ChiefPig

I just had hiatal hernia repair on 1-17-08 and had my band replaced at the same time, my initial banding was in August of 03. I had been having TERRIBLE reflux and since the birth of my son in April 05 had not been able to get the band adjusted to the point where I could lose any weight. I was sick and vomited a lot while pregnant and the doc thinks that might be why I developed the hernia. I had been having to eat 4 Tums before bed every night. I'm a week post op and have had zero reflux!!!! Plus, the added bonus was, I got the new lap band. My doc says that the old one was horseshoe shaped and this one is completely round and old one held 3-4ccs and this one holds 10 cc. He said that it has greater adjustability and better weight loss in his opinion. Yay! Hopefully will be back on track soon! Banded 8-03 Starting weight 309 Current weight 250 Low point 225 (before pregnancy - '05) Goal 180

I get that way sometimes if I have had a slightly acidic food (i.e. orange juice). My doc says that non-banded people will get a touch of gastritis occasionally from these kinds of foods and experience swelling in the stomach, but don't think anything of it, but banded folks can have the tiniest bit of swelling and not be able to eat a thing. Also, some people say that their adjustments don't "kick in" for 2-3 weeks. Something to think about.

I had this same problem while pregnant. How far along are you? At first it felt like pain and bloating in the earlier weeks. Eventually, it would get to where I had trouble breathing in the later months. I ended up having to see a pulmonologist because of this and he figured out that the extra contents of my abdomen were putting pressure on my Vagus nerve. The Vagus is the nerve at the top of your stomach that tells your brain that you are full - the principle behind the band... in other words your brain gets the signal you are full even with a very small amount of food. The trouble with this is that the Vagus nerve also has a part in telling your lungs to breath for you... so when you get pressure on it your brain gets the message that you are smothering, etc. I had to take Prevacid twice a day and he prescribed an Advair diskus to help open my lungs as well. Hope this helps.

I go to a great doc in Georgia who I am sure sees patients who have been banded by other docs. Depends on what part of GA you are in, but they are located in Dalton. Dr. Steven Paynter is my doc and the other two are Dr. Jaime Ponce and Dr. Rick Fromm. Dr. Ponce was one of a handfull of surgeons who participated in the FDA trials to get the Band approved in the United States. They also have a Chattanooga office in TN. Their number is 423 899 1000 and I'm sure they will be glad to give you info on the Dalton, GA office as well.