ok guys i am about ready to pull the plugs on my optimism with the band. this (insert curse words) band is giving me problems AGAIN and i really dont know what to do!!!

i had been partially unfilled since may when i recieved a tiny fill that was fine for a few weeks but got progressively tighter to the point of closing me off. the dr took out .4 cc's SWEET RELIEF!

so i waited 3 months till after the wedding to get a small refill. .1 and 1/2 but definitally NOT .2. (my dr said a .1 fill is so small its hard to give one that tiny so it was a smidge more than .1 but not more than .2.)

so i go home things are great. eating solids no PB's this goes on for a few days. i do notice that my meals are getting smaller and smaller. yesterday my caloric intake consisted of:

BREAKFAST: yogurt

lunch 4 bites of mushy mexican (barfed up)

NEW LUNCH slimfast

dinner 2 bites of mush cooked veggies (barfed up)

NEW DINNER yogurt and a 90 calorie juice

i am SO DAMN FRUSTRATED i dont know what to do. before my fill i was WIDE OPEN. i had no restriction on portions and none on textures.

HOW can a .1 - .1 1/2 fill SEAL ME OFF????

if i cant EVER get restriction again how can i be successfull with the band? in november it will be 2 YEARS that i have gone WITHOUT restriction.

i have had so many fills and unfills its RIDICULOUS. my Fluid level is constant. i have never had them draw out less than they thought should be in there. my band hasnt slipped. WTF IS WRONG THEN???

ok enough complaining. i have to figure out if i can wait a week till my scheduled unfill or if i will have to in sooner. (MORE CURSE WORDS!!!)

****** for newbies...this is not a typical problem. usually the answer to being overfilled is to get an unfill wait a few weeks and get refilled slowly.

hey babs,

all of my fills, tests, surgeries are out of pocket too. i dont want to have to pay for a removal too!

i really dont know what exactly the nurse meant. i take it to mean no erosion, no slip but i wonder if thats it. do the see scar tissue from the scope? i assume you could tell a band was slipped but i dont know? the sleepy time dr said there was a test to test your esoph. movement i will ask the dr about it.

leenerbups,

after everymeal i usually cough and spit out some mucus. this happens if i have restriction or not. i thought it was from having a smokers cough. its pretty gross.

Fingers crossed for a good outcome, Shelly!!

leenerbups,

after everymeal i usually cough and spit out some mucus. this happens if i have restriction or not. i thought it was from having a smokers cough. its pretty gross.

Hey Shelly,

You too?

What do you think that's being caused by?

Hey Shelly,

You too?

What do you think that's being caused by?

i thought it was from smoking for 15 years!!

sometimes it happens when i drink something that 'sits' in my pouch for a minute. i will cough and spit out a yucky ball of mucus.

its NOT like 'slime' the mucus that you produce from getting stuck its like something you 'cough up' when your sick. thats why i thought it was smoking related.

Hi Shelly,

I am glad I have insurance to cover most of the cost associated with my band. My total financial commitment over the last 3 years has been around 2500 bucks in deductables co pays etc.. That will sooon end for my family when we run out of health care in November if my hubby does not find work by then. We will see.

I got a call today from a surgeon that I was scheduled to see in October. His office moved my appointment up til tomorrow, so thats good news. It will mean I should be able to have my upper GI real soon to see whats going on in there.

Babs in TX

who is presently living on liquids for two meals a day and eating a small dinner. the pounds are flying off!!!

Good news, Babs!! I hope this doc works out for you and you get some resolution!

so i spoke with the dr this afternoon! he said my band was not eroded, he said he could not see a slip or prolapse. this is GREAT news!!! my band does not have to be removed.

he agrees that i do not need to seek restriction but more of appetite suppression, not sweet spot restriction but about .4-5 ccs looser. he is gonna refill me to 1.3 or 1.4 he removed 1.8 cc. if i have motility issues with this smaller fill then i will get a motility test done while the fill is in there. i am also gonna schedule my barium swallow for 3 weeks after my fill to ensure i dont have a slip and to see if the liquids are pooling or going down with the mild restriction.

i asked about long term motility issues because i do not want to cause permanent damage and he says he has no idea, (great) he's never seen anyone with these issues, but we will work through it. he didnt think it was spasms because the tightening was slow and over a few weeks.

so i am happy with the results. i will get a small fill but after that...i am leaving well enough ALONE! as long as i can maintain the weight i am now, with the mild restriction i can lose more weight with willpower.

my fill is 10-3 so i will be emtpy 5 weeks. no biggie- i have been empty as much as 4 months!

during my 3 years of being banded i have had true problem free restriction for 9 months. the other time i was either to tight or unfilled. i have no doubts that if i had continued problem free, i would be at goal.

