Number of fills before 'sweet spot' is reached?

[lunalady]

Good afternoon, all. I have my first fill in about 24 hours and I have a question that I'm hoping you more 'experienced' lap-banders can answer for me.

I know that it's unrealistic to think that I will be reaching my 'sweet spot' on the first fill. Or even on the second fill, for that matter. Maybe not on the third, either!

I have a friend who only had about 60 pounds to lose to reach her goal weight and she's only ever had two fills in the three years since she was banded.

Do you think that the heavier you are to start with, the more fills it will take before you reach your sweet spot? Have you noticed that there is a correlation between how much weight a person has to lose and how many fills it will take to reach your sweet spot?

Thoughts, anyone?

Thank you in advance!

[PAMMIE]

I THINK IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE PERSON AND ALSO WHAT SIZED BAND YOU HAVE. I THINK THE SMALLER THE BAND THE EASIER IT IS TO FIND ONES SWEET SPOT. WELL MAYBE NOT EASIER, BUT QUICKER. IT TOOK 3 FILLS FOR ME. JMO

[robbynnoel]

Good afternoon, all. I have my first fill in about 24 hours and I have a question that I'm hoping you more 'experienced' lap-banders can answer for me.

I know that it's unrealistic to think that I will be reaching my 'sweet spot' on the first fill. Or even on the second fill, for that matter. Maybe not on the third, either!

I have a friend who only had about 60 pounds to lose to reach her goal weight and she's only ever had two fills in the three years since she was banded.

Do you think that the heavier you are to start with, the more fills it will take before you reach your sweet spot? Have you noticed that there is a correlation between how much weight a person has to lose and how many fills it will take to reach your sweet spot?

Thoughts, anyone?

Thank you in advance!

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Luna)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Hugs to you! Good luck tomorrow with your fill. xo

[Kristi]

Hi Lunalady,

I have a 10cc/ml band and so far I have 3.25 in my band. The 1st fill was good for about a week and then 4 weeks

later I had my second. It has been nearly 2 weeks since my 2nd fill and so far so good. It is interesting to figure out the sweet spot.

I am not even sure I am there yet.

Good luck with your first fill. :lb17:

Take care and let us know how it went for you.

Hugs,

Kristi

[jhawkchick75]

That is so hard to answer....I have 5 fills and I finally feel like i'm at a pretty good spot. Although I still don't get that "full" feeling everyone talks about and I can still eat most stuff but if I eat slow and just stop after a small amount I find i'm full and stay full so that is good.

The only thing I do know is that as you lose weight and the fat around your stomach shrinks you will need another fill, so as you lose more weight you would need more fills. But again that is gonna vary from person to person.

So person to person though it's hard to say.

[AshleyMarie]

I had restriction after my first fill and am at my sweet spot at my second.

[LisaLaw]

howdy

I have a 10 cm Inamed band that holds 4.0cc's (these bands can hold up to 6.0'ccs although they rarely ever go above 5.0cc)

It took me 3 fills

From the 1st - 2nd, I had zip for restriction after 5 days and immediately went back in for the 3rd.

I am now at 3.9ccs and would love a tweak...but am having non-elective surgery at the end of September, so I am going to wait until after xmas (when I am about halfway on the mend).

[lunalady]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies! I appreciate all the feed-back...

I received my first fill a week ago today. I was very impressed with the Dr. and his staff. The Dr. gave me the maximum amount they can give that doesn't void the warranty, which is 2 cc's. I have the 10 cm Inamed band that will hold 5 cc's of saline (6 cc's if you count what's in the tubing).

I had the fill done under flouro, since it was my first fill and all. The Dr. told me that my port is buried pretty deep (which could just be his *nice* way of saying that there's a ton of fat to go through in order to *get* to the port, I don't know!) and he advised me to have all my fills done with flouro because of how deep my port is.

I was on warm clear liquids for 48 hours but I did cheat and have a bite of cheese on day two. It went down with no problems at all, but I did chew like a mad woman, just to be on the safe side!

I didn't really feel like I had any restriction. Then I tried to eat some chicken a few days later...I was starving and I ate entirely too fast and I didn't chew my chicken up well. Yeah, big mistake, there!

All of you who have *been there, done that* know what's coming next....yup, the big ol' PB. It was ugly, but I was sure thankful I was home when it happened! Trust me, I certainly don't want it to happen again anytime soon, that's for sure!

I'll probably work with this fill for a couple of months and then go back to SLC for my second fill. My fills are going to have to be budgeted a little bit more carefully now, since I'll have another $99 for the flouro AND another $200 for two nights in a motel to worry about, in addition to the cost of the basic fill.

One day at a time, though, right? *smiles softly*

Oh! The *best* news that day was that when I weighed in that afternoon (in street clothes and in the middle of the afternoon) I weighed 2 pounds less than I weighed that morning, naked! Woo-hooooo!!