Donali---

Ever since I read your e-mail about having to have your band taken out I've been fretting. What causes the erosion? Is it something you had control over? I am terrified of losing my band. I don't want to do ANYTHING to cause me to ever have to have it removed. I glory in your spunk that you have been able to continue with your weight loss. However, I want to keep my band FOREVER!!! :phanvan

I asked my doctor several times about this.

He told me that several things can cause erosion. He told me to totally avoid alcohol and spicy foods. He also said that having your band filled too much can cause this.

Apparently, at the risk of sounding kind of elementary and ignorant, your band doesn't erode, but the inside of your stomach erodes where the bad is located. It's almost like an ulcer.

I hope others can add to this.

Debra -

This is everything I know about erosion:

http://lapbandtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2250

http://lapbandtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2256

http://lapbandtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2274

The simple truth is, erosion is a risk with ANY implanted device. As far as the band goes you can minimize the risks as much as possible, but that is no guarantee that you won't have an erosion. I certainly agree that doing what is in your control is advisible, but if you end up eroded it is not necessarily your fault, no matter what you did. I say that simply because with other implanted devices there is nothing the patient has control over (can't do anything to cause erosion) and erosions happen for them anyway - so obviously sometimes it just happens.

The most important thing is to avoid ingesting things that irritate/thin the lining of the stomach - mostly things like aspirin and other NSAIDs. If you must take these types of drugs make sure you coordinate with your band doc and get advice on the best way to protect your stomach from damage.

Erosion is reported as a very small percentage of complications - 1-3%. I don't know if that figure is accurate, but it does seem as though the vast majority of people do NOT experience erosion.

Get your annual endoscopy to check on your band health, and put the worry out of your mind.

Good luck!!

This is the first time I've heard about avoiding spicy foods. Uh, HELLO, I got my band in Mexico, so why didn't my spicy Mexican doctors tell me about this?

I put hot sauce in or on everything! Is this truly a no-no? It doesn't hurt or bother me. Donali, am I dying again?

Same with booze. Dr. Kuri throws regular bashes where he pays for drinks and food all weekend.

Answers please?

I was never told anything about spicy stuff, and I love Mexican food with tons of jalapenos! Did we come up with a definitive answer, or do you think it's worth asking my Doc? Pretty much, I was told anything goes if you can tolerate it, no medical side affects.

DeLarla,

I'm sure every doctor has their own opinion about how to minimize the risk of erosion.

Mine was pretty head strong against alcohol and spicy foods since both of these things can irritate the stomach. They are two things that you wouldn't want to consume if you had a stomach ulcer.

He also said it would be good to avoid citris beverages like grapefruit and orange juice because of the acid content.

Again, these are things that my doctor went over with me several times, he obviously has a little different opinion than your doctor. I read about a German doctor this morning that wants his newly banded patients on liquids for 4 weeks after surgery, then 2 weeks of mushies after that. Oh my! That would kill me

Like I've said before, nobody has all the answers. Like Donali, we could all be as band-perfect as possible yet still have errosion. So I'll keep on keeping on and be happy for the days I have my little band.

Inamed and other researchers are improving techniques and learning more information by the minute. Let's hope they come up with some non-errosive situation soon!

I think the advice on foods to avoid is always dependent on whether one is sensitive to it. Some people can't go near jalapenos, while others have to have them on everything. I have always had an iron stomach, and haven' t had a moment's discomfort or reflux since being banded. I have no qualms about eating spicy food or drinking coffee as of now, but if I were to experience any heartburn or reflux that would definitely change.

As for the incidence of erosion, we asked our doctor about this at a recent meeting. Drs. Abkin and Bertha have banded over 350 patients and their experience dates back to their participation in the US clinical trials in 2001. They've had ONE patient with erosion. That's a rate of less than .3%.

