First Unfill

[Jnlebean]

When I was down at the OCC on March 2 I had my first fill of 1.6CC's. For the first week everything was getting stuck and I was PBing all the time. This has now continued for the last few weeks and I would say that I would PB about twice a day. I was too tight! I booked in to see Dr. Mitchell here in Calgary and last night he removed .2CC's from my band. I feel great, I can eat and not have to PB, I can actually feel full rather than pain! When I was tight I didn't know what full was because I was in pain, I could not feel the full sensation. I know I was over eating before, I think it was because I was trying to compensate for the food that I brought up. Just a heads up for the newbies and people that haven't had fills yet, being to tight is not fun!

I hope now I will be able to drop a pound or two a week!!

Jenelle

[PAMMIE]

When I was down at the OCC on March 2 I had my first fill of 1.6CC's. For the first week everything was getting stuck and I was PBing all the time. This has now continued for the last few weeks and I would say that I would PB about twice a day. I was too tight! I booked in to see Dr. Mitchell here in Calgary and last night he removed .2CC's from my band. I feel great, I can eat and not have to PB, I can actually feel full rather than pain! When I was tight I didn't know what full was because I was in pain, I could not feel the full sensation. I know I was over eating before, I think it was because I was trying to compensate for the food that I brought up. Just a heads up for the newbies and people that haven't had fills yet, being to tight is not fun!

I hope now I will be able to drop a pound or two a week!!

Jenelle

YOU DID THE RIGHT THING JENELLE. PBing ISN'T THE NAME OF THE GAME. THE BAND IS FOR A LIFETIME, NOT AN IMMEDIATE GET THE WEIGHT OFF. SLOW AND EASY WINS THE RACE

[SDGIRL]

what exactly is PBing? As of now, I'm only 4 weeks out. I cannot eat bread, rice tortillas and sometimes other things. I get this horrible pain in between my boobs and it feels like I could throw up, but I don't. Is that what you mean? It hurts bad. Then after about 10-15 minutes, the pain goes away. Is that what feeling full is supposed to be? It usually only when I eat bread etc. but I'm worried about getting a fill at all since I shouldn't have any restriction without any fluid? Anybody else experience this?

[Jnlebean]

SDGIRL,

You hit the nail on the head! That is what i was going through! PBing is to throw up the food. FOR ME, when i was in pain like that i would bring the food up because I was scared of stretching the pouch and or the esophagus. I cannot eat bread, crackers, nuts etc. anything dry like that is just to much for me, even pasta I cannot do. I had an unfill which helped me and I finding that Im not in pain so therefore I know what fill is for me. Pain is not being full, and restriction should not feel like that either. Pain is not good! I think if you are only 4 weeks out you are still swollen and your pouch is small remember! Take is slow like the others have said! Dont worry about your fill just yet, you will know when you need one! You do have restriction without the fluid because your stomach went from football size to golf ball size! The band is a form of restriction.

I hope I answered your question.

Jenelle

[SDGIRL]

SDGIRL,

You hit the nail on the head! That is what i was going through! PBing is to throw up the food. FOR ME, when i was in pain like that i would bring the food up because I was scared of stretching the pouch and or the esophagus. I cannot eat bread, crackers, nuts etc. anything dry like that is just to much for me, even pasta I cannot do. I had an unfill which helped me and I finding that Im not in pain so therefore I know what fill is for me. Pain is not being full, and restriction should not feel like that either. Pain is not good! I think if you are only 4 weeks out you are still swollen and your pouch is small remember! Take is slow like the others have said! Dont worry about your fill just yet, you will know when you need one! You do have restriction without the fluid because your stomach went from football size to golf ball size! The band is a form of restriction.

I hope I answered your question.

Jenelle

Thank you so much. I thought I was going crazy. Maybe I am still swollen? I have schedule a fill for another 3 weeks, but maybe I should wait? Besides those foods, I can eat whatever, without any restriction. Anyways, I'm glad your feeling better. Thanks.

[ValleyGirl]

I'm so confused about needing an unfill. I get the pain too but not all the time- one day I can eat and the next day I can't...there is no rhyme or reason. The minute I get the severe pain (mine is REALLY bad too) I think, "this is not normal, what have I done, get this thing out of me, this can't be a healthy way to lose weight"....I feel panic, anger, basically handicapped and I just want to feel like a normal person!!! The next day I have no problems and I'm back to loving my band. I couldn't eat all weekend but today I feel perfect. I ate very watery oatmeal for breakfast, half a chicken breast and veggies for lunch and plan to do salmon and veggies for dinner. I guess what I'm wondering is how many pain episodes are too many??? Once a day? Once a week? Or should I be pain-free all the time?

Sabrina:)

[Jnlebean]

HI Sabrina,

I think no pain is the way to go! Even after my unfill I still get pain but ONLY when I eat foods that I know I cannot have like, breads etc. Before I was getting suck on almost everything. Try to figure out your trigger foods and stay away from them, then see if you are getting stuck on "normal" foods, if so get an unfill. I would rather this take 2 years to drop the weight then be in pain!!!!!!! I too would have days that I could eat anything even bread, but for the most part i was in pain!

Jenelle

[BrandNewDawn]

I'm so confused about needing an unfill. I get the pain too but not all the time- one day I can eat and the next day I can't...there is no rhyme or reason. The minute I get the severe pain (mine is REALLY bad too) I think, "this is not normal, what have I done, get this thing out of me, this can't be a healthy way to lose weight"....I feel panic, anger, basically handicapped and I just want to feel like a normal person!!! The next day I have no problems and I'm back to loving my band. I couldn't eat all weekend but today I feel perfect. I ate very watery oatmeal for breakfast, half a chicken breast and veggies for lunch and plan to do salmon and veggies for dinner. I guess what I'm wondering is how many pain episodes are too many??? Once a day? Once a week? Or should I be pain-free all the time?

Sabrina:)

Sabrina,

I too think that for the most part, you should be pain free. You may always experience pain if you try to eat too fast or if you take too big of a bite or do not chew but those are areas within your control We can slow down, take smaller bites and chew more. You may experience pain with certain foods no matter how well you chew them. You will have your own personalized list after a while. I cannot eat rice but my banded husband can.

Pretty much all of us experience the "come and go" restriction where one day you can eat and the next day you cannot. But, when you are looking at whether you need an "unfill", you have to use well restricted foods to decide and it sounds like that is what you are doing with the solid protein (salmon, chicken) and the vegies.

When I was too tight, I felt just like you wondering what had I done! Like Jenelle, I would rather take two years to lose weight than "suffer" the misery of being too tight. If you are having too many of those "what have I done" days, you might want to think about an unfill.

Good luck.

Dawn