Hi I was banded in 2006 and finally after struggles, I believe I will soon be at my weight goal of 160 pds. I am just wondering is it wise to loosen this band so I can not depend on it no more. I have struggled with it given that I believe the last time I had it filled it was to tight ant have left it like this. Is there anyone that has learned to live without using the tool after reaching their goal?

Thanks!

Angie

Statistically its not very likely that you will be able to maintain with an unfilled band. Hunger simply returns.

I've not found I needed to loosen mine, I simply gradually stopped losing till I reached a stable weight. Over time, my band has loosened itself a little bit and I've got a quite good restriction level for someone on maintenance - for example today we were at a basketball ref training course where we were fed - fresh fruit for morning tea and sandwiches for lunch. I dont have to panic that I *cant* eat anything, you dont want to live forever in that sort of situation.

So whether you loosen a little or not depends on what sort of tightness you have now and whether you continue lose past where you are happy.

The way i see it, there is no medal for managing without the band. I have one, I'm darn well going to use it to live the longest, healthiest (and slimmest) life possible. I figure I'd be mad to unfill it and gain weight.

I made it to goal and had my band unfilled due to pregnancy. Banding made it easy in that I would eat and was quickly full and satisfied. I sometimes had to "remind" myself to eat and this got me to goal.

Since I have been unfilled, I am hungry again and I now really understand that difference between being banded and not being banded. I can eat and an hour later be ravenous where food is definitely the top thing on my mind. I also started feeling deprived again where I had to force myself not to eat even though my body keeps telling me to do so. I have not gained much at all but I am struggling with food issues again on a daily basis.

I need my band filled at least partially for hunger control. I follow the rules and do what I am supposed to do but if you are constantly hungry, it is a struggle.

Banding with restriction made it feel like I had overcome my overeating issues . . . but I realize now that there was a definite physical component to my overeating . . . it wasn't all in my head afterall.

If you feel overly tight, a very slight unfill may help to give you more variety in your diet. Just be careful not to undo all of your hard work but taking out too much Fluid. Also, with regular aftercare, you can always unfill a little, see how you do and get more as you need it.