I've had my lap band for about 5 years now. At first I was loosing weight slowly (due to other separate health problems) then last summer, i lost a huge amount of weight very quickly due to extreme stress, and where my port is I was having discomfort, so i went to my new doctor who told me I had to gained weight and that would help with the discomfort, but did not want me to gain too much. I am 5'9 and I was 135lbs and he told me i needed to be at 160lbs. He is not my original doctor that did my surgery and fills. We moved to a different state. Over the last 5 months I (reluctantly) have gained the weight the doc told me to, and even though some of the port discomfort is gone, I now have constant heart burn and acid reflex and pain under my ribs after i eat (I had my gallbladder removed last year) or drink too much I do not drink any alcohol, soda or things like that mainly water tea sometimes and coffee and food has been getting stuck more than it use to. It is extremely hard for me to get back into the doctor, but do see my family primary monthly. I am wondering what type of tests should i ask my primary to order to make sure everything with the band is ok. And if anyone else has had similar problems and what helped. I'm thinking of trying the apple cider vinegar to help with heart burn acid reflex but am open to trying something

Errrr....wow. I can’t believe he asked you to gain?!? Just for the Port ? Were you unhappy being at your low weight? Confused, isn’t band there to help you loose vrs you gaining for band? I would honestly seek a second opinion on the whole thing

amd more through testing. Hope you get some answers dear. Sending you sunshine

I've had my lap band for about 5 years now. At first I was loosing weight slowly (due to other separate health problems) then last summer, i lost a huge amount of weight very quickly due to extreme stress, and where my port is I was having discomfort, so i went to my new doctor who told me I had to gained weight and that would help with the discomfort, but did not want me to gain too much. I am 5'9 and I was 135lbs and he told me i needed to be at 160lbs. He is not my original doctor that did my surgery and fills. We moved to a different state. Over the last 5 months I (reluctantly) have gained the weight the doc told me to, and even though some of the port discomfort is gone, I now have constant heart burn and acid reflex and pain under my ribs after i eat (I had my gallbladder removed last year) or drink too much I do not drink any alcohol, soda or things like that mainly Water tea sometimes and coffee and food has been getting stuck more than it use to. It is extremely hard for me to get back into the doctor, but do see my family primary monthly. I am wondering what type of tests should i ask my primary to order to make sure everything with the band is ok. And if anyone else has had similar problems and what helped. I'm thinking of trying the apple cider vinegar to help with heart burn acid reflex but am open to trying something

Young living Digise oil one drop in your mouth and heart burn is gone instantly! Also apple sauce helps some too, to get rid of acid.

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I had the same problems. After 5 years I was constantly throwing up and had horrible acid reflex. It was so bad no amount of meds would help. Finally I went to the dr and my lapband was completely dilated.

lovebug_0766 what does that mean dilated? did you have to have the band removed? i recently gained alot of weight back, i am back up to over 165lbs, and even though ive been trying to get to 145-150lbs max, i cant once i started to gain nothing stopped it and the heart burn and reflex is out of control. I dont want to have to get the band out, i am terrified i will gain all the weight back.

4 hours ago, akmgball said:

lovebug_0766 what does that mean dilated? did you have to have the band removed? i recently gained alot of weight back, i am back up to over 165lbs, and even though ive been trying to get to 145-150lbs max, i cant once i started to gain nothing stopped it and the heart burn and reflex is out of control. I dont want to have to get the band out, i am terrified i will gain all the weight back.

My pouch grew but my entrance to my stomach was complete blocked.I had heart burn so bad at night nothing worked. I would literally vomit acid in my sleep. I took the max doses of all the meds on the market. I was starting to get a lot of swelling in my abdomen, and every time i ate something I would normally have to throw up like I was stuck. I didn't have my band removed. He took all the fluid out and immediately i felt better. I had to keep all the fluid out for a month so that all the swelling could go down. So after I got all the fluid out i gained 50 lbs due to being able to eat anything i wanted again. It was mainly bad decisions on my part. Lesson learned. I got my fluid back in a couple weeks ago and I feel better now having the feeling back. Don't do like me and be hard headed I waited almost 2 months before I went to the dr.

The acid reflux is related to the band being too tight, i wonder if you have a blockage?

You haven't made an update so I am hoping you got things under control. I recently had to have my band checked out--three doctors were certain my stomach problems were caused by the band. They gave me an MRI. and sent me to my lapband doctor.

I had to have an endoscopy. My lapband doctor said he had to do it because only a bariatric doctor with band experience knew exactly what to look for. Had it yesterday, and there is nothing wrong my band.

So it looks like you need to find a lapband doctor near you who will take you as a patient. I'm in N CA and the only lapband doctors I know about are in Ukiah and Sacramento. There are probably a few in the Bay area, but I am north of that.

