MelDiva

Hi there guys n girls, I had a new VG band put in (after 5 years with the old 10cm one), and luckily Im not getting the usual shoulder tip pain, BUT since Saturday Ive been getting this excrutiating pain that comes and goes in the right side of my abdomen. It strikes like a thief in the night (but also attacks in the day!) and sticks his little dagger into me. :cursing: Then dissapears after a minute. Its hard to describe where exactly, its probably a 10cm square area where it can hurt, somewhere just right of my belly button and can be anywhere up from my hipbone. When its happening it is made worse when I breathe (which unfortunatley I cant avoid) and walking around doesnt seem to help much. Im on liquids and havent had a bowel movement yet and wonder if thats the problem. Come to think of it, I ate a lot of meat the day before the operation (my last carnivore meal before the band), and come to think of it, I dont think I had a bowel movement since then. So could this horrible pain be trapped evil poo? Any ideas? Cheers, Melissa P.S. Sorry for grossness!!

well the incision site closest to the pain does have a tiny bit of bruising. But Im guessing the bruise would be pretty bad yeah to have what you had? Doesnt sound good!! Ive still got the pain, although it seems to have moved about an inch inwards...im still hoping its just constipation or the trapped gas! :puke:

thanks...i think youre right! Ill give your tips a try :puke:

Ive had the band for 5 years, jsut found out last week that I have a slippage. Ive been struggling with weight gain for the last year or so. And have always PBed after almost every meal. I started getting the occasional nighttime reflux a few months back and tried anti-reflux tablets...that didnt help much. Then I got another fill a month ago and it went from bad to worse, couldnt sleep the first 2 nights had to stay upright and try not to PB. I felt nauseous. I wasnt completely blocked, but it wasnt good so I got the increased saline taken out plus a quarter mil to be safe. That was a few weeks ago and my nighttime reflux hasnt gone away, just not as bad as it was. I hope I wont need an operation, mild slippages CAN fix itself if you take all the fill taken out (which Im waiting on my doctor to do next week), but anythign more than that, and it has to be repositioned. Horrible that it can happen after so long. But then again, who knows how long it has been slipped. My doctor didnt request yearly barium checkups...maybe he should have.

yes if dairy products come back up, even a minute after Ive drunken/eaten it then yes, it will most likely be curdled. Not nice, but milk and stomach juices obviously dont go together. On a side note, I used to be lactose intolerant in a big way before I lost the weight. I found I could suddenly drink milkshakes again without getting bad stomach cramps. Im not sure if it was the band...or the reduced weight...who knows.

ive always found coke (anything super fizzy) is always helpful at getting rid of a blockage. Never found juice very helpful...what I mean is, any liquid can be useful to get you to PB your food back...but if there is something REALLY stuck then a fizzy drink does the trick. If it doesnt...then you got a problem and you might need to relax the fill. Of course, I realise the topic here was about whether its normal when you are ill and unable to vomit, not about food getting stuck...but still much of a muchness eh?

ive had PB'ing (productive burping/regurgitation) ever since I got the band put in 5 years ago. I go through stages where I wake in the middle of the night choking on my own vomit. It has nothing to do with a new fill because I went 2 years without an adjustment, some weeks are good and some weeks are bad. Our own changing bodily fluids within our membranes have a lot to do with whether our band is tighter or not. Its a crock when surgeons say reflux is stopped when you get the band. In my experience, it mostly did at first (except for eating too much and it bouncing back up), but eventually true refluc came back within a few years. Having said that, it may not be the band directly, I may have stretched the stoamch portion above the band (by overeating) and I am having a baraitric swallow test next week to check.

Ive noticed if I have eaten within a few hours of getting a fill, it gets a bit trapped in the new tighter space and takes a while to work its way down and feels weirder than if I had an empty stomach. Unfortunately I havent always chewed well, and sometimes I have things in there which dont really fit with the new restriction. So if that happens I tend to feel a bit of pain at it scrapes the sides on its way down. Maybe that whats happening?

In the 5 years since ive had the band, Ive had food poisoning/stomach flus a couple of times and never ever have I been able to throw up the contents of my 'lower' stomach. I just keep heaving over the toilet and just a little saliva comes out. What ive noticed is that it takes longer for us to get that bad stuff out of our system because it cant come up and out. Ad yes anti-nausea meds is great..if you can stop heaving long enough for it to pass your band.

yes I had a small fill a few days ago after a 2 year gap of letting it do whatever it wanted (ie putting on weight). My stomach felt really tight and I felt a bit nauseous. Its been difficult, tightness kept me awake the first two nights with lots of burping and reflux. Last night was a bit better, only a few times I woke up with reflux. Heres hoping it calms down more tonight. I have had a full blockage before, and this isnt the same, so Im not too worried. If you cant get anything down at all then go straight back to the doctor, otherwise I suggest letting it settle 3 or 4 days. Just make sure you are getting fluids in.