djt10

I've had my band for 3 years. I'm not constantly sick. In fact, very seldom. It's only when I eat something that won't pass through easily, that balls up, like pasta or bread products, that I have problems. If it doesn't go through, I have to vomit it back up. My first fill doctor was a quack--I live in Eastern WA and had the surgery in Detroit, because that's where they accept Medicare and my military insurance for payment, so I came home and got a doctor who specializes in fills. He couldn't hit it, then did the fluroscope and insisted my port was turned or misplaced and that I had to go back to Detroit to have it surgically replaced. I did that at great expense (for my budget it was terrible) only to find out he simply missed the port and misread the fluroscope. It was perfectly positioned. They gave me a small fill in Detroit and and got a different doctor who actually does the surgery and he had no problem. He's so good that it only took 2 fills to get it right on. I feel like it's perfect, but there are simply some things that won't pass through the band and if I eat them, or don't chew food well enough, it comes back up. For example, in the last week it's happened once, when I tried to eat a hamburger. Hamburger buns are a no-no for me, but I did it anyway and then had to get rid of it. Otherwise, if I stick to what I know I can eat, it's fine. That very good doctor, who was on the ground floor of developing lap band procedures, is the one who explained that the vomiting is caused by food that gets stuck and triggers the gag mechanism. It feels awful when that happens. Pain, discomfort, and then I know what's going on. I think people have to accept that somethings are just not good to eat, but they don't want to deal with limitations. I could go back and have some saline solution removed so I could eat more, but that's the last thing i want to do. I can eat a lot if it's food that passes easily, but I want these restrictions on my former addictions. I can eat too much as it is. In 3 years I've only lost 60 lbs when the goal weight is twice that much, so I don't want to make it easier. I don't want to eat whatever I desire. Only what's healthy and filling. What gives me problems are exactly the foods I want to avoid but in the past lacked the will power to resist. Now, I don't have to rely on poor will power.

I can't speak for anyone else, but this is the way it works for me. Certain foods won't go through the band. That triggers a gag reflex, the way my fill doctor described it, so I just go in and vomit it up. If it goes down, there's no discomfort, but once it goes down to the lower level, it won't come back up. I can feel when solid food drops down, but if it doesn't it feels awful until I get rid of it. There are a lot of things that don't pass through the band. Anything that balls up like bread products or food I haven't chewed up enough. I've given up trying to eat spagetti, buns, and things like that. It was hard getting used to--but now I pretty much know what I can handle and what gets stuck. I don't mind--it keeps me from eating things I used to be addicted to. No more pastry, bread, etc. There are times I've tried to throw up something that was in my lower stomach area if it upset my stomach or I felt like I ate too much--forget that. It just won't come up through the band, so I'm guessing that what you're vomiting up is still in the upper pouch and won't pass down and it's triggering that same vomiting reflex, rather than being "acid reflux". The MD's have that all wrong anyway. My old doctor was a naturopath and said the whole concept was bogus--that the "acid" part is food that hasn't digested because of weak stomach acid. It turns into something like vinegar, or it rots--the process depends on the kind of food. Fats that don't digest become rancid. Proteins putrefy and fruits ferment. THAT is the "acid" associated with reflux, not an excess of digestive acids, which few people have and more lose as they age. That's why the "little purple pill" is a killer. It further reduces the stomach acid needed for digestion, and just temporarily works on acids while compounding the problem long term. Low stomach acid is, among other things, a symptom of adrenal exhaustion, and in these high stress times, that is far more prevalent than people realize. Also, once something is "stuck" and won't pass through, nothing else does. I've tried to help it down with fluids, and even water won't pass when that happens.