Hey guys!

I am going to paste the email I just sent to my surgeons nurses here and would love to know if anyone is having similar issues and what you've done for them, if so. I am hoping they email me back soon, but you know how long these things can take!!!

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Hi girls,

I hope this email finds you well. I have been having a tough week with my lap band and wanted to ask some questions. Perhaps you can pass them on to Dr. Kini or just reply to me when you have some time. I do have an appt. for the 18th but wanted to check in sooner since I am having some weird things happening.

First off, is it normal to have kidney pain? I thought perhaps I developed a bladder infection which spread to a kidney infection, so I took an old prescription I had of doxycycline. This seems to have cleared it up but I wondered if this infection developed due to dehydration. Is this common?

Next, is it normal to develop hemorrhoids? Again, I fear this could be due to dehydration, but lately it's become quite painful. I am trying to drink as much Water as I can, but this brings me to my next issue.....anxiety & restriction....

Is it normal to have more restriction in the mornings? The past few weeks, when I wake up, I cannot even keep down sips of water without pain in what feels like my chest, though I know it is not. This morning, I projectile vomited the few sips of water I tried to consume and then it took all day for my stomach to calm down enough to eat, and finally, I was able to keep some Soup down around 3pm.

I find this is an almost daily problem. However, I also notice I can eat a lot at night, when my day is over, so that is why I am asking if this could be anxiety related? If so, is there a solution? An anxiety medicine perhaps? I would rather not have Fluid removed from my band if possible, as the "norm" is that it is fine.

My last band fill was sometime in 2011 I believe....I don't think I have had a fill in 2012. I stopped my Tums, Fiber & Multivitamin supplements for awhile there, but started to wonder if that could be a contributing factor to my problems and began them again last week.

Sorry for all the questions - just concerned with these new "issues" and this is the 1st time I have had any sort of issues develop and I am just wondering how to live with these things/alter them so I can continue on comfortably with my band, and most importantly, make sure I am eating enough small meals per day, which lately, I just cannot.

My opinion would be you may need more fiber than you are getting if you are having hemroid issues. I take gummy fiber chews both in the morning and at night. I also add benefiber to my Greek yogurt at breakfast.

Hey honk!

Def - I agree. I am taking Benefiber but will try adding to my yogurt too! Thx.

It is normal to be tighter in the mornings, but it is NOT normal to be unable to keep water down. Sounds like a slight unfilled is in order. I believe anxiety can affect the tightness of your band (I know stress can). As far as kidneys and hemorrhoids, I have no clue.

I don't think that the band has any correlation to hemmeroids or kidney pain (I know that I haven't experienced that), but that's definitely a question for your doctor! Get that checked out!

And as for tightness in the morning...yes! That's a common thing. The reason is because gastric band is a semi-permeable membrane that actually can absorb fluids in the body! There's an interesting article about it here:

http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-surgery-support-science/notes-from-Dr-Terry-Simpson/Lap-band-Stress/Lap-band-Stress.html

Often times patients will come in because their Lap-band feels too tight. They find more difficulty with some foods, and are uncomfortable. They ask me “does stress cause the band to tighten?” The answer is, yes, it does.

The biology of stress is this: when you have stress, be it physical stress (like an illness) or mental stress (like your mother-in-law coming by for a short two week visit)…the body reacts by retaining Fluid. You may notice that wedding rings are tighter, and there is more swelling in the legs at night.

The balloon of the adjustable Lap-band is a semi-permeable membrane, meaning it is osmotically active. In plain English: the more Water you retain, some is transmitted to the band, so it swells.

If a patient has 5.5 cc in their band (we measure it) and they come in and it feels tighter, we find they have 6 cc in the band. Where did the ½ cc come from? That is from the extra water the body is carrying. Since the balloon on the band is semi-permeable it will retain more water also.

This is the same reason that most people find the Lap-band to be tighter in the morning. In the evening you may notice you have some swelling of your ankles – by gravity your body water has gone down to the legs. In the morning that swelling is gone, and the water has gone back to the central compartment of the body where the band is. If we measure the band in the morning it can have 0.25 to 0.5 cc more in it (which can make a difference).

This is also why we don’t like bands being too tight. People need room for stress – of all kinds. Leaving room in the band to allow for this, means that patients will have fewer difficulties.