BirdGirlEm

Hi all. My band has been persnickity lately, with a complete loss of restriction and a lot of pain. The surgeon filled it some today but says if it doesn't resolve he will need to do an EGD to look for erosion. Has anyone had this happen and if so, what was your experience like?

I had this problem post-op as well. The anesthesia slows the intestines down, then you don't have any real food for weeks and are on pain meds. It is a wicked comba. I took a stool softener, Colace I think. Try one with no stimulants. If you need to a glycerin suppository can be useful if you are experiencing blockage lower in the system. I also added Fiber powder to everything I drank (store brand Benefiber) to keep things working well. And of course, walking will always get your gut moving again.

Narcotics can cause nausea and vomiting, it is one of their more charming side effects. People can also be sensitive to the suspension liquids (which tend to be super sweetand sugary). If you can tolerate the Tylenol alone it will be much easier on your stomach. Pills are usually easier because they tend to dissolve in the duodenum rather than the stomach, it is getting them down that is hard. Don't crush them, that can be dangerous, but you can break them in half. Hope you feel better!

I agree with everyone else. The pain is from food being in your esophagus causing it to spasm (which hurts like all heck). This can happen from eating too fast, eating too large of a bite, not chewing enough, or eating too much. Best bet, eat slowly, chew well, and rest in between bites to avoid overeating. I also find that when it happens with the first few bites that drinking warm liquid before eating helps.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Some people need several fills to get restriction, so not having hit the perfect place with your first fill is normal. Grad school is stressful for anyone (being there myself I know) but is even harder when you are fighting so hard for weight loss. It sounds like you have enormous amount of stress in your life. I hope you can think of some helpful coping skills that may help you when you feel the temptation to eat. I have the bad habit of eating while I read, and since I am also in grad school, all I do is read and read! I try to replace that with other things, like a stress ball, but it isn't the same. It takes a long time to figure out the ins and outs of the band, how to eat, how to cope with stress differently, and how to make better choices. You cannot berate yourself for every lapse because there will be more, trust me, and it isn't helpful to you. I would call your doc and tell him you are not losing weight and feel like you need a fill. I am sure they will be willing to go ahead and fill you before you next appointment if you ask. I just have to say this though, you should be SO PROUD of yourself. You are in grad school, which is hard enough, and you have made a committment to lose weight. Neither one of these is easy, but the two together is amazing. You have really shown you are strong and able to make it, so give yourself some time. Good luck with your weight and your thesis... I am already sweating thinking of mine!

TKW, I agree, it sounds dangerous. Meat tenderizer is an enzyme designed to break down tissue, it won't discriminate between the steak in your pouch and your stomach and esophagus. This could cause some serious damage.

I love your Homer avitar. So funny. I think the perfect measure of the sweet spot is whether or not you are losing weight and if you are staying full between meals. Some people can eat more than others and still lose weight. The amount in the fill is not as important as the amount of weight loss. 7lbs is a lot to lose in less than 2 weeks, so I wouldn't mess with it. I think if you did you'd run the risk of being too tight. Sounds like you are doing great with it, so keep it up. Try not to berate yourself for the larger meals, just make sure you don't eat foods that go down too easily. It can be hard to find that spot and I think too many of us focus on the band fill amount and what we are eating rather than the weight loss. The scale should be your guide...

It sounds like you are eating too much in one sitting, hence the burping and the sensation of a burp being stuck. I would talk to your doctor about it, he may have filled your band on insertion (some do that) and you may need some removed. Try eating very slowly and stopping the moment you feel full at all. It can be very hard to learn to eat with the band, it takes time. You will get there. The pain in the shoulder is from irritation of the phrenic nerve (the CO2 gas irritates the diaphragm and nerve) and should go away soon. The abdominal pain is most likely from having the area inflated during surgery (this can hurt some people more than others) since they inflate you to the point of a full term pregnancy (yes men too). There can be a lot of pain from that. I would run it by your doc to be sure, but I think that this should pass soon enough. Try a heating pad on your belly, sometimes that helps. Call your doc to be sure, it is always better for them to know what is going on anyway. Good luck to you, you will love the band...when it works!

You sound too tight. You should not be vomiting, it can damage your stomach and cause your band to slip.

