desertmom

hi I have been complaining of back pain,directly in the middle behind my stomach,since the band.Never had it before.It gets very bad if I do something very physical (hard work...) or when I get very tired.It also appears mostly in the afternoon,I think because by then I have been on my feet all day.When I sit down and rest it gets a lot better....With it goes a feeling of discomfort directly between my breasts.... No one's been able to help with this......

hi I have had reflux and heartburn since a few days after being banded....over the past 8 and a half months I have been treated,filled very conservatively and unfilled and nothing helped....nothing made it better....I had a huge amount of upper abdominal pain and upper back pain that went with this.....I never had proper restriction and had to low carb to lose weight......Also,I hardly ever BP'd and almost never had anything get stuck..... Have been unfilled for 5 weeks now and I feel like my old self....no pain,heartburn,reflux,nothing.....normal....only I have gained 5kg's....(have been on holiday abroad though.....) I have been low carbing again for 2 days and lost 1kg already.Thing is what now???????? Hope the issue resolves itself for you.....I myself might even try a fill again next week.....(the mind forgets so fast...cant even really remember all the discomfort I suffered to clearly.... Glad you feel ok now...

Hi I read your post and decided to not read all the answers before posting my own...my opinion is purely experience...not affected anymore by what I should be feeling like of what it should have been like or what it is like for others.... Being scared stiff of dying was the biggest reason I went for the band and not for the GB or rather DS (prefered surgery)Got the impression that 1 in 200 people actually die from the other ops.......also that the long term complications are a lot more in the other operations than with the band.... After all the trouble that I am having with the band and the money I have spent on tests and dr's and the fact that they can do nothing but remove it again I doubt that the problems is any worse with the other ops...I wonder what is worse.....having you insides rearranged and then having problems (but you do know why..)or having a foreign object inside you and never knowing why I am having so much pain,reflux,heartburn back pain.....never knowing what is happening at the site of that foreign object because I have a lot of pain....a foreign object that inevetably will have to be removed again......and I am still 30kg's overweight. I will be more than 20000 dollars out of pocket.....and when the band is gone the weight might come back (without a change of habit it will)...it works out to 500 dollars per kg.....if I knew that I would have gotten a private trainer and a nutritionist and a life coach and I am sure I would have lost all the weight what with all the positive motivation and lifestyle changes.... Or if I could get courage from somewhere I would have gone for the duodenal switch and it would have been harder to recover and I would have been sicker in the beginning...but I would have been at goal now,drinking my Vitamins...eating my Proteins.......not wondering if I am a total fool for going on holiday before doing the gastroscopy and not freaking out because I will have to have another anesthetic (have a lung decease that makes it very high risk...) wondering what the long term complications will be after the band is removed...just going through all this everyday of my life tells me that the medical centre that doesnt do the op anymore needs a medal....... MY OPINION.....EVERYONE IS ENTITLED......

hi Just an opinion.The band is a foreign object fitted tightly around the stomach.Anyone that has worn a ring or bangle or something that fitted tightly must have noticed how an indent is formed at the site.I think what happens is that some people get a slight inflammation at the band site or that the band just irritates the stomach and it starts eroding....interesting enough a lot of people with erosion reports "port issues" or port pain and I think it is inflammation....that is what the body does when it is trying to protect or reject..... Penni,what port issues did you have? I have always had a lot of port pains....sensitive to the touch and deep stabbing aches around the port area....I thought that is "normal" as people are always saying it is ok to have port pains....(combined with the increase in stomach ache between boobs under ribs where I think band is situated...cant wait to go for the endo after holidays....)

Any of the newly unbanded members have an answer for this maybe?would be good to know this....

I have heard of a few,I think.There must be some.....show yourselves please.......

hi Reading this has really made me so sad. I am battling so many of the same issues with NO VISIBLE REASON for it.....pain,severe portpain(dont complain about that though,people said it is normal..)severe reflux and heartburn.....pain that goes through to my back all the time.....severe restricted feeling around my ribcage....and on and on.....not always the same but something all the time...At the moment the band is empty,no reflux or heartburn just the stabbing pain between my breasts and the chestpain and back pain.......and I will mail my dr now to book the endo....I dont want to....want everything to be fine and all these stuff to just go away....but reading this post made me sure that one cannot just leave it to sort out by itself....who knows what the outcome might be..... I really hope that things work out well for you now.Good luck.

