Hoping I can get some advice here. I have had ongoing problems with my band and not being able to eat anything substantial. Long story short I have had almost all fluid taken out, have had X-ray to make sure band is in place and working properly and I still struggle to eat anything. Everything seems to get stuck so I find myself relying on protein shakes and the like?? Not sure what else to do???

You said "almost" all the Fluid taken out. So you still have some in, yes? If so, then it sounds like you still need to have more removed.

Keep in mind there are people that do great with a completely empty band. It's all dependent on your anatomy and how the band fits around your stomach.

I would definitely follow up with your doctor. You need to be able to eat healthy "real" foods or you risk running into soft calorie syndrome- eating soft slider foods that go down easy- usually resulting in weight gain.

Best wishes

What foods are you eating to survive? Surely not just shakes?

What food gets stuck a lot?

Did they do an upper GI to see what is causing the restriction?? Something is not right. Did you always have this problem from day one with the band?

I've heard of some ppl having problems with their esophagus that sounded like this. Do you get stuck on liquids at all? Keep after your doctor to figure out what's wrong, cuz something's not right if you can't eat. Good luck!

SG

Hi yeah I have this problem since I was banded. I thought at first it was because the band was too tight but I have slowly over the months continually had fluid removed to the point where I believe I now only have one ml of fluid left in the band, which according to my doctor shouldn't be giving me much restriction at all. I'm in OZ so I'm not sure what you mean by upper GI but I did have an X-ray which apparantly showed nothing wrong. I just find it hard to believe how much trouble I'm having when I read people on here being able to eat most things, just slowly. To answer one of your questions yes I can get stuck

on liquids. Not as bad as food but it does happen. And when I get stuck I mean really stuck. Pain in my chest like I'm having a heart attack lol and slime really thick. Sometimes when it happens I even get the heaving motion like my

body is trying to vomit. Getting very over it and find myself more often than not regretting my decision to be banded in the first place.

Ask about an endoscopy maybe? Th upper GI is the area between your throat and stomach (upper part). In an endoscopy the put a camera down your throat to see what may be going on.

Ulcers, acid reflux and things like that can cause these symptoms, I think. I am in a somewhat similar situation, removing Fluid down to 2 cc now. I have lost a lot of weight so I dont mind this so much. One thing I do is go to a day or 2 of liquids when I start getting stuck to give it a rest. I think that the constant getting stuck does irritate the banded area. Possibly make it have swelling and scarring which could mean increased restriction without adding fluid...

I am by no means a doctor so I would look to professional advise but an Endoscopy sounds warranted.