I was banded in December of 2005 and have lost 92-95 pounds. I am currently 31 years old and was married just a few months ago. I'm very happy, but very sick; doctor's are grasping at straws and really do not know what is wrong with me.

I had my first weak spell in May. It was my then-fiancé’s family picnic at a park. We were inside, and I was able to eat a little of the delicious food there. We stepped outside to leave and, all of a sudden, as we were bidding our goodbyes, I felt terribly weak. I barely made it to the car, got nauseous, and vomited a little. My dh's uncle is a doctor, so they were able to wrap up my head in cold compresses and get me feeling better. It was a VERY stressful weekend as my in-laws were at my house, we had a lot of the agenda, and I was so worried about everything being perfect. I attributed it to stress.

Fast forward several months. Just before my wedding in November, like 2 or 3 weeks before, I wake up early in the morning with chills and 103 degree fever. It was a weekend, so we went to the ER. I was non-responsive, and it was hard to rouse me according to my parents. I was very dehydrated which could have been caused by the fever. They ran every sort of test imaginable, and I was admitted overnight when my EKG came back a little abnormal - flipped t waves. I saw a new doctor in my new hometown referred me to a cardiologist. Essentially, whenever I would stand up in the ER, my blood pressure would drop scarily low. Ever since then, I've been monitoring my blood pressure and pulse rate. Rarely is my pulse less than 100/minute. My blood pressure is always lower than average which causes my heart to beat fast so as to provide my body with the necessary blood. Long story short, the cardiologist released me saying that the flipped t waves were probably due to the extreme dehydration caused by the spiked fever. I went on my merry way, relieved.

A week or so later, exactly one week before the wedding, I had 101.5 fever. I went back to this new general practitioner I had seen when I was in the hospital. More tests for the flu and the like. I explained that I was going on a week long cruise but didn't have my passport. As such, if I were to get sick at sea and have to get off the boat, I would be STUCK out there with no way to fly home. His diagnosis? "Fever of unknown origin." 'Script? Take Tylenol and Advil alternatively every 2 hours until the fever breaks. Also, exercise 3 to 5 times a week.

This didn't sit well with me. I was worried about being stranded in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Guatemala</st1:place></st1:country-region> or something, so I went to see the GP I've been having since I was a child. He's awesome, but is semi-retired and an hour from where I live now, so I was trying to establish a relationship with someone else. He looked at my blood work and noticed that my white blood count was a little elevated, indicating some sort of infection. Since I was on an antibiotic when I got admitted to the hospital, he treated me for some sort of unknown virus and put me on cortisone. He even gave me a prescription for another round of cortisone so that I could take it on the cruise ship, if necessary. I did.

So here we are in February. After two fevers out of the blue ranging from 100.5 to 101.5, complete with body aches and chills, that prevented me from working, I decided that I needed to get help. We called around. I didn't want to go back to the "fever of unknown origins" doctor for obvious reasons. My GP in my hometown wasn't in the office that day. The internist I had seen years ago couldn't take me and the one here in town wasn't taking new patients. I ended up at the office of another GP. He was puzzled, especially since the fevers spike so high so quickly, and aren't related to other symptoms. The only thing that I have before is typically a little cough (I think it might be due to heartburn) and the fact that my band doesn't let me eat anything the day before. Typically, I can't even keep down milk! The weird thing is that, prior to the fever episode this morning, three days ago I ate 2 fried eggs and an entire chicken fried steak from Shoneys. Being able to eat this much is VERY atypical for me, but I didn't question it thinking I needed the Protein.

