Doctor is at a Loss to Explain

[onikenbai 33]

My doctor is at a loss to explain what's going on with my band. I've had it a little over a year now and it is causing me grief, but not in the usual way. I have only ever been stuck once (not complaining about that) but my problem is nausea. When I eat, no mater what I eat, I take a few bites and then this overwhelming nausea comes over me. Sometimes I can manage to keep the food down for up to a half hour, but it generally comes back up again. It's not a problem of eating too fast or too much because it very often happens on the first bite and I have always been the slowest eater on the face of the earth. I don't have to make myself throw up as it comes up all by itself, although I will admit to the occasional thump on the sternum to hurry up the inevitable. My other problem is restriction. There does not seem to be a sweet spot for me. I can either eat anything pretty much as much as I want, or first bite leads to puking not being able to eat ever without a plan of where I can throw up. My problems don't correlate to specific foods, times of stress or even time of the day.

The doctors are stymied. My band hasn't slipped, it's not too tight, not leaking, not eating through my stomach, and not causing pain. There's just the massive nausea and the all or nothing restriction problem. I've tried the band forums but I still haven't found anybody who has this problem.

I'm now considering a revision to the sleeve because my weight is causing the CSF in my brain to push on my eyes and it's threatening to tear apart my eyes from the inside and blind me. I've also had a headache for the past 6 years. Something has to happen. I'm a little apprehensive because my band appears to have been a huge failure, but at least it's reversible. The sleeve is a one way trip.

Has anybody experienced something similar or am I just a special snowflake?

[juliarh 35]

I am sooo sorry this is happening to you. And I know it's made even worse that the doctors don't know what is happening. I'm so sorry.

To be completely upfront, the first 2 weeks, I had the dry heaves -- sometimes with a little vomiting, but after the healing process (I'm assuming), I have ONLY felt nausea when I have eaten too fast and eaten too much. Unfortunately, I'm a fast eater by nature and sometimes I forget to slow down. My 12 year old son will remind me, "Mom, eat slow or you're gonna feel bad."

I know others have had the same issues within the first couple of weeks as well. And speaking only for myself, these issues have all but disappeared now. I eat and then I get a full feeling and then I stop because if I don't, I know what will happen.

I really hope you find some answers -- please continue to post because if nothing else, we are good listeners Take care and big hugs!

[Bornagainbabe 4]

I would be seriously inclined to consider revision surgery if the band is not working for you, but I'm not a doctor and you need to discuss it thoroughly with yours first and see if it is a viable option. I wouldn't let the 'irreversible' issue be an issue. You need to lose weight for your health's sake and quite urgently by the sounds of it. I think all the pros outweigh the cons in your case so do some research, talk to your surgeon and give it some consideration.

Do you take medication for your csf problem? Is it because you produce too much csf? I'm just curious as I had a csf leak earlier this year and was prescribed azetasolamide. I'm not surprised you are having awful headaches. I would seriously consider your revision options if losing your excess weight will resolve this. Good luck.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Oh my gosh! That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry you have been suffering for so long! I am still waiting for my surgery in January, but everything I read here gives me a tremendous amount of hope that the sleeve will make it possible to lose weight and keep it off. If you need to do this to save your sight, then I say go for it!

By the way, people through the ages have lost their stomachs for different reasons and lived full lives.

What is CSF?

[Becca 108]

I have a failed lapband as well. I am so glad you are sharing this. I feel more lapband patients need to speak the truth about the pain and trouble they cause. I was reading an article about how in Sweden, one of the first countries to use the lapand, there is an 85% failure rate at 10 years out. I wish I had known that before I had my band put it. My band worked for awhile, but I haven't had restriction in about three years. Although, I will randomly slime up at the most inconvienent times. If your doctor won't give you answers, seek a revision specialist. My doctor is so wonderful and was able to explain all my complications. I am having my revison in December. Hang in there!