I am also in N CA and I finally found a place to go to see a doctor in Santa Rosa, it's still a couple hour drive but hopefully worth it. I am now just waiting on my original lap-band doc office to get my records sent out. I am still having a hard time eating, basically at this point I am eating whatever doesn't get stuck. I am still gaining weight, and working 3 jobs, plus being a mom to 2 teenagers I am always on the go, so I'm trying to bring a variety of food with me since i don't eat fast food. My primary did have me do a few test that I will be able to bring the results with me to Santa Rosa, and hopefully get some answers. I am really thinking about getting the band removed and having the sleeve done, so I'm making list of questions to ask the doc when i get to go see them. I will up date as soon as i can

My DR is in Ukiah. I was wrong when I said there was nothing wrong with my band. When I came out of the anesthesia, they said my band was okay. But when I went to the Dr, he said it has definitely slipped, and it cannot be filled again. (sob!!). So I will be managing the next 6 months with no fill. It will be a lot harder to lose that way.

There have been times when it seemed the band wouldn't let much through for weeks at a time, It really scared my husband when I urped up half my meal because a piece got stuck. My solution was to chop everything very small and drink a protein drink every day. Even with the food chopped small, sometimes a bit would get stuck. I think it was also related to how fast I ate because there were times I seemed to get stuck even on water. Each bite I swallowed took a bit of air, and that air can build up. I learned the air would keep the food out of my pouch and bring it up when it came up. I kept sandwich sized bags with a zipper lock in my purse and on my computer table all the time to deal with the guck.

I live in Lake County, where are you?

Protein drinks are a delicate subject, and some people can get very emotional about them. But I love them. Right now my taste buds have changed because of the cancer treatments and the only brand I can drink is BSN. I always pick the sugar free ones, and make them with milk, mostly. Every few days I add 1/2 banana and maybe some strawberries or blueberries, or kiwi. I also add ice and blend it into a lovely milk shake--or more ice and get great ice cream. (My kids loved it, and always ate it in the morning so they could tell the other kids I let them have ice cream for breakfast.)

Nowadays, I live alone with my husband and can barely hobble into the kitchen because of arthritis. So I pour some milk in a shaker cup with a scoop of protein powder (I have 5 flavors) and maybe a tablespoon or so of DaVinci sugar free syrup (I have seven flavors). It has to be shaken immediately, or it will be lumpy. Then I have a breakfast to go, or not. The rest of my day's eating is a large salad for lunch, and meat and a veggie for dinner. If I am still hungry at night, I make another protein drink. When I get ready to lose weight, I will probably have half water/half milk in the drink, and will likely have only one drink a day. As long as I keep my carb intake fairly low, that is enough. But if it goes too high I will crave candy, cookies, and crackers by the box.

I am sedentary, so I can't eat much. But my appetite thinks I'm a marathon runner. I tried low carb dieting before the band with limited success. Now I have become so sick and sedentary I have to live low carb just to keep from gaining. The joy of living low carb means I can have a splurge now and then--a low carb splurge. Bacon, a cocktail sausage dipped in cheese sauce, cheese on my salad, an avocado-- all these high calorie foods can be eaten to get me through a rough day.

If you are having trouble keeping things down, I would suggest you live on protein drinks and soups for a few weeks. The liquid diet will let your band rest. My favorite protein powders through the years have been EAS Whey (Pure whey with stevia for sweetening) and Syntrax Matrix (one of the best tasting and lots of flavors,) and of course, BSN Syntha 6 Edge.?

Good luck. Are you on facebook?

I am in Willits. I have wanted to do a small liquid diet for awhile now, unfortunately I have to wait just a little longer to really be able to do it. I have tried a few different protein types and flavors and just don't like them, i know i should force myself to drink them so i know it's my own fault on that side lol. I went to a dr in ukiah, he's really nice and everything, he even did my sons gallbladder surgery but i found a place in Santa Rosa that is allot like the place i Originally had my surgery done. It's a complete weight loss support team basically. When i first started this journey we lived in Kansas and before even seeing the doctor, there were classes i had to attend, and see a nutritionist and things like that, and after surgery, I continued to see the nutritionist every 2weeks, then once a month, what I really loved most about it, was allot of the ladies who worked in the office, all had weightloss surgery of some kind, and were always there to help and stuff. I am really hoping the place in Santa Rosa will be the same. A good support always helps. My family has been wonderful, but at times they get a little upset cause I am so mad, upset because all the weight i gained back. Over the summer i got down to 130, and i will admit that was too much, i'm 5'9 and i looked like i was sick rumors even went around town i was on drugs, gotta love mendo county lol but i knew 130 was just too small, but i only wanted to gain 10lbs, well i ended up gaining 40, so when i talk to my family about how upset i am with the gain, they are more worried about me not being able to eat, and everything getting stuck. there are days i don't eat at all which drives them crazy. I drink lots of water, and i do drink a 20oz special coffee, usually have about 3 of them a day, each one has 4 shots or sometimes 5 shots of espresso and sugar free chocolate and caramel syrup and a dash of milk so sometimes that is all i have a day.

I live in Clearlake. It's too bad you live so far away. I'd love to have you come by and taste my protein drinks. I imagine you talked to Dr. Hanna. There are two doctors in Ukiah, and when I had an emergency with my band, he wasn't able to help me, though he tried very hard several times. I had to stay in the hospital for three days, and when Dr. Hanna came in, it took him ten minutes to solve the problem. But, there isn't a lot of support there.

I will say, I've tried several protein powders. I actually gave away several after only one drink. I wouldn't use the ones available in stores like walmart. I buy mine online. I haven't tried the ones available on this site, they might be tasty.