Throwng up at night

[Kashia 0]

Gosh look at all of us with the reflux and esophugas problems...so scary.

[Jill_S 1]

My reflux was a temporary thing; only lasted 2 nights, and hasn't reappeared since.

[fee 0]

hmmmmm........i have had this same problem:help:

it doesnt happen all the time.....prob twice a week if that

i just thought it was a coughing thing i developed at nighttime

i just wake up through the night coughing with a yukky taste in my mouth like i want to vomit

[pplqueen 0]

Phyllis, If only lost 40 pounds in 1 1/2 years, I would have negative feelings about the band too. I say go on girl and get that thing out. don't wait another day.

[deniseb 0]

So sorry to hear of your trouble. I too have problems with the espohagus. Sometimes I strain to get up the food that is stuck and there is a little blood. My insurance did cover the placement of the band and there is no way I can afford to have it removed on my own. But I agree no one should suffer long term health complications from this gosh darn thing. The thing I keep reading with the band is if we would all just diet and exercise the band would work. LOL if we could have accomplished that impossible task - why we wouldn't have needed the band in the first place. So the band only works if you are totally compliant with the eating rules and let's face, they know it is not likely that we can be. My question is will insurance cover your band removal. Thanks and good luck.

[lyndalafe 1]

I can relate to all of you. My band journey has been a start/stop journey.

I have had numerous fills...seems like my sweet spot is around 2.0. However, after a month or so, i get totally restricted and then even doing liquids for days - within two to three days the "acid reflux" or nite throwing up and coughing begins and the only way to get relief is to get unfilled to around 1.0; which for me is merely a maintenance level.

I changed fill doctors since Dr. Spiegel is too busy to deal with my fickle band and was getting frustrated with me; so now I go to Dr. St. Laurent who is so patient (however I am self pay now) and he said the last time we unfilled me was that I could have an "undiagnosed hiatel hernia" and this could be causing the problem.

So I am going back today to get more fill and if this happens again; he suggests we have some tests run to see if it is in fact a "hiatel hernia" which he said can be fixed rather simply w/o having to remove the band.

I just refuse to give up on my band. Even though I am a slow loser with all my fills and unfills - I have managed to lose 40 lbs. that I know I would not have lost without the band.

Will keep you up to date on my journey:eek:

[Carlene 12]

So the band only works if you are totally compliant with the eating rules and let's face, they know it is not likely that we can be.

This is sooooooooo not true. I have lost 98 pounds (19 months post-op now) I ate ice cream yesterday and the day before. I ate chips last week - probably 6 days out of 7. I ate cream of potato cheese Soup, shrimp in garlic and butter sauce, and cheesecake. Does that sound like I'm "totally compliant"?????

I just eat a lot less of everything than I did before. I had one scoop of ice cream, only 6 shrimp, a cup of Soup, and a tiny piece of cheesecake. The chips....well, we wont talk about the chips. I'm trying to wean myself off Cheetos by substituting something similar that I like a whole lot less. So far, it isn't working very well.

[lyndalafe 1]

Just label yourself blessed to be able to d what I always thought the band should do, which is allow you to eat everything - just a whole lot less of it.

....and then there is the rest of us? or a lot of us that haven't been so lucky.:faint:

[Carlene 12]

Lynda...

I think a 40 pound loss in 7 months is GREAT. It took me 9 months to lose the first 50 pounds and I was darned proud of myself!

My initial plan was to lose 100 pounds in a year. Well....that didn't happen. So I lowered the bar to 75 pounds, which was also a no-go.

I'm glad you aren't giving up on the band. I've had 3 unfills myself and I know how frustrating that is. I still have to be careful to avoid the reflux - no eating after 6 PM and take Nexium every day, plus I sleep with my bed elevated. I could get another unfill and not have to deal with it, but I don't want to sabotage my last few pounds of weight loss.

PS...I can't "eat everything", however. Because I keep my band on the tight side, I can't eat Pasta, pizza, bread, rice, red meat (except ground beef), pork (except crisp bacon), and some other stuff. salad is a "maybe" - I just never know from one day to the next. I was the queen of carbs and the band has put a screeching halt to most of my carb consumption (some exceptions - see Cheetos remarks from earlier post). I have mixed feelings about that....especially when I smell fresh bread baking.

[bbgal 0]

OMG! I thought this was just me! I thought I had developed GERD, but Dr. Spiegel had told me that the band would help to reduce GERD (as a mater of fact, he said the government was even checking into approving this lapband surgery for GERD patients, not necessarily obese).

The coughing at night makes me insane. If/when I can puke it up, I quit coughing and finally get some sleep. No solids come up........just flemish fluids.

