dn6993

well, i had all the Fluid removed and the gerd is completely gone. it happened all the time not just at night. night was just the worst. hard to sleep even. didn't matter what i ate or didn't eat. nights were miserable unless i took mucinex and a decongestant. even then they weren't great. much much better now. will get a fill in a couple of months.

A fluroscope is used for fills. The dr has me drink a Fluid that he watches pass through the band to gauge the amount of fluid needed in the band. Upper GI is when the dr uses an endoscope inserted through the mouth to view the esphogus and stomach. Everyone I know that has a band has either spasms or gerd or both. Anyone know why this is? Anyone out there that doesn't have either? I am frustrated by the spasms and the gerd but not wanting to get my band removed. Afraid of the weight gain. I also have Fibromyalgia and Osteonecrosis both of which complicate matters for me. The FM can and does cause the spasms and gerd along with a host of other things and both limit ability to exercise. Would like to know if others that have FM have similiar banding issues.

So can anyone tell my WHY some of us get reflux and/or gerd after the surgery when we didn't have it before? Mine is so bad right now that I am on liquids only and taking mucinex & a decongestant. Allergies kill me. And the mucus seems to plug up the band. I get that. But it also appears, for me anyway, that I have the same problem when I am stressed. Anyone else notice that?

I had those severe spams last year. Actually went to the hospital thinking it was a heart attack. Better safe than sorry right? That was June of last year. In May of last year I started having those acid reflux incidents at night. Couldn't figure it out at all. Had a CAT scan and was told I had a hiatal hernia. Than had a laproscopic exam. NO HERNIA. The person who read the CAT thought my pouch was a hernia. Turns out my allergies were the problem. The mucus produced causes a 'plug' in the band. My dr. did a fluroscope and checked my band position. All was fine. He recommended mucinex, prilosec and a decongestant. Also a liquid diet until the irritation/inflammation got better. It worked. This year when my allergies started, I began taking the mucinex and decongestant. I already take protonix. I did the liquid diet for a few days. I also increased my water intake. So far so good. Deborah

I don't know either. Before the end of July 2010, I could eat anything w/out a problem. Since then I had problems eating alot of things alot of the time since the end of July, yet at times I could eat fine. A few days before my endo I ate half of a Five Guys burger no problem. I would think if my band had slipped I would be unable to eat all the time. There was no telling what would stay down and what wouldn't--the burger did fine but broccoli wasn't. My CT in mid July showed the band fine, the endo last week showed it fine but she recommended some fluid be removed and that I have it checked for possible slippage. The Dr that I have been going to for fills says that an endo and/or ct wouldn't show slippage. He said that an xray would be the best method and only a bariatric surgeon would really know what to look for. I suspect my problem is a combination of the hiatal hernia and esphogeal spasms. I think I vomited so much from that and had so much acid reflux that my banded area is irritated and needs a break. I am going to try the remove all fluid, wait 6 to 8 weeks and then refill method. I really don't want to pay for an xray if I don't have to nor do I want to keep going back to have a 1/4 cc removed at a time. Even though the 1/4 cc he removed makes it better, I still feel like there is a bubble there, kinda like you have to burp but can't if that makes sense. And of course I am still burping. However, I can eat soft foods no problem which is great. I want to avoid an further surgery if at all possible. Not only do I not want the cost I don't want to go through it again. Not that it was bad as surgeries go but I resent the the interruption to my life if you know what I mean. Just once, I would like something to go easy. thanks for letting me vent!

I was banded on July 29, 2009. