I had lapband surgery on June 10th 2010. My band has never worked because i have a leak at my port. My Dr said it was a manufacture defect and that i need to have my port replaced. I have had 5 fills that lasted a day or two and thats it. I was told I did not have to pay to have the port replaced. We will see where it goes from here. It is very dissapointing. :smile:

My doctor has never said anything about Ibuprofen and I take it often. I hope its just the port for your sake. Mine offered to fix it in the office for a reasonable fee but I waited too long and it started moving down into my belly so I had to go under and get it fixed. Yuck! Hope you don't have to do that! Good luck!

My Doctor also is adamant about NO ibruprofen/motrin. The reason? It causes the stomache to bleed. Now everything you take sits in your pouch before going to the stomache, thus causing the pouch to bleed. This will eventually cause erosion and irritation>

I have an injury due to my previous career that I was retired from. How did the Dr.'s treat it? They gave me 800mg ibuprofen to take 3 times a day. This was long before I had my lap band. I never had heatrburn or acid reflux before taking this stuff, and as a result I wont go near it. I have found that Tylenol arthritis works quite well (reg. tylenol and xtra strength didnt do much for me). The only thing it doesnt work on is my migraines. Thank God I dont get them often. It takes the edge off but doesnt completely eleviate them, so now I just tough it out (sometimes up to 3 days). As long as the 'edge' is off, I can function to some degree.

My point in all of this yammering is to be careful. Most of these Doctors will tell you to stay away from ibuprofen/motrin.

Does your doctor say Ibuprofen is okay to take? Mine is adement about NO ibuprofen.

I found out Monday when I went in for a fill that he thinks mine is leaking too. The last two fills I have had he has put in 9cc's and when I go back he always checks and there has only been 7ccs in my band. I go in next Monday for a port a gram. He said if it is in the port then just have to have the port replaced but if it isn't in the port then I may have to have the entire band replaced.. Bummer

Sound like my situation. I think it's interesting that your office is planning to do a 'graph' to be sure it's the port. My office is just assuming it's the port and replacing it. Kinda makes me wonder if the PA doesnt realize he punctured something. . .Hmmmmmmmm.

My Doctor also is adamant about NO ibruprofen/motrin. The reason? It causes the stomache to bleed. Now everything you take sits in your pouch before going to the stomache, thus causing the pouch to bleed. This will eventually cause erosion and irritation>

I have an injury due to my previous career that I was retired from. How did the Dr.'s treat it? They gave me 800mg ibuprofen to take 3 times a day. This was long before I had my lap band. I never had heatrburn or acid reflux before taking this stuff, and as a result I wont go near it. I have found that Tylenol arthritis works quite well (reg. tylenol and xtra strength didnt do much for me). The only thing it doesnt work on is my migraines. Thank God I dont get them often. It takes the edge off but doesnt completely eleviate them, so now I just tough it out (sometimes up to 3 days). As long as the 'edge' is off, I can function to some degree.

My point in all of this yammering is to be careful. Most of these Doctors will tell you to stay away from ibuprofen/motrin.

wow !!! I was never told about ibuprofin .went in yesterday because I lost all restrictin in my band . she pulled out 5cc that was red . really makes me think erosion I take ibuprofin all the time . I am going in tomarrow for a dye leek test . ,so sounds like there are no garenties on anybodys bands ? I have had pain in the middle of my chest off and on .I go in monday and find out the results .Sucky thing is these visits cost me 175.00 each time ! Sounds like Im screwed being self paying . My insurance does not cover any weight loss surgery .Anybody have a ballpark of cost to replace or remove the band ?

wow !!! I was never told about ibuprofin .went in yesterday because I lost all restrictin in my band . she pulled out 5cc that was red . really makes me think erosion I take ibuprofin all the time . I am going in tomarrow for a dye leek test . ,so sounds like there are no garenties on anybodys bands ? I have had pain in the middle of my chest off and on .I go in monday and find out the results .Sucky thing is these visits cost me 175.00 each time ! Sounds like Im screwed being self paying . My insurance does not cover any weight loss surgery .Anybody have a ballpark of cost to replace or remove the band ?

wow !!! I was never told about ibuprofin .went in yesterday because I lost all restrictin in my band . she pulled out 5cc that was red . really makes me think erosion I take ibuprofin all the time . I am going in tomarrow for a dye leek test . ,so sounds like there are no garenties on anybodys bands ? I have had pain in the middle of my chest off and on .I go in monday and find out the results .Sucky thing is these visits cost me 175.00 each time ! Sounds like Im screwed being self paying . My insurance does not cover any weight loss surgery .Anybody have a ballpark of cost to replace or remove the band ?

Oh my goodness, LBG, that's terrible! You shouldn't be paying for anything in my opinion- they put in a faulty device. If it was a hip replacement joint that was faulty you wouldn't be paying for it so why should you pay for this? They should be doing it at no cost to you and the band company should be paying the Doctor. That's that. Be sure to talk about this with them before going forward. It isnt your fault.

Hey all,

Update: once we figured out it was leaking I was scheduled to have it repaired in office. I asked for a flouro so we could make sure we knew exactly where it was. It took 2 weeks for me to get the flouro and first they took a shot of my abdomen. Found that the tubing had completely come loose on one side and was floating around in my belly - like a snake. It was causing so much pain - poking me everywhere. I had to end up going in for surgery to repair the tubing. Insurance did not cover the repair - i had to come out of pocket quite a bit. sucks but hopefully this will be it!

This is the exact same thing that happened to me! My band was so messed up that I ended up revising to the sleeve. I had a slip too and my doctor felt the band would slip again since I also had a hernia. I thought I had appendicitis! I am so glad I am not the only one.

This is the exact same thing that happened to me! My band was so messed up that I ended up revising to the sleeve. I had a slip too and my doctor felt the band would slip again since I also had a hernia. I thought I had appendicitis! I am so glad I am not the only one.

The really weird thing about all of this to me is that most of the people who have had this problem said they've had pain. I've never had pain with my 'leak'.

Hey Donna,

I think the only reason we had pain was because our tubing got loose and was poking us in our insides - sort of like a sharp knife because the tubing is pretty hard on the ends. If you are not having pain your tubing must still be attached or in the same place - which is a good thing:) That is why you have to get it fixed quickly before it travels!

wow !!! I was never told about ibuprofin .went in yesterday because I lost all restrictin in my band . she pulled out 5cc that was red . really makes me think erosion I take ibuprofin all the time . I am going in tomarrow for a dye leek test . ,so sounds like there are no garenties on anybodys bands ? I have had pain in the middle of my chest off and on .I go in monday and find out the results .Sucky thing is these visits cost me 175.00 each time ! Sounds like Im screwed being self paying . My insurance does not cover any weight loss surgery .Anybody have a ballpark of cost to replace or remove the band ?

I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but it sounds more like an erosion to me. I had that same pain in my chest (and still due due to the damage my erosion casued)

Hopefully if it is an erosion your insurance will cover the removal, since it is more a medically needed procedure than a "cosmetic" procedure.

Please let us know how things went.