There has been some research recently on this topic. I read an article that talked about depression in bariatric surgical patients and indicated that a large number of patients suffer from severe depression in the first two years. People who have traditionally used food as a coping mechanism may be at a loss for how to deal with stress or negative feeling, combined with the loss of their comfort and "friend" they often find themselves very unhappy. One would hope the reward of weight loss would be adequate compensation for that grief, but it isn't. I would encourage you to get your husband professional help ASAP. Men who are depressed can often hide their more severe symptoms until it reaches a critical stage. The study I read was primarly about suicide rates in bariatric patients, which is much higher than the general population. Please talk to his (or your) doctor about this. He deserves happiness after all his hard work, and so do you.

I had the same problem with fish oil pills. They can be enormous depending on the dosage. You may want to look into a smaller dosage taken more frequently, like 400 mg three times a day rather than 1200 mg once a day. I switched the red krill oil. The tabs are small and they seem to have the same benefits. I did find a brand that has a concentrated fish oil pill that is small, 1200 mg in a tiny pill but they had an aftertaste that was unpleasant.

I think the actual amount of food you can eat will vary with what you are eating. Ultimately it is far less important that you are still losing weight without feeling deprived. My doc doesn't give us volumes to eat instead stressing the as long as I am losing weight then I am eating the right amount.

You can get all the calcium you need from Tums or Rolaids (generic versions as well). No need for the fancy, expensive, and very nasty tasting supplements. If that is still not palatable, try calcium enhanced foods, like milk, yogurt, cereals, and orange juice. We need the calcium because we are not eating enough to get it in our diets normally. But some people can meet those needs so if you are worried about it you could have your calcium levels and bone density checked and maybe you won't need to supplement. Most women also need Vit D, which helps the calcium be used in the body. Women in general need calcium and Vit D added to their diet to meet nutritional needs.

I would run this by your doctor to be sure, but you could probably take Tylenol without irritating the pouch. If you are too tight for that, try liquid Tylenol. Just to be sure though ask your doc.

You may be having night time reflux due to the band being placed and tight. It is not unusual to have some reflux at first. My doc told me it can be a cause of poor sleep and insomnia post-op. My suggestion, in addition to the good ideas the other members had, is to elevated the head of your bed at night. Use pillows or elevate the foot with a large book or brick under the feet at the head of the bed. I have had this when my band was too tight and it was really a pain. I do think you should be checked for sleep apnea, particularly if you are on pain medications since they can make apnea worse. Just think, as the weight comes off you will find you sleep so much better!

I agree with vlp. Your band should be looser the longer you are awake and eating. If it is too tight to eat at the end of your day (morning or not) then you are probably too tight. I found it took a few weeks of night shift for my body to catch on to my new schedule, but it was very hard. I worked 13 hour night shifts and gained a ton of weight! I think it was the fact that my hospital didn't have a cafeteria but did have a McDonalds! But there has been research that shows night shift can cause weight gain and other fun things (like an increase risk of breast cancer). May want to talk to your doctor about it. When you sleep use darkening shades to make your entire bedroom dark to offset some of the problems that shift work can do.

I think that the silicone in the band is considered inert, but some people can get autoimmune reactions to having any kind of implanted device in their body. I had a full allergy workup with the allergist (they did antibody testing to see what I was allergic to). But it wasn't until I had patch testing at the dermatologist's office that I learned I had a chemical allergy. I am allergic to propylene glycol, which is in darn near everything. I too had to switch out all of household, and beauty products. I am currently using Burt's Bees and love it! Sorry about the rambling, my point was that you may want to see your dermatologist and have some testing. It was easy, totally painless, and wasn't terribly expensive. Totally worth it! My eczema has finally disappeared after FIVE years!

I had this for some time. It was almost always within the first few bites. I believe some people call it "first bite syndrome", which I think is a great name. I found that if I drank something warm before I ate that it didn't happen. So maybe even a small sip of hot tea would help you. I know in my case I was hungry and would take too large bites, but that when I drank it pushed the food on through. This isn't the band being too tight, otherwise when you drank you would feel even worse not better. Chewing really well is so important to prevent that feeling. But I would try something warm to drink before you eat and see if it helps.

