I had my band put in on July 10 this year. It has almost been two months and one fill later, and I've actually GAINED weight!

I have no restriction whatsoever. I know that it's supposed to be 3-4 fills before hitting the "green zone," but I have absolutely no restriction at all.

I am so discouraged. I have been eating horribly...calories, carbs, pop, and more. I'm too scared to weigh myself because I know I will have gained some back from the 13 pounds I lost during the pre-op diet.

HOW CAN I RESTORE MY MORALE WHEN I FEEL NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE GETTING MY BAND?

Uggh! I can understand the frustration! Have u spoken to your doctor as to y u haven't had more fills? Or if u have spoken to your doctor, what was his/her reaction? Restoring your morale will be tough when ur not losing weight. However, it also has to do with ur choices in food, drink and activity. Start changing ur food choices and see if ur morale gets better. :-) so to refresh.. 1) make an appt with ur Dr. 2) Change what ur eatting. You can do it!

hi amy

2 things helped me turn the tide when i would fall off the wagon:

1. start journalling my food. they have many free websites like fitday.com or sparkpeople.com.

2. start to exercise. even if it is to start small like walks and then increase.

both of these helped me to get control of bad eating. i was having problems with ice cream. i couldnt stop eating it. but i managed by doing these 2 things.

lastly i focused on the fact i had an operation to lose weight. this is just 1 facet of the lap band program. i just made myself look at this extreme measure and said "why would i do this only to sabotage myself" this self talk helped me.

good luck

josie

Thanks so much for the advice and support. It's so good to hear it from people who are going/have gone through the same things I am.

Thank you again.

Do you happen to know if it is standard practice to only get fills once a month? It seems an awfully long time to wait especially when I can tell right away that I'm going to need more. Can fills be done every 2 weeks or sooner?

Do you happen to know if it is standard practice to only get fills once a month? It seems an awfully long time to wait especially when I can tell right away that I'm going to need more. Can fills be done every 2 weeks or sooner?

Yes mam, it is possible for you to get a fill every two weeks, but its only if you surgeon allows you to. I myself do get fills every two weeks b/c my surgeon allows it. I'm actually going for my 4th fill this thurs...hopefully i can get a 1cc's im currently at 5.95cc's in my 10cc band, and i feel restriction b/c i have had a few stuck episodes, but i still get hungry and i can still eat a full size meal like 8-9oz of food which is the typical size of a lean cuisine meal. I am too frustrated like u....ive lost about 26lbs since surgery date, but i dont really feel i have lost inches.....i know its due to me not exercise on a consistent basis, but geez why is it that some don't have to lift a finger and can loose 15lbs in a month and some inches...but me....im pushin at around 8-10lbs a month since i had the surgery but dont really see it....

Remember the band is a tool and you have to do your part, which includes watching what you eat and excerising. You can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack,

That was a very nice post.

Thanks!

Dr. V

I really understand what you're going through. My surgery was 12/31/08, and I only achieved a bit of restriction in May after six fills and only about 20 lbs. lost. It was VERY difficult to eat well and control my portions with no restriction, but finally in June I hit my sweet spot and have lost almost another 30 lbs. I wish it hadn't taken so long to achieve restriction and a good rate of weight loss, but now that I'm there I'm thrilled! You WILL reach it too, eventually.