This new doctor did another in-office EKG which showed not only flipped t waves, but also something wrong with the st waves. He ordered a nuclear stress test which I did the next week and didn't show anything. When I went in for the results, he did say that my November ultrasound of the heart done when I was hospitalized showed that I had mitral valve prolapse. I was shocked and he didn't have an answer for me when I asked why the GP nor the cardiologist mentioned it. He suggested I get on a beta blocker, Zocor for high cholesterol, and continue taking Zoloft for depression and anxiety. The whole game planned changed when I told him that my dh and I were not preventing pregnancy. All are dangers for unborn children, so he suggested that I not take anything. He attributed my weakness to the mitral valve prolapse. I told him that I could certainly contend with being weak when I got out of the tub and seeing black if I stood up too soon, but I could not deal with the erratic, high fevers that cause me such weakness that I have chills and literally have to contemplate whether or not to urinate on myself in the bed I'm so weak. I don't think it is fair for me, at 31, to have to make that kind of decision, but I digress. He had no idea what was causing the fevers. I asked, since I can not eat the day before one of these strange episodes, if the band could be moving around, stimulating a nerve or just causing irritation internally, thus inducing the fever to come on. He said that he didn't know enough about bands, but suggested I get in touch with my surgeon. I have an appointment with Dr. Lavin on March 5th.

I also called the cardiologist's office. The nurse told me that my report from November said nothing about mitral valve prolapse but she will have the doctor take another look and get back to me. She was also surprised that he attributed weakness to mitral valve prolapse and said she had never heard of such a thing. She also expressed concern that he told me to get off of Zoloft cold turkey as that can have an adverse affect on people. I'm still waiting for him to get back to me.

My question is this... I'm pretty sure that most of these episodes with the exception of the one in May, perhaps, happened after my last fill. Typically, when I'm under the weather, it is a struggle for me to keep food down. This is the case when I menstruate every month. Sometimes I can eat considerably more than others, albeit the entire chicken fried steak was the only time I've ever been able to eat so much. Three days later, however, I couldn't eat a bite of supper without throwing it up, I spit up all night long, and I awoke at 4:30 a.m. with the onset of chills. My fever rose to 101.1. Since my last fill, I have had a touch of heartburn, but the over the counter anti-acid pills do the trick and I suffer from it less than once a month. My fever/weakness episodes are becoming a lot more frequent. I've had 4 in the last month... one on Thursday, one the following Friday, last Saturday, and again this Saturday. I did the follow-up blood work this morning when I was sick in hopes that something would show up.

My question to you is this, does it sound like slippage. My friend who is brilliant and a nurse says that there is a nerve that runs near your stomach that, when stimulated/massaged, causes your blood pressure to drop. There is one in your neck that you can massage to lower your blood pressure; he used to use this technique when he was a paramedic.

Does any of this sound remotely familiar to anyone??? Say a prayer for me in the meantime. I just don't know what more to do or where to turn.

Thanks!

Ta,

another thought..did you push too hard trying to lose more weight for the wedding and totally stress yourself out?

I vomited non-stop on my wedding night...all night long.....worst episode of my life from stress. It will do a number on you.

I say get an un-fill til you feel better.

Have any of Doctors ruled out an ulcer? That would definitely cause you to be unable to eat, and if it is a bleeding ulcer, the blood loss would definitely make you weak and dizzy and if it is irritated, that could cause an infection (leading to the fever). If it happens after a fill, the irritation of having the band adjusted in a fill could trigger the ulcer to become inflamed. Vomiting would also irritate it. One other thing, when I was pregnant, I was highly anemic and got the "fade to black" thing when I stood up to fast or was too active. Have your Iron level checked. However, I don't think anemia can cause the other symtoms you are having, but you never know. If I were you I would march into my doctor's office and DEMAND that he find out what is wrong. At your age, there should be no reason why you have to feel like you do.

Just to add, I read an article recently about sugar free gum and consumption of aspertame. Do you chew alot of sugar free gum, drink diet drinks or eat alot of food sweetened with aspertame? Apparently quite a few people have recently found to have a sort of allery of sensitivity to aspertame (which also goes by many other names). The sensitivity or reaction includes quite alot of the symptoms that you are having. You might want to look into it. There is also literature that aspartame sensitivity can be linked to depression.

