KateP

Because eating solid food causes the walls of the stomach to move during the process of digestion. This strains the internal sutures which not only need to heal but need to become embedded in scar tissue. Research ( eg Stroh and Manger) has shown that eating solid food too early increases the risk if slips further down the line, If my doctor tells me to do something for my own health and safety and I don't understand why, I ask him/her for more information, I don't just ignore him. I give more weight to the opinion and instructions of qualified medical professionals than I do to the ideas of online strangers. Maybe that is why II still have my band after nine years whereas many don't.

With luck this will change. Many find, I certainly do, that we start to appreciate quality and taste. Pre-band, we shovelled food in and hardly tasted it. Eating slowly and choosing carefully because we know the quantity will be small can really enhance eating,

I see you got no relies so posted again - so I am answering just to reassure you your post is being read! I have no oersonal exoerience to share! Port area pain is usually from pulling on a suture and early on things may be getting tighter as they heal and scar tissue us created. It can also be a pulled muscle. Maybe a tight waist band? Or lying on the port in bed? Later on, unexplained pain round the port, if allied with swelling, heat, redness can be a symptom of erosion. The band eats into the tissue of the stomach, infection builds up and can travel along the tubing. Often this us the only sign of erosion. But on its own, it is probably one of the other causes! If in doubt, ask your doctor.

Most of it was me! It is easy, once you get used to it, to eat around any surgery. Soft foods like ice cream, high calorie drinks, sauces, chocolate, chips all slide down very easily. Some people choose to keep the band tight enough to physically stop them eating. I followed my own doctor's advice never to do so. So all my band does is help me feel less hungry. That is an enormous help! It helps me not think about food between meals. But I am the one who decides which foods, how much and how often.

The doctors push the sleeve because there's alot less follow up. Easier money for them. Never forget that medicine is also a business. In fairness- not all. We have a national health service and my doctor is salaried, so it makes no difference to him financially which surgeries he offers. He no longer offers the band because he sats he has to remove too many. I personally love my band and have never regretted it for one minute but I would be dishonest if I said that the chances of further surgery were not high.

What procedure did you chose and why did you chose it over the other options? Band. Because at the time (2006) we were told it was the safest, was reversible, had a low complication rate. It turns out that not all if that is actually true! But that was my "why" How long was your recovery? Few days. How fast did you lose the weight? All my excess weight of 110lbs in around 15 months. How has your life changed since having the procedure? Healthy, active, wearing nice clothes. Not being obsessed with find and eating. Would you do it again? Like a shot Any regrets? Not a single one What should I be aware of? You need patience. You can eat round any surgery, it is NOT easy, just easier. What, if any, foods do you miss that you can no longer have? There are no foods I never eat.

It's a fantastic loss. Never have a fill unless you are sure you need one. First fills are usually offered between 6 and 8 weeks post-op but it deoends in the doctor.

42lbs in 9 weeks is very considerably faster than most people! Expect less to slow dramatically! And don't get frustrated when (not if) it does! You are doing brilliantly.

I didn't. I wanted to get away from the idea of my eating being some thing I thought about as special. I wanted it to become my norm. Just being slimmer and feeling fit and good about myself was all the motivation or reward I needed. But I did splash out on a very expensive, long leather coat when I was below goal.

There won't be any swelling 5 weeks post-op. Some people find the band on its own is initially enough to cause some restriction. But it could also be simply the way you are eating. Is your food moist (I.e. not dry meat), Are you taking tiny bites (pea-sized) and chewing to destruction? You can take a bit less care later on but at first you need to really take care with that. If it carries on or you find you are getting foods stuck, phone your doctor as some do put saline on during the op and you may have a bit too much.

Ah, good. That's easily solved then as most doctors don't do all fills under XRay so it needn't happen again. Interesting though - still never heard of this before! I wonder why on earth swallowing barium could cause dizziness!

Mucus produced while we sleep can stack up above the band while we are lying down. So in the same way that food would build up if we ate too much and then be forced back up the oesophagus, so is the mucus. I get allergies, not as bad as yours but enough to produce night time mucus and the only thing I find works is to take anti-allergy meds and sleep propped up. Bringing stuff back up, whether it is food, acid or mucus, while we are asleep is something to try to avoid as particles can be aspirated and settle in the lungs.

I have copied this from a post I made elsewhere. Please bear in mind that I am a very happy and very successful bandit now 9 years post-op. I do not regret my band, would do it all over again and if I ever have to have it removed, I would hope to have a replacement. When I was banded in 2006, it was a miracle surgery. And for some people, who accept that they will still have to work hard, it is just that. It was and still is for me. But over the years it has become clear that serious complications necessitating further surgery are much more common than originally thought, some of these are avoidable by careful eating and by not keeping the band tight; unfortunately others are beyond our control. We used to be warned about band slips, leaks and about ( very rare) erosion into the stomach tissue but it turns out that a build up of scar tissue round the band (causing it to tighten) is quite common. It can be very difficult to get the right level of restriction and some people are tempted to keep it tight enough to physically limit food, in fact it was once thought this was how it should be. But this causes food to back up into the oesophagus and that risks problems such as oesophageal dysmotility which may be irreversible. It can also damage the vagus nerve. Quite a number of doctors have stopped implanting bands as they found the removal rate was unacceptably high and it was too easy not to lose enough weight. Revision from band to sleeve is not uncommon! We still need lots of will power. The band makes it easier by dimming hunger, but it does nothing for heard hunger and, contrary to popular opinion, it does not and should not physically stop us eating. If it does it is too tight! Having said all that, I love my band, I know many successful long term bandits in real life. My own experience has been good and so has that of almost all those I actually know and have met.

