Had my band out in June and I am still having difficulty swallowing protein such as meat, chicken, turkey and fish. This was the reason I was de-banded in the first place. After a call to my gastroenterologist yesterday, he said he spoke to a few associates who do the band and this is a very common problem. Many of the people who have problem swallowing with the band will still have it post band removal as well. He asked whether I had difficulty swallowing pre-band and I said "no". He is hoping that my ability to swallow will be restored within the next few months. If it is not we will have to look into it.

News regarding Jenny Craig. I am formally off Jenny and they won't let me continue without a drs note. I made it no secret to them that I had stomach difficulties when joining. The plan completely backs me up, and gives me stomach pain, even with laxatives galore. Both my GI dr and internist feel I should not fool around with this plan and should discontinue it immediately. While trying to figure out why this could be happening, I looked at the ingredients of the "so called food" and they are nothing but Chemicals. First Nutri/System, now Jenny. Weight Watchers here I come. At Least I can use my own store bought healthy foods. This is a recent update. No one said I was easy. I had years of rejections for the bypass due to my Chrohns disease and IBD before I found someone who would even do the Band. I have to say now, that my pain dr who I hated for saying I would be a poor candidate for the band was right. He knows me better than I know myself/ Karel

Bless your heart!

Karel, I am so sorry to hear about all the difficulties you are having. I hope that everything gets straightened out soon for you and will keep you in my thoughts.

Have you done weight watchers before? I have been on it many times and of all the weight loss programs out there, I honestly feel they are the best. They have such a healthy approach and advocate slow weight loss is healthier. Their program is very easy to follow. And like you already mentioned, you buy, plan and eat your own meals, none of that processed, frozen stuff.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

I have been on it successfully many times. It is a healthy way of life and one thing I need is discipline. I have to be careful about this constant yo - yo dieting I have been doing or i am going to end up with Heart troubles. Karel

Weight Watchers here I come.

I had my band removed in Novemeber 2005 after having it for 18 months and losing 104 lbs. I just joined weight watchers last week, I do not want to gain my weight back. I had put back on 4 lbs in the last 10 months and I want to get to my goal weight and not let this 4 get to 40 before I decide to do something.. If you need any support just drop me a note, we can do this together. Iam enjoying WW, it is easy and I feel great this past week. I feel as if I have lost 5-6 lbs all ready. I have my first weigh in on Tuesday to see what I lost the first week. I always had my doubts about WW but I actually am enjoying it. Best of luck to you with WW, I'm here if you need a friend and support

gee karel, i am so sorry to hear of your problems. i have been banded 3 years and i am being scoped tommorrow to see if my band has to be removed. i am having the same issues with movement in my esophogus or LACK of movement. i am most worried about long term esophogus problems.

i dont know what to say except that i hope everything returns to 'working order'.

michelle

I had my band removed in Novemeber 2005 after having it for 18 months and losing 104 lbs. I just joined weight watchers last week, I do not want to gain my weight back. I had put back on 4 lbs in the last 10 months and I want to get to my goal weight and not let this 4 get to 40 before I decide to do something.. If you need any support just drop me a note, we can do this together. Iam enjoying WW, it is easy and I feel great this past week. I feel as if I have lost 5-6 lbs all ready. I have my first weigh in on Tuesday to see what I lost the first week. I always had my doubts about WW but I actually am enjoying it. Best of luck to you with WW, I'm here if you need a friend and support

Hello. Like you, I had my band removed after losing 100 pounds. This was

emergency surgery (pains brought me to the E-R in NJ where I had had my

band put in in May of 2005. I did not want the band removed, but when he went in, my surgeon had to remove it anyway, and I have been very

upset about this, which was done at the end of this past June. I miss the

band a lot and don't know if I can ever have another put in. In just one

month, I gained back 27 pounds! I am so frustrated and fighting constant

urges to eat, the way I was before the band. My user name is CJBD.

gee karel, i am so sorry to hear of your problems. i have been banded 3 years and i am being scoped tommorrow to see if my band has to be removed. i am having the same issues with movement in my esophogus or LACK of movement. i am most worried about long term esophogus problems.

i dont know what to say except that i hope everything returns to 'working order'.