I found this on Diagnose-Me: Treatment: Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Avoidance - I noticed quite a few of the symptoms you mentioned here. Hope this helps. If you want to send me a PM, I will try to find that email that I had and send it to you as well. I apologize for the length of this.

"Adverse effects reported from short-term and/or long-term use of Aspartame include: Seizures and convulsions, dizziness, tremors, migraines and severe headaches (triggered or caused by chronic intake), memory loss (common toxicity effect), slurring of speech, confusion, numbness or tingling of extremities, chronic fatigue, depression, insomnia, irritability, panic attacks (common aspartame toxicity reaction), marked personality changes, phobias, rapid heart beat (tachycardia - another frequent reaction), asthma, chest pains, hypertension (high blood pressure), nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, swallowing pain, itching, hives / urticaria, other allergic reactions, blood sugar control problems (e.g. hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia), menstrual cramps and other menstrual problems or changes, impotency and sexual problems, food cravings, weight gain, hair loss / baldness or thinning of hair, burning urination & other urination problems, excessive thirst or excessive hunger, bloating, edema (fluid retention), infection susceptibility, joint pain, brain cancer (in pre-approval studies on animals), death.

Aspartame Disease may mimic symptoms of, or worsen: Fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, lupus, multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), diabetes and diabetic Complications, seizures, Alzheimer's disease, birth defects, chronic fatigue syndrome, lymphoma, Lyme's disease, attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD), panic disorder, depression and other psychological disorders."

That is eerily what I go through with my youngest son. Out of the blue he gets lethargic and blah .. with massively high fevers. No one can give me good answers as to why. One says "growing pains", another things allergies, another something else.

It has been going on since he was born, no one has a clue. So I just dose him with tylonal and hope I don't have to go to the ER cause it got to high.

I really hope they figure out what is causing yours, I really do. As a mom I know how scary it is.

Are you anywhere near a teaching hospital? Oftentimes you get multiple consults on one dime so to speak. It puts you in touch with multiple Dr.'s with multiple specialties, and of different ages---face it our minds work different angles depending on our age---and young Dr.'s might be more versed on the band issues----where as older Dr.'s might think of other things.

I have an Uncle who is a Dr. And when my cousin was having many health issues (ended up being Celiac Disease)---he recommended she go to a Dr. affiliated with the University which is a teaching hospital. She got great, detailed care, and they quickly located the problem, even though this was years ago, before Celiac was much heard of.

Good Luck!

Kat

I think the closest teaching hospital would be 3 or so hours away at the medical school in New Orleans or Shreveport. That is good advice and I will look into if nothing shows up with my surgeons' visit this week.

Thanks!

That is eerily what I go through with my youngest son. Out of the blue he gets lethargic and blah .. with massively high fevers. No one can give me good answers as to why. One says "growing pains", another things allergies, another something else.

It has been going on since he was born, no one has a clue. So I just dose him with tylonal and hope I don't have to go to the ER cause it got to high.

I really hope they figure out what is causing yours, I really do. As a mom I know how scary it is.

I'll pray that your son's issues are resolved as well.

Have any of Doctors ruled out an ulcer? That would definitely cause you to be unable to eat, and if it is a bleeding ulcer, the blood loss would definitely make you weak and dizzy and if it is irritated, that could cause an infection (leading to the fever). If it happens after a fill, the irritation of having the band adjusted in a fill could trigger the ulcer to become inflamed. Vomiting would also irritate it. One other thing, when I was pregnant, I was highly anemic and got the "fade to black" thing when I stood up to fast or was too active. Have your Iron level checked. However, I don't think anemia can cause the other symtoms you are having, but you never know. If I were you I would march into my doctor's office and DEMAND that he find out what is wrong. At your age, there should be no reason why you have to feel like you do.

Just to add, I read an article recently about sugar free gum and consumption of aspertame. Do you chew alot of sugar free gum, drink diet drinks or eat alot of food sweetened with aspertame? Apparently quite a few people have recently found to have a sort of allery of sensitivity to aspertame (which also goes by many other names). The sensitivity or reaction includes quite alot of the symptoms that you are having. You might want to look into it. There is also literature that aspartame sensitivity can be linked to depression.

