Total unfill with problems

[kathyy68 0]

I have had my band for about 15 months now....no complications until now. I have lost around 92 pounds. Recently I started getting heartburn and reflux at night. Finally it got so bad that I went to the Dr. yesterday. I did the barium swallow and they noticed that my stoma was swollen so they took out 1/2 of my Fluid. The barium still would not go down so they ended up taking out all the fluid. At that point I fainted and they had to use the smelling salts to get me up. Then they took my blood pressure and with all my other symptoms found out that I was very dehydrated. I guess with the reflux I had neglected to hydrate my body like I should have. Then I ended up dry heaving for a few minutes and they finally decided to put me on IV fluids. Now I am at a total unfill and cant eat for 7 days....total liquid diet. Note to all....do not ignore the signs of heartburn and reflux. If I would have let this go longer I would be having surgery again. :thumbup:

[Victoriana 10]

Hi, have you had any other symptoms? Any dry coughing in the morning or lots of burping, I mean more than usual when eating? I seem to be able to eat just about anything right now, and trying to maintain without a fill, I have had problems with reflux lately, so mostly curious. Thx

[kathyy68 0]

Yes, actually I did have those symptoms also. I coughed a lot at night and right when I woke up. Also was burping a lot. Actually the burping helped the food go down better I think. Please....if you are having any of these problems do not wait to go to the doctor. You could be facing another surgery. I am on my 3rd day of liquids only and I am not complaining...its better than going thru the surgery again. Im so glad I went in and took care of this when I did.

[Victoriana 10]

Hi again! I hope that others can gain from what I share with you next. I have had my band 3 years this comming November. I have lost l20lbs, so in January of this year I started with night coughing, and a little reflux. It seemed that in the middle of the night at times I would suddenly spit up and wake up with quite a start. I would go back to mushies for a couple of days and drink Water like crazy as being hydrated keeps me from feeling to tight in the A.M. Things returned to normal. In mid January I had heart burn at work, and after lunch it turned to pressure, I began sweating and dizziness. I had a heart attack in 2003 and was well versed in heart health, (the reason behind getting the band in the first place) so I left for the ER. My EKG was great so the took a chest x-ray to find out why I had such pain in my chest. I showed a mass the size of my fist in my right lung. It seems that they believed it was stage 2 lung cancer, because pneumonia that advanced would have had high fever and a lot of phlem etc. The needle biopsy and cat scan were inconclusive. I visited my band Dr. the following week when I was released from the hosp. His swallowing x-ray showed that I was a little tight so he removed 1/2 of my previous fill, that fill was over 4 mo prior and seemed to be fine. I was put on antibiotics in the hosp and remained on them as per the plurologist and within a few weeks (6) the mass in the lung was reduced to nothing! It was determined that I has aspiration pneumonia.

The bottom line is that any sypmtom no matter how small, can lead to bigger ones later...We must never forget the rules, hydrate, eat small portions and never go to bed with food in the stoma, and keep your fills as small as possible. I shudder to think if I were to loose my band altogether. I have not lost anymore weight and even gained a few pounds, (That darn cruise with all that great food!!). I am exercising again I know I need to build muscle and boost my metabolism.

I am glad you are doing better, I am trying to stop the nexium I have been on and I do think the reflux is partly because of this. I am also convicted that the sweet tooth is fueling the reflux because when I behave, the reflux calms down.

I was interested in what you originally posted, I was never dehydrated, but the night reflux is what caused me to aspirate and get an infection in the lung. This could have been much worse for both of us and I believe that our visits to the Dr. short circuted further band complications. I wish you more success. (and while Im at it, I wish me a lot more sucess too!)