I was originally banded in May 2008. I had a very successful start and lost about 90 pounds my first year. However, I had some circumstances that required me to be totally unfilled for an extended period of time, and I have gained back 35 pounds since last November!! I feel horrible! It is so depressing to have lost the weight and then put it back on. I feel worse now than I did at my highest weight before I had the surgery. I am going back to the Dr. for my first "starting over" fill this Thursday (7/15) and I am sooo excited! I am planning on using this site for support - something I did not do when I was initially banded. I think some of the complications I had could have been avoided if I had used this wonderful site for education and support. I love my LAP-BAND® and have missed it terribly! I can't wait to start using it again!!!

Keep your head up. It sounds like things will start going better for you now. This site does help quite a bit, so stick around. Your future is bright.

Hi PrettyinPink:

Wanna be starting over buddies? I've been unfilled since May and have a small slip that probably started in April. I'm having revision surgery next Tuesday. I've gained 30 pounds in the last year, of which most of it has been since April. Thought I needed a fill in May, went in and found out I had a slip, which was allowing me to eat more. I miss my belly cop.

I'd love to be "starting over" buddies with you. I think we'll be more successful this way. What do you think?

Sue

What caused you to have to unfilled? I was recently completely unfilled too. I had lost all of my weight in the first year, then got too tight 10 months out and haven't lost weight since. I didn't realize that entire time that I was too tight. I kept dancing around it, I got fills, unfills, fills, unfills, nothing seemed to be working.

Over the past few months, my band seemed like it was getting tighter for no reason. I'd get an unfill, it would feel better for a while, then slowly get tight again. Finally I started having heartburn, nausea, and PBs constantly. Docs checked my gallbladder, did and endoscopy and pressure fill/check with fluro and nothing looked out of place.

They finally took all my Fluid out on June 25th and all my symptoms are gone. Now my doctor's office is ignoring me about what and when to do next.

I'm doing WW and during the week I'm great, then on the weekend I don't do so well. I'm so happy to finally be able to eat solid food, I went on a bit of a bender and had hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza (the real thing, Pizza Hut Pan pizza) not to mention beer. It all tasted like haven. This was all before starting WW. I'm doing the old Core plan and its working pretty well for me if I can just keep it up through the weekends.

Hopefully I'll be starting over again soon with my fills. I gained 15 pounds while being too tight. I hope to at least get those back off.

Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress!

I am curious to know what "circumstances" caused you to require the unfill?

Maybe this will help someone else avoid going through the same problem?

Well, I just hung up with my doctor. He said he wants to do revision surgery to reposition my band. He thinks it slipped while I was too tight. I also have another hiatal hernia.

I sure hope this works. I've read on here that once you slip you are more susceptible to future slips.

Waiting for them to call me now with a surgery date.

Thanks to all of you for the support! I'd love to be starting over buddies! The circumstances were: I had a slip 5 1/2 months out...from being too tight and getting some Ibuprofen caplets stuck. I vomited about 5 times in a 2 day period and that was enough to slip my band (although they told me it typically takes WEEKS of violent vomiting to slip a band..... that is not so!!! It can happen very easily - I'm the proof!) I then had a revision surgery and I did ok for a while, but around November of last year I started having acid reflux, coughing all night, having to sleep in the recliner, being able to eat too much, weight gain, etc. My Dr. ordered an upper GI and it was discovered that I was (again) too tight. This time, instead of feeling uncomfortable or feeling like vomiting after eating too much, the food was not passing through my band at all and was accumulating in my pouch and in my esophagus, causing my esophagus to stretch out to three times it's normal size. I could not figure out why I was able to eat normal sized portions and why I was gaining weight. I could not tell that the food was not going through. It felt normal the whole time, except for the terrible heartburn anytime I layed down. I kept going in for fills telling them I needed to be tighter (hence, making the problem worse). Also, I was drinking a lot of diet pop, which my Dr. allows (I know some Dr's say don't drink it, but mine always said he didn't think it mattered). The treatment for a distended esophagus is a complete unfill for several months to allow the esophagus to return to normal size. That meant even more weight gain. If I was able to control what I eat, I wouldn't have needed a LAP-BAND®, right?! LOL

I went for my first fill yesterday and have already lost 2 pounds!! I just didn't know all these things could happen. I am a Registered Nurse who researched the LAP-BAND® for nearly a year prior to having it done! I considered myself to be the most likely person to succeed, with all the knowlege I thought I had. I see people on here with the exact same problems I have faced. I joined this site right after my initial surgery, but for some reason I never got on here. I think I was scared...I didn't want to hear about complications because I wasn't planning on having any! As I said before, I think a lot of my problems could have been avoided if I had learned from others ahead of time. Let's all keep in touch!

A couple more things...some of the big mistakes I made were: 1.) Thinking that tighter was better and that it would get the weight off quicker 2.) Drinking during/after eating (this causes pouch enlargement and esophagus distention), 3.) Drinking carbonated beverages (my nurse practitoner now says "no pop!!"), and 4.) Not following the basic guidelines (eating meat first, then veggies, and very little carbs/starches. I would eat things that passed through easily (cheetos, cookies, mashed potatoes, etc), therefore, I didn't have the feeling of being full.

Thanks to all of you for the support! I'd love to be starting over buddies! The circumstances were: I had a slip 5 1/2 months out...from being too tight and getting some Ibuprofen caplets stuck. I vomited about 5 times in a 2 day period and that was enough to slip my band (although they told me it typically takes WEEKS of violent vomiting to slip a band..... that is not so!!! It can happen very easily - I'm the proof!) I then had a revision surgery and I did ok for a while, but around November of last year I started having acid reflux, coughing all night, having to sleep in the recliner, being able to eat too much, weight gain, etc. My Dr. ordered an upper GI and it was discovered that I was (again) too tight. This time, instead of feeling uncomfortable or feeling like vomiting after eating too much, the food was not passing through my band at all and was accumulating in my pouch and in my esophagus, causing my esophagus to stretch out to three times it's normal size. I could not figure out why I was able to eat normal sized portions and why I was gaining weight. I could not tell that the food was not going through. It felt normal the whole time, except for the terrible heartburn anytime I layed down. I kept going in for fills telling them I needed to be tighter (hence, making the problem worse). Also, I was drinking a lot of diet pop, which my Dr. allows (I know some Dr's say don't drink it, but mine always said he didn't think it mattered). The treatment for a distended esophagus is a complete unfill for several months to allow the esophagus to return to normal size. That meant even more weight gain. If I was able to control what I eat, I wouldn't have needed a LAP-BAND®, right?! LOL

I went for my first fill yesterday and have already lost 2 pounds!! I just didn't know all these things could happen. I am a Registered Nurse who researched the LAP-BAND® for nearly a year prior to having it done! I considered myself to be the most likely person to succeed, with all the knowlege I thought I had. I see people on here with the exact same problems I have faced. I joined this site right after my initial surgery, but for some reason I never got on here. I think I was scared...I didn't want to hear about complications because I wasn't planning on having any! As I said before, I think a lot of my problems could have been avoided if I had learned from others ahead of time. Let's all keep in touch!

I am so glad I found your post. I am having the same problem (extended esophagus). I too had a complete unfill. I was very upset at the time but read your post has helped me understand why it was neccessary. I will stop the diet sodas immediately and be more careful about drinking close to meals. Thank you so much.

Congratulations on starting over.