Michelle,

Happy to hear your good news. Good luck with your next fill. Hopefully, this will be enough. You've gotton so far. You'll get to your goal. Hang in there.

Regards,

i thought it was from smoking for 15 years!!

sometimes it happens when i drink something that 'sits' in my pouch for a minute. i will cough and spit out a yucky ball of mucus.

its NOT like 'slime' the mucus that you produce from getting stuck its like something you 'cough up' when your sick. thats why i thought it was smoking related.

Exactly! That is what mine is like. ANd i don't smoke.

Keep us updated please!

ANd yes, like you I hate that the doctors don't really know.

I only cough like that if I eat too fast or eat bread....I hope your problems can be fixed!!

Hi guys...I've been MIA because I was in complete denial about my band. But now I see that you are all going through the SAME THING!!!

I had an unfil in May because I was too tight and I got reflux that would wake me up at night. Since then I have gained at least 15 pounds. I got three fills and could still eat like a horse. I went in yesterday for another fill and was suprised when he said he DIDN"T think I had a slipped band. When I had all my Fluid out there was 9.5 cc's in it (I have the swedish band) Yesterday before I had another fill I was at 8.5 with NO RESTRICTION. I could eat a 6 inch subway sandwish no problem. So, he took out all the fluid and there was about 8 in my band- so no leak, that's great. But then what? He said I had a dialated pouch but not a slip and he isn't worried about it. He wants me to get an endoscopy to rule out erosion. I am pretty sure I don't have that- I have no symptoms. He did fill me up to about 7 but I was so tight the barium was barely flowing through...at 7? I was at 8.5 when I walked in and could eat anything. This makes no sense.

I am tired of getting poked in the belly five times. I am tired of this game I'm playing with my band. I feel like no one understands- except I come here and I find that my old friends are struggling and I feel comforted.

I really don't think I have eroded. I just think my throat is sick and tired of this game. The study that I am part of ends in October- so yesterday will most likely be my last free fill. I need an endoscopy before the end of the study because I can't afford to pay to have the band taken out.

I had such high hopes for my band. I have a much better life than I did. But even if my band is broken I still feel like I need inside of me. My surgeon did say that he could take it out and convert me to the DS. WHAT? ME????

THen I think...if I don't have my band I will gain every pound back. I am scared shitless.

Sorry you are going through the same thing...but I'm glad I'm not alone.

Megan

((((((((((Megan))))))))), so sorry to hear you're having issues as well. You've done a really great job ! Please keep us posted as to your findings!

Hi Meagan, I am in the same boat as you , i am now completely unfilled but I am beginning to realize I can eat most everything and more of it. I had to get unfilled due to reflux at nite, I have almost no esophagus muscle action since being banded. It make the food back up an stretch the esophagus, this will just for no reason start causing reflux until i get completely unfilled. I go back for a fill and it will only hold about .1cc and barely goes thru then. I leave and the whole thing starts over again. The doctor also suggested the ds surgery to me , but I only weigh in the 150s and I think that is drastic measures however I will gain it all back eventually, I dont know what to do either. I guess I will keep going back and forth filling and unfilling until I can no longer take it I have had every test know and it is just motility disorder cause by the band. I am stuck not loosing and trying to creep back up to 203.If you get any answers be sure and let me know. Becky

I am in the exact same boat. Fill/unfill over and over. I got a fill and it was too loose. I got 1.25 more and I can barely get my Protein shake down. A bite of cracker feels like a mouth of steel in my chest.

There has never, in the past year, been a happy medium for me. Maybe I have a slip?????

Thanks for the info, Dr. C.

oh megan, i am soooo sorry to hear of yet another long term bandster having these problems!!!

i am at the same place you are. i am TIRED!

i am tired of waiting after the unfills for a refill only to have to get unfilled again.

i am tired of all the tests, poking and prodding.

i am tired of all the money i have spent on these tests and fills/unfills.

i am tired of the lack of information- no dr's knows what it could be, no dr's have heard this happening (yet here we are)

and most of all i am tired of all the emotion that goes into it- hoping it works *this time* only to be let down again. i am just sick of it ALL!!!

i know the bewilderment you feel at the smaller amounts of fill required. at one time i was at 3.4 cc's and had good restriction. currently 1.8 cc's seals me off to the point of choking on saliva. babs and i talked the other day about scar tissue that forms with each of these 'episodes' around where the band is placed and thats the reason you require less of a fill. however my dr said he didnt see any scar tissue.

i dont know what to say. the MAIN reason i got the band is so it would be adjustable for the next 10-15-20 years *whenever i needed it* and now i am faced with the facts that i will never have restriction again and adjustments are just a form of emotional and physical torture.