disgusted, discouraged, depressed...

I was banded July 30, 2009, Had 2 fills, am up to 3.5cc in my band and have NO restriction. Food gets stuck when I eat to fast, but even when it's stuck, I still feel hungry. When you are at your sweet spot, do you really feel satiated? I just don't get it and feel like I will never feel full fast.

Thanks!

The “sweet" spot will be different on everyone. There is no magic number. There are many factors you need to take into consideration about obtaining “the sweet spot"

 

Fills: Fills are very different for everyone. The first thing to remember is how the fills are done. Some doctors do it under fluoroscope (x-ray and barium drink), while most do it “blindly". If under x-ray the Doctor can “see" exactly how ‘tight’ the band is, compared of a Doctor who puts in .5 cc in at a time. Sometimes it takes fewer visits to get to the “sweet" spot with fluoroscope then with blind.

 

Band: Realize has two size bands. 9cc and 11cc. Hence it could take more saline in one band to get to the “sweet spot" (ex. It will take 4.5 cc for a 9cc band to be half-fill, compared to 5.5cc for a 11cc band to be half-filled). Now before you freak about the “size" of the band, remember this: all bands (no matter what brand or size) all “close" to the same diameter. It may take a longer time (more saline) for the “larger" band to get that diameter then a smaller band.

 

Sweet spot duration: It is common for someone to lose their “sweet spot" – sometimes quickly. Remember, the stomach is a muscle. As we lose weight, the stomach will shrink. Since the stomach is a ‘smaller’, we lose the restriction around it. Thing of the band as a belt around your waist. If you lose enough weight, the “notch" that once was perfect for the belt is no longer doing the job, so you need to move to a lower notch. Also, when a fill is done, sometimes the stomach get’s irritated, which causes swelling, and gives a “tighter" restriction. After a day or so, the irritation will go away, the swelling will subside, and that “sweet spot" feeling will be lost. You may need to go back to the Doctor for a real tiny fill.

 

As for feeling full, here are some tricks I do – maybe they can help:

 

Studies show it takes 20 – 30 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain you’re full. So the slower you eat, you will feel full – taking in less food. For me, during meals I take a bite of food – chew for 30 seconds – swallow – then wait another 30 seconds before I put another bite in my mouth (so every minute I eat something). My eating slowly, a plate of food lasts longer, and basically when I am done with my plate of food, I feel full.

 

Make sure you’re not drinking: 30 minutes before; during eating; or 30 minutes after you meal. (A) liquids can “fill" up the stomach fast. While you may feel full quicker, liquids get expel quicker then solids, so that full feeling will go away quickly. (B) liquids causes solids to pass through your “band funnel" quicker. When you have a band, think of your stomach as funnel shape. Now think of a kid at the beach playing with a funnel. If they put sand (food) in that funnel, and fills it up – it takes a while for the sand to run out of the funnel. Now if that kid fills the funnel up with sand, then pours water on top of it, the sand become more liquefied, and runs out of the funnel quicker.

 

Use smaller plates and/or utensils, so the amount of food seems larger – and then it may give you a false sense that you ate more then you did.

 

Make sure you are hitting your protein amount. Protein will keep you full – longer. Last year when I first had the operation I noticed if I ate 4 ounces of protein I didn’t feel full - however if I ate 6 ounces I did. I spoke to my Doctor about it. FOR ME he said that those “numbers" are somewhat guidelines. He went on to explain there are some folks who feel full on 2 ounces of protein while some need 6 or 8. He also explained that the calories intake should not be too much of a concern in the beginning. The way he explained it to me was: Prior the operation I may have been taken 3,000 calories per day. After the operation, with the amount of food I was taking in - I may have been taking in 1700 calories. While that’s 500 calories more then the recommended daily allotment - it was actually 1300 calories less then what I normally took in. So not only was I losing weight, but was also feel full. We need to worry about calories when our weight slows downs/stops or starts going up. ADVICE WARNING: TALK TO THE DOCTOR BEFORE INCREASING /CHANGE YOUR INTAKE

 

Finally, remember when eating: you eat Protein first, then fiber, then (if room) non-starchy cabs, then fats (very little). Again, it’s the Protein that will make you full.

 

OK, are you still awake? I hope this was helpful.

 

Know I am here if you need.

that was a helpful post, thank you.  I will keep it in great tips file

to the original poster:  What does you doc think of all this?  hang in there!