I found this on Diagnose-Me: Treatment: Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Avoidance - I noticed quite a few of the symptoms you mentioned here. Hope this helps. If you want to send me a PM, I will try to find that email that I had and send it to you as well. I apologize for the length of this. :thumbup:

"Adverse effects reported from short-term and/or long-term use of Aspartame include: Seizures and convulsions, dizziness, tremors, migraines and severe headaches (triggered or caused by chronic intake), memory loss (common toxicity effect), slurring of speech, confusion, numbness or tingling of extremities, chronic fatigue, depression, insomnia, irritability, panic attacks (common aspartame toxicity reaction), marked personality changes, phobias, rapid heart beat (tachycardia - another frequent reaction), asthma, chest pains, hypertension (high blood pressure), nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, swallowing pain, itching, hives / urticaria, other allergic reactions, blood sugar control problems (e.g. hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia), menstrual cramps and other menstrual problems or changes, impotency and sexual problems, food cravings, weight gain, hair loss / baldness or thinning of hair, burning urination & other urination problems, excessive thirst or excessive hunger, bloating, edema (fluid retention), infection susceptibility, joint pain, brain cancer (in pre-approval studies on animals), death.

Aspartame Disease may mimic symptoms of, or worsen: Fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, lupus, multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), diabetes and diabetic Complications, seizures, Alzheimer's disease, birth defects, chronic fatigue syndrome, lymphoma, Lyme's disease, attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD), panic disorder, depression and other psychological disorders."

I have been anemic in the past, but am not right now. As far as aspartame is concerned, I've cut it out due to the side affects listed. I figure that it can't hurt.

Also, thanks for referring to the diagnose me site. I completed the lenghty test and got like 80 pages of results I'm still sorting through.

,

Anita

TA: Several things come to mind from your posts.

1) Watch the sodium level in those power drinks. They can cause additional swelling which you really don't need right now.

2) I would suggest that you go back to your band surgeon for help if he is close by still, or the teaching hospital is a great idea. Even though the bariatric surgeon primarily does bands, he is still a surgeon and they are often the best ones to deal with your innards once you have the band because they know where they placed it and how to work around it if they have to go in.

3) I agree that you must be your own advocate. If you need help, take someone with you. Make a list of questions/statements that you have and make sure your friend has a copy to make sure you ask everything and get answers. They can also help record the answers that you get because sometimes we hear something that catches us off guard or gets our minds churning and we don't hear anything after that.

4) Flat out demand a complete GI series (upper and lower). You need to make sure that there are no ulcers, obstructions, etc. anywhere along the way.

5) Have your physician check your gall bladder, both for stones and for proper function. The heartburn, nausea, fever and resultant dehydration and weakness sounds very similar to what I had when I had stones and my gall bladder was extremely infected. Some people have pain in their back or stomach as well, but I never did. Things like cheese and milk made me really sick though. I still can't eat pizza and that was 15 years ago! Yo-yo weight gain/loss over many years or just weight loss is a major trigger for the creation of gall stones so it would make sense.

Just my ten cents worth for the day. What ever you do, don't give up. Make the docs figure it out! I wish you luck!

Laura, I've backed off the power drinks as per your suggestion.

I did go to my lap band surgeon. We decided that I was too tight. I'm not sure how much liquid he removed but I can eat A LOT more. That's OK because I'm finally sleeping better at night and feel better. I'll just watch what I eat until I get things under control.

Dr. Lavin ordered a CT scan of my abdomen and chest, so I'm doing that this Friday. He said that, because I was spitting up during the night, that it is possible that I did aspirate some food and that might have caused infection in the lungs. I did have night cough and some indigestion discomfort. I'm not sure what cat scans show, but I hope that it'll show where the infection is coming from. Would gall stones show up?

