lyndalafe

This reply/question is for Dr. C. Early in September I had a fill and after a couple weeks all the sudden I was extremely restricted...after about 4 days of trying to be careful, started with reflux at night and then w/o thinking ate some "rice pudding"...........Oh my God! must have been little rice particles....but then started heaving up everything (including water)and by next evening had to go to Emergency room for an unfill. They took X-rays and then I went back to my lap band doctor apprxo 3 weeks later...feeling fine; but not a whole lot of restriction w/1.5 in band. When he look'd at Xrays - he could see my stomach had slipped up thru the band. He did add a little fill and I have been at 1.9 now for several weeks and doing okay. I don't have as much restriction as before; but I still cannot overeat a lot. I have already lost 51 lbs. and am approx. 25 from goal. The question is: can slips repair themselves? or I guess (as in my case when unfilled, the stomach is allowed to go back down thru the band. I'm confused as to what a slip really is? I thought it was if the stitches come out and the band itself slides up or down? However, from the sounds of my situation...band was extremely tight...reflux and regergitation caused stomach to slip upward thru the band????? Please clarify for me?

:notagree My stepdaughter is a nurse and does shift work, mostly nights at the hospital and she has never been able to eat much during the daytime. Normally, she will be sleeping during the day and getting up around 3 - 4 pm to go to work..........so her time to eat is between 8 pm - 1 a.m.??? Its like daytime is mornings for her? She has been this way since she got her band almost a year ago? So the shift work could be confusing your band and its kind of like lot of us that are more restricted in the morning and can eat more later in the day. :hungry: ........

Yes, I agree with you regarding having enough restriction that keeps you from overeating and gaining weight; but you still have to use some will power and exercise to move the scale down after a few months. Of course, that also depends on your age and how much you have messed up your metabolism over the years. At this point, I have decided to go with a little lessor fill and stop my recurring reflux issues and slippage problems. Maybe after a few months at this fill, I might try a little more. I have had my band for one year and have lost 50lbs. which is less than some people; but I'm 25lbs from my goal and hope to get this off next year.

So exactly how much weight do you have to lose? Were you banded in October of this year..........a month ago? If so, 55 lbs is a heck of a lot. Some of the problem us bandsters have is that even though the band restricts us, we still have to use some form of mind willpower because the band doesn't kill the head hunger. You need to make sure you are getting enough to eat? If your body is not getting enough nourishment it will go into a starvation mode and hold on for dear life to whatever it can.

You should be able to eat a small chicken breast 3 oz or small hamburger patty or 3 oz piece of soft fish at least for each meal, if you can't then you are definitely too tight. Of course, use bandster rules ...small bites and chew chew chew!

Yes most definitely and I'm the queen of fill and unfill issues....and have had several bouts of reflux and pain; but when it gets down to it....I don't think I would every have gotten 50 lbs off any other way!

When I have proper fill I am able to take my "premerin" which is a very small oblong pill and also I can take a small capsule like a tylenol and an ibprophen pill. I have fought the battle for a good Vitamin also. Can't stand the chewables or liquid cause I gag from the taste. Actually found a Multivitamin at CVS the other day that is very small bout the size of an ibprophen pill and you take two a day.... If you can barely swallow a pill then you probably don't need a fill and will just cause yourself issues later. I find I can go a month and not lose a pound and I don't think I'm eating much and then all the sudden it will drop 5 lbs. and then I'm stuck again? Excessive fills can cause reflux or more PB'g which can cause slips....I think some of us just can't handle the real tight restriction as others do.

