Finally! Some questions answered!

[kibble]

I was banded in June and once the liquid phase was up...I could eat anything I wanted. I could also eat as much as I wanted. Even with that...I didn't gain. I just didn't lose either. I had my first fill at OCC. I was disappointed because I still felt no restriction. They only gave me .8 and I could still eat whatever and how much ever I wanted. I know the band is a tool. I know about the food guidelines. But I am still dealing with all the food issues that made me fat to begin with. If I could follow those guidelines without restriction...I wouldn't need the band. Duh!

Well....I got my 2nd fill last week. 1 cc making a total of 1.8 cc. Oh my goodness what a difference! I am hardly ever hungry. When I eat, I darn well better chew or it is stuck for certain. Sometimes...it feels stuck even when I do chew. The weird thing is knowing when I've had enough to eat. I'm not ever hungry so I don't notice the hunger going away. The only sign I get is when I start feeling like the food is about to come back up. It doesn't take much food for this to happen. I realized today that I'm still trying to eat normal portions and I simply can't. If I stop early, I feel fine. I still want the food. It is good and I've only had a few bites. But that too full feeling is a great deterrant. YUCK. I've PB'd 3 or 4 times before figuring this out.

I'm dealing with head hunger at night. I want to eat around 9:00 p.m. so badly I can't stand it. The other thing is sweets. I want brownies and cookies and cakes. I am hoping the sweet cravings will go away once I've deprived myself long enough. Right now...I could eat key lime pie all day and never want other food.

So, the questions I have answered now are:

What does restriction feel like?

How do you know when you've eaten enough?

What does PB'ing feel like?

Now I have more questions.

When the weight is gone, will I always be fighting the "getting stuck" part so much?

How much restriction is needed for maintenance? I'm seriously hoping it is less than I have now.

Why do you need to get more fills over time? If you put in 2cc's...you don't lose that amount. The hole doesn't get bigger. Why isn't the restriction I'm feeling now...going to last till the end?

I hope everyone is doing well tonight. I am starting to get hope again that this thing might work for me. This is also the first time since surgery that I've started wondering if I made a mistake. I don't seem to enjoy my meals anymore. I keep fighting the "stuck" thing. I'm not a good chewer. I'm working on that.

[erin2796]

I can answer one of those questions because I asked the same thing at the OCC.

Why do you need to get more fills over time? If you put in 2cc's...you don't lose that amount. The hole doesn't get bigger. Why isn't the restriction I'm feeling now...going to last till the end?

The answer is that as you lose fat around your stomach the band becomes lose. The fill is needed to re-tighten the band around your stomach.

Hope that helps.

[Kittycat]

Hi there,

To answer your questions:

Restriction feels like the "fullness" feeling to get after eating a huge turkey dinner. I also experience a lump in my throat which my surgeon told me is the muscle in the esophagus being triggered by the pouch when full.

How do you know if you have eaten enough? Put the recommended portions on your plate according to the diet plan provided by your surgeon and eat your protein first, then veggies, then grains and fruit. When you feel the fullness feeling, stop eating.

If you don't feel full yet (no fill or need a fill), eat only what's on your plate and count your calories.

PBing or Productive Burp is when your body creates slime to help the obstruction move up or down. It's not painful, it's actually a relief when the food that is stuck moves up or out. The key is to eat small bites and chew chew chew so that this does not happen. I had a major PBing episode yesterday from KFC chicken, ate small bites, but it got stuck and out it came big-time!!

I hope this answers your questions and if you have any more, just ask, we are here for you!!

[snowbird]

Now I have more questions.

When the weight is gone, will I always be fighting the "getting stuck" part so much?

How much restriction is needed for maintenance? I'm seriously hoping it is less than I have now.

Why do you need to get more fills over time? If you put in 2cc's...you don't lose that amount. The hole doesn't get bigger. Why isn't the restriction I'm feeling now...going to last till the end?

I hope everyone is doing well tonight. I am starting to get hope again that this thing might work for me. This is also the first time since surgery that I've started wondering if I made a mistake. I don't seem to enjoy my meals anymore. I keep fighting the "stuck" thing. I'm not a good chewer. I'm working on that.

Well, I'll give a try on the two of your questions, since they are really the same.

