I have been banded for 4 years this May. I started at 203 and I am now 145. I want to be 125. Anyway, I have reflux but only at night. I am NOT to tight, I can basically eat anything that I want to. However, I have gotten into the habit of of making myself throw up every night so that I will not have to get up in the middle of the night with the yucky stuff in my throat. I also cough like crazy during allergy season. I think that I have drainage at night and it doesn't go down because i am lying down. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be going on? I don't want to get anymore fill taken out because I don't have enough restriction as is.

I have been banded almost 2 years (April 15th) and have never had an issue with reflux or night problems. I have only had issues with anything when I first get up in the morning, including Water, and off and on with PB, but usually when I tried to eat to much. I recently got back on track with eating more Protein and excercise, but have started waking up choking in the middle of the night (usually around 4-5am) and sometimes, after drinking water in the morning, PB a few remnants of my meal from the night before. Don't know if this is getting trapped or is a sign of slippage.

Hope someone out there has some suggestions.

Melody, a lot of your symptoms sound very familiar to me; I think I'm dealing with exactly the same thing right now. My approach is going to be an unfill, though, since I really can't function on such poor sleep and nothing I do makes it completely go away.

If you're willing to keep fighting, try taking Sudafed or another decongestant. I completely agree with you about drainage not having anywhere to go when we're lying down, and I think that problem is compounded by a lessening of the reflexes in the esophagus after being banded long-term. I'm concerned enough about this possibility that I'm having an upper GI next week when I have the unfill.

Spring is definitely the worst time, which tells me it's linked to allergies. I'm taking Claritin daily and Sudafed before bedtime, but if I have anything to eat after 6:00 p.m. I still feel it after I've gone to sleep. sleeping in a recliner helps a lot, but I'm not getting the rest I really need to function well. So the fill comes out.

IMO, it's time for me to stop relying or thinking about restriction as a weight-loss aid. Well, not completely, but the amount of restriction I will still have after the unfill PLUS the years of changed behavior SHOULD add up to my being able to maintain my weight loss. I'm telling myself it's time to step up to the plate and not make any excuses anymore. I want to keep my band inside me, and if that means having zero fill then that's what it means.

Good luck and I hope it resolves for you. But please do think about an unfill; the constant cycle of reflux and coughing may be doing more damage than you think.

I'm a little confused...can we not take prilosec or the like after being banded? Or does it just not work with the band?

This concerns me because I already have reflux issues and KNOW before I go to bed, buy the feel of my stomach, if I will have an issue that night and like Melody, will purge before going to sleep just so I don't wake up choking in the middle of the night.

Melody - your symptoms are *exactly* like the symptoms I had when my band slipped. I got into that same pattern you describe (purging before bed).

The reason it can feel like you have no restriction is the prolapsed stomach - a large part of the stomach is above the band. You can eat a lot at one time, but it doesn't go down very efficiently and comes back up at night in the form of reflux.

I recommend you get an upper GI done to rule out slippage. I lived with it for at least 6 months before finally getting checked...so I know that slippage can have deceiving symptoms. It never even occurred to me that my band could be slipped until I had the upper GI (and was told point blank)!

Thought I would share a good result from these symtpoms. After reading the above postings, I was worried my band had slipped, called my Dr., and went in for a barrium swallow last Friday. Good thing I did. NOTHING passed through the band during the test, not one drop. The Dr. came over right away and said my band had probably swollen due to coughing excessively when I recently had bronchitis and that it was not uncommon. Good news is the band had NOT slipped. He did an unfill immediately and everything appeared fine. He was going to put a little back in for me as I travel and have a hard time making it back, but I managed to pass out when he was unfilling me (1st time I had an unfill standing up as there were no tables in the xray room!).

He worked me in this coming Friday for a refill. It's a bummer since I had just gotten back on track and had lost 4 pounds. It feels weird without that "tight" feeling when I eat. Just trying to make it on will power, good habits, and extra excercise until then.

Melody, I could eat more than I thought I should too, but the doc said my esophagus muscled were having to work overtime to push the food through, which is bad. A barrium swallos was quick, painless (just tastes bad) and the insurnace covered it as they put it through as a reflux test.

Good luck.

I have drainage at night very bad as well during this season so I take Mucanex (sp?). It has really helped me this year, last year I didn't know what was going on around this time and I was in my doctor's office a lot.

I had acid reflux before banding so now I only take 1 prevacid a night instead of the 2 I use to take. Please be careful, throwing up every night can't be good for you. Please speak with your doctor regarding some med's to help you in this situation.

I do know how miserable it can be. Best wishes.

Throwing up can leave you with acid reflux. Making yourself throw up is something you don't want to do. It's dangerous on so many levels and is not a resolution to the problem.

Medication therapy can help reflux. (check with your doctor or try the "Purple Pill" over the counter)

I would also suggest a change in diet. I had reflux so bad I use to cry. My doctor told me to cut out any caffinated products (no coffee), high acid foods (tomatoes) and citric foods (orange juice) were no, no's. But after a few days, I felt wonderful.

Also do not eat later in the evening (atleast 3 hours before bedtime).

Some of these are simple fixes to the problem

Best of luck to you!

Have any of ya'll tried to do saline irrigation of your nasal passages? This will help to clear out the irritants that are causing the reaction and post nasal drip.

http://www.medicinenet.com/chronic_rhinitis/page3.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000813.htm

These links have a pretty good synopsis.

M

If you don't go in for an upper GI I would try an antacid. You may have reflux really bad. Good luck.

I believe that what Melody describes is way beyond something that can be solved w/dietary changes and/or medications. Going to the length of purging on a nightly basis is a big red flag. I hope she gets herself to the doctor for an upper GI as soon as possible.

Should definitely see a doc ASAP. But purging will only make things worse. No eating near bed time for hours. Elevate the head of the bed by six inches. And/or get a wedge to sleep on. Keep a bowl or cup by the bed to spit into. Get the allergies treated. Clairitin is over the counter. So is sudafed. So is mucanex. I would try all three. A nasal rinse and a nasal spray might also help. One of my nasal sprays, astelin (prescription) I got started on because of post nasal drip. For reflux, try ginger. Ginger is some good stuff for the stomach. Use it with a proton pump inhibitor, etc.