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How do I know if I need a Lap-band fill (adjustment)?
This is always the question- but it is best answered before you come to the office. How do you do it? You perform a few simple science experiments.
Measure your food out for different meals-- four ounces (by volume) of meat/fish/poultry - and six ounces of vegetables. Plate this meal out-- eat it slowly, and note how long it takes before you start to feel hungry again.
Measure your food a number of times-- the more you do it, the more accurate information we have, and the better you can help us determine if you need an adjustment. The key is how long before you feel hungry again.
So before you come to the office do the experiment. Once you have eaten, see how long it takes before you are feeling hungry again. Note it. If it is several hours – you won’t need an adjustment. If you start feeling hungry in a couple of hours, then we need to adjust your band.
It is NEVER- NEVER - a matter of how much you can eat at a single sitting
The Lap-band is not a tool designed to STOP you from eating. Nor is the band designed to tell you when you are “full.”
The band is NOT restrictive – and when patients come in saying they don’t feel “restriction,” we know that they have been getting some severe misinformation somewhere else.
How the Lap-band works is this:
Food passes by the band – when it does, there is a signal sent to the brain that you have eaten food. With the band the brain thinks you have consumed more food than you actually have. This is the part of the brain that controls appetite – which means it will delay sending out the hormones that signal you to eat (appetite stimulating hormones like ghrelin). It will also make it easier for you to use your fat stores (another set of hormones). If the brain thinks you are starving it will send out hormones to get you to eat more—which happens if your band is loose.
So if your band needs tightening – then your brain will send out hormones in two hours after food—that you are hungry. It will also make it more difficult to utilize your fat stores.
