Had First TOO Tight Episode- totally unfilled

I went in for a small fill last Thurs and it was too much!! I spent the weekend not being able to keep very much liquid down.  Monday I went back and they took it back down to where I was.  I was up all night Monday night...had to go back on Tuesday for a complete unfill.  Now they want me to get and EGD just to make sure everything is okay.  Not sure how soon I will be able to get in with an appointment.  They are going to call me with a date.  I'm guessing it will be in Jan. after the holiday's. 

I'm feeling MUCH better now.  The hard part is going to try and maintain until I can get fills again.

This was the first time in almost 3 years I have ever had a problem.  Note to self - Don't go for a fill unless you are absolutely positive you need one!! ;o)  (I thought I wanted just a small tweek, but obviously I was not ready for one!!)

Not fun!!!

Glad you're feeling better and hope the EGD is fine.

That's one of my issues with the band . . . there's no way to predict if that extra teeny 0.1 cc will push you into too tight land.  Are there lap band psychics out there we can take along for fills??? 

Hope they get you in quickly for the check and back on the fill bandwagon.  Holiday eating time of year is probably the worst timing for having an empty band!!!!  At least it is for me.  YIKES!!!

I think I would have been okay with the .1 but the nurse put in .3.  That was too tight and caused my stomach to swell so I guess taking me back down to where I was did not do the trick...so she emptied it out the next day totally...

Guess I should have been specific when I said "little fill"...lol.

Yes, I am trying to stay in control..it's very hard.  It's also sooooo weird to not have any restriction again and no lightbulb/feeling to tell me to stop!!  UGG!!!

See, that's the thing with me.  I thought the adjustability of the band was a good thing.  But I've never had restriction or a lightbulb feeling telling me to stop.  DOH!!!

The first time I ended up in the ER for an emergency unfil, the resident was really sympathetic.  She knew I had been struggling for several months not having the band give me signals, so she did an aggressive fill.  When I saw her in the ER two days later, she only took out what she put in because she was sympathetic.  Normally they do drain you completely in that situation, but she didn't want me to have to start all over again.

I really appreciated that!

Hang in there!  Hopefully they'll get you back up and running before the Christmas cookies get ya!

Run, run away!!!!   (smiley should have a Santa hat on this time of year!)

That happaned to me last month. I had a fill and didn't lose wieght and my surgeon gave me another fill this month which afterwards was so tight for 2 days couldn't even get in my water and meds and called him and in ER then removed half of it. I was fine then. So this last visit he was concerned that I'm so slow losing or maintaining for several months wanted to put in what he had removed at which time I refused. I'm fine where I am and don't want to experience what I had the month before. He pissed me off because he then ordered a baium GI to make sure everything is alright. I'm not looking for something to go wrong. I would know if I got for stuck like I had in the past. I'm careful chewing and what foods I eat from bad experience. I can't eat pork or steak or burgers. no matter how much I chew there too dry. maybe later in life..no big deal. I can eat most foods.  good luck to you and sorry you had a bad time. Jus****ch your calories during the season.....

Sorry to hear about the troubles that you have had, and add my hopes to the others that things go well for you.

One question that has interested me when you and others have said that they hope that they can hold the weight loss after losing the restriction. It seems to a newbie like me that after a couple of years eating with a band that the food selections and portions would be a new habit.
Am I looking at the band wrong? Or do people spend their entire banded life fighting the band and struggling to eat more than allowed only to be "unleashed" when the fills are removed.

Absolutely no offense intended, but you seem to be recovering from your overfill (thankfully) and this has been bugging me.

On December 16, 2011 at 6:46 AM Pacific Time, docd wrote: Am I looking at the band wrong? Or do people spend their entire banded life fighting the band and struggling to eat more than allowed only to be "unleashed" when the fills are removed."


Interesting imagery there. I don't feel like I'm desperately fighting hunger every day. *My* band KEEPS me from feeling hunger longer...less room to fill up. But if you lose the band, then you have the WHOLE stomach to fill up versus the little pouch. Then if you try to exist on the same band portions, you starve and then decrease your metabolism,et cetera....

That's how I understand it anyway.

On December 16, 2011 at 7:22 AM Pacific Time, Jolena P. wrote: On December 16, 2011 at 6:46 AM Pacific Time, docd wrote: Am I looking at the band wrong? Or do people spend their entire banded life fighting the band and struggling to eat more than allowed only to be "unleashed" when the fills are removed."


 Interesting imagery there.  I don't feel like I'm desperately fighting hunger every day. *My* band KEEPS me from feeling hunger longer...less room to fill up. But if you lose the band, then you have the WHOLE stomach to fill up versus the little pouch.    Then if you try to exist on the same band portions, you starve and then decrease your metabolism,et cetera....

That's how I understand it anyway.

Jolena, that is what my doc said also , but he also said say if a couple yrs I lose my band I should be at the point in my life that I know how to eat healthy, that exercise is a major part of my life now and I should be okay.

Granted our portions would be a little bit bigger but if you really think about it , it wouldn't be by much.  If you follow the one cup rule like we should be doing , if you watch skinny people that is about what they eat also .   I really have started to pay attention to people in restaurants and how they eat lol.  I watch my mom all the time she has been a size 10 her whole life and she is 68 yrs old and still can wear clothes from 30 yrs ago .  She eats like I do but her veggies are little more .  Like last night for dinner she had a chicken breast, a nice helping of veggies and small baked potato.  A very healthy meal and she did her 30 min of exercise that morning .  The only thing different from me to her is like I said her veggie portions are a tab bit more , but not by much.