Since I wrote the original post, I've had a few fevers, so we're averaging two per week right now. He also suggested I go to see a physician of infectious disease which sounds scary, but he explained that it is like an internal medicine doctor with three more years of training. I'm doing that Tuesday. Maybe the ID doctor will order a complete G.I. I'm honestly hoping that the CT scan will show the problem, allowing me to cancel with this ID doctor. You don't need a shotgun to kill a horsefly, so I don't want to put myself through unnecessary tests... I'm praying for a clear cut answer.

TA,

How many calories are you taking in a day? Are you taking your supplements.

I had a conversation one time with a receptionist at my Doc's office and she told me she could never get the band because she had "vaso-vagal" episodes whenever she got sick or vomited. I wonder if your band is too tight and you are having these episodes.

I would definitely let your bariatric team know you are not feeling well and go from there. They need to find out what is wrong with you.

You could have an underlying problem with the fevers not even being related to anything such as sinuses, etc.

I say get a little un-fill and see how you feel for a few weeks.

Are you still losing weight? Are you getting enough rest?

I did take your advice and get a little un-fill. I'm not sure how many calories I was taking in, but it probably wasn't enough, honestly. I did meet with my bariatric surgeon who ordered a CT scan and suggested I see a doc of infectious disease which I'm doing.

I was still losing weight but by the hardest. It is like I wasn't ingesting enough to get enough energy to move around more than was absolutely necessary, so the weight was coming off slowly. I'm now in the normal range, so I don't have that much more to loose, actually. I mean, I certainly could, but I was in no rush to loose any more.

No, I was NOT getting enough rest. I'm a long time insomniac and I was waking up several times during the night to spit up spit. It was a miserable existance and is a sure sign of being too tight but, remember, the symptoms were exacerbated since I've been sick. I can't eat with it is my TOM or I have a cold, so it is the same set of circumstances. The unfill is helping for now, though.

This may sound weird but I have been pondering you symptoms and I just happened to be on my TOM. I was sitting in the bathroom today and picked up my tampon box and read the warnings on toxic shock syndrome. I then googled it to see if I could find more symptoms and what I found was strangly what you are describing. The article I read said that aside from tampon use it can also be contracted thru minor irritations in the skin, recent surgerys, giving birth, and nasal packing for nose bleeds. The symptoms for TSS are as follows: High fever over 102F , rapid drop in blood pressure with fainting or lightheadedness, a sunburn like rash, vomitting and diarrhea, sever muscle aches or weakness, bright red coloring of the eyes, throat, and vagina, headache, confusion, disorientation, seizure, sore throat, kidney or other organ failure. It may not be what you have but it might be worth having a doc do some blood work and specifically look for some type of staff related infection.

Mystery solved!!! This is an important read for all bandsters, IMO. I got an unfill two months ago and all of my mysterious symptoms are totally gone. My blood pressure is back to normal, rather than having 2 or so fever/chill episodes a week, I haven't ANY. My surgeon's guess is that I was respirating food thus causing infection. As much as I hate to admit it, I was too tight and was incredibly ill for 10 months as a result.

I would definitely have the surgery again, but would warn others to be very cognizant of the signs of being overfilled. Had I been, I would have saved myself so much suffering and money. I would also urge others to change their eating habits and eat healthy. I was so tight and there were so few things that would "stay down," that I was desperate for anything and the quality of what I was consuming declined drastically. Since the unfill, I think I gained like 8 pounds which I'm really not begrudging at all, but I am scared to death to gain any more. I am considering counseling for an eating disorder because I don't think my views of food and eating are anywhere near normal. I look and feel better, yet I am depressed about the additional eight pounds. I was starving for so long, I don't want to get in the mode of making up for lost time, so to speak. I need to learn moderation on my own part. I'm just so scared.

Thanks for updating! I am glad to hear you are feeling better!

Wow- thanks so much for sharing your story. For those that think being tight is right - they need to read your story.

Thank ya'll so much. I hope that I can help someone else and prevent unnecessary suffering!