How Many Fills are typical

[cckcsharp]

For those of you who have had your lap band a while, how many times have you needed a fill? What is the typical. This is one of my main concerns with this surgery. I am afraid of breaking the bank getting fills. Just wondering if there are any tips or suggestions to help reduce the amount of fills, or anything that might help the situation. Is there a time when I won't need fills any more?

Also, I have no CLUE what the SWEET SPOT means. Can someone please share?

Jessica

[julieburns]

It can take anywhere from 2-4 or 5 fills to reach the "sweet spot". It varies from person to person. The "sweet spot" is the amount of fill in your band where you have the best restriction that lasts and causes no problems while you lose weight.

[karenlynn79]

Hey Jessica,

You have to figure that you are spending many thousands of dollars at once for the band. The fill cost is so little in comparison, but you do have to factor that in. I have been down many times to the OCC, I do live in Cali so it's only a 100$ flight roundtrip for me. Every person really is different. Depending on where you are and if you stay in TJ a night, it could add up. But, it's something that is necessary. When something is nonnegotiable, I just try not to worry about it.

I've been down probably 6 or 7 times in almost 2 years. But, I had to have an unfill because I had them put in just a wee bit more when I really shouldn't have (2 trips), and I had a baby recently so that counts for 2, getting an unfill while pregnant and then in April getting refilled back to where I was before. As far as sweet spot, people just mean the fill level for each person where they are losing but not too tight.

It's best not to compare with other people's fill levels because each person's stomach is radically different. If you are borrowing or saving $ for fills, you might want to plan for at least a few the first year or two at a minimum and go from there....

Karen