Luanne

I've been to the Fill Center USA three times and have had really good adjustments. I also have the thoughts to try and get filled too much and then just stay on a liquid diet, but it isn't comfortable. Then when I had a social event and had to eat with others I would be getting up after every bite to get rid of it. Then I got crabby and unhealthy. Sometimes a person thinks they'll endure that just to lose the weight. Eventually I did have to give in and get .5 cc taken out. The doctor was very understanding and concerned about an overfill. I think even if they don't have the band themself, they've been trained to know if we will leave there O.K. I always have to drink 2-3 cups of warm tea and hang out for awhile before I leave. They want to make sure you can get liquids down. Hope this helps someone. Happy Holidays!

I've read about levels of restriction varying during the day. Tight in the morning and less at night. Is it true that one of the reasons we are tighter in the morning is because of water retention? This can really affect a fill because if you go in the morning and are tight already what happens is you feel as tho you are restricted only to find out later in the day your not. Its a lot of time, money and effort for these adjustments. Is it O.K. to take a water pill before so you can rid yourself of the water retention to get a more accurate adjustment? Please help as I am scheduled for Sat. Morning and told to not have anything to eat or drink. Thank you, Luanne

If I have this figured out right. A VG band holds about 10 cc of fluid. I have a VG and had up to 6 cc. but had to have an unfill and start all over. Restriction is strange tho cuz it varies by time of day and of course types of foods and chewing well. When I have gone a long time without eating I have to be very careful what I eat or I get backed up quickly. Did you mean that you have 3.5 cc in your band now? I have 5.3 cc now in my 10 cc band and scheduled an adjustment in 2 weeks. Still searching for the "sweet spot". I think the VG band holds more fluid than alot of the others on this forum have the smaller band. Good luck - hope you get some better results. Luanne

You all are so honest about the scale thing. I had to throw mine away. If I lost I had a great day feeling confident. If I gained I felt terrible and my whole day I was thinking about it and had the vicious cycle thinking. Self defeated might as well eat the stuff I shouldn't. The really bad part is tho. When I threw it away and then 2 months later joined Curves and got weighed I had gained weight! So guess I thought if I didn't see the numbers I'd magically lose. Not the case. Pick myself up, dust myself off, put on my tennies and get exercising. I'm trying not to weigh myself at Curves but its hard to break the habit. Luanne

Me Too! Same problem. In the morning can't eat more than a couple bites of egg or something healthy. Lunch salad and fruit. Then about 4 p.m. start snacking on crap - few crackers, pretzels, yogurt than by night time overeating and buying the forbidden foods on the way home from work. End up having too many calories by bed time. Decided to try a change and focus on excercise. Walking & Curves. Hasn't offset the sweet cravings but at least I'm getting stronger. Its all a head thing thinking I need something extra after the healthy stuff. I'm totally self sabatoging my band and can't believe I even do this after all I went thru to get it. I'm like you can't have the sweets around me at all. If its 1 cookie it turns into the whole package. Been struggling with this my whole life. I know how frustrating it is and have tried just about everything to break this bad habit. All suggestions welcome. Thanks for the support.

I also went to the Fill Center in St Petersburg, FL and feel like they did a very professional fill compared to others I have had. She was very patient with me because I was unsure how I was feeling as far as the water going down. Also I was in Florida on vacation from WI so I knew I wouldn't be able to come back right away if I was filled too much. After a month of being back home I've decided to go for another Fill at Fill Center in MN (about 2 1/2 hr drive). I don't think they have Fluro tho so kinda scary. Has anyone had a fill in New Prague MN?

Dr Sanchez patient. May 2003. Anyone banded by Dr Sanchez? Been almost 6 years and am still getting fills. Last fill in Fl about a month ago and found out I have the Vanguard 10 cc band. Have lost 35 pounds and am still trying to get to the sweet spot. Can you relate?