I have been having trouble with my band for the past 3 months - up to that point everything was going very well. I am scheduled to have an upper GI next week to see if the band itself has slipped but I am wondering if my eating habits may be causing the problems. The acid reflux and vomiting seemed to have started when I had a particularly bad weekend - I constantly ate, was sick and then would eat again. I was basically out of control and binging. Up to that point I had been eating well and had only been sick a few times in the year since my surgery. Have I done damage to the band? Could that cause the band to slip?

Unfortunately, yes that could definitely cause a slip. Over eating and vomiting are the most common reasons for self induced band slips.

The only way you'll know for sure it's when your doctor does the tests to check.

Best wishes

I have been having trouble with my band for the past 3 months - up to that point everything was going very well. I am scheduled to have an upper GI next week to see if the band itself has slipped but I am wondering if my eating habits may be causing the problems. The acid reflux and vomiting seemed to have started when I had a particularly bad weekend - I constantly ate, was sick and then would eat again. I was basically out of control and binging. Up to that point I had been eating well and had only been sick a few times in the year since my surgery. Have I done damage to the band? Could that cause the band to slip?

Eating too much on a too tight band and purging and forcibly vomiting is the NUMBER ONE PROBLEM for pouch dilation and slippage.

When reflux starts that usually mean the END OF YOUR BAND, and you now have a damaged lap band, I hate to say it.

Can you manage it? Yes, you can live with a damage band for years, but it will be very difficult for you to get back to your sweet spot and green zone WITHOUT ISSUES AND REFLUX.

The good news is, if you have the AP band, you can get it surgically fixed without removing the entire band, the surgeon can unbuckle the band and fix the pouch.

Can you avoid surgery? Yes, in most cases, but getting to the green zone without issues may be a problem, you may have to keep your band on the loose side from this point on, until you can get it repaired, fixed or removed.

The interim fix, is to get your Upper GI, and the usual treatment for this is to remove all the saline from the band for about 6 weeks, hoping the pouch will relax, and slowly refill the band every 4-6 weeks until you hopefully get near or back into the green zone.

If you are lucky and don't have a huge pouch or slippage, you many want to avoid ANY vomiting and purging with your band.

Good luck

you may not have damaged the band, you may just need to have all the Fluid out for 6 weeks. If you caused a slip, that is bad, but that should also be rare.

Generally if you have really bad reflux you probably are too tight and inflamed.

Regardless of the answer, you did the right thing by going to the Dr and being upfront about what you did. Trying to hide it from them will make solving the problem harder.

Sounds like the band is trying to tell you something.....