being loose. My fill is tomorrow and I think I may have a small one after all.

This absolutely happens to me all the time. It is my routine now, and I'm trying to keep track on my calendar when I'm tight and when I'm not to see if it is a specific pattern all the time or not. I have found that I usually can never eat anything first thing in the morning or I have to throw it up and then it's an ongoing cycle for the rest of the day. If I wait a couple of hours and then slowly try to eat something, I can usually eat fine (still slow and carefully but fine). Then, there are days where even if I wait a few hours after waking up, I still cannot eat and am lucky to be able to drink my juice. It is definitely true that too much throwing up will make you swell up inside and be able to get nothing down. The only thing that helps this for me is to eat or drink nothing for 2-3 hours and then try a drink to see if it's back to normal. I totally agree with the person who said that about 1 week prior to your period, it gets a little swollen in there. There are definite periods of time when it's tighter or looser for whatever reason. I usually have 1 week out of every month where I can eat almost too much, and then it goes away, and I have days that I eat almost nothing. I know this is not the best way to go about it, but I just don't want to get any fluid out yet. I have 14 pounds to get to my goal, and I don't want anything to get in the way of that. I am still trying to figure out how to make it work the way it is so I don't have to get any fluid out. I am so afraid that I'll gain the weight back because at this point, I know if I can eat, I will eat. No doubt. Sorry for the looong post!

I have had the band initially in October of 2004. I have had so many problems that I wish I never had it done. In July of 2007, I had to have it replaced due to slippage and since then have been afraid to go for adjustments. I have the first fill of 5cc and still am unable to eat much but I have not lost any weight because I am so hungry that I eat the wrong things. Ice Cream goes down really well, so does chocolate which melts, many soups I try to eat do not go down and if and when I do eat, I have to follow that with very hot coffee or tea to make it go down. I make my own trying to keep it very thin because I seem to have trouble keeping that down. to say the least, I have not lost any weight because the foods that I can eat are the foods that are not good for me. I am also a cancer survivor and am concerned about calcium due to the fact that my body no longer creates it and osteoporosis runs in my family. I talked to my doctor and he keeps telling me that it is because I eat to fast and I eat the wrong things. I can't even keep yogurt or shakes down, the consistency is too thick.

You are too tight.

I was too tight for 4 days. It was pure misery for me as I could not even keep Water down. Once my doc removed just a few small drops, I felt much better and have had nearly perfect restriction since. Not to loose and not too tight...

Please go ask your doc to remove just a tiny bit of Fluid. If nothing changes, go back and ask for another tiny amount to be removed.

You need to be able to keep down small portions of solid Proteins. Those are the foods that will keep you satisfied and help you start to lose.

I have had the band initially in October of 2004. I have had so many problems that I wish I never had it done. In July of 2007, I had to have it replaced due to slippage and since then have been afraid to go for adjustments. I have the first fill of 5cc and still am unable to eat much but I have not lost any weight because I am so hungry that I eat the wrong things. Ice Cream goes down really well, so does chocolate which melts, many soups I try to eat do not go down and if and when I do eat, I have to follow that with very hot coffee or tea to make it go down. I make my own trying to keep it very thin because I seem to have trouble keeping that down. to say the least, I have not lost any weight because the foods that I can eat are the foods that are not good for me. I am also a cancer survivor and am concerned about calcium due to the fact that my body no longer creates it and osteoporosis runs in my family. I talked to my doctor and he keeps telling me that it is because I eat to fast and I eat the wrong things. I can't even keep yogurt or shakes down, the consistency is too thick.