unfilled & still in pain! HELP!

[Liz Dee 3]

Hi,

where to begin?? the band has never worked for me. banded in 2006, the first 6 months I called myself 'lava girl' due to constant painful gnawing heartburn of doom. shortly after this, doctors decided my band was too tight and completely unfilled it for 4 months. any weight I lost, I regained back.

it was filled and unfilled, and never hit the sweet spot. either hungry and open or tight, constant heartburn, PB, sliming, vomiting. lose weight, band mysteriously tightens, gain back, lose it all over again and repeat literally ad nauseam.

fast forward to this year, February 2013. got my period and the band tightened which it does durin those times. but then kept tightening, then tighter and tighter and just pain, hurt to touch stomach or near port and loud, belching and burping. got to the point could only get down liquids, no food, no medication, not even Jello. Emergency unfill at ER on March 3.

after band was unfilled, was able to eat again thankfully, but there is still a feeling of some restriction and pain. the pain has not stopped! a few days here and there it has lessened. but most of the time, my stomach hurts! couple days ago I was in bed all day due to the pain. debating going to the ER but they cannot find anything, test after test!!

so far the doctors have tested me for erosion, slippage, uclers, pancreatitis, enlarged spleen, kidney stones. it is NONE of those things!!! (not gallbladder as I had that removed in 2009). was given upper gi, barium swallow with fluroscope, 2 ct scans, xrays, gastric emptying study. again, the tests show there is NOTHING wrong with band, stomach, nearby organs, yet I am in constant pain and agony.

band is completely unfilled and tonight I threw up part of my dinner as if I was recently tightened?!! food sometimes hurts when it goes down like I have to force it down. WTF is going on?? anyone have any clue? advice? solution? please, help?! I am getting to the end of my rope, i cannot continue to live with this pain without any solution.

I am scheduled for a colonscopy July 1st but that is still 2 weeks away!! any clue to what this is, or anyone that has had similar issues, PLEASE contact me.

[Maddysgram 6,159]

I'm not a Dr, but since all your test are normal, I would guess its what, how much and how your eating your food.

Sounds like stuck episodes,from either too big a bite, not chewing enough or eating to fast or all of the above and once you have an episode like this, sometimes you have to do just liquids for a couple days until the swelling goes down. Believe me, I know from experience. I got stuck the other day from eating GoLean Crunch too fast, it hurt for 2days and the only way to get it to stop, was to stop with solid foods until it healed.

Its worth giving it a try. First heal, use Protein shakes, eat yogurt and mushy foods for a day of two, then go back to regular food, take really small bites, chew like crazy and wait a minute between bites.

I also found out certian foods I could eat before, I now can't, like pecans.

I suggest keeping a food journal of what you ate, how much and how it made yoj feel.

I would never force food down, while in pain. That never works.

Good luck, I hope you can find some answers.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,722]

if in pain..go to your doctor or the ER

[kll724 3,055]

Excellent advice from both ladies!

[jad0264 5]

Please please continue to push for answers! Although it could be what your eating if you believe it's not what your eating don't let people tell you it is you. I kept saying that and doctors telling me it had to be noncompliance until I saw the revision specialist. He said that is bs and that if you have pain you cannot live that way long term

[Liz Dee 3]

I am completely unfilled, yet there is pain. there is also pain when I am not eating. like now, I have a sharp pain but also like a spasming, pulsing, throbbing pain. it's like a toothache but in my stomach. no other way to describe it. it never goes away! might dull down a bit but never goes away. stomach hurts to touch, hurts to touch near port area as well. it is left side bottom of ribs by port and stomach.

should I be having any difficulty with bite sizes of my food or the texture if I am completely unfilled?? I mean honestly, should I be doing liquids if the band was unfilled?? I have been unfilled since March 3! I just don't understand why I am getting no answers or diagnosis.

has anyone had this pain maybe from diverticulitis or adhesions or scar tissue? that is my best guess right now. sad when Harvard Medical educated gastro cannot figure out wtf is wrong.