If your band is tight when empty, there are, as far as I know, but I am not medically qualified, only three possible reasons. One is that the issue under the band is inflamed. This can be for a variety of reasons, seasonal allergy, hormonal changes etc.. Or because of a serious stuck episode. Anything which might cause swelling, irritation or Water retention. The second is a slip. But this would normally have shown on the XRay. I have read of people saying the XRay was normal but they later found the band had slipped but this surprises me! The third would fit in with you already having become too tight -hence the reflux. Some people find that scar tissue builds up round the band. There is no specific reason why it happens to some and not to others and it was not something anyone mentioned when I was banded in 2006. But it seems to be not uncommon. The normal progress of this is that, some time after banding and not connected to getting fills, the band gradually gets tighter without any obvious cause. My advice would to go back to your doctor, it is never good to be tight for any length of time.

None. I have stopped associating food wth guilt, I refuse to spoil my occasional treats by regretting them afterwards. There is no food I never eat!

There is no doubt that the complication rate is far higher than it used to be thought. Some doctors have stopped offering banding because of that. I think the stats are "bad" in several ways. One is that it is very easy to fail the band by eating round it so weight loss is minimal. A second is that people abuse it by keeping it too right thinking that is how it should be. But the third category is people like you - who follow all the rules but things still go physically wrong - reflux, slips, scar tissue, erosion. Erosion, which I assume is what happened to you, is by far the least common so you were particularly unlucky, But there are still many success stories, my own doctor says the vast majority (no exact figure) of his patients are like me - long term successes.

I agree with the last poster. I have never, in over nine years on lapband boards, heard of this. It is difficult to see physiologically how a very slight increase in the amount of saline in the band could cause this. My only thought is that if the band is too tight it can cause pressure on the vagus nerve which is a "wandering' nerve and affects surprisingly diverse areas of the body. That would link in with the fact this is on-going when you eat. But that's a very vague thought based on no knowledge or experience. Call your doctor. This may not be band-related.

You are right to be concerned. Most banded people can eat white chicken meat! But tablets are a different issue. It is quite common not to be able to swallow large tablets. I can certainly swallow ones larger than a tic-tac but not ones like Vitamin tab size. I always get either small ones, a liquid form or I cut or crush them - not possible with slow release meds. You might be ok. But you don't know until it happens!

If you want to lose weight, there is no option other than to change your lifestyle. You can do it by pure will-power or you can get surgery to help you. But there is no other way to lose weight and, even harder, to keep it off. So if changing your lifestyle worries you, stay the size you are! But in fact, they aren't that hard! Personally I eat all food groups, just not much of them. While losing, I made healthy choices about 80% of the time. Probably most people make a few mistakes while learning to eat with the band and bring a few mouthfuls of food back up, but it only happens to me maybe once a month, if that. It was a bit more often at first but still quite rare, And it is always because I ate too fast. It's not like being ill and vomiting. The food comes back from above the band so there is no nasty stomach acid or part- digested food. I have never had a long or painful episode.

Had mine for nine years. All good. Am in touch with just over 50 people (not online, in real life); two have had bands removed, one because she deliberately kept it too tight. Rest doing ok. Two friends have sleeves and have had an appalling time. One friend has RNY and nearly died. Horror stories? Yes. Happens to everyone? No!

One of the things so many obese people face is a lack of any self-esteem. And having had that, the confidence that weight loss brings can be very fragile. As we lose weight, we often misjudge our body image, thinking we look either thinner or fatter than others see us. This will adjust over time. I praise people for their new-found body confidence. If they post to ask "should I get a different bra" I might say, why not try X. But if they post, with pride, a photo showing bulges etc, I will do nothing to dent their confidence.

Welcome. The board is not always busy but if you post a question and wait, someone will answer you! Don't be afraid to ask - hearing the experience of others can be so useful. But remember - sometimes answers may be "tough love" and not what you want to hear!

Thanks for your response! Anybody who successfully maintains their weight loss for 8+ years deserves to be applauded!!! Not totally successfully! And it's not quite 8 years yet. I do worry I may lose control some day. But going OK so far! But I do feel surprised when people post it is easy to maintain loss and that the pounds have gone forever. It gets harder over the years IMO.

My way is not necessarily a sensible or good way, but it is MY way and has worked, with a couple of blips, since I got to below my goal weight way back in 2007. First of all, a lot of what you ask never applied to me. I didn't eat low carb, I was never in ketosis. I made healthy choices but from all food groups, I didn't totally cut out any foods. I didn't even really count calories apart from a monthly reality check. When I reached my goal, for many years, I relaxed totally but watched the scales like a hawk. If they went up by 5lbs, I went back to basics until they went. Basically I ate like all my friends who have never had weight problems eat. I ate without thought for four or five weeks, I dieted for a week. And that is all it took. Over the last couple of years (I am now 9 years post-op) I have let it slip a bit and I am currently working at losing a 20lb gain - most of it has gone.