Hello,

I had my lapband surgery in November of '07 and the band has progressively gotten tighter on its own since June of last year. I had the remaining saline (3cc) removed about a month ago and it actually made the tightness worse. I have to push 2 bottles of Water through the band (feeling horribly stuck the entire time) before I am able to get any other fluids/puree foods down.

I had a barium swallow done and the surgeon said there was NO SLIP. He said I could be having random slips with the band going back into place on it's own? Yet I am ALWAYS horribly tight. I am having surgery in May to try to fix the problem (or remove the band), but I am concerned because they don't seem to really know what the problem is.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this or has any idea what is going on.

Thanks!

Elizabeth: Other than the barium swallow test showing that there was no slip - what else did it show? Was the barium going down without a problem? Was the pouch or esophagus dilated? If they don't know what the problem is - what are they going to fix during surgery? Here is my suggestion. Get a copy of your upper GI on disc and take it to another doctor for a second opinion. I don't know how experienced your surgeon is in bariatric surgery but having another set of eyes look at the test might help. I got a second opinion and am now changing doctors. Mine former doctor was just not experienced enought to deal with my problems. You owe it to yourself to find out what the problems is. Good luck.

Thanks for your response. The day I had the barium swallow it actually went down quite well, although normally I get stuck just trying to drink Water. My surgeon is one of the best in the country (Canada) and he just said that the xray showed that my band is fine and there was no slip and everything went through it ok. When I spoke to the nurse I basically had to try to convince her that what I'm experiencing is NOT normal (she was trying to say it was just stress...yeah right).

Basically my surgeon said when he goes in he can either reposition the band, replace it, or remove it. So it's up in the air right now. All I know is that I can't live like this, it's absolute torture. I'm finishing up my nursing degree and have to work 12 hour shifts on no food or liquids because I just spend my entire break getting stuck off of water. Not fun.

Anyways...it was nice to vent lol.

Hi there

I am having more or less the same problems as you are and I agree, it's not nice:(

I was banded Sept 08 and had no problems till I had my first fill 4.5 mls. I felt the band get tighter and tighter until I had an e,ergency aspiration carried out last week, surgeon said he took it all out but there was only 3mls in syringe!

I had about a week of relief but feel it's now getting tighter and tighter again. I am finding it difficult to get liquids down and the burping has started agin, big time.

I am giving it another week and if things have not settled down, I will be back on the phone asking to see surgeon again. I can't live my life like this either.

I'm not sure if it has slipped, I think the next step will be an endoscopy to see if all is ( or not) well

Thanks for your response. The day I had the barium swallow it actually went down quite well, although normally I get stuck just trying to drink Water. My surgeon is one of the best in the country (Canada) and he just said that the xray showed that my band is fine and there was no slip and everything went through it ok. When I spoke to the nurse I basically had to try to convince her that what I'm experiencing is NOT normal (she was trying to say it was just stress...yeah right).

Basically my surgeon said when he goes in he can either reposition the band, replace it, or remove it. So it's up in the air right now. All I know is that I can't live like this, it's absolute torture. I'm finishing up my nursing degree and have to work 12 hour shifts on no food or liquids because I just spend my entire break getting stuck off of water. Not fun.

Anyways...it was nice to vent lol.

Sounds like me before I had the band removed. In my case it was band intolerance.

Some people have a little more restriction if they are the stressed, tired, TOM, time of day, etc. For me any little thing and I was obstructed with an unfilled band.

I couldn't take it anymore and had the stupid thing removed.

If it is band intolerance surgical repositioning isn't going to do any good, nor will a new band help. Also, stats just came out of a meeting recently showing that surgical repositioning of a band means you have a 70% chance of a slip within the first five years.

Thanks for those encouraging words!

arrangrl - I'm sorry to hear that you're going through the same thing I am. Hopefully yours will resolve itself unlike mine.

Wasa - Yikes...I hope that's not what it is but I guess I won't truly know unless I try again. I paid $16000 for this surgery plus the cost of flying back and forth to the clinic, and I feel like I didn't use the band properly so I'd like to try again. That statistic sucks though....but I'm willing to give it a shot. I just hope the surgeon doesn't decide to remove it.

Oh my gosh! I am so excited to see this discussion... yet sad for what I am reading!

I have been banded for 5 1/2 years. My band keeps getting tighter and tighter (on its on). I have already had one revision, going from a standard band to a VanGaurd band. I currently have 2mls in my VG band. We have had to take Fluid out repeatedly, after I reached my sweet spot about two years ago. It is the same thing that happened to the first band... I lost "room" for an adjustment.

So, instead of living a life of acute obstructions, fills and unfills, and the inevitable demise of this band, I am on the road to a RNY revision. I did NOT want a bypass... that is why I got the band. However, I want to be morbidly obese even less. I have maintained over a 100 weight loss. But, the weight is piling back on (due to having to leave my band at an ineffective adjustment level to avoid problems).

I am so relieved to see that I'm not the only one.

Jules

upstate NY:crying:

P.S This signature is a few years old!! Sorry.... the numbers are not correct. My current weight is about 210lbs and my BMI is about 32.

Edited October 5, 200916 yr by Julie_Dizz
My signature is old.... and I have forgotten how to edit it.

Hi Jules. I'm in the same boat. Going great until 3 weeks ago when my band just got inexplicably tight on me to the point where it hurt to drink water. An unfill allowed me to eat for 1 day then it was back to liquids only. Barium swallow showed no slip & endoscopy showed all normal except stoma narrower than would be expected with an empty band, but big enough to get the endoscope through? Dr says removal is the only sensible option rather than trying to re jig the existing band or replace as it may leave me with the same problems and a needing yet another surgery. We can discuss options once it's had time to heal and once he sees what he finds during surgery.

Oh my - I just re-read your post and see this is your second band with the same issues. I can't believe you've gone through this twice - that really sucks.

I'm going for a second opinion but don't expect much joy there, and am booked in to have surgery for removal next week.

It's so upsetting & stressful to be living like this and the medical professionals scratching their heads not knowing what the issue is.

Like you I wasn't at all keen on the more invasive options, and my Dr mentioned the possibility of sleeve gastrectomy. I'm still not keen, but when those scales start moving in the wrong direction your thinking has a way of shifting too doesn't it?

When are you having your RNY? I hope it all goes really well for you.

All the best

dani

Edited October 6, 200916 yr by moragged

How long did you have the band before you had it removed?