[3636millie 3]

My doctor is at a loss to explain what's going on with my band. I've had it a little over a year now and it is causing me grief, but not in the usual way. I have only ever been stuck once (not complaining about that) but my problem is nausea. When I eat, no mater what I eat, I take a few bites and then this overwhelming nausea comes over me. Sometimes I can manage to keep the food down for up to a half hour, but it generally comes back up again. It's not a problem of eating too fast or too much because it very often happens on the first bite and I have always been the slowest eater on the face of the earth. I don't have to make myself throw up as it comes up all by itself, although I will admit to the occasional thump on the sternum to hurry up the inevitable. My other problem is restriction. There does not seem to be a sweet spot for me. I can either eat anything pretty much as much as I want, or first bite leads to puking not being able to eat ever without a plan of where I can throw up. My problems don't correlate to specific foods, times of stress or even time of the day.

The doctors are stymied. My band hasn't slipped, it's not too tight, not leaking, not eating through my stomach, and not causing pain. There's just the massive nausea and the all or nothing restriction problem. I've tried the band forums but I still haven't found anybody who has this problem.

I'm now considering a revision to the sleeve because my weight is causing the CSF in my brain to push on my eyes and it's threatening to tear apart my eyes from the inside and blind me. I've also had a headache for the past 6 years. Something has to happen. I'm a little apprehensive because my band appears to have been a huge failure, but at least it's reversible. The sleeve is a one way trip.

Has anybody experienced something similar or am I just a special snowflake?

Oni,

I am so sorry to hear of your troubles. I had the horrible lap band for about 1 1/2 years. It nearly killed me. I had some problems similar to yours. My body did not tolerate the band. Adhesions formed wherever the band/components touched. Even had adhesions under the band that nearly closed my stomach off completely. My original surgeon wouldn't listen to me. Even told me that I should be happy with the 85 lb weight loss. Didn't seem to care that I needed I.V. infusions nearly every other day.

The original surgeon always did the band fills without fluoroscopy so he never even noticed the issues. Many times, with the first swallow of anything, even warm Water, I would have projectile puking episodes. Of course, the original surgeon tried to blame me for taking too big of bites (how could I take too big of bites of Water? !!!). Well, to make a long story short, I found another surgeon.

Firstly, the band isn't always reversable. Mine did irreversable damage. Secondly, they have been doing partial gastrectomies for many, many years. I felt extremely comfortable with the decision to be "sleeved". I am so glad I revised.

I now have my life back. I went to one of the best revision surgeons in another country (even though my insurance would have paid to have the sleeve done in the U.S.). He LISTENED to me and made the diagnosis pretty much immediately. Took him almost 3 times longer than normal to do my revision due to all the damage the band had done to me internally.

Basically, just find an excellent revsion surgeon and get rid of that killer lap and. It will be the best thing you will ever do for yourself. I absolutely have no problems now. The sleeve rocks. I feel like a normal person now. Can eat small amounts of anything I want. Never have to worry about puking (I remember the nightmare days of carrying plastic Walmart bags around to puke in at a moments notice, travelling with plastic cups in my car and puking while driving down the road, etc).

Good luck in what ever you decide.

Millie

[AutumnLily 77]

Oh my gosh! That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry you have been suffering for so long! I am still waiting for my surgery in January, but everything I read here gives me a tremendous amount of hope that the sleeve will make it possible to lose weight and keep it off. If you need to do this to save your sight, then I say go for it!

By the way, people through the ages have lost their stomachs for different reasons and lived full lives.

What is CSF?

CSF is cerebral spinal Fluid. The Fluid around your brain and spine.

Lily

[feedyoureye 3,087]

CSF is cerebral spinal Fluid. The Fluid around your brain and spine.

Lily

Holy cow Lily, That must be extremely scary for you. Best of luck in finding a treatment that improves your health.

[onikenbai 33]

I would be seriously inclined to consider revision surgery if the band is not working for you, but I'm not a doctor and you need to discuss it thoroughly with yours first and see if it is a viable option. I wouldn't let the 'irreversible' issue be an issue. You need to lose weight for your health's sake and quite urgently by the sounds of it. I think all the pros outweigh the cons in your case so do some research, talk to your surgeon and give it some consideration.