I have been to the ER three times since February. I do not want to go, have them xray me, give me pain pills, shrug their shoulders and say belly ache. seriously it's like a waste of 4-6 hours of my time.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,722]

your life is not a waste of time

if you are in pain, go to the er or your reg dr or lap band dr

and do not leave until YOU get help/answers you need

[jad0264 5]

I am completely unfilled' date=' yet there is pain. there is also pain when I am not eating. like now, I have a sharp pain but also like a spasming, pulsing, throbbing pain. it's like a toothache but in my stomach. no other way to describe it. it never goes away! might dull down a bit but never goes away. stomach hurts to touch, hurts to touch near port area as well. it is left side bottom of ribs by port and stomach.

should I be having any difficulty with bite sizes of my food or the texture if I am completely unfilled?? I mean honestly, should I be doing liquids if the band was unfilled?? I have been unfilled since March 3! I just don't understand why I am getting no answers or diagnosis.

has anyone had this pain maybe from diverticulitis or adhesions or scar tissue? that is my best guess right now. sad when Harvard Medical educated gastro cannot figure out wtf is wrong.

I have been to the ER three times since February. I do not want to go, have them xray me, give me pain pills, shrug their shoulders and say belly ache. seriously it's like a waste of 4-6 hours of my time.[/quote']

I have had pain for months and doctors were working on it but casually until I woke up one night vomiting blood. my situation now requires revision due to damage that could have been prevented if I pushed harder earlier on. Don't brush it off if you think there is a problem there probably is one.mi don't say this to scare anyone just for everyone to realize that symptoms should not be brushed off. I had to do to e revision specialist before they could find the true issue

[Scorpio Girl 88]

Liz, if your Lapband doctor isn't finding you an answer, you need a second or even third opinion. Find a gastric specialist (surgeon or gastroenterologist) who can guide you to a solution. Universities with a medical center are excellent resources for symptoms that are unusual or don't have a clear origin. The worst thing you can do is the same thing, without results, just runnin' in circles.

[Jean McMillan 2,973]

I am completely unfilled, yet there is pain. there is also pain when I am not eating. like now, I have a sharp pain but also like a spasming, pulsing, throbbing pain. it's like a toothache but in my stomach. no other way to describe it. it never goes away! might dull down a bit but never goes away. stomach hurts to touch, hurts to touch near port area as well. it is left side bottom of ribs by port and stomach.

When you say that your stomach hurts, do you actually mean your abdomen (the cavity that contains your stomach, liver, pancreas, intestines, etc.)? Or do you mean your stomach as in the organ, whose fundus (curved upper area) and your band are located (roughly)in area of your chest?

If you're feeling pain in your chest, my guess (and it's only that, because I'm not a doctor) is that you're having esophageal spasms. It could also be a cardiac symptom. The vagus nerve that connects your stomach to your brain is also responsible for heart function. The band presses against the vagus nerve (thus sending satiety messages to your brain).

Even an empty band can affect esophageal and vagal functions. You may be one of the unfortunate people who are very sensitive to the band. Also, you may be unwittingly perpetuating the symptoms if you continue to eat after experiencing a PB, sliming, or stuck episode. Following a liquid diet for at least 24 hours after an eating problem can help everything in there calm down. Since you've been having these problems for so long, it could be helpful for you to follow a liquid diet for 1-2 weeks.

Did you have a hiatal hernia when you were banded? I ask because I have a hiatal hernia that my original surgeon did not repair (as he had promised) during my band placement. It's a hernia I've had for about 20 years. When it's bothering me, I feel a pinching pain on the left side under my ribs, which is one location you've identified as painful. The only treatment for a hiatal hernia is surgical repair. Nothing - not pain relievers, heating pad, ice pack, nothing - has ever relieved my hernia pain. Fortunately it comes and goes.

If you didn't have a hernia at the time of your band placement, you could have developed one since then.

The other things important to know about untreated/undiagnosed hiatal hernias is that they are associated with band slips and are extremely common in people who are obese and/or who suffer from reflux. According to my current surgeon, an upper GI study will not necessarily show a band slip.

