Feeling full or feeling pain??????

Hi there,

This is long, but hopefully not too confusing. Please let me know if you have any questions.

If by full you mean -- oh, wish I had elastic waist pants on, tummy feels huge then no, I have never felt this way since having the band.   As I understand it feeling full like that is not a goal of the band.  The whole theory of how the band is supposed to work is that after a small meal (think of the sized meal your elderly relatives eat at potlucks :) you feel like, hey, this is enough.  That feeling is really difficult to describe. It's almost like magic to me. Before surgery I never had the "hello, I'm comfortable and don't really want anymore" signal from my body -- (probably because I shoveled it all in so fast). I CAN eat past that point and if I do, I experience some pretty strong discomfort and if I try to eat even more, the food will come back up or I would be in agony.  If I waited until that food went down I could eat more without the pain. Once in awhile if I am out to supper that  will go on for 1-2 hours I do eat more than I normally would without any pain and that is probably because it takes me so long to eat the food.

Your eating style is not compatible with the band (and that is OK -- it does NOT make you a failure) and it may end up causing damage to your band/stomach/esophagus in the long run. From your eating style it sounds like the DS may be a better choice for you because it will allow you to eat considerably more calories and still lose weight due to the malabsorbtion factor. I do not know enough about the DS to know if you will get a full feeling. There are people on the DS board that have had a band before and revised to the DS, they may be able to describe the feelings of eating to you.

In your sig line you state you are hoping to revise -- how is that coming? Are you still investigating, thinking about it?  I wish you the best of luck.

Trixie

Oh yeah, I understand what you are saying to me. I don't get a comfortable feeling at all, I feel like I'm hungry every day. Its really a frustrating feeling. Every now and then, I get so hungry, that I try to eat too fast. Of course, then the food gets stuck in there.

I think the DS would be a good surgery for me. I wish I would have gotten the DS in the first place. I guess I don't regret getting the band. I chose the band because of the minimal invasive approach. I thought about "what if the band doesn't work" when I got it. I guess I had a lot of faith in the band. I can say that I have been a good patient and I listened and obeyed all the rules the best I could.

I'm going to meet with a DS surgeon in Minneapolis on April 6th. I hope he can give me some thoughts. I have been researching revision for 3 years. Going back and forth with the RNY and DS. I would love to get the DS, but not sure if my insurance will cover it.

Thank you for your insights

Join the club! The band works for some but then there are others like us for whom the band never did work. I too never had a full or satisfied feeling ever and if I go too tight I get sick and not tight enough and I can eat a small village. I'd love to revise but no insurance coverage and sure can't afford self pay so here I sit like so many others! You are not alone so best of luck on your revision plans!

I would be really frustrated if insurance didn't cover a revision. I looked into insurance already. Mine does cover revision and not only for mechanical failure, weight regain or no weight loss after 2 years is also a qualifier. Of course, I have to go through requirements. I will do anything to get healthy though. Im not sure my insurance will cover my plans for DS though and I need to work on this revision idea with my mom. She is scared for me.

I will hope and pray that your insurance changes and includes revision SOON!!!!!!

 HI Amy
I feel bummed for you.  I can offer some thoughts.

1) you will throw up before you ever feel "full" again.  I have never, since the band felt a full stuffed belly like after T'giving dinner.  Actually that is not a healthy way to eat.  You should eat until you are not "hungry".  If you get stuck and get pain, that means either:
a) you ate too fast - always put your fork down and chew 20-30 times
b) your bite was too big (and didn't chew enuf)  Its enuf when the food in your mouth is mush
c) the food you ate simply doesn't agree with you any longer.  Common foods that will cause "stuck-age" are foods with skins (think apple), stringy foods (think celery, asparagas); foods that expand when wet (think bread, rice, pasta); foods that are too dry (think leftover chicken)

When you do get stuck and puke DO NOT attempt to eat anymore.  Once you puke, the area around your band is swollen and subject to a repeat episode.  many of these episodes can result in permanent damage to the band.

