I've had my band for just over 4 years now and at one point was down nearly 150lbs from my starting weight. About a year ago I had a problem with my band being too full and I was unable to eat for several days, I ended up taking some Fluid out (for the first time in over a year) and ever since then anytime I try and have more fluid put back into my band even if I add less than what was initally taken out my band tightens up to the point where I can't eat/drink. For this past year I have kept my band on the loose side and just tried to maintain my weight with diet and exercise, but I recently stepped on the scale and realized that I've gained back nearly 60lbs! I just had more fluid put back into my band because clearly I was needing some restriction but now yet again my band is too tight and I haven't been able to eat or drink anything for the past several days.

I'm getting exteramly frustrated now because it's either I can just leave my band loose and gain back weight OR I can fill my band and be unable to eat... I don't know what to do, and really dont have anyone to give me any advice on this but it really is getting to the point where I almost regret getting my lapband all together. I've gotten a taste of success and what its like to be at a healthy body weight and now it seems that my body is just completely rejecting my lapband all together.

I've gotten several xray's to see if I had any sort of complication at all as recent as last week and nothing is abnormal about my band and so far my doctor has no idea why I am having so much difficulty with it.Any advice at all would be extreamly helpful at this point, or even just someone out there to talk with about whats going on, I really am starting to get discouraged.

Now that is just SCARY! To gain back 60lbs after being banded so long. You poor thing! Do you think your tightness has anything to do with water weight or stress?

Wow..You are living one of my biggest fears.

I'm not sure when you got your last fill, but if its only been a couple of days, you may just be swollen from the fill. I swell up for about a week after a fill, but then things settle out and I can eat again. Things may be better in a week or so.

I've been banded 2.5 yrs and I can tell you that things are definitely different than when I was first banded. At about the 2 year point, my band got magically tighter and since then I've had a couple of small unfills. I keep my band loose. At this point I can eat anything, including bread, but I'm terrified of gaining my weight back. I make sure that I keep up with the exercise and so far I've been able to maintain my loss. What I am trying to do, is to keep the band loose, but try to eat more solid Protein, like chicken and turkey. When my band was too tight, I was living on chili and Soup. Now if I eat those things, I'm hungry again in an hour. Solids keep me fuller longer and I actually eat fewer calories.

I hope you get some good advice from your post, and I hope things get better for you.

Cindy

Please hang in there, I am sure that someone on this forum will have great advice for you.

I, on the other hand, have a question. You lost 150 lbs with the lap band, had to have some Fluid taken out and gained almost 50 lbs, right? I totally commend you on losing the weight. As a bandster myself I know that it takes a lot of work to get the weight off. Some people think we have "taken the easy way out" by having WLS, but we both know better than that. My question has to do with the mind and changes in the way we feel about food. After having the band for 4 years your feelings/attitude/thinking about food didn't change? This scares me because after being banded for 18 months and struggling with the "mind" or "emotional" part of my food issues even now -- although I am much, much, MUCH better than before banding -- your story makes me think that maybe I will never get a handle on this. What do you think happened? Do you feel that your attitude about food is the same as before, similar or completely different? Sorry that I am "asking" rather than giving advice. I really do think you can shed some light on how the band works long term. Thanks.

All the best to you on your journey. Don't lose hope ... we are all here for you. You can start again with us and lose those pounds in no time.

~F

Now that is just SCARY! To gain back 60lbs after being banded so long. You poor thing! Do you think your tightness has anything to do with Water weight or stress?

I have noticed that it does coinside with my monthly cycle, so at this point I'm kinda hoping that that is the issue at hand, but that in itself is disconcerning because the thought of having my band tighten up every month for a week is worrisome, isn't that a big cause for slipping/errosion?

Please hang in there, I am sure that someone on this forum will have great advice for you.

I, on the other hand, have a question. You lost 150 lbs with the lap band, had to have some Fluid taken out and gained almost 50 lbs, right? I totally commend you on losing the weight. As a bandster myself I know that it takes a lot of work to get the weight off. Some people think we have "taken the easy way out" by having WLS, but we both know better than that. My question has to do with the mind and changes in the way we feel about food. After having the band for 4 years your feelings/attitude/thinking about food didn't change? This scares me because after being banded for 18 months and struggling with the "mind" or "emotional" part of my food issues even now -- although I am much, much, MUCH better than before banding -- your story makes me think that maybe I will never get a handle on this. What do you think happened? Do you feel that your attitude about food is the same as before, similar or completely different? Sorry that I am "asking" rather than giving advice. I really do think you can shed some light on how the band works long term. Thanks.