Have they been there since surgery? It could be an allergic reaction to the cleaning agent used to prep for surgery, post-op antibiotics, tape, bandages, or any number of things. I would see your doctor just in case. It will also help since they may be able to assist you in identifying the agent that caused the rash so you can avoid it in the future. Still, worth having it looked at since it could be other things, like an infection.

You need to see your doctor and have Iron levels and a CBC done (since being iron deficient can cause anemia). This should be a covered procedure with insurance so better to do that with your own doctor. My doctors said I would need a calcium supplement with the Band, so I chew one Tums twice a day. No need for the expensive things, the cheap store brand Tums or Rolaids has enough calcium. Just don't take more than 500mg at once, since your body will dispose of the rest instead of using it. Iron is a very dangerous supplement if you don't need it. Iron can build up in the brain and liver and make a person very very sick. This is only something you should take the suggestion of your doctor. Also, iron supplements are very hard on the stomach. They cause constipation and can irritate your pouch. I am iron deficient, and the band made it worse. I take Biferra, a brand name iron supplement that for some reason is much easier on the stomach. I had terrible problems with the ferrous sulfate pills, so was glad to find an alternative. Be aware that if you have kids you need to keep them out of their reach. There is reason they don't sell liquid iron supplements on the shelves anymore. It can really make kids ill. Hope that helps.

Thank you for your reply! I was beginning to worry. The pain is a burning gnawing sensation. It never stops it just aches all the time. If I eat I get a little relief but then it hurts even worse. The fill has led to restriction, which is nice because it means that there is no complete erosion, but the pain is still there. I have to take a lot of NSAIDs and took steroids for a few months this summer. Those both can cause issues, so I am concerned. I am glad you replied and that they didn't need to reoperate on you. It gives me some hope. Can just irritation hurt like this all the time?

I would call your surgeons office to be sure, but I would keep the site dry and clean and covered. I had skin glue on my surgical sites and several of them came open. I cleaned them, applied Neosporin, and kept them covered. It worked out ok. I just did wound care as I had been taught in nursing school and a wound care seminarl. The nearly passing out thing, has anyone ever told you that you have vaso-vagal syncope? It is a reflex syncope (syncope is passing out) that people often get in response to phobias such as needle sticks and blood draws. For some it is more complicated than that, but that is another story. Best thing you can do is take slow deep breaths and try to relax your muscles. Also good idea to lay or sit down before having anything done that could cause the problem. Safety first and all that.

My surgeon's office only gives Celebrex for post-op pain, no narcotics at all. I have asthmas so avoid NSAID's, and had some other pain issues that needed to be treat, so I didn't take the Celebrex. It is easier on the stomach than other NSAID's like the long lost Vioxx was. If you can, eat a little something with them to avoid irritating the stomach pouch... but short term should not be a problem.

I eat Greek yogurt, it has a lot of protein and not a lot of calories. My hair fell out for months after surgery in handfulls. I increased protein and has some response, but it was only when I went back to taking fish oil supplements that I had any substantial regrowth. Unfortunately it continued to fall out but was growing back quickly. I recently had some patch testing and learned I am allergic to a chemical in my shampoo and conditioner. I switched to a "natural" hair care line (Burts Bees) and voila, no more hair loss. You should explore other possibilities. There could be any number of other causes that are exacerbated by the weight loss and surgical stress. Have your thyroid checked, your Vit D levels (a common problem for women), and consider patch testing for allergies that could cause the problem.

Most surgeons will not do a reduction on someone who is losing weight. They will want you to be at your goal weight, and a size you can maintain, before they will do anything. Some women have breasts that are mostly fat, and they will lost a lot of volume from weight loss. Some women have significant breast tissue, and those won't change much with weight loss. In my case, I am the latter. My band size has changed from a 44 to a 38 with only 50 pounds of weight loss, but my cup size has gone from a DDD to a G. So mine have gotten bigger! I plan to have a reduction as soon as I reach my goal weight because of the pain in my back and shoulders, but if you don't have those problems, then you probably wouldn't even be able to get a reduction covered. This is a person decision and not some thing anyone can make you do. The nurse probably thought she was helping by making a suggestion to have a reduction, but that is your choice and you shouldn't do it if you don't really want to. Regardless, you have time to think about it as you work towards your weight loss goal.