Well I can truely sympathize with you. The sad thing is that emergency rooms have no idea what to do with "lapband patients" and unless your doctor is part of that institution and can be called in, your left hanging out there on your own. I had a very similar situation about 6 weeks ago. I have had my band for a year and have been filled and unfilled several times. I will do fine and then out of the blue I close up...start soft food...then to liquids...then to acid reflux....then to not being able to eat an ice chip...and then to severe pain, dehydration etc. I live in Houston and the last time this happened it got unbearable on a Saturday. I called my lapband doctor who was out of town and asked if i could just hang on until Monday. Well pain got really bad and started vomiting dark brown metallic stuff? and by 9 pm that night went to the emergency room at Methodist Willowbrook. I knew what they needed to do.........X-rays or barium swallow and then an unfill to relieve the pain. I told them this from the "get-go"??? and then just looked at me like I was from outerspace. They did take me in to run a series of X-rays and handed me this large glass of disgusting stuff to drink and I tried to tell them that I couldn't keep an ice cube down, so what makes them think I can drink that? But they said try anyway to drink a little and gave me a "barf" bag. So I sipped as much as I could and then they took pictures every 10 minutes.....in between I would throw up whatever I drank...then I had to tell them they had the camera set too low because they were expecting to watch the Fluid go down; but I told them it would be coming up and not down???? so duh? they moved the camera and did get some good pictures of the fluid coming back up and my band being totally restricted........(actually you could see I had a slip on the x-ray) but of course they had no idea. Then about 1 a.m. in the morning I finally see the emergency room doctor and I tell her...please just take the fill out....I will show your where the port is and any nurse can do this.........If I could I would do it myself! Well she did not want to touch me and said they had to call my doctor, who was out of town? I said he will not be coming tonight and she said well he might have to or you will just have to be admitted until he can come????? because she could get sue'd if something happen'd??? I volunteered to sign any kind of waiver they had saying I would not sue if she would just help me relieve my pain. Well finally she talked to my doctor and he wasn't coming but explained to her how to remove the fill. She comes in and was scared to put the needle in and I'm like just do it and then she's not getting any fluid out and calls in a nurse who has done "underskin ports" before and the nurse guides her thru it and they finally remove about 2/3 of my fill and sweet relief and then I go home. The only good part was that the X-rays I brought a couple weeks later to my band doctor show'd the slip. However, somehow we need to get emergency room people knowlegable about the band. They are totally freek'd out and don't understand the pain and don't want to touch you. I have a sister who is a nurse and I swear I'm going to have her learn how to put in and take out fill..................(especially remove if something like this happens again)...........the only saving grace I had was my doctor is on staff at this hospital and they could call him or I would have probably had the same treatment that you had..........so sad...............

Yes, think there are many of us that keep having this problem and just give up and have band removed....if the fill changes dramatically for no reason and you cannot eat or keep liquids down and you haven't eaten anything to cause a major PB, something else is wrong...either Hiatel Hernia or slip (that might be fixed by slight unfill).

I am sure the level of slips can be different and the severity; but here is my story. I have been one of those people who has been filled and unfilled so many times in the past year (11/17/05 - my surgery date) that I have lost track. I will go and get a good fill and then will be fine for a week or even a month....good restriction and then bam! can't eat....go to liquids but no matter within 3 to 4 days start with severe reflux and then run back and get an unfill....then they would send me to do a barium swallow to see if I have a slip and nope all looks okay....and then the cycle repeats month after month. Well the last time I got a fill - it took exactly one week to the day to all the sudden not be able to eat anything.....so started the liquids and soft stuff again....and by Sat. afternoon started with severe pain in my back, could not keep Water down.....called doctor and he was out of town and told me to see if I could hold on until Monday so he could do a barium swallow while having one of these attacks! Well by nite I knew there was no way I could hang on....cause would get really bad pain and then have to throw up this dark brown metallic tasting stuff and then pain went away...just to return 2 hrs later and the same deal - vomitting up strange stuff...so I got scared and went to emergency room at around 9 pm and after several hours with people who had no idea what to do with me....(I kept telling them they just needed to remove the fill???duh) well they ran a series of X-rays (had me drink what little I could of disgusting stuff that I threw up of course)........then finally about 1 a.m. they talked to my doctor and he explained to them how to remove my fill. Instant relief. However, took those Xrays to my Doctor 2 weeks later and he said aha! you have a slip??? What happens is that when I get unfilled band goes back into place so they can't detect it....then I'll get another fill and it happens again! But unless they can do an X-ray or barium swallow while you are having the problem, they might not see it. Right now have a slightly less fill..........and we're going to wait and see. I might have to have band reattached properly....he said looks like some of the stitches came lose?

