I was banded on August 1, 2008 (5 year anniversary coming up!!!) and lost over a hundred pounds! Went from a 265 lb gal to a teeny-weeny size 6...never in my life did I expect such success. It was awesome!

Well, all was wonderful until about a year ago. I've since gained about 30 pounds and have had ZERO restriction. So my doctor kept filling my band, and now I'm filled to the max and still have ZERO restriction...clearly, my eating has gotten out of control (the problem with introducing BREAD and JUNK back into my diet...dumb mistake!) and now we're thinking perhaps my esophagus has stretched due to my bad decisions, thus the no-restriction...Plus to add insult to injury, my head hunger is back, so the satiety that I used to feel with my band is no longer...

So now I'm scheduled for an Upper GI (the barium swallow & X-ray, yippee!) to see if that is indeed the case. My doc will take out some or all of the saline from my band in order to allow my esophagus to "shrink" back to normal and then we'll start the fill process again.

SO my questions are: Has this happened to anyone? What happened? How long will it take for my esophagus to go back to "normal?" Will I gain a ton of weight? Thoughts? Advice? Help please, I need some support...

Just a thought, but has your doctor checked your band for a leak?

First, congrats on your success!

I'm hoping your upcoming test show what is causing your loss of restriction and it can be corrected easily.

I did not have an esophagus stretch, but did have another issue that caused loss of all restriction. VERY similar symptoms to what you describe. ( you can read about that in "my story" ) Fortunately, my issue was easily detected and then corrected, after it was found with fluoroscopy.

How long has it been, if ever, since you last had a fluoroscopy? Was the loss of restriction "overnight", or was it more of a gradual thing?

As far as gaining weight when your band isn't working....quit beating yourself up!! Thats why we had surgery to begin with...we aren't good dieters. And you are taking steps to determine the cause. Good for you! I wish you the best. Never, Ever give up.