hi Is an endoscopy test like a gastroscopy? The dr have emptied my band about a week ago and instead of the pain going away it has intensified a lot.....I get the spasms I got directly after the operation.When I lie on my left side I get an intense pain on the right side...I constantly get a "chest pain",intense pressure,even when I breathe in.All theses symptoms got a lot better after I started having fills......only the pressure and reflux and heartburn remained.....now since the unfill, no reflux,no heartburn at all............. The dr said to wait 10 days and then I will go for and endoscopy test.Never had one before...... Since my band have been emptied I have realized that my habits havent changed and now that I am seriously stressed about all this I am eating a whole lot of junk and that compulsiveness about food is right back....and with that a wopper gain of 4kg in 10 days.......and I am not really eating day and night..lol.. So,I know that this band have been helping me a lot over the past 6 months in that I wasnt always thinking about food and I wasnt always eating.....and I wish that whatever was wrong would just go away by miracle so that I can fill it up again and feel better about myself....because when I dont battle the food demon 24 hours a day my life is a lot better.... Ok,I dont know why I wrote this post.I have struggled so much with the band that it sometimes seems that I was only negative about it. Maybe I just needed to say that now that I have come to the point where I might be losing it I just dont know what I will do without it......and with that came the realization that if you dont have pain and discomfort with the band it must be great to have the right kind of control over eating.

hi Paula, I also think it might be something fixable.It might be something like a stitch in the wrong place or a chronic gastritis or eusophagitis....or something....but it took me until now to get them to look at it seriously......so will update next week.....

hi There is the wlsinfoforums.org.uk that is great.I think you will findmost of the UK bandsters there.....

Hi My doctor told me they aim to keep it in for 5 years......no longer.....by then your habits should have changed and all those things.......people got quite "het-up" when I posted about this before..... I wish the wise people on the board would start keeping a threat like the before and after threat to see some longer term statistics even if it is only of the people on the board........who slipped,who eroded....how long before every one lost there band.....that way in a year or so we might have a much better idea of what happens to whom and why.....just for good solid info......but I think people will have a lot of reasons why we shouldnt do that....hey,like before I might be wrong but I think it is quite realistic for the dr to tell people they will lose their band before say 5 years because I think a lot of people will.....It might have been designed to be permanent but I dont think the original band will be permanent for most....as time seems to be going by a lot of longer term complications seem to be happening and I think statistics will change in the next few years.... Again,dont get mad....I think if one have complications from the band you tend to look out for others with it and you notice it more....

Dont know if I lost any more since last time....I am down 105 pounds now.....but I have been this for quite some time now....bouncing 5 pounds down and up and down....... Am going for a complete unfill today.So scared I am going to gain....but anyway it needs doing now......pain,reflux to much,little unfill didnt really make a difference....so....I need to Atkins for dear life if I want to not gain....... Good going everyone....

hi Even though I am still fat after having struggled with the band for nearly 7 months now I would be to scared to do any other operation.....it is so bad to feel sick and in pain a lot of the time and if the "safest" operation can leave me desperate for relief and totally isolated in my pain,who says any other operation will be different? If I know nothing would go wrong DPD/DS.Duodenal switch.....for sure....it seems to be a big operation and big success rate.....

hi Like dishdiva said.....Im on Nexium and it doesnt really help..well a little....but when my fill is to tight I get the night reflux and that is terrible..... So do all the things like not eating after 19:00,lifting the bed ect ect and go for a slight unfill....it really helps most..... Hope you can resolve the problem..

Hi Firewheel.I want him to do something.If the pain is not related to the band I would be most relieved and happy....but then the unrelated pain is still a problem and need to be treated....before that can happen someone must diagnose what is going on.... Anyhow,as I see it the other bandsters dont really feel the band.They feel restriction,which I do to, and they can carry on with their lives like before,exercise....ect...thats what I want my dr to do for me......fix whatever is wrong so that I can go on with my life,without the pain,reflux and heartburn as my constant companion......at the moment I will be happy to be without the pain....the heartburn and reflux I am mostly used to after 6 months of it.....the pain you cant get use(d) to... Some days I feel I need to get back to normal,with or without the band,and some days the realization that I might regain even what I have lost so far scares me so bad that I think I will keep the band even if it kills me...

O,just as an after thought......if I didnt always "feel" the band and didnt always have pain,discomfort and reflux...I wouldnt have worried about having the band at all.....