I have never been a mega drinker of Diet Coke; but before my band probably had one to two small cans a day. I pretty much stay away from it now; but have found that if I eat something that gets stuck or have not chew'd a piece of meat/chicken enough and I feel it not going down; a couple very small sips of a carbonated drink will help it disolve. Taking a couple small sips will cause me to burpe a little; but doesn't cause any pain.

The first 2 - 3 times this happen'd I did have barium swallow and the x-ray to watch it move and both times show'd no slippage? what is nighttime slipage? My crazy deal is I will handle the higher fill for up to a month and then out of the blue.....while not even incurring a PB session - I will be able to tell I'm very very restricted....and the last time I started immediately on soft to liquid diet....and did not have any severe vomiting or anything that would cause slippage - and boom........3 days later the nighttime reflux begins and I regurgitate up liquid all night....and even if I haven't eaten or drank anything. for hours...stomach will generate some type of acid to back up my throat. sleeping sitting up doesn't help either....only relief comes with unfill. So maybe that's why Dr. thinks its "hiatel hernia" and apparently it can move around and possible affect the band??????? heck I'm no doctor and I can't figure it out.

I do empathize with you, since I have had my band on 11/17/05 its been a constant fill, do okay for a few weeks, get too restricted, acid reflux, and followup with unfill..........and then it starts all over again??????? So what's the deal? The new doctor I have been going to, who just filled me again to 1.7 says that if this happens again - he wants to run an upper GI to see why I keep having this problem. He thinks it could possible be an undiagnosed "hiatel heria" .....don't know how that fits into the scenerio. So i understand the frustration, everytime I seem to get good enough restriction to start losing weight steady - I get hit with acid reflux and then have to be unfilled and struggle to maintain what weight I've lost. I think they need to do a study on several of us that seem to have this issue. Most people who had acid reflux before the band - find it goes away. Then there are those of us who never knew what acid reflux was until having this band put in.????? go figure....but I'm getting weary fighting this battle and tired of doctors looking at me like I'm doing something wrong?:speechles

5'1" and currently 170 and would luv to hit 135-140 and stay there.:eek:

Just label yourself blessed to be able to d what I always thought the band should do, which is allow you to eat everything - just a whole lot less of it. ....and then there is the rest of us? or a lot of us that haven't been so lucky.:faint:

I can relate to all of you. My band journey has been a start/stop journey. I have had numerous fills...seems like my sweet spot is around 2.0. However, after a month or so, i get totally restricted and then even doing liquids for days - within two to three days the "acid reflux" or nite throwing up and coughing begins and the only way to get relief is to get unfilled to around 1.0; which for me is merely a maintenance level. I changed fill doctors since Dr. Spiegel is too busy to deal with my fickle band and was getting frustrated with me; so now I go to Dr. St. Laurent who is so patient (however I am self pay now) and he said the last time we unfilled me was that I could have an "undiagnosed hiatel hernia" and this could be causing the problem. So I am going back today to get more fill and if this happens again; he suggests we have some tests run to see if it is in fact a "hiatel hernia" which he said can be fixed rather simply w/o having to remove the band. I just refuse to give up on my band. Even though I am a slow loser with all my fills and unfills - I have managed to lose 40 lbs. that I know I would not have lost without the band. Will keep you up to date on my journey:eek:

Can they see if you have this type of hernia while doing surgery? or do they look for it because of problems prior to band? I have ongoing issues with my fills being just right and then all of a sudden - I get totally closed and develop acid reflux. My new fill doctor (he did not do my surgery) says its possible I have an undiagnosed Hiatel Hernia and occasionally it moves and plugs the band and I might need an upper GI to determine if I have one. He cannot figure out why else I keep having these issues............have hit sweet spot 3 times since Nov. and had to be unfilled to relieve the acid reflux????