And, apropos of an earlier conversation on this board, we asked the docs about the need for an annual endoscopy just to see if things are OK. They do not see any need since the incidence of complications is so low. Obviously it's a good diagnostic tool if there are any problems or symptoms, but if everything seems fine they see no reason for an annual scope.

Obviously it's a good diagnostic tool if there are any problems or symptoms, but if everything seems fine they see no reason for an annual scope.

For what it's worth, I had no symptoms, and several other eroded people who I've "met" since my erosion had no symptoms, either. My one time gall-bladder-like attack may or may not have been due to the erosion. I had no further attacks in the month between the first attack and band removal - so it could have been totally unrelated.

My doc's office said that the vast majority of the erosions they see are diagnosed via endoscope. Which implies to me that those patients were symptom-free as well.

I think that in most cases the erosion needs to be pretty far along for the patient to experience loss of restriction. I was at 40%, and still had perfect restriction.

I don't know if there is any benefit to finding out about an erosion earlier than later, when you start exhibiting symptoms, like a port infection, loss of restriction, or pain. Apparently some docs advise waiting until the band is completely eroded into the stomach for removal of the band itself via the throat. Surgery would still be involved to remove the port and tubing, and to close the hole where the tubing connected to the band.

Again, I do not have the professional medical experience to know which way is best to go. I do think that letting the band fully erode and become exposed to the stomach acids which eventually perforate the inflatable band so that bacteria follows up the tubing to create an infection at the port site sounds like the more dangerous option to me...

And I must say that once I KNEW my band was eroding, I was a mess of psychosomatic feelings, and needed to have it out before I drove myself crazy, worrying if there were going to be holes in my stomach leaking into my abdominal cavities, causing perontinitis and other frightening things...

I needed peace of mind over my hot sauce, chili, jalapeño, pepper addiction, so I called Inamed.

While they're not dismissing that foods/drinks that cause acid reflux should be avoided, they said the main reasons for erosion (in baby talk) are:

1. During surgery, something could happen that needs to be repaired or cauterized - a little poke/tear/cut perhaps - that could go unnoticed by the surgeon. If the surgeon closes you up and sends you home, this type of unrepaired problem can cause erosion.

2. An infection from the original surgery can cause erosion.

As far as alcohol, Inamed warns banded patients to stay away because of the empty calories, not because of erosion. Erosion from alcohol or spicy foods isn't on their warning list.

What is the secret to getting my picture as my avatar? It says my picture is too large and it is 50 pixels which is supposed to be the limit? Can someone help me? Thanks.

Those aren't our pictures. We're all actually sitting inside our computers looking at you. Actually, I wasn't able to make my pic small so someone helped me.

It needs to be 50x50 pixels. Email it to me if you like, and I will resize it for you.

Put this all together without spaces:

donali @ mindspring .com

Originally posted by DeLarla

I needed peace of mind over my hot sauce, chili, jalapeño, pepper addiction, so I called Inamed.

While they're not dismissing that foods/drinks that cause acid reflux should be avoided, they said the main reasons for erosion (in baby talk) are:

1. During surgery, something could happen that needs to be repaired or cauterized - a little poke/tear/cut perhaps - that could go unnoticed by the surgeon. If the surgeon closes you up and sends you home, this type of unrepaired problem can cause erosion.

2. An infection from the original surgery can cause erosion.

As far as alcohol, Inamed warns banded patients to stay away because of the empty calories, not because of erosion. Erosion from alcohol or spicy foods isn't on their warning list.

Thanks for the info...

I have the Sweedish band, not sure if that makes a difference or not. I'm not even going to call Johnson & Johnson to find out if it is okay to drink beer, they may say YES! haha!

What a whacky world. You mean Johnson & Johnson, makers of famous Q-Tips, bandages, and all those other American products actually makes the Swedish band? Never mind... not clever enough to figure that one out.

Now I'm positive I'm dying... I just read that Inamed literature from their test studies. I have every single problem on every single page. Why not hand me some scissors to run with? Reading is bad. Bad, bad, bad.