What are your thoughts on tiny fills and unfills?

Early this summer I had 2 episodes of horrible reflux out of the blue. Had 1cc taken out and felt much much better, BUT very little control of hunger like I did prior to the 1cc being taken out.

Last month I had .5cc put back in and still felt good, but was not feeling like my hunger was managed very well. (Was still getting hungry 2 hrs after a dense lean protein meal). Friday I went in and my doctor put another .5cc back in to bring me up to what I was before. Once the fill kicked in I had horrible reflux the last two days, with only soft foods like yogurt and thick soup. Today it has been very difficult to get fluids down, am taking it slow, so no pb's and have done 8oz so far today.

I'm going in first thing tomorrow for a partial unfill. Here is the issue: my doctor only seems to believe the smallest fills and unfills to be done are .5cc. If he takes that out, (which I might need due to inflammation from the reflux) I will still lack good hunger management. Personally I would like to have time take out something like 2.5 or 3 cc's and still leave a tiny bit in there of what he put in on Friday.

How many of of you have good success with smaller fills? Do your doctors seem to understand that such a small amount can make a big difference?

Thanks!

 My last 2 fills have been .3 and .2 cc respectively.  Just a tweak and yes it worked.

I did just that yesterday after an identical situation.  I just had .25 put back in - thankfully!  .5 would have been way too much.  I will tell you that I made a discovery about the reflux, quite by accident.  I was struggling with reflux flare up again too.  Couldn't figure out what the prob was because I was eating better and the band was only partially refilled.  Three weeks ago I got pneumonia and was put on decongestants.  The reflux went completely away! I realized that the problem was drainage.  All the snot (pardon the graphix) was draining when I laid down and then it came up with everything I had eaten.  I've stayed on a bit of Robitussin ever since and its been perfect so I went and got the little refill. Might want to try it before you do anything drastic. Don't know about you but my unfills aren't free.

Hello my wonderful coach girl!!  I've missed you.  I hope you're doing great!!!

A year ago, after getting to great restriction and going 6 months without a fill, I all of a sudden got tight, with reflux and PB's regularly.  When I saw the doctor he took out literally a DROP (I saw it in the test tube), and I've now been fine for over a year..

Phyllis

 Tiny fills are critical to band success and to prevent complications, many surgeons do NOT have the patience or skills to tweak the band properly, and have been causing a surge in many people getting unnecessary revisions or band removal. If your surgeon does mostly RNYs you may want to start seeking a band only surgeon to fill you properly, and you may want to ask about dynamic fills, where you stand slightly.

If the band is not properly adjusted it does not work period, many people like myself have been through yo-yoing back and forth, the further out you get the more fills need to be tweaked and also what  I learned the longer I wait between fills the better the next fill will be.

If you are experiencing reflux NOW, I would suggest removing 1cc again, because NOW your band is being damaged and you want to heal again to prevent inflammation and yo-yoing back and forth, if your band was not being damaged with reflux, I would suggest you only take a tiny amount out, but now you need to heal first for about 6 weeks and then go back.

When you start again, you want to sneak up on your sweet spot and demand your surgeon only give you the tinest increments at a time, you NOW KNOW where you are too tight, so if you were too tight at for example 5.5cc and 5.2cc was too loose, and your current unfill amount is 5.2cc, then you need to ease up near 5.5cc again, but never get to that point, it may take you about 2 separate fills to get to 5.4ccs, but that may be your magic number of where your sweet spot is.

My last fills and my one unfill were all 0.1 cc. I have a 4cc band and 0.1 cc makes all the difference to me.

Kate.

I have had .2ccs taken out and put back at various times. It makes a big difference.

I see nothing wrong with getting .2 out or so.  The littest big, in or out, will make the difference.  Don't keep the reflux as we both know that situation can only lead to bad things. you look so awesome!

Thank you all!

I went to the doctor this morning and he took out .4 of the .5 cc's he put in last Friday. I think I've got him convinced now that I need smaller tweeks. He said if I need a little more put back in a week or two to let him know and he will just do .1 or .2 ccs Yea!

A too tight band is HORRIBLE -- it feels so good to get my liquids back in and be able to eat "bandster normally".

Thanks