Hi all - I was banded in Dec 08 and I've had a good amount of weight loss. I had been down about 50lbs forever and was struggling to get any further. Well, I've just come back from a skiing holiday at altitude and it seems that I've lost about 13lbs in 2.5 weeks. Now I knew that I was eating a lot less than normal, but it was because I felt like my band was super super tight and I couldn't get a lot down it... have any of you experienced similar things at altitude?? If it's not the altitude is a sudden feeling of additional restrictions something I should worry about? Let me know what you think....

Altitude can change the band, that is why you shouldn't get filled too soon before flying.

Great job!

I live at 8,500 ft and one of my jobs is at 9,500ft. My band is normally pretty tight. I went to Indiana this past weekend and the band didn't seem as tight as usual. Now that I am back home in the rockies, I am back to being tight.

I would say the skiing also helped with that drop in weight. It's a good thing!

I first noticed the cold weather causing restriction after being outside for 2 hours in 40 degree weather (at son's football game)....we went to lunch after & NOTHING was going down. Definately being in cold weather makes a difference!

I live at 8,500 ft and one of my jobs is at 9,500ft. My band is normally pretty tight. I went to Indiana this past weekend and the band didn't seem as tight as usual. Now that I am back home in the rockies, I am back to being tight.

I would say the skiing also helped with that drop in weight. It's a good thing!

Hi Bird,

Where are you in Colorado? I'm thinking perhaps Leadville? I'm down in Pueblo.

Hi Bird,

Where are you in Colorado? I'm thinking perhaps Leadville? I'm down in Pueblo.

Woodland Park

I subscribe to the AP health blog and they had an article a couple of weeks ago about high altitudes helping people loose weight. There is probably a better link that the one I posted, if anyone is interested they can google high altitude weight loss and learn more.

High Altitudes May Lead to Weight Loss

Thanks, good article. I wish it would give me the "jump start", but since I've lived at high altitude for a long time it won't jump start me. Colorado is the fittest state and the article suggests there may be a link to the altitude, but I still managed to be obese in CO.

Ah well, I'm fixing it.

Yeah, it was an interesting study.

I love the blogs on my Kindle. I subscribe to over 20 and get some really interesting things for daily reading.

Yes, that's probably what happened. There is less pressure at higher altitudes. Have you ever taken a water bottle (one with thin plastic walls--a disposable bottle) onto a plane? When you're in the air and go to reopen that same water bottle (that was perfectly fine on the ground), you'll see that the bottle seems to have expanded and swelled (because there is less atmospheric pressure being exerted on the walls of the bottle). Your band would do the same thing if it were filled at sea level. When you went to a higher altitude, the fluid in your band would expand and make the opening to your stomach smaller in diameter--you'll have more restriction. The reverse would happen if you were filled at a higher altitude and moved to (or visited) a lower altitude--the higher atmospheric pressure would compress the fluid in the band and make it looser. I live in Colorado and will keep that in mind when I travel--that's something I've never thought of before! Congrats on your 13 pounds!