Hi It's just that there really are a lot more complications with the band than what people are aware of or what we want to see when we are pre-op,I'm not sure which.... This is really scary to me.A lot of you know that I have been having problems with reflux and pain...real pain.I had an unfill recently and the reflux is really a lot better...only during the day now,like before nothing at night...but the pain is just no better.....in fact more often I am getting the "chest" pain feeling with the abdominal pain and yet when I complain at the dr's he just pushes on my stomach,ask if it is sore and when I say no, not particularly...my stomach is sensitive to touch but he say's all is ok......and does nothing....when I insist he says he can take out all my fill but I know that I will not lose weight then...and it feels like he is threatening me with it...(I know that sounds crazy but he knows how desperate I was to lose weight....) I cannot get him to take this seriously.Sometimes when the pain wakes me up at night I am scared that I am just going to die because no one is listening and the dr will just carry on banding more people without anyone knowing or caring what happened to me...(again,I know this sounds very melodramatic and I am actually laughing when I read this.So I am tempted to delete this again,but if I die then this here is the evidence that something was really wrong...) I just sometimes wish that I could not feel anyting in my stomach for a while,like before the operation......to just be able to forget about this for a few days...not to worry about it every time the pain gets worse.It got to a point where I was thinking that I was crazy or a hypochondriac until I mentioned this to my family back home....and they again reminded me how I always use to say:ha ha....to pain and sickness....I refused to give in to any sickness.Been healthy as an ox all my life.... So to me,this is a living nightmare....I am sure that pain has a reason.....this cannot be nothing even though for 7 months I have had to treat it like nothing.....and painkillers really takes the pain away but I am to scared to take even paracetamol more than once a week.... Ok,waffled enough about this.I will survive this and I will get thin...no matter what....

hi I am so sorry about this.Great that you have lost all your weight.

hi No,havent changed my mind......I have however lost 105 pounds....still hate the band....still battle with pain every day.....reflux better after unfill...still taking max meds for reflux though..... AND I ONLY EVER LOSE ANY WEIGHT WHEN I ATKINS,I MEAN REALLY LOW CARB.....even 1000 calories with normal food I might lose maybe a pound a week....with lowcarb at least 2.2 pounds a week...... So,Smooch,I understand your dilemma but keep changing what you eat and you will lose weight.....what I mean is diet girl,some people do really well when they go back to weight watchers or slimming world or some program....it is the only thing that will work for some.....that and exercise.....and now people are going to stone me again...... Have a nice day all.......

Hi I havent been on the forums much lately.Life has gotten quite busy and well,having lost this much I am feeling so energized that I cant sit stil for long..... After having my last fill I have experienced the strangest thing.I only needed a little top up as I could eat a little to much but still had some restriction..... Big trouble is after this fill I have the worse reflux ever.Night reflux for the first time,abdominal pain,back pain BUT I can eat ALMOST ANYTHING I WANT......The physician actually upped my Nexium to 40mg twice a day.....O,I actually had a temprature of 39 degrees for a few days after the fill but then I also had that for the first week after the operation..... What on earth can be going on?I know that I should go back to the dr but I feel so despondent that I just dont want to even think about it.....they are truly not really interested in this problem.... I am increasingly paranoid about erosion.....I might be crazy or just plain eating way to much and should cut back but I dont Bp at all.Nothing gets stuck at all anymore and the band is now filled almost to its capacity.... My port is very painful at times but I sort of feel that it goes with the pain I get under my ribs where I presume the band is..... Anyhow,I dont know what to do....I had to fight to get a barium done after the operation (that showed the band was proximally displaced but the dr felt it was still ok to leave it as it is.....) How do they do endoscopy and is that the test that I must demand from the dr? (If I dont demand something he will just say what he always does that the band goes with sacrifice and my weightloss is proof that the band is working....meantime we can really thank the good dr Atkins for my weightloss.....) Ok,this is a long waffle but sometimes advise from people that live with the band really helps to put things in perspective and I really need to know how long I can ignore these problems before they might get serious....... Thanks for answering me.....again.....

hi I live in the Dubai and I was banded by a visiting surgeon from Belgium.The follow-up is done by a sweet local surgeon that doesnt believe that anything can go wrong with the band and that well,anything can be fixed with more medication.....he actually thinks that I am a very good band success example.....and as far as weightloss goes I diet my butt off to get thin. Look,I suppose the real picture is this.I have had problems from the beginning.Bad reflux,esophageal spasms,heartburn.Never night reflux though,this is the first time.Always good restriction after a fill for about 4 weeks then needed a little more....The surgeon did say that he would suggest I lose as much weight as fast as possible because we would have to remove the band as soon as I have lost my weight.(I will never consider different WLS because if this could go so bad for me Im not very positive about WLS anymore....)Constant reflux that cannot be resolved with meds is terrible for the eusophagus in the long term and one cannot live like this for too long.... So to get to what you say Alex,I suppose I know the reasonable thing to do is an unfill.I just needed to hear it again.I dont know why I have this thing about not being unfilled...... The reflux I have lived with for longer than 6 months now and can continue to do so,the pain is what really bothers me at the moment......I have to actually take painkillers twice a day or I just dont function normally.....so,seeing that it is weekend here tomorrow,I will go for the unfill on Saturday...and pray that all goes back to normal.....When he did the fill the dr actually said I was going to be back for an unfill because the fill kept pushing back into the syringe...he didnt believe I needed the fill....so...I should stop being so stubborn and do the unfill....I hate the idea though.... Thanks for advice....