Do you take medication for your csf problem? Is it because you produce too much csf? I'm just curious as I had a csf leak earlier this year and was prescribed azetasolamide. I'm not surprised you are having awful headaches. I would seriously consider your revision options if losing your excess weight will resolve this. Good luck.

I just have too much CSF. The other option would be to put in a shunt which will siphon off excess to somewhere else in my body, but they have a history of getting clogged from time to time so it's really not that great a fix. I was on meds for a while for it, but they didn't really help much and they were really expensive so I ended up stopping them. The one thing that did work really well was a spinal tap. They actually did the tap to see if I had meningitis but they had to remove Fluid for the test. I had a whole blissful week without a headache. Unfortunately the body creates new CSF to replace the old so it didn't last and it's far too risky a procedure to do weekly.

I'm off to the neuro-opthamologist later in the month and I'm hoping that he'll refer me to a surgeon for revision. Because I'm Canadian, I can get my surgery fully paid for if there is a medical need. It's not the fastest route, but after paying $18K for my band, I am deeply in debt and cannot afford another self-pay. My band current band surgeon (not actually the person who put it in, but the guy who took over the practice) thinks I should give it another last go at restriction and then I should start looking at other options. I'm cool with that. My neuro appointment isn't until the end of November anyways and I want to know what he thinks before I move forward.

[AutumnLily 77]

Holy cow Lily, That must be extremely scary for you. Best of luck in finding a treatment that improves your health.

Not me with the CSF problem it is onikenbai whom has the excess CSF in their system.

Heres hoping Onikenbai you will find a way to relieve the excess CSF and your headaches.

Lily

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Not me with the CSF problem it is onikenbai whom has the excess CSF in their system.

Heres hoping Onikenbai you will find a way to relieve the excess CSF and your headaches.

Lily

Oops, I mean holy cow Onikenbai! That must be extremely scary for you. Best of luck in finding a treatment that improves your health.

[Bornagainbabe 4]

I really hope you get it all sorted out. My csf leak was bad enough with having to endure ct cisternograms etc. so I can only imagine that you are going through ten times worse than that. Losing weight is another issue that you could do without and I hope you get some answers soon. I paid for my band but was lucky to get the revision on the NHS. Wouldn't happen now! Good luck and let us know how you get on

[M2G 1,836]

I have never had a band, but I am forever grateful for the MANY people who blogged about their bands and how they carried cups, bags, etc. to throw up or slime into. It totally turned me off from the band, especially because the band seems so fickle. It would be one thing to completely avoid a food that could trigger an episode but it must be incredibly frustrating to have something slide right through the band one day and the next come right back up.

I am only 3 weeks out on my band, but am eating soft foods (90% protein) and I have yet to have anything come back up. Or even feel like it's going to come back up. I'm not saying it will never happen, because I can't see into the future, but I am SO thankful that I have not had a single episode of anything finding it's way back up.

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all your problems, I hope you can get the VSG revision.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

The band is nightmare. I am so happy that thing is out of me!

[onikenbai 33]

I can't put a thing in my mouth without a plan of where I'm going to throw up. People keep harassing me over having cups in my car and about how sloppy I am not to throw them out. Um, they're there for a reason. You never know when you have to hurl while driving. Sometimes that glass of Water didn't go down as well you thought it did at first.

Yes, the band seems to be incredibly fickle. The other day I ate this HUGE bowl of meatballs... I was soooo hungry. It went down fine like the band wasn't in place. The next day I threw up a tablespoon of yogurt and couldn't put solid food in my mouth all day.

I have never had a band, but I am forever grateful for the MANY people who blogged about their bands and how they carried cups, bags, etc. to throw up or slime into. It totally turned me off from the band, especially because the band seems so fickle. It would be one thing to completely avoid a food that could trigger an episode but it must be incredibly frustrating to have something slide right through the band one day and the next come right back up.

I am only 3 weeks out on my band, but am eating soft foods (90% protein) and I have yet to have anything come back up. Or even feel like it's going to come back up. I'm not saying it will never happen, because I can't see into the future, but I am SO thankful that I have not had a single episode of anything finding it's way back up.

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all your problems, I hope you can get the VSG revision.