:faint: I had reached finally my sweet spot and was doing great! for two weeks and then I got on a plain last week......so much for sweet spot! Arrived at hotel 4 hrs later and had some Soup and salad and PB'd for 5 hours??????????? should have gone on liquids; but was at a business function and dinner was part of it......so switched to soft foods...then flew back next day and really got my self in a bad state. So how many others have problems with the band getting tighter when they fly? Lynda:flypig:

Guess I qualify for Turtle Club..........whopping 30 lbs in 6 months.........also have been filled...unfilled and now filled only to 1 cc; but going to try different doctor for fills even though I will have to self pay...just don't want to have this great tool and not have it doing its utmost to help me.....................So need doctor that will deal with my fickle body!

Houston, Texas: What doctors will take new patients that have already been banded and "fill" patients. Really need a doctor that will take time with my fickle band to help me get the correct fill in order to start a steady weight loss. Help!:help:

Do you know if Dr. Ferrari will do fills for people who were banded by other doctors? and how much?

What kind of problems? Yes to problem fills...that's me....been filled to 1.8...and in spite of what doctor says - 1 to 2 weeks later....start pb'g everthing even tho I eat slow! and then bad PB's create acid reflux with creates more PB's and on we go (this includes soft and liquids) until have to have total unfill to get relief and let swelling subside. 2nd go round - he filled to 1.9???? don't know why after 1st problem -but these doctors think they know our bodies better than we do sometimes.....went along great! got on a plane for 3 hrs.....after that Soup and soft foods created PB's and 3 days later acid reflux was back....went on liquids for 3 days and no relief had to go back and get totally unfilled again! So when I went in to get a fill after two weeks.......would he try 1.4, 1.5 NOOOOOOOOOOOO put in 1.0 sent me away and told me not to come back until I lost 20 lbs. right! can eat anything if I do it slowly....including bread etc. so how am I going to lose now! I'm totally frustrated. He said I was eating too fast and that was the problem....personally I think the amount of fill was too much and he refuses to try to tweak it just a bit.....like 1.5 or 1.6.....and my husband can vouch for me that I do not eat fast.........think I will bring him in the next time with me...........

Yes, these doctors sometimes just assume you've done something wrong...like my Doctor only filling me to 1.0 after insisting on doing 1.8 and 1.9..........which eventually caused acid reflux..........but insisted I was causing my own acid reflux by eating to fast???? my husband says if I eat any slower, I would run one meal into another? When I asked about filling to a 1.5 or 1.6..........he just put 1.0 in and told me not to come back until I lost 20 lbs...........now how is that going to happen when I can eat just about anything now!

just curious, who your fill doctor? LL

Thanks for the hugs!! Yep I thought by now I would be down 50 lbs....and due to the fact I'm close to doctor's office and my insurance has been paying for fills....i've gone in every two to 3 weeks to get more fill or less and think he is frustrated with me........and more or less told me to lose 20 lbs with the fill I have before coming back - which sort of peeved me off. He insisted I got acid reflux from eating too fast...........but i think he just insisted on putting in the fill he thought I should have??? Got acid reflux 1st time at 1.8...had unfill and then when he filled me again - game me 1.9? duh!.........then had to get total unfill again....and when I went back asked about doing 1.4 or 1.5; but noooooooooo gave me 1.0 and sent me off to lose 20 lbs. w/o a lot of restriction???? But I'm not giving up....damn it! (pardon my language).......will sit tight for a month to 6 weeks and go back again for a little more fill............and try to lose as much as I can up to that time.