yes,terrible.Never had heartburn or reflux before in my life and now have it everyday even though I am taking Nexium and Zantac......nothing helps.....Aloe Vera makes it a lot worse...a lot.....

hi Here comes the old devils advocate again...forgive me.....I'm not negative.Im just living with complications and I am more realistic now than when I was desperate...might also be that I have lost quite a lot of weight now and thinking more brave than before...who knows..... There is no guarantee that even if nothing goes wrong short term,long term nothing will.Do yourself a favour and do as much research as possible about band removals.There is quite a few nowadays and more re-bandings than ever before.More port problems as well. Seeing that you have the money availabe I would get a personal trainer,a good supportive dietitian or group,a therapist a commitment to losing weight and try to change the habits that get us to a point of needing a band in the first place.That is what I would have done if I had the knowledge then that I have now...... But hindsight is 20/20 they say..... Good luck on making your desicion.

HI Congratulations on the weightloss.If you look on this site and others you will see that you have actually lost at exactly the same pace as they recommend bansters must lose weight. Have the new way of eating (diabetic diet) changed any of your eating habits?Is it starting to get easier at all? See, I'm asking these questions because even though the band helps you to lose weight and it really helps one to keep losing when you feel you are going to fail any minute now.....long term I still think the only way is to change one's habits.Replace it with better ones.Exercise.....do all the things thin people do all the time....... There is a lot of problems with bands and more noticible now that the procedure have been done for quite a few years......... I am a person with complications and my band will have to be removed at some point so I am the other side of the coin........ It is by no means easier for me than what is was before the operation.I am succeeding because I am to embarrased to fail.A concept many people dont get but my pride is making me lose weight at the moment.I told everyone I know I was having this operation and now I have to lose weight.......I atkins every day and when I cheat I gain like usual..... Having said that a lot of people are very happy with their bands and wouldnt change it for anything in the world.... Good luck making a decision.Keep doing what you are doing to lose the weight in the meantime.It is always better to be lighter when one goes for the operation.....

Sue The facts of the matter is that you see a huge amount of "re-operable" complications with this band...all the time....weather it is re-banding,removal,slipping,erosion.. I have been doing research because I have a lot of pain,reflux all the time...no interest in the problem from my dr's and no recourse because of where I stay.... Being part of other boards where 100's of women are enthusiastically being banded (a huge lot of them by the same guy that doesnt even want to check to see if something is wrong with me.....) because he has done 100's of operations and havent had a lot of complications only every 3rd patient suffers form reflux......point is even the experienced guys like this one has only been doing the band for the past 3 years or so.......It just seems like they are doing as much of these ops as they possibly can and no one even knows what the longterm outcome will be......but then we can always have it removed cant we.......which so doesnt make sence.... I have found that when there is a complication with the other operations it is more serious and can more often be fatal......but I see a lot less patients with complications than with the band.... The other thing is how this operation is a faliure even by very low standards.....people lose 40 to 60 pounds of 130 and then they think that is now ok.......that is not a success......it doesnt seem worth the expence or trouble or risk does it? I keep wondering when are people and the medical world "watch dogs" going to wake up and smell the roses? So many people think that they will grow old with this band.....I doubt that very much,but only time will tell........ When you are desperate and researching what you can do about your weight problems you are not very objective about things...... I fully accept responsibility for my decision to have the operation in the first place,after nearly 18 months of research......Only after things didnt work out did my eyes open to all I did not want to see or hear about the band...... Even now,I have lost so much weight that I am quite happy to suffer the way I am....I am on Atkins and dieting every day of my life otherwise I just dont lose weight and I cannot see my last resort as a faliure in that sense....even though my follow-up guy said we would have to remove the band around April...if that late....I WILL BE THIN BY THEN...... Dont know what to do after that but....... Please everyone, dont see this response as only negative...this band has changed a huge amount of things in my life and I regret having it and dont regret having it.....People just need to know the upside and downside of deciding to have the band....and having problems with this band is sometimes so tyring and consumes so much of my energy and I have to think so positively to get through each day with this fire burning inside my chest and throat that when I see a thread like this I have to respond no matter what all the happy bandsters will say.. You are a brave girl and I envy you your courage to have the DS...I also have come to think that it is the most successful operation of all the WLS. Good luck and I hope all your future plans with this works out very well....