Affects of Flying with Lap Band?

kebabish · March 15, 2006

hi every body i have my band on the 31st of this month please could any one tell me what do you drink for the first 2 weeks can any one give me some ideas thanks susan from u k milton keynes:nervous

dawg · March 15, 2006

Inamed do record that Flying and travel to countries where you can't trust the food or Water, are both reasons to have an elective unfill.

So, applying logic to that - it's clearly a situation they have knowledge of and have documented.

On the subject of cabin pressure, the cabin pressure is actually lower than Sea Level. It runs at about the same air pressure as 8000ft above sea level.

I guess taking that information and extrapolating a theory is possible:

We are big bags of Water, as external pressure decreases, logically we expand a bit. I would guess that expansion of both the stomach and the liquid in the band play a part, I suspect that the swelling from the pressure ajustment causes a prolonged effect.

What would be interesting (to me) is whether people that live in higher altitudes have less issue on aircraft, than those at lower altitudes.

Now... this is a personal theory folks, I'm not saying this is fact, close to fact, or even remotely factual. So don't beat up on my theory! :hat:

PhotoNut · March 16, 2006

Sorry, folks... dont mean to hijack the thread but I didnt want Susan's question to go unanswered either.

Susan - Welcome to LBT. You've posted on a thread about the effects that flying has on the lapband. There is a food forum with lots of information about what to eat after surgery. If you check out the main page when you log in, click on the food forum and look at the post titles in there. Also, there is a great thread about what to have on hand prior to surgery. Click on this link for that thread:

http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14814

StrawartS · March 16, 2006

Dawg - applying logic to something that came from Inamed? Don't you think you're being a little generous? :hat:

lyndalafe · March 20, 2006

Well last Thursday 3/16 had some fill taken out....1.9 to 1.2....have been doing liquids and on Sunday had some soft food. Of course, doctor said there should be no reason for band to tighten during a flight??? Then I mentioned that my fill had been less than 2 weeks earlier and maybe it was kicking in? and there again they looked at me like I was from another planet......soooooooooooooooo who knows; but I know what I felt.

Marimaru · March 20, 2006

I am always affected by flying, but oddly enough am not effected by scuba diving. Who knows, lol.

StrawartS · March 20, 2006

I flew from DFW to Seattle on Friday. I have a very good fill right now, and I am fairly restricted in the mornings, which I had never been before. I was afraid that the plane ride would cause more restriction, but it didn't.

However, I woke up at 5 AM to go to the airport and had about two gulps of Water. During the drive, I was in excrutiating pain and finally had to pull over to throw up. After that first episode, I think I irritated my stoma, and I could not keep down anything, including my saliva. After I got to the airport, I had to go to the bathroom every five minutes to throw up my saliva, which was now nice and foamy, like bubble bath.

I was terrified of getting on the plane, but I knew this was just temporary, and an unfill would set me back AGES. And I can always go to Walgreen's and get a syringe and do a self-unfill, right? So I sucked it up and got on the plane. For the first hour of the flight, I knew I couldn't get up because of the seatbelt sign, so I kept spitting into paper towels and stuffing them in the airsickness bag. Then, right when the beverage cart was coming, the pain went away, and I could swallow again.

I haven't had a single problem since then, so I am chalking the whole thing up to being up at the ass crack of dawn. I now don't put anything in my mouth for at least an hour after I wake up, and then it's only hot tea.

BUT THIS IS WHY I HATE THE BAND! This bizarre, three hour experience of not being able to swallow my spit, and then NOTHING! This may have also been something I gave myself, since Kim and I spent a good portion of the previous evening discussing her weird throat gurgling symptoms, and I was convinced that I was getting the same problem.

Oh, LapBand, when will we ever get along?

lyndalafe · March 22, 2006

I hate to do this, but's its been a week since he took some of my fill out and still cannot eat much w/o PB's soup......smoothies included. Also the acid reflux at night isn't as bad; but it is still keeping me up half the night, soooooooo guess I'll get a total unfill AGAIN! let my stomach rest a week or so and then get filled again? Are there some people who's bodies just reject the fills and tightness. Frustrated and scared !

Chunk · May 23, 2006

I have been doing some mountaineering, and tried to summit Mt. Hood in Oregon. I was feeling great, but right about 9,500-10,000 ft. I became ill. It may have been the altitude, and frankly I am hoping it was, but I think it is more likely that I felt ill because my band was constricting on my stomach. I guess there is only one way to really know, try again.

Bensmum1109 · May 23, 2006

:phanvan I absolutely get tighter when I fly, and it lasts for days. I look at it as a good thing because we fly to Disneyland at least four times a year, and if I didn't get tighter, I might eat myself into a coma there :faint:

By the way, I have a Disneyland eating plan if anyone wants it. I can make it a separate thread. It lists a lot of good places to eat bandster food (and soft food if you are too tight) while you are visiting!