Now if you keep your band to the point of eating only 1/4 cup of food or taking a few bites and you are full then you are going to be in trouble because IMO that hasn't taught you anything on how to eat healthy and to eat healthy portions .  My friend got herself this way and she has gained every single ounce of her weight back .  My doc and NUT stresses this to us all the time , he wants us to learn how to eat healthy during this process because like we all know the band isnt 100% full proof .

Also you can decrease your metabolism from not eating enough calories with the band in us.  I have found that out ..  Keeping calories to low for extended amounts of time will play havoc on your metabolism .  Alot of WLS patients end up finding this out after a certain amount of time especially if you do hard core exercise .

Good discussion, docd.

IF the band helps you with portion control and you do that a few years, it'd be nice to think that the new habits would stick.  And I'm sure for many they do.  But, at least in my instance, I have 40+ years of hardwired behaviors in my brain.  It doesn't take a whole lot to kick those in to action again.

A big dose of stress, a turn to food for comfort, something sugary and sweet, dopamine pleasure center pathways get all excited and bam!  I'm done for!

It's way easier to fall off the wagon (resume those old, hardwire behaviors) than it is to get back on.  That's probably a big reason why diets don't work.

Honestly, does anyone know how the band really works?  After you posted the link to the Paul O'Brien article in Bariatric Times (Gastric Banding and the Fine Art of Eating), I have been doing a lot of reading and research.  It has been very thought provoking and I thank you for it!

What I got from his article is that we're not supposed to be filling a little pouch above the band and feeling full as a result.

It appears that the band may work by controlling background hunger or satiety by constantly exerting pressure on the stomach, and by controlling satiation (controlling hunger when you eat a meal) by the pressure exerted on the stomach between the band and the food bolus as it slides through the stoma.

If that's the case, losing restriction may mean that the pressure exerted on the stomach between the band and food bolus is reduced and that may significantly reduce satiation at meals.  Plus, the reduced pressure all day long because of an unfil may increase background hunger throughout the day.

People *****ly on the satiety and satiation signals the band should be sending to the brain to manage portion control and fullness will lose that with an unfill, and will in turn be more physically hungry.  

There's the struggle in a nutshell.

Some people are very fortunate and never need a fill to get the band, stomach and vagus nerve afferents to coordinate the message to the brain.  A guy in my support group lost 100 pounds and never had a drop in his band!

Others, like me, can't coordinate the band, stomach and nerve song and dance correctly.  Get enough pressure to tell my brain it's getting enough food, but the band is too tight to get that bolus across, leading to stuck episodes and vomiting.

Making sure my band is loose enough to eat dense protein without getting stuck means there's not enough pressure on the nerves to get the signal to my stubborn brain.

All I know is that the band is a complicated beast and affects us all differently.  No way to know how sensitive your system will be until you get one and live with it.

Denise,

I think you are right also.  Like me I never had any bad reason for me to eat like some folks do that turn to food,  abuse ,  or things like that .  I just didn't know how to control my portions and eat healthy meals, and the biggest thing for me is to actually think about what I was eating it didn't matter if I ate all carbs for dinner one night .

 We have a guy in our support group that has lost over 200 pounds without a single fill in his band also . When he spoke at the support group meeting he said he uses the band as a reminder that he dont need to eat like he use to .  That he still enjoys all his favorite foods but he has learned that he dont need to eat half of a pizza or a large fry and Big Mac at McDonald's now .   When he gets hungry he has a healthy snack like some peanuts, fruit or veggies .   And he is very strict with his exercise he said he does at least four days a week of exercise for a hour and then every two weeks he has a bad day where he eats what ever kind of foods he wants without the guilt . 

I have been very lucky I had my surgery a yr ago and have not a fill and have lost almost 80 pounds as of today .  According to my yearly exam I'm okay with restriction that if I would get a fill it would make me tighter then I want to be and I dont want to be that way and my doc wont give me one anyways.

I think the biggest thing for me and the reason why I wanted to get the band was of course to lose weight but I really wanted to change the way I ate , and to get off my lazy ass and exercise .

Its amazing how much I have changed my eating habits in a yr.  Like the other night my son and hubby wanted hot dogs with the works and fries .  I love hot dogs with the sauce, onion, bun and mustard yum yum but I knew it was all high in sodium and it wasn't the best thing for me to eat so I fixed me a chicken breast instead and I did have a few fries and I was very happy with my meal.   If you would have asked me before I got my surgery to do that I would have laughed at your face and sat down and ate two or three hot dogs and oodles of fries.  When I do things like that , that means more to me then my weight loss because its proving to myself and to my family that I am changing my eating habits for the better.  I'm not saying I wont ever have a hot dog with sauce but the desire to eat them foods are no longer there.  Hell, I haven't had a fast food burger in over 14 months now .  14 months ago I lived on them things lol.

I think and this just me and how I feel that with me changing my habits not because I have to with the band I can eat anything I want but because its ME that dont want to eat that food anymore makes me feel like I can be successful if something ever happens to the band .  Does that make sense lol ? 


Trust me Im no angel during this process. I have my days where I say what the hell was you thinking lol.  But , its going to happen , it happens to skinny people you just pick yourself up dust yourself off and go on and do better.  That is part of life and learning the process. :o)