Anyone notice a difference as far as how it feels to have Ominpaq instead of saline? I went in last week for a fill and had lost a teeny bit so they switched me to Omnipaq. She didn't fill me up to even close the CC I just had with the saline, stating Omnipaq is not as forgiving and harder and therefore they needed to give me less than what I had in saline and go from there. Well, I can EAT right now. I had steak last night and it didn't hurt one bit, so I'm going in Thursday for another fill, but I wanted to know if anyone had noticed any big difference between having the Omnipaq and Saline?

I hadn't heard of them putting in less because they were using Omnipaq. I've been getting the omnipaq since my first fill.

I drive 5 hours to see the doc and I let them know that I didn't intend to do that all the time so that they better fill me up.

The only good thing is that it's thicker so it stays around much longer rather than disappearing like the saline can.

good luck!!

wombat

Omnipaque is more viscous (thick) material which is also radiopaque.

As far as I know, there shouldn't be any variation in the amount of Fluid as far as Omnipaque vs. Saline is concerned. (I may be wrong)

As Wombat stated, it is thicker and thus has less of a tendancy to leak.

Wow, I didn't know there was a difference either! Count your blessings though cuz no where around me will use omnipaque! I don't currently have a problem with leakage, but it would be reassuring to know that my fluid would have a harder time leaking out. Well, I guess if its not broke don't fix it!

You should be aware that the use of that Fluid in your band is not approved by Allergan/Inamed and will void any manufacturer warranty on the band. (may possibly have changed since I checked, try calling Allergan for clarification)

I did speak with one of the top guys at Ethicon a few weeks ago and he did confirm using a radiopaque (Isovue, or Iopamidol) fluid with the REALIZE gastric band is normal outside the USA but mentioned it is not approved for that purpose in the USA.

I switched from saline to Omnipaque after my 1st fill and then put in the same from the 1st fill plus .5. She said that would have been the same whether it was saline or Omnipaque.