Finally, I agree with jad0264. Don't let medical professionals pooh-pooh your problems. I believe patients have to be very assertive advocates for themselves. If your current bariatric surgeon is unable to help you, I would seriously consider getting a 2nd opinion from another surgeon.

Good luck!

[Annette_33815 8]

Ive been diagnosed with a slip may 29 & now have a total unfill. I have been having little sharp pains off & on now ever since. Today more so than usual so i called my surgeon's nurse. I will definitely go to the ER if i feel the need, but she mentioned a few people that have a slip and an unfill complained about the same thing. My pain is associated right where my band is.

[Brendacarter 0]

I agree if you are in pain, go to dr or ER. Having said that I have been through the same thing with still nothing determined.

I have had endoscope, CT scan w/contrast, barium swallow and all were normal. Said lap band in place.

But I continue to have some nausea, terrible bloating and no appetite. Gasto dr is working with me & next Tues I have a colonoscopy. Also this Thursday the Gastric emptying where you eat eggs?? I heard its pretty sickening in itself.

I was unfilled about a year ago. Stomach does a lot of gurgling. I can feel the port very easily because of the bloating. This has all been going on for about 7 months. I definitely have restriction but I think sometimes it is because I have eaten too fast.

I'm just uncomfortable, not in pain. No fever, vomiting or blood. Just in a holding pattern for more tests.

If you are in pain daily please see someone. I have an appt next month with another lap band surgeon because I want to be sure mine hasn't missed something. He seems to be frustrated with me.

Has anyone taken PPI/proton pump inhibitor with the band? The gastro doc put me on one that worked but then insurance one month just decides it is going to cost $500. So he started me on protonix. That is when I went to ER because of bad stomach pains. Switched to yet another one but I have continued to have nausea, bloating & occasional diarrhea.

Very scary, frustrating and considering removal if it keeps up after the next tests. Or maybe they will provide answers.

Best of luck to you.

[Liz Dee 3]

ok so update, did not go to ER. have been sick as a dog since Sunday. Just stomach pain with nausea, dizziness and no appetite. have to force myself to get out of bed to at least drink Water or eat something. twice now this month I have been completely just incapciated due to wtf this is with my band/stomach.

this is bad, whatever the hell this band is doing to me. btw when I say stomach pain, I mean on the left side, close to my port but higher up. it is my stomach. sometimes it gurgles. i know that is where my tummy is because when I'm hungry that is where I feel it too, like when you stomach growls. so not in my chest.

[Liz Dee 3]

ok so did not go to ER it's not cause ME or my life is a waste, but they waste my time. they shrug, throw pills at me and then xray or ctscan me without finding solution. the meds they give is like a bandaid over a bullet hole. not doing too much to get to the cause of what is wrong with me.

have been sick as a dog since Sunday. nauseous, dizzy, no appetite, no energy, just laying in bed all day with stomach pains. forcing myself to drink, eat and/or take meds at the very least.

when I say stomach pains, I mean on the lower left side of my ribs, near my port. i know this is where my tummy is. this is same place when it is empty it growls. hard to explain but it's not my chest, it's not esophageal spasms, I have had those too, those are high up near center of chest. that is not this. this is my stomach or band or maybe intestines that connect to the stomach.

[dawalsh 919]

Please insist on seeing and talking to your surgeon. You sound desperate and desperate times call for desperate measures. You've got to get your health in order. Tell your surgeon that the pills don't help and whatever else you have done and that you seriously need help.

I remember many, many years ago I had pains that were I not diagnosable. All my tests came back negative. Finally, one day I literally collapsed in front of my doctor and he admitted me into the hospital. An emergency exploratory surgery was done and it turned out to be my gallbladder. It was not showing up in x-rays because it was a solid rock instead of broken up gallstones. It was not showing up in any tests I had done. When I was in recovery the surgeon told me that my gallbladder was a mess. So I had it was taken out.

So what I'm saying is be adamant with your doctor.

I hope all works out for you.