swelling after a fill

Schnugglebunny · May 22, 2009

Hello,

I was originally banded in 2002 and lost 100lbs in about a year and kept 70lbs off for 5 years. In 2007 I had various problems with the band and an unrelated appendix surgery and after a year of pain and surgeries, my band was removed. Within 7 months of removal, I put back 70lbs.

I was devistated.

On October 31 of 2008, I was rebanded. Since then, I've lost nothing and have in fact gained 20 pounds. I find I have no restriction. The feeling this time around has been NOTHING like my first band.

I am having troubles with the fills. I am only at 6cc. If I get a fill larger than .5cc, I have difficulties. When I'm at the dr. office, I feel fine post fill. I can swallow my Water, all is good. By the time I go to bed at night, I can't swallow my own spit and I end up in washroom every hour or so. So I restricted myself to no larger than .5 CC fills. I got a fill a few weeks ago and the .5 felt very little difference. I went 2 days ago and got another .5cc. All was well, I stayed on liquids that day no issues. The next day, I had a small bowl of Cereal, no issue. At lunch I had a small bit of ground meat which immediately came back up. Since then, I have not been able to keep water down and I did not sleep well due to not being able to keep down my own saliva or water.

I suspect this is due to some type of swelling and am wondering if I should just tough this out for a day or so more or if I should go and get a de-fill. The problem is, I really felt no restriction before this fill and am certain that I need more than what I had. Has anyone had a fill that completely blocks them up, but then subsides over a couple of days?

cheers,

Schnugglebunny from Toronto

ParrotheadCathy · May 22, 2009

You've had some significant problems in the past. I'm thinking talking to your surgeon is the best place to get answers. You'll get some suggestions here, but the bottom line is, if you don't call your doctor today, you will be stuck until TUESDAY because of the holiday and my question is, do you want to take the risk of this not getting better and having to wait that long for relief?

Schnugglebunny · May 22, 2009

Thanks so much for the reply. I have phoned my dr. to request a defill immediately. I don't think I could even make it through one more day of this. I can't even sip Water without it eventually coming back up.

I'm just so bummed because I know that prior to this .5cc fill, I had very little restriction and was steadily gaining. But I can't live like this. I beginning to think that I made a mistake getting this band again. It just worked so well for me the first time. I am going to start investingating rny conversion I think.

s.

ParrotheadCathy · May 22, 2009

Bunny, try getting just .2cc removed (not ALL of the last fill). Often a tiny adjustment is all it takes. Stay at the doc's long enough to drink a glass or two of Water to see if .2cc was enough.

tspowell · May 23, 2009

My Dr is very strict after a fill.....You can only have a clear liquid diet the day of and the 3 days after..... due to the risk of swelling. I have to stay in his office for 30 min and drink a bottle of Water to make sure it goes down...no protien shakes or anything. That is the hardest part of getting a fill. But I have had 2 so far and done well. I am at 5cc now.

Jachut · May 23, 2009

Yes, try taking out say .2. The teeniest fills can make a difference.

heschete · May 26, 2009

I have a problem with swelling after a fill. I feel fine in the office but by the evening its usually pretty tight. It definitely takes me a couple of days to get to normal. Vomiting is the worst! I swell alot if for some reason I cant keep food down. Ive had 1 unfill because too soon after a fill (3cc) I had a bite of dry cake forgetting about the band for a second. It came right back up and I had horrible swelling, even Water was extremely painful to drink. I called for an unfil and had 1cc removed, this made it so much easier while waiting for the swelling to go down.