Pammie, I'm feeling your pain. We wait so long to get the band (Oh, if I could just get the band...) then we wait to get the first fill (When I get my first fill I will start losing weight!) Its definitely not a quick fix nor the "easy way out." I hope you are exercising at least for your health and self esteem if not for weight loss.

hiya trapped inside. thank you for your kind words. I am trying to exercise but its hard. I just wish I could have some blooming restriction. Oh well. Either I will have to wait a bit longer or I am the only one who it won't work for. C'est la vie!!

I am really surprised to hear how many people are just now having their 2nd or 3rd fills. I started getting fills 6 weeks after my surgery. My dr. gives me .5cc's at a time and I go every 2 weeks. I don't have to go if I am losing good. I currently have 4.75 cc's.

oh wow, that sound like a great idea. Not possible for me though as I have to travel a great distance and pay £150.00 plus expenses for each fill so I would be bankrupt... skinny, but bankrupt !!!

If you're only eating the tiny amount that you describe, then your body is most likely in starvation mode and has reduced your metabolism drastically in order to conserve energy. You band is too tight if you are sliming with only two tablespoons of food.

I'm sorry that I can't remember which thread this was, but there was another bandster who was furious at her doctor because he told her that the reason she wasn't losing weight was because she wasn't eating enough. Several posters (including me) spoke up in agreement with her doctor. She very reluctantly upped her calories and, while it took a couple weeks, her body suddenly kicked into gear and the pounds starting dropping quickly.

I know that it goes against all logic, but our bodies will do anything they can to stay alive. If we restrict our calories too much, the body panics and fears starvation. In order to keep the machine running, it puts everything on "low power" and we stop losing weight. Sometimes to "fool" this strategy, it is helpful to have a high calorie day every now and then. When we stay at one level of caloric intake for too long the body adapts and attempts to keep our weight steady. Shaking it up a bit by varying the calories keeps everything running more smoothly, metabolically speaking.

I had my doubts about my band early on... but now I can't imagine life without it. It doesn't keep me from eating bad foods or finding a way to eat more than I should (i.e., eating softer non-protein foods first that can slip through the stoma more easily, or eating high-caloric foods, or drinking with meals, etc.), but it does help me feel full for longer than I did pre-band. My band doesn't keep me from pigging out... but if I weigh/measure my food and wait a few minutes after consuming it... I am generally satisfied and don't feel the need to go back for more. In those instances where I do, I eat a few more bites and stop again. 99% of the time that I find that I feel full (or at least satiated).

I have 7.5cc in my 10cc band. I am amazed at how much I can eat before I get full. I may not be overly hungry at the time but if I let myself I can down quite a bit. My dr put 2cc for my first fill, then added 3cc the next fill and then has put .5cc for the last 5 fills so when I go for another fill next week I am going to ask for 1cc. I feel I need to get a little drastic to get my next lot of weight off. I'm lucky because my dr is a 10 min walk away from my office so I can race down there if I have a problem.

I have 5.5cc in a 10cc band - I just had a half fill as I just wanted a touch more portion control in the evenings - I get the eats during the evening, or during the day as my stress levels increase.

Hey thats me as well Coo. During the day I can take it or leave it. Food just does not have the same power as it does in the evening. It makes not a drop of difference if I distract me self or not. I just am hungary in the evenings. I have tried to eat more during the day thinking that when the evening comes I won't need to eat such a lot, but I do. I am quite well restricted during the day but it loosens in the evenings. I am worried about geting another fill incase I cant eat or drink during the day. I have to travel a LONG way to get an unfill and it costs me a fortune too.

Hi, banded Oct 12th 2007, lost 49 pds... I recieved 3.8 cc the first fill then a little the times after....08cc... anyway I am at 5.0 and really still dont feel restriction....much..I have had 4 fills now and the first few days is very tight then I feel as though in the evening its wide open..I would like to know what types of food patterns everyone is following... Thanks

I have the same problem Coo, 95% of the time my daytime intake is minimal but for some reason the nights don't seem to be the same. I start off having a reasonable dinner but it's all the snacks that are the problem. I try to stick with low fat snacks but not always. Anyway, I'm back to be serious about getting my next lot of weight off and I'm hoping my fill next Wednesday will help. I have to lose another 20 lbs before the end of June... big task but if I have the right restriction and willpower then I should get there or at least close to it.

I think I have 6.6cc but I cannot be too sure because they lost my freakin' chart... BAD THINGS... cant see how you lose a chart, but they are "working" to find it. (BS). They supposedy took out half my fill but last time I went in she said there was 5.6cc in there and she gave me 1cc, so I THINK I am at 6.6cc. If they took out half then I was over 10cc when they took some out (cant be right can it?). I now have very little restriction, back to being hungry all the time. I return on 04/20/08. Hopefully by then they will find my chart and I can make sense of this madness!

signing,
Frustrated Melissa

I was upped to a total of 7.2ccs in my band (back in April) and that restriction was a goooood one. They passed on a fill in May and now my next apt isnt until June 25th where they'll probably fill me a little bit as I can get more food down than I should. I've lost a total of 54lbs since I was banded on Oct 30th with a total of 11 of those being between April and now (so far). Im finding that its time to really kick the exercise in gear because I havent done much of that on a consistant basis.

I have 6.5 in my band. I finally have good restriction and also had my first pb last night!!! A very weird experience.

i have a 10cc band and i was banded on oct. 22nd, 2007. my last fill was on march 25th and i have my band filled to 9.4cc's i do have restriction but i have been eating a lot more than what i am supposed to and i have been cheating which is stupid of me. i just don't really have support like i used to have anymore and its all in my head with the hunger. i was doing great till the end of march hit, i lost some1 that was very close to me, my sis in law, my ( my bro's wife) and she had gotten gastric bypass in nov. 2007 and they really dont know why she passed away. we had an autopsy done on her but all they found was that her intestines were twisted and they said that i could have been from getting her tubes tied or from the gastric bypass. we were dieting together and i had all that support from her but like my sis and my bro all they do is make fun of me cuz i have a band around my stomach and it just puts me down. but i have to get back on track.

I have 8.7 cc's in my 10cc band. I was banded October 8, 2007. I keep fluctuating between 35 and 40 pounds lost. Had something like my 7th fill yesterday. Had either no restriction or too tight restriction. Still looking for my sweet spot.