Guess I better get to the Dr. I'm not ready to give up on my band....it's helped me to lose 120+ lbs in 10-11 months. The weight loss has definately slowed down, tho and I just don't feel like I could handle another fill at this point.................some things, still won't stay down. I used to be able to eat a cheese enchilda withought any problem. It's tough now.....gotta eat really really really slow (makes my family crazy). I like the ice cream as it feels good on my throat, but if I eat it too late (hr or 2 before bed).........I will start the coughing thing.

Please let me know what your Dr says.........it'll be a while before I can get into Spiegel's office (lots has changed there).

lisa

[Buttercup 0]

Hi All, I am new to LBT, but I have had my band for just over 2 years. This is my first post here. I too have had alot of problems with reflux and what I felt was lack of restriction. I have had nearly as many unfills as I have had fills. I have tried every thing to deal with the reflux, including raising the head of my bed, pepsid every day, flushing my pouch in the evenings, etc.

Nothing made sense, I seemed to have zero restriction, but I had awful reflux. So I never thought that I could be to tight. This last bout I only had 1.2cc in my 4cc band.

I kept thinking maybe I had a slip because I also have done alot of pb'ing. I have definitly had some pouch management issues!

So I finally talked my Dr. into letting me do a barium swallow. So as I was swallowing the thick barium the radiologist keep saying to me " Go ahead and stop if you are full". I just kept drinking. She said it again, and I told her that one of my problems was that I do not seem to feel any restriction. She then showed me that I definitly had restriction and that the barium was moving very slow. She then showed me what looked like a small stomach sitting above my band. What she seemed to think was mostly very dialated esophagus.

So at present time I am on the 6-8 weeks no fill plan with a follow up barium swallow before I can have a fill again. This has been very eye opening to me and maybe this will help someone else with the same issues. Thanks for listening!

[lyndalafe 1]

I do empathize with you, since I have had my band on 11/17/05 its been a constant fill, do okay for a few weeks, get too restricted, acid reflux, and followup with unfill..........and then it starts all over again???????

So what's the deal? The new doctor I have been going to, who just filled me again to 1.7 says that if this happens again - he wants to run an upper GI to see why I keep having this problem. He thinks it could possible be an undiagnosed "hiatel heria" .....don't know how that fits into the scenerio.

So i understand the frustration, everytime I seem to get good enough restriction to start losing weight steady - I get hit with acid reflux and then have to be unfilled and struggle to maintain what weight I've lost.

I think they need to do a study on several of us that seem to have this issue. Most people who had acid reflux before the band - find it goes away. Then there are those of us who never knew what acid reflux was until having this band put in.????? go figure....but I'm getting weary fighting this battle and tired of doctors looking at me like I'm doing something wrong?:speechles

[leatha_g 4]

Nighttime reflux is NOT something to be ignored or toyed with. Aspiration pneumonia is very much a possibility and very hard to get over. ANY amount of nighttime reflux/vomiting is too much. Often, this can be avoided with an unfill, elevating the head of the bed, not eating at least 3 hours before bed, flushing the pouch with Water before bed, but often it is a sign of slippage and very definitely needs to be ruled out by flouroscopy, upper GI, etc. There are slips that do not cause any other symptoms, there are slips that only present as nighttime reflux, then there are very painful slips which cause consistent vomiting which actually began as a 'silent' slip and wasn't detected early on. Get thee to a DR if you are having recurrent nighttime reflux, please!!

[lyndalafe 1]

The first 2 - 3 times this happen'd I did have barium swallow and the x-ray to watch it move and both times show'd no slippage?

what is nighttime slipage? My crazy deal is I will handle the higher fill for up to a month and then out of the blue.....while not even incurring a PB session - I will be able to tell I'm very very restricted....and the last time I started immediately on soft to liquid diet....and did not have any severe

vomiting or anything that would cause slippage - and boom........3 days later the nighttime reflux begins and I regurgitate up liquid all night....and even if I haven't eaten or drank anything. for hours...stomach will generate some type of acid to back up my throat. sleeping sitting up doesn't help either....only relief comes with unfill.

So maybe that's why Dr. thinks its "hiatel hernia" and apparently it can move around and possible affect the band??????? heck I'm no doctor and I can't figure it out.

[Buttercup 0]

I must say I have been somewhat of a pouch packer and I think that has had alot to do with getting myself to this point. Sort of a vicious circle...pouch packing..pb..reflux..unfill. I have spent alot of time being disappointed in my band instead of realizing I was basically challenging every guideline there is to having a band. I hope to do better when I get my fill back!