How much restriction will you need to maintain? That's going to depend on how well your head gets re-educated. I'm not the old bandster sage yet, but right now, at a few pounds from goal, I have found I don't need the "pb if I take too big a bite" level of restriction to maintain my weight. I have the option of eating a lot of things that most bandsters say are no-no's, including thick crust pizza and pancakes, but I still have to eat very slowly. My band keeps the portions small. We went out with friends this weekend, and my husband and I split a small dinner salad and a small pizza--one of those they cut into quarters. I could a little less than half the salad and one piece of pizza, as long as I ate it very slowly. I took longer to get my one piece down than anyone else at the table took to eat their normal portions, but I got to enjoy the pizza without feeling stuck or like I was going to have to run to the bathroom. After this past weekend, I was telling my husband I needed a fill, but you know what? No, I don't. I can handle this, and already lost the couple of pounds I gained over the weekend. So as far as I am concerned, life is good.

I still have a sweet tooth and crave junk food, but want much smaller portions of it and a lot of TV ads for food leave me totally cold--especially things I have tried to eat and had a lot of trouble with. So the band has conditioned me to not crave those things anymore. And after not eating much sugar, I feel like total hell if I do have much of it, and the craving is gone.

I am not really very restricted right now, and haven't had a fill since January when I got my second one to 1.9 in a 4 cc band. I am okay at this level, and usually, even when I eat, I barely notice my band. But that is mostly because I have FINALLY gotten it through my head that I need smaller portions, so I don't ever put a lot of food on my plate. I have also unconsciously gotten to the point that the internal indicators of band fullness now feel just like the old feelings pre band of being too full, so I stop eating. I've had enough, I'm done.

Finally, I don't need a lot of restriction at this point because I have gotten into the habit of exercising, and when I overindulge (like this past weekend) I get out on my bike and do a few extra miles in addition to my usual number to take care of the extra food I've had. I like riding my bike now and it is no longer a chore, but a treat. I hated exercise for 45 years, and I've finally turned my head around on this.

So you don't have to feel like you are so restricted that you will puke at the drop of a hat for the rest of your life, but you do need to really work at re-educating yourself about eating, and the fat monster is always right there around the corner if you don't keep it at bay.

[BrooklynIrish59]

(The weird thing is knowing when I've had enough to eat. I'm not ever hungry so I don't notice the hunger going away. The only sign I get is when I start feeling like the food is about to come back up. It doesn't take much food for this to happen. I realized today that I'm still trying to eat normal portions and I simply can't. If I stop early, I feel fine. I still want the food. It is good and I've only had a few bites. But that too full feeling is a great deterrant. YUCK. I've PB'd 3 or 4 times before figuring this out.)

Wow...this could have been me writing this. My friend and I were banded at the same time. She is at the stage where she gets the stuck feeling in her throat, so she stops eating. She isn't hungry until lunchtime. I can't say that I am crazy with hunger, I just want the food. I don't get the full feeling either until dinner is getting ready to make a repeat performance and even then when I know I have to puke...I still want to eat more. There are days that I can eat bread with no problem and other days, one bite gets stuck. Thank goodness I don't get the munchies at night. As long as I have dinner by a reasonable time, like before 6, I'm good for the night...just protein water.

I have found that I definitely need to ALWAYS measure out my food and not eyeball portion size. It makes a difference to just eat the recommended 4 oz of protein, 1/2 cup veggies, etc. I still don't get the full feeling, but at least I'm not bringing it back up and I don't have to feel the stuck feeling.

Barb

[Painter]

Well thank you for posting. I still don't have any restriction by the sounds of it. I do occasionally get something stuck if I don't chew enough but I can eat as much as I want without ever feeling full. No wonder my band isn't helping me any. I am dieting but doing about as well at it as I did pre-band. I am getting another fill with a local doctor on the 19th of September and then going to OCC on October 17th. I hope this will be the charm. I have considered eliminating the September fill but I suspect it will be very small anyway and might help somewhat until I can get to OCC.

Your post means a lot to me because I had started thinking I would be the one that failed with the band. Now I know I just need more fill. That gives me hope and maybe even a little more willpower to keep on truckin' until I get to my sweet spot.

Cheryl