Remember with the band, we don't have a pouch, its a restriction to slow down the passage of food into your actual stomach.  The band is around a nerve that sends the "im not hungry" signal to the brain.  Not to be confused with "head hungry" or "obessive eating because its in front of you".  

You should really practice mindful eating - planning out food that provides protein you need in the portions recommended by your doctor (generally 1/2 - 1 c).  This equals about 4 oz of lean protein and 1/4 of whole grain or green carb.  Rule of thumb, it should take you about 20-30 mins to eat if you follow the rules.

Its up to you to follow the rules.  I will tell you I got to goal before I was ever restricted.  The band is keeping me from gaining!!!

Thanks for the tips

Its so frustrating because I try all of that.

I really think some people have problems with metabolism as well. I really dont think I eat that much. I eat about the same as my "twig" boyfriend. Lol.... 

The sad thing is that I think my daughter is following my footsteps. She is just like me and likes to eat a lot of the "good stuff" not junk food, but good for you food. Chicken, corn, ect... I dont think she ever feels full either. I want to change my ways so I can try to teach her good habbits, but she is almost 11 already. I have 4 other kids though that I might be able to teach good habbits to.

Thanks for everything, I'm glad you are doing so well!!!!!!!! Keep up the GREAT work! Its not easy!!!

I seriously agree with you on the metabolism issues.  I went into this surgery knowing my final goal will still leave me a hair inside of the overweight category. Of course I can always choose to lose even more weight by starving myself or by exercising for several hours a day but that's not realistic for me.

I have one of those twig husbands too, he eats like 4000 calories a day, if he ever feels like he is too fat and needs to lose 5 pounds (good grief!!!) he will cut down from 4 sandwiches at a sitting to 3. He can eat like this because he is all muscle and works very hard physically for 8 -10 hours  a day. My surgeon explained that metabolism issues are very real and the only way for some people to reach into the mid range of a normal bmi is to have one of the surgeries that malabsorbs. For me, I felt like the best choice was to not do the malabsorbtion, but there are a lot of people out there that have been helped tremendously by it.  

Maria...I guess I was one of the few lucky ones who have a doctor who was very upfront with me...He told me from the beginning I may NEVER reach restriction or a sweet spot but he says that was not the point of me getting the lapband....he told me it was just a tool to make me feel fuller and eat smaller portions....not to be restricted which for me is great! I just eat good little meals and try and drink which Im not great at LOL So far so good! For me maybe its just a mental thing...I know there is something around my stomach so I eat less....who knows:) 

Renee,

My doc said almost the same thing to me . He was very upfront with me when I went and saw him, he was up front in his seminar I went to and that is why I did go with him in the end because he was so up front with every question people asked him.  He told me the same thing I might never find restriction , I might never find this so called sweet spot and because he was so upfront with me and never made a big deal about these issues that is why I dont make a big deal about it . 

And he told me you need to have some self control and will power also the band dont do all the work for you , if you think that then you are in for a big disappointment .

I think I have the mental thing going to Renee .  When they did all the interviews with me from what I said about things that is all I needed was something to keep a reminder you can only eat this much and you need to slow down.

I was never a candy eater, or sweets eater, I have all that junk laying around the house and I just dont eat it , it was never my thing .  I needed help on portion control at meals. that was it , I was never ever  a snacker either that is why I went with the lap band.

I believe that is why I have went without any fills because of that little reminder hey I'm around your stomach that is all you need to eat.  I might lose a little slower the others but that is okay with me most of the time lmao but I dont have fears of getting stuck or I cant eat this or that .

PS I'm terrible about my water to lol. I just cant drink when I'm not thirsty . Another good thing I can drink a good 8 oz of water at a time so I really drink it down towards the end of the day lol.


I do feel sorry for the people that dont have upfront and honest docs like Renee and I found because I think that is very important to the patient .    Like I said because he was so honest and upfront that is why I went with him in the first place because of his honesty and his caring attitude .  He makes me feel good about myself and I think that is great for me.

One thing that was hard for me was never feeling "full" the way I did before surgery....I still measure my food so I don't overeat and cause myself pain...I'm sorry you haven't had success with your band and that you are able to revise.
Steph