michelle

Hello. Is this esophogus problem common with lap band patients??? I had a

band put in about 15 months ago, and had to have it removed due to bad

esophogus swelling. I thought my case was odd, but maybe this is more common than I thought. I still have some hope that in about 6 months I

can explore the possibility of having another band put in; I am having the

same trouble I had when I went to the surgeon in desperation. Now the

surgeon's assistant tells me I have "lost a tool" but I can continue to lose

weight. How? Since the band was removed, all of my original symptoms

are back -- constant cravings and hunger. Part of my stomach had gotten above the band somehow, plus my esophogus was badly swollen. I wish I

knew just what caused this to happen, since it caused me to lose the

band that was helping me like nothing else ever had... CJBD of VA

Hello. Is this esophogus problem common with lap band patients??? I had a

band put in about 15 months ago, and had to have it removed due to bad

esophogus swelling. I thought my case was odd, but maybe this is more common than I thought. I still have some hope that in about 6 months I

can explore the possibility of having another band put in; I am having the

same trouble I had when I went to the surgeon in desperation. Now the

surgeon's assistant tells me I have "lost a tool" but I can continue to lose

weight. How? Since the band was removed, all of my original symptoms

are back -- constant cravings and hunger. Part of my stomach had gotten above the band somehow, plus my esophogus was badly swollen. I wish I

knew just what caused this to happen, since it caused me to lose the

band that was helping me like nothing else ever had... CJBD of VA

you know i asked my current dr and my band dr if this is common and i am ALWAYS 'the first case they have heard of' i find that hard to believe!!!

the very first time i 'swelled' and had to go in for an unfill. this was 2 years ago. the normal thing is to let the swelling go down and then refill. for the past 2 years anytime i have had a fill that gave me restriction it would start swelling to the point of me spitting my own spit in a cup. then i would get another emergency unfill and start all over. this last unfill, 2 weeks ago it FINALLY dawned on me that this is gonna happen everytime i get a fill. my dr agreed that 2 YEARS of trying with the same result, maybe its time to just test and see if it can be left inside of me, just empty.

i thought when i got my band it would be adjustable for LIFE, turns out for ME it was only adjustable for a year.

Hello everyone I haven't posted in a long time because i am not one of the success stories with my lapband. I was having terrible problems eating and it got to the point where this past weekend that I couldn't even swallow Water of even my own saliva. It was terrible I felt very crappy, i went to see my Dr. and under flourscopy it was discovered that my band was completely closed off. But, prior to this I had an upper GI done and it showed that my esophagus was dilated. So yesterday my Dr. removed all Fluid from my band and now i have to wait a month before I can have it refilled. My lapband has given me nothing but trouble since i've had it and i am still fat. I know it's just a tool but even with this tool i'm still not successful. i am almost 2 yrs out and i have lost only 33lbs

Fran

Fran, its a tool, but if the tool doesn't work, its hard to use it. Good luck. If you want to talk to me, I would be very happy to talk to you. E-mail me a NYwhiteangel@aol.com., Karel

Karel,

About ten weeks post-revision, my esophagus began to "fire up" and start working again. It was a huge relief. I hope you get there soon.

Sue

Karel did your ability to swallow improve? i am 6 weeks post op and still cant swallow help

I've had same problems. Always having band deflated and refilled until major problems occurred. Could not swallow , massive gerd, reflux. Regurgitation to name a few Band has been deflated for six months and experienced 35 lb weight gain. Revising to RNY.

I am so relieved to read this forum. I had my band removed in January 2016. The surgeon removed part of my band through my esophagus and the port and tubing through an abdominal incision. I went back to work 6 weeks later. I found that my best success is eating "slider" foods. I have trouble swallowing and have had to vomit some foods that won't go down. My surgeon told me that the surgery that should have taken 30 minutes took over 2 hours because of difficulty in fishing the band out through my esophagus. I had attributed my swallowing issues to the length of time that it took to get the band out, but now I guess I have to retrain how to swallow successfully. Sometimes my meds get "stuck" and cause discomfort and either spitting them back up and out, or gulping them down!

One thing that my surgeon told me in a post surgery follow up that concerned me greatly: He said that ALL of the patients he removed bands gained AT LEAST 50 POUNDS!!! WTH!! Can anyone discredit this? I am very concerned and dread the thought of this! Thanks and good luck to us all!