I have had my lap-band for 2.5 years and in the first year I lost 70lbs but have not lost a pound since. I have had 4 cases of gastritis and recently a case of esphogitis with esophogus dilation. Every case of this has resulted in me having to have the entire band emptied wait several weeks to several months and start again. No sooner do I get restriction that I then develop the gastritis or esophogitis and the cycle begins again. This last case was so bad I was vomiting blood and had to undergo Endoscopy with biopsies. Has anyone had this experience and what has your surgeon said is the big plan? Mine just seems to say rest it longer this time and try again, but at what point do you say that is it and I can not tolerate the band? Has anyone been converted or being converted to a by-pass due to band failure or issues such as mine?

Any info would be helpful....

Thanks

Deb:crying:

You will be sure to hear from some of those who have had their band removed and had revision surgery to the RNY or gastric sleeve. What do your upper GI's show? Are you too tight when you say you have restriction? How many cc's are in your band when you have restriction? It could be you are too tight then and need to have less fill. I hope you are able to resolve this issue.

hi Cleo's Mom-

I have never gone above 3ml in a 5ml band but sometimes the gastritis happens even at as little as 1ml. It just seems to be that anytime I have to go on antibiotics (frequent sinus infections) or eat even one trigger food (ie- coffee(even decaf), spicy food etc.) then I can set it off. There is some talk that it never heals in the first place. This time I have to have a repeat endoscopy before I can have any fill put back in. It just seems like a never ending cycle.

When was your last upper GI? What did it show? After 3 years, you might just have band intolerance and have to have it removed. But you should discuss this at length with your doctor. By the way, I never heard of a 5ml band. I have a 4cc band and after my second fill put me at 3 cc's I developed pain, reflux and heartburn and had to have 1cc removed. That made all the difference. Good luck.

I misspoke I have the 4cc band. I am currently completed unfilled and am taking prilosec twice a day because of the ulcers. I am scheduled for another endoscopy and upper GI in a couple more months. They really wanted me to take a 6 month break. I do not have a slippage but I had esophogus erosions which resulted in bleeding and constant nausea and vomiting. Perhaps it is band intolerance. My primary wants me to go to a tertiary care center instead of the community hospital where I had it done for a second opinion. Probably a good idea. Thanks for the support.

As someone who went for a second opinion at a center of excellence, I think that is a great idea. I ended up switching doctors after this second opinion. Get copies of all your test results, including the disks of your most recent upper GI's (that show all your problems) and take them to the second opinion. It never hurts to have a new set of eyes look at things. I hope this gets resolved for you.

So what kind of foods and how much do you eat while the fill is no longer there and you're resting your esophagus? I just found out that I have dilated it and my pouch.....they took my fill out and am to go back in 2 months to start all over. Not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be eating! I never had reflux or problems eating. Guessing I was just too full (4.75 cc in a 4 cc band) and know that I snack too much!! Any help from someone who's been there would be appreciated. Thanks!