All the best to you on your journey. Don't lose hope ... we are all here for you. You can start again with us and lose those pounds in no time.

~F

It is interesting that you ask this, because its the first thing my parents asked me once I told them about my "relapse" I guess you would call it...

Over the 3 years that I was banded I developed a list of "danger foods", things I had once loved but learned that because of my band I could no longer eat, it mainly consisted of carbs (Pasta, french fries ect) but also ice creams and high fat Soups (baked potatoe soup for example). I learned to enjoy more fruits and veggies, partly because they were healthier but mostly because I could eat them without getting food stuck.

I have to admit that once I origionally had the fluid taken out of my band I fell into the "I can eat anything" mindset. Pasta's, milkshakes, mongolian BBQ took over my diet for the first while my band was empty and by the time I leveled out my eating and started avoiding my "danger foods" again alot of the damage had already been done.

My mindset about food has definatly changed over the years, through the lapband and also because I was only 17 when I had my surgery so alot came with maturity. I made poor choices when I was first loosened but I knew that I was making them, I was just making up for lost time I guess you would say. I made myself fall off the weightloss track and now I'm just trying to get back on it.

Though, I did also find that even once I stopped eating those "danger foods" and started dieting and exercising again I still didn't loose any weight because the band really did help with portion control for me.

I hope this helped answer your question, I'm sure I'm not the best lapband success story given my current weight gain but I am always willing to answer any questions you may have.

Wow..You are living one of my biggest fears.

I'm not sure when you got your last fill, but if its only been a couple of days, you may just be swollen from the fill. I swell up for about a week after a fill, but then things settle out and I can eat again. Things may be better in a week or so.

I've been banded 2.5 yrs and I can tell you that things are definitely different than when I was first banded. At about the 2 year point, my band got magically tighter and since then I've had a couple of small unfills. I keep my band loose. At this point I can eat anything, including bread, but I'm terrified of gaining my weight back. I make sure that I keep up with the exercise and so far I've been able to maintain my loss. What I am trying to do, is to keep the band loose, but try to eat more solid Protein, like chicken and turkey. When my band was too tight, I was living on chili and soup. Now if I eat those things, I'm hungry again in an hour. Solids keep me fuller longer and I actually eat fewer calories.

I hope you get some good advice from your post, and I hope things get better for you.

Cindy

Cindy I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one that has the magically tightening lapband problem! The thing that it difficult for me this time is that my last fill was friday (12/3/2010) and I was fine, able to eat and drink and keep it all down until this Wednesday (12/8/2010) which is why I'm not understanding what happend... Do you normally swell up right after a fill or a few days later?

Allison, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Yes, you have been a big help. You are to be commended for losing 150 lbs at such a young age! That is fantastic! Your explanation sounds sooo reasonable to me. I can see myself doing the same thing for the same reasons. If it is any help to you, continue to come to this forum for support. Our issues/ages/weights, etc. may not all be the same, but I think we all understand the journey and want to help and support each other.

You have been a tremendous help to me and you remain a success story as far as I am concerned. It's not over till the fat lady sings ... and around here we are ever-shrinking, so the fat lady won't be singing. LOL

Keep your head up. We can do this!

~Fran

Cindy I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one that has the magically tightening lapband problem! The thing that it difficult for me this time is that my last fill was friday (12/3/2010) and I was fine, able to eat and drink and keep it all down until this Wednesday (12/8/2010) which is why I'm not understanding what happend... Do you normally swell up right after a fill or a few days later?

I don't usually tighten up immediately after a fill. It takes 24-48 hours. I've never tightened up 5 days after the fill, but unfortunately, this thing works different in all of us.

There really are only 2 other factors that tighten my band (that I know of so far!) : stress and hormones. I always tighten up just before I get my period. I know that so I just wait it out a couple of days. Emotional stress is a big one for me, but I only stay really tight for a couple of hours, so again, it's not a real problem. I think its kind of funny that work stress doesn't bother me, but if my teenage son picks a fight at the dinner table, I can't eat a thing! Do you have anything major going on in your life right now?

But as for my magical tightening problem at the 2 year point, there was no reason, I could ever find. My doctor said that he hears this all the time and that I'll probably never know what caused it. For me, that's OK. It's not happening regularly like it is for you.

Cindy