How the band work? News to me!!!

From Dr Simpson's site

How the band really works

The band does not work by restriction - in fact food goes past the band in about two minutes or less.  I know-- that i different than what we use to think, but our studies, as well as the studies of a lot of other folks have shown this is the case. So what does the band do? How does the band make it so you feel as if you ate more, and yet prevent you from going into a metabolic resting state? It appears that the band serves to amplify the signals sent to the brain. That small amount of squeeze (you do not have to feel that squeeze and it is best if you don't) intensifies the message to the hypothalamus and it gets a signal that you have had more to eat than you really have.  As a result of this, your brain sends out a signal to suppress your appetite (you are not hungry) and another signal that it is ok to use fat stores. This makes sense when you think about it -- if something is above the band for more than two minutes your body hates it -- and will try to pu**** through with a lot of thick saliva (slime) or may force you to burp it up, or even vomit it up. This is also the reason why patients who eat slowly never get in trouble, and lose weight.  If you eat too fast you can either stretch the pouch so quickly that you will get "first (third) bite syndrome" or can develop an enlarged esophagus, an enlarged pouch that can lead to a slip, erosion, or just bad weight loss. This is probably the reason that wine drinkers do well with dinner and water drinkers don't!  People who sip wine with dinner are enjoying a meal with friends - those who use water to wash down a meal are not taking their time - eating more than they need to (or more than they need to get to their goal) - and may be causing problems. So - simple tip : Eat Small Portions Slowly. Set a time - eat for 20 minutes- but after 30 minutes food goes away, and time for a walk! What does this also mean - well, if you are in my favorite New York Restaurant (Adour Alain Ducasse) you can enjoy a seven course meal, with wine. The meal will take you several hours. A band is not a reason to stop living - a band is the tool we give you to start living.

Band Slips

How do you know Band slips occur because of the force of the upper stomach against the lower stomach - forcing the band out of its normal position to where it is lower on the stomach.  Early on this leads to reflux, night time coughing, food intolerance, and later to where a person cannot eat much, and ultimately where they cannot drink.   How to prevent a band slip is fairly simple: Eat small portions slowly. See a theme here?  Eating too fast does not allow food to pass by the band - and the food stretches out the upper pouch. As the upper pouch dilates it forces the band down. If the upper stomach is stretched too much it can prolapse over the band (think muffin top) and at that point, the person is in trouble. A thinned out stomach sitting on the band can lead to an erosion - but more often than not, it leads to a slip. How to diagnose it - an upper GI. So, if we find we have to take fluid out of your band - more than once, we will ask you to go next door and get an upper GI.  If we find that you have been over eating against a tight band, we will probably want to remove all the fluid for a while, and allow your stomach to regain its shape.  Then we refill in two weeks or so -- unless we are worried and get another upper GI. Worried about this? Then you may need an upper GI - or try this at home: stay on liquids for a bit - -let the stomach rest and see if the reflux goes away -- if it does, great - -probably you need a bit of fluid removed and an upper GI. The band is a tool - it doesn't tell you how much to eat, and it doesn't tell you want to eat (ok, sometimes it does).  Four simple words: Eat small portions slowly.

Talk about blow my  mind!!  The band does not work by restriction??? That sure explains getting stuck. It also explains what Dr B said about the inflanation in my stoma being the result of food staying in the stoma and not going through! I didn't understand it at the time. This site has really good advise for bandsters. I will be posting more here

I found this site purely by accident. I was deep in the middle of an argument on another site and was looking for information to support something i had said and I found this site. Once I found it, I immediately lost it. It took me days to find it again. Then I posted about this site only to direct everyone to the wrong one so I looked again and lo and behold I found the bloody thing again. Glad you are finding it useful. LOL

So if I read this right  in the morning if I have an upset stomach from night time reflux the band has slipped because of the stomach pressing on the pouch?

I don't think they mean that just because you have one episode your band has slipped. I think repeated episodes is an indicator. After the band has been in place for some time and is well healed, it can take a lot to move it for most people. For others, it can move relatively easily. I think most sites use some scare tactics by over stating the risks to keep us bandsters in line, but then again  they may have learned that you can't trust a (food) addict!
I had no idea that food passes through the band after only a couple of minutes....That has me wondering...so what is the big deal about drinking after a meal in done? Why wait an hour? Dr Simpson says no drinking for 2 hours.

The band has me baffled for sure I could not get my head around how I would not be hungry after getting one. I must admit I only feel hungry if I skip meals, but I have never felt full like I could eat no more. I just eat what I have measured.  I thought the food sat in the tiny pouch and thats why we could not drink and eat at the same time.
 
I did not think I had any restriction until I decided to do my very first detox/cleanse that involves shallowing pills.  It was really the first time that I thought something was stuck but they did go down.

In the past I have been  really good following a diet until I hit around 278 then I gorge and self sabotage.

So I am hoping at that point if I slipp into the old destructive side of things that  I will have restriction and not be able to sabotage myself. 

I have been very surprised to get on the scale and see the pounds coming off. Not really sure why, as I write everything down I eat and excersice daily but I just do not feel like I am on a diet . I am hoping this feeling lasts forever:) . My family has been great though we all eat together I just use a bread plate. Their eating habits have improved vastly. I am glad I got the band so far I have been having a good experience. Thanks for posting the info can you post the link to the site? I like reading and learning new things.

To get the linj go to my information on wls and click on the blue headline and it will take you to drsimpson site. Great info except the vitamin suppliment section.

Again - I'm not a bandster - but this article TOTALLY took me by surprise. I guess I wasn't really correct in how I assumed the band worked. Interesting.