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Would you share a bit more about the complications and what may have led to them? Did you experience complications right away?

@gabrielle2014: I'm holding you in my thoughts. I hope today finds you being able to get your liquids in, and some Protein. Let yourself recover, and then perhaps an ablation would be the next best step. Heart stuff is really scary, right? I can manage my other ailments, but anything heart or brain related is just the scariest.

@@Djmohr Yes, I have the option to do an ablation but at my hospital, they prefer to start with the meds. If one doesn't respond well to beta blockers, or doesn't like the side effects, or, if they just don't want to stay on them for life, then they can consider the ablation. Since I've just been diagnosed, the cardiologist started with step one--beta blockers. But I am keeping the ablation in the back of my mind, because man, the side effects of my beta blockers are really life-altering. Enormous fatigue, memory loss, depression....I have no interest in anything but sleeping. On the other hand, I now sleep REALLY well!

They did a chemical cadioversion as I had been in arrythmia too ong for the electroshock cardioversion. Electroshock is the protocol if one arrives at the hospital having been in arrythmia for only a few hours. I was in afib + accelerated heartbeat from Friday to Tuesday. (I was really an idiot not to go to the hospital right away, I know.)

@jaxson5: My lapband has affected my vagus nerve. One of the functions of the vagus nerve is heart rhythm (as well as digestion). I developed both an accelerated heartbeat (150 bpm) and afib last month. Ended up in the ER (but not soon enough....I waited four days before finally my BF insisted I go to the hospital. Thank god he did....I was one breath away from stroking out.) The team first brought down my heart rate (it took seven hours) but the afib persisted until I got on the "right" beta blocker. Now I'm on them for life...it is the only thing keeping my heartbeat in sinus rhythm. Unfortunately, removal of the band will not solve the problem as I was in arrythmia for too long and now the electricity of my heart is screwed up.

@gabrielle2014. I'm sorry to read this and I understand exactly how you feel. Exactly. I am also feeling very depressed and questioning why I had lapband surgery, which I choose voluntarily thinking this was going to protect me from future health issues, especially my heart. And now, because of my choice, I have to stay on beta blockers with all their unpleasant side effects, for the rest of my life. So I totally get what you are feeling right now. It sucks. It really does.

It's not only OK to be sad, hon, but it is completely appropriate. Go ahead and cry as much as you need. This loss is immense, and you are blessedly human.

I always take Probiotics when I have to taken antibiotics, just to mitigate the upset stomach from the antibiotics. You could also try Nexium or another acid-reducer.

I'm sorry you are experiencing this and I know it must be scary. I never had afib until now, almost two years post op. I have a lapband. I don't know if there is any correlation between VSG surgery and afib but I'm sure you discussed this with your team prior to having your WLS. If I were in your situation, I would ask to be seen immediately because of the risk of clotting when your heart is in afib. There is already an increased risk for a blood clot with WLS (are you on blood thinners?) and if you remain in arrythmia, your risk to throw a clot increases. So while if you were "just" in arrythmia, I might not be as concerned, but as you have recently gone through WLS and these immediate days post op are critical, my sense is that you should be seen. I would think it would be important that they get your heart rhythm back to sinus asap, just to decrease the chance of throwing a clot. Please let us know how you are doing, and I wish the a speedy recovery with no additional complications.

Once I start, I can't stop. It's easier for me to stay away than to have to stop (again). I'm sadly in a chocolate phase right now and know that I have to Just. Stop. I'm one of those people who can't moderate chocolate.

I think you are smart to look at different scenarios as a pre-op. That shows that you are taking this seriously and weighing risks vs benefits. Everyone should do their due diligence when making such a life-changing decision. To answer your question, the only risk factor I had going into my lapband was a slightly elevated cholesterol level, controlled by statins. A small bit of sleep apnea, related to my weight, was detected during my pre-op exams, and reversed with my weight loss. Otherwise, I was in good health numberwise, but tired, limited in mobility by my obesity, and hated how I looked and how I moved through the world. The lapband-related "complications" that I experienced after banding were a too-tight band due taking a couple of Advil when I slipped a disk in my back. Bandsters are advised to never use anti-inflammatories as they can cause the stomach to swell. This happened to me and it shut off my stoma (the area that the band sits) so I had to get an unfill for three months until things calmed down. That was a drag but I didn't have a choice. Now I'm facing another band side-effect which I'm in the process of having evaluated: atrial fibrillation. It would appear that in some people, the band can irriate the vagus nerve which controls (among other things) heart rate. I'm currently on beta blockers to keep my heart in rhythm, with a possibility of having a band removal surgery if the tests being perform do show that the band is the source of my heart arrhythmia. Your bariatric practice can address your fears of slippage, erosion and other typical but rare complications from lapbands. They can tell you what behaviors can contribute to slippage or erosion (although these can occur with even the most-compliant of patients). While no bandster ever wants to experience a complication, the good thing about the band is that almost all complications can be reversed by either unfilling or removing the band. So that's something to think about when evaluating all WLS. You are asking good questions which makes you a winner already! Good luck as you move towards the steps towards better health.

