Warning: May be a little gross!

Due to severe allergies, I’ve kept a loose band for years, thus my weight is up and down by 10 – 15 lbs. Now that allergy season has semi slowed down for me, I went in for a fill and what I thought was the “green zone” before this fill was actually allergy driven zone. I finally have good restriction and in the green zone driven by the lapband, which, I have not felt in years. The difference with this fill, is that restriction is consistent vs daily variations and my hunger is hitting me every 4 – 5 hours. This is the most volume I’ve had in my band for the past 3 years.

I’m sharing this because I want to help anyone considering the lapband who experiences severe allergies and why Lapband is probably not the proper Weight loss surgery option.

Let me explain: When I say “severe allergies”, I’m not talking about the sneezing, watery eyes, normal drainage, miserable feeling during allergy season. What I am talking about is the above symptoms with lots of mucus drainage into the stomach causing constant nausea and huge amounts of phlegm. You also know you have “severe allergies” when you get sinus infections every 3-4 months and your allergy symptoms last year round.

Lapbanded people deal with a stoma (the entrance from the upper pouch to the lower part of the stomach). With extreme allergy drainage the stoma gets plugged and slows food passage, but, when the mucus is thicker you end up with a more severe mucus plug referred to as lapband cement and you can’t get anything down. A stoma plug is unplugged with several cups of hot liquids, where lapband cement requires several and sometimes many cups of hot liquids to break it down.

Helpful medications I take are Sudafed, Chlortrimeton and Musinex, however, I still deal with daily inconsistencies with restriction and the sweet spot. For a few allergy seasons I had kenalog injections that helped for a few months, but, now my new primary doctor will not give these to me. I’m not a doctor, but IMO, most of my complications with my esophagus and stretched pouch were probably due to this. I thought it was only me, until I met another person on another forum with the same issue. She had her lapband removed after many years. We are probably the few that have the “severe allergy” problems that make lapband unfit, but, if you are do suffer extreme allergies and considering the lapband, talk to your doctor about this. I still love my band and for me having to keep a loose band only holds me most accountable. Jake.

This is an excellent post and something banding surgeons should ask their patients. While I do not have severe allergies, I know that my band's restriction is much more pronounced when I have a bad head cold, due to the post nasal discharge, etc. I makes sense that all those secretions would plug up the stoma. Thankfully for me it is only temporary; I'm sorry this is something you have to deal with constantly. But this is something doctors should ask, and then orient these patients to a different WLS so they don't risk complications due to a too-narrow stoma.

Were you getting chest pain when you would eat/drink during bad allergy attacks?

Rita,

Yes there was chest pain until the Sudafed would take affect. Once the drainage was gone the pain would go away. That's why I would keep up with my allergy meds and never wait til I needed them. Every 4 hours or I really liked the 12 hour Sudafed.

Thank you for responding I know this thread is really old. I believe this is what I'm experiencing right now. I have almost constant chest pain and I'm 8 weeks out. My surgeon said there's nothing they can even do for me anymore and just to "keep going to the e.r." but I've had literally every test. I just got off of steroids and antibiotics thinking it was a lung infection but after I stopped taking them, it was the same pain again. I'm already on zyrtec twice a day, singulair, 4 inhalers and prednisone as needed which makes no not lose as much so I have no idea what else to do!

^{One thing that helped me was Kenalog injections. I would get one in the springtime and another at the end of summer.}

^{Kenalog is a steroid and will take away all your allergy symptoms for about 3 months. This only problem is many doctors will not give these injections. Talk to your primary. My primary told me that the injections are safe as long as you don't get them too frequently. He would only give me the 2 per year.}

Are kenalog injection like the xolair shot?