Hello,

It's my first time posting to the site. I was banded on 08/10/05 which was the best decision that I ever made :peep:. I recently visited my Dr.'s office because of heartburn. It turns out that I had a dilatated pouch. I overstreched my pouch by overeating. I was so upset at myself and vowed to follow my Dr.'s orders. I had an unfill of 2cc and am now back on soft foods for two weeks. After the two weeks I have and appointment for a barium swallow to make sure that everything is fine. This is what scares me. I am worried that I may have caused damage to my esophagus and that my overeating my lead to a slipped band. If anyone has ever experienced this I would really appreciate the advice. Thanks!!

Connie

Dr. Spivak

08/10/05

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I have no experience with this...just wanted you to know someone was listening, and that I will say a quick prayer for you ta have good news at the Dr.

Good Luck...if you don't get any responses, bump the thread,say tomorrow, it may just be a bad time...sometimes the site is really busy, other times it gets pretty slow. Usually you will get better response tho. Wish I could help!!

Kat

Hi Connie,

I have't had a pouch dilation but DH has. After a couple of fills he still had no restriction and ate WAY too much.

The doc didn't even unfill him when the dilation was discovered. Just told him to cut back on food portions and to eat more slowly. He did both and at a follow-up fleuro appt one month later the dilation was gone.

Good luck!

Sorry to hear you are going thru this. I hope that the problem resolves itself. If you follow what Spivak says, I am sure that you have a good chance of it correcting itself.

Good luck!!!

I had some minor dilation. Be very VERY glad it was caught at this stage. My surgeon calls the dilation a "prelude to a slip". Since you caught it NOW, you can fix it before it gets really serious. The esophagus will bounce back pretty quickly if you take care of it NOW.

For me the big sign was that I'd lost restriction. It came back in about two weeks after being careful.

So I wouldn't worry that you have irreparable damage. You caught it soon enough. I'd worry a whole lot about changing your eating style and lowering your portions.

Take care of that band and it will take care of you!!

I visited my doctor yesterday and I was told the same thing. He told me to eat very small portions and to eat and chew slowly. I was so sad that I did this to my pouch. I hope everything gets fixed

Hi,

I had pouch dilation and was told that I needed a new band since after emptying the band and going on liquids for a month did not resolve the problem. I went for a second opinion and discovered there is nothing wrong with my band.. It was filled back up to a lower amount, since dilation is normally caused by overeating with a too tight band. I am doing great and I am losing again.

Babs in TX

334/190/180

So when you guys have dialetd your pouch, did you have any idea? I mean - were you eating "big" meals? Was there any discomfort? What size meals were you eating to dialate it, versus what size are you eating now?

I ask becacuse - seems like there could be some ambuguity between "need a fill" and "dialated pouch" -- and if there's anything we can know/do to differentiate between them... the better it will be.

DH didn't know his was dilated until he went in for a fill. Under fleuro they could see that there was a bulge in the pouch that hadn't been there before.

He could eat 2 or 3 cups of food at a time and feel no pain or "fullness". At this time he also had little restriction so didn't take "eat small meals" seriously.

He's a changed man after the dilation.

So when you guys have dialetd your pouch, did you have any idea? I mean - were you eating "big" meals? Was there any discomfort? What size meals were you eating to dialate it, versus what size are you eating now?

The only way I knew was that I had restriction then suddenly I didn't. It went away too fast for it to be just in need of a fill. I'd been on a trip to New Yorkk where I had eaten A LOT, really forcing food down there. But I had also been eating too fast and too much for too long.

I was eating more than the "recommended" amounts of a half to three quarters of a cup of food. Actually, I am out of control and going there again and I can feel it's getting relaxed again.

Dunno yet what to do....need some help for my head I think.

I have constant heartburn its horrendus, I was told having my band would totally erracate reflux. But it seems worse than ever i am the revers have only a few mill's in my band and the acid is still band the restriction is tight i can only eat very tiny amounts like one bite of something and if i eat more im vomiting and in pain.

My band slipped on me last May. I was frequently "swollen" in the esophagus and pouch when I would go in for a fill or unfill. I ended up going for unfills several times because I couldn't get water down. What happened was that I was not throwing up, but "burping" up food literally every time I ate. (That is probably what was causing the swelling) I knew it wasn't a good thing to do, but I never dreamed that I would have a slip. My band moved a little. Then at some point it ended up slipping down more to the point that getting a fill was a waste. The lower part of my stomach that was supposed to be below the band had slipped up through the band and created a pouch that was way too big, so even if the band was tight, I could still eat too much because my pouch was huge. You will probably be fine if you just follow your doctor's orders and make sure that you don't throw up, burp up food, or PB. Best of luck to you. Oh - I got a new band. It has been a $15,000 lesson for me and I tell everyone what happened because even though I feel a bit ashamed that I did that, I don't want it to happen to someone else!

I have constant heartburn its horrendus, I was told having my band would totally erracate reflux. But it seems worse than ever i am the revers have only a few mill's in my band and the acid is still band the restriction is tight i can only eat very tiny amounts like one bite of something and if i eat more im vomiting and in pain.

It sounds like you're too tight and may need a slight unfill. Being too tight, can often cause reflux. Try it and see if it helps!

Take care, Shawn

hey connie im curious if ur soft foods worked for two weeks and if u have been back to the doctor to look at ur pouch again? i too have just started liquids yesterday with the same things your going through! thanks-gina

I too have dilation in my pouch and esophagus caused by a too tight band. This is the second time I have had this and it was fixed previously by eating very small meals and liquids and pureed food only. I have it now again as my band is still too tight and my port cannot be accessed because it has flipped and I now need surgery to correct this first before they can fix my ED problem and empty my band. Fun eh?!!