You offer some great and well-founded insights and I thank you for taking the time to tell your story. I spoke too fast (and perhaps too naively) when I wrote that other WLS are plug and play. I think they just seem that way when one has experienced complications with a lapband. I also suspect that we haven't yet seen the long term effects of the more recent WLS and that is why those surgeries currently appear to be so much more attractive than the lapband. Let's get 10-15 years of data collecting behind the more recent WLS options and then we can talk! The rapid weight gain after an unfill, or getting one's band removed, is logical so don't be hard on yourself. The lapband, when optimally adjusted, really allows us to live on 900-1,000 calories/day without the hunger or feeling of deprivation. Take away the lapband (or its optimal fill) and there is no one in the world who could hang on to 900 calories a day comfortably....at least no former obese person. All the best, and welcome back to the banded life.

Your post is very interesting and I agree about the weight just waiting to come back on when an unfill occurs. I agree that one's body seems to "seek" the lost weight and pack it back on at an abnormally fast pace, similar to regular dieting. I'm sorry you are experiencing this and I empathize with you. It's quite disheartening, isn't it? One feels so out of control. I'm curious about the esophegal dilation. You never felt this? When you drank liquids, did they seem to flow through the band quite slow? Do you think your band was too tight for too long and this led to the complication? As far as unfills/fills go. My experience is that I never have found the restriction I had prior to being unfilled. There are many of us on this forum that will say the same thing. I'm not sure why this is...why 5ccs today does not feel like 5ccs prior to being unfilled, but it is the truth. My first fill was 3ccs in a 10cc band, and I lost 60 pounds with that fill. Now I've stayed at the same weight for almost a year...cannot lose any weight at 5ccs as I have no restriction whatsoever and am hungry constantly. Add to this a complication of a heart arrythmia which may be linked to my lapband so I can't put any additional fill in it at this time as I risk setting off the atrial fibrillation that I've just got under control. I will opt to have the band removed should exams show that it (the vagus nerve) is responsible for the Afib. I chose the lapband after hours and hours of research, but now I think that I should have opted for a different WLS, one that was more "plug and play". It's rare to see a long term bandster that has a perfect lapband track record. I'm not talking about weight loss/maintenance, but band stability with no complications. I hope your experience with the refills will be a good one, and look forward to reading your future posts.

This is an excellent post and something banding surgeons should ask their patients. While I do not have severe allergies, I know that my band's restriction is much more pronounced when I have a bad head cold, due to the post nasal discharge, etc. I makes sense that all those secretions would plug up the stoma. Thankfully for me it is only temporary; I'm sorry this is something you have to deal with constantly. But this is something doctors should ask, and then orient these patients to a different WLS so they don't risk complications due to a too-narrow stoma.

My sense is that some incompatibility issues can arise when one person in the relationship becomes more active, more health-conscious and starts doing activities that no longer revolve around thinking about food, preparing food and eating food. The other person can either jump in and embrace this new way of living, or resent it. In any case, what I've seen is that when you change this one thing, it changes everything. My BF and I are completely incompatible in the way we eat, spend our leisure time and do athletic activities. He basically spends his weekends on the couch, and me I'm out and about. Not much fun nor very fulfilling for me. It's only a matter of time before I just leave, I'm convinced. No amount of talking about it and trying to get him on board with living life more fully has worked so....

@@Beverly Carroll: I'm so sorry to read about your experience. My thoughts are with you. I'd have the same attitude as you after that...no WLS, no revision. I hope you are now feeling better and have no lasting consequences from this.

I'm so glad to read this thread and I thank the OP for opening up the conversation. I am exactly in the same place; contemplating getting my band removed. I've done well with it but now am experiencing cardiac arthymia each time I eat...even eating the smallest bites possible and chewing to liquid. I ended up in the ER and am now on beta blockers just to keep my heart rate in rhythm. I am sure there is a correlation between the band's placement and cardiac athythmia for certain people. I'd rather live unbanded than on beta blockers for the rest of my life. The band has been great for me in terms of turning down my appetite, but if it takes my life because it is setting off my heart beat? Not worth it for me. Right now I would not consider a revision.

I've made an appointment with my GP to have this checked out, but wanted to see what the hivemind has to say about my situation while I wait to be seen. I know dumping syndrome is more common to other WLS (e.g., sleeve, bypass, etc) but I think I'm experiencing this now, 20 months post-op. For the past five days, about an hour after I eat, my heartbeat becomes irratic and heartrate increases (pulse 130). It's similar to heart palpitations in that I can feel the extra (or delayed) heartbeat and the racing heart. I have no dizziness, no chest pain, no confusion. I've been tracking these episodes and they consistently occur after eating, even if it is just a yogurt and a tangerine (in other words, not related to overeating). The episode can last over three hours before calming down. If I don't eat, I don't have the episodes so I'm thinking it is related to my food and not exercise, stress or lack of sleep. Sounds like one symptom of dumping syndrome, but I don't have the other, more-typical symptoms such as diarrehea or dizziness. Is dumping syndrome even possible with a lapband? Thanks for anything you can share with me if you've experienced this.

