Help! Okay, this is the deal-----back in June I got to were I could not eat or even drink anything! I went to my doctor and they removed about half of the fluid in my band. At that time I had 6.8 cc's. I gained 14 pounds in one week and was not eating too much of anything, but had no restriction whatsoever! I went back and they put me back to 4.25 cc's and still had no restriction. So, yet another fill, this time to 5.75 cc's. Oh, it is working! I am having a lot of trouble eating again though. I have no problem with salad but I can't eat much of anything else. Please tell me what I might be able to eat, how to prepare it and help me! I have lost about 70 pounds post surgery and 20 pre-op and I am one year out! The weight loss has come to a complete halt and I am very discouraged!

If you're not really able to eat anything again you probably need another slight unfill.

There are plenty of threads listing menus, food ideas, etc, but I think you need to make a list of what you're eating and talk to your doctor. He might recommend a nutritionist to help you get on track. My doctor doesn't want us to chew our food to death or stick to soft foods, because at that point, you're interfering with the effectiveness of the band. If you can't eat the food your doctor advises, and it sounds like you can't, then he should be able to determine how much saline to remove. Sometimes, just a small amount is all it takes. Also, if you can have a fill under fluoroscopy, he can see how quickly - or not - the barium is going through. In my support group meetings, a couple of people said they had to mix the barium with cottage cheese (maybe yogurt) to get an accurate reading of their band flow. Sounds yucky, and it probably is, but if I were having trouble eating, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I think that your "sweet spot" is apparently between 4.25 and 5.75. Get an unfill to 5.00, say (split the difference) and see how you feel! Make sure you are chewing well, not drinking with meals, etc.

It's been my experience that you can go from "no restriction" to "too tight" VERY quickly and in just tenths of a cc.