This was my experience, too. I wonder why this happens? I'm currently at a fill level that was, long ago, just fine for me, but now I no longer can go as long between meals. I won't take another fill because I'm having other issues that I believe are band-related and I don't want it any tighter was it would cause the other issue to become worse. That said, I've still got restriction (thankfully), just having to do more "dieting" than I used to do to see the scale move. Still, it's a whole lot easier than when I didn't have the band. I really think the doctors should study why, once unfilled, it is difficult to get back to the green zone, even when re-filled.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my post. I ended up in the ER last night, as my heart rate was 140 and quite erratic. I was in complete cardiac arrhythmia and it was pretty scary. They treated the symptoms with beta blockers which, over seven hours, brought my heart back into a normal rhythm and my rate back down to 80. I'm exhausted! Friday I go back in to the hospital to see a "real" (not the ER) cardiologist and have a couple of tests to see why this happened. Luckily I am at the same hospital where I had my band done, and I will definitely ask the cardio to liaise with my surgeon regarding the question of vagal nerve irritation. I'm not a doctor but it makes complete sense to me. Lisa, I read your post while being treated so I asked the ER intern about it but off course they said "this is your heart, not your lapband" which indicated to me they had no expertise with lapbands. So yes, glad I didn't just brush this off and that I acted on my intuition that these "palpitations" weren't just going to go away on their own.

If you don't need a fill, don't get a fill. But the moment you start reverting to pre-band ways of thinking, you need that fill. Don't tough it out or you will not be using your band to its full advantage. But I like the idea of not getting a fill until you know you need one...because it will give you somewhere to go. My personal philosophy is to lose weight on the lowest fill level possible so I have somewhere to go when needed (in terms of fill).

Hi~You've certainly been through a lot. I must commend your doctors for their thorough testing...you are lucky (even if you are in pain). I might suggest they look into esophegal spasms. I have had a couple of episodes of these spasms and they are incredibly, breath-takingly painful, such as you are describing. I never had them ever before being banded, so I assume they are due to the band. I had some initially, right after my band sugery, when I was at a fill level of 1 (just primer) and my surgeon said it would stop once I got filled...it was probably due to the band kind of shifting around. He put me on innexium to help with the irritation. However, I also experienced these spasms when overfilled, too. I don't seem to experience them when my band is a little underfilled, so that's where I stay and I keep taking the inexium just to keep things from becoming inflamed. I also know a person who experiences these spasms due to acid reflux (and not due to a band; he isn't banded). I empathize with you because the episodes are really painful and scary. I can tell when they are coming on --there's a definate curve to them, with a peak and then a subsiding...kind of like labor pains! For me, if I hadn't been able to get control of these spasms, I would not have kept my band. The pain/spasms interfered too much with my life...I once had to leave work because of them, and once I had a set come on when I was out cycling in a remote area. Scary stuff!

I am prompted to address this so that I can share another voice. Before choosing the lapband, I asked my surgeon, who is one of Europe's top bariatric (and digestive cancer) surgeons, heading a Center of Excellence, why he didn't do the Sleeve. (He only did lapbands and bypasses). His response was 1) not enough longterm data yet established so he did not feel confident in proposing this surgery to his patients and 2) the most WLS-complications he sees on his floor are from sleevers being sent to him from other hospitals. "22 centimeters of titanium staples? That's a lot of potential for ulceration, perforation, etc. Minimum stay on my floor? Six weeks! No, no sleeve surgery here."

I think this observation is accurate. Bands are no longer the Gold Standard for WLS. But in 10 years, the sleeve will not longer be the predominant WLS, either. It would be super interesting to have the industry predict what will be the Gold Standard for WLS in 10-20 years. I wonder if it will actually be a pill form, rather than a surgical method. I know that the goal of bariatrics is actually to replicate the results of WLS but in a pill form. It's apparently very tough to do from a molecular standpoint and the researchers aren't even close at this point.

Here's a little secret: it's not motivation that makes us take action, it's actually the reverse. If you act--in this case, do some movement, even 30 seconds--the motivation will kick in. For years I thought that I had to find my motivation in order to start in on movement or diet. I had to "gear up" to my next weight loss program...get in the mood, wait for that "click" in my brain, before I embarked on that diet. After my band, I realized that the motivation happens AFTER I just start moving around. So don't wait until you hear motivation knocking. It doesn't work that way for most of us. Just act, do, move. Force yourself to get out and walk, even if it just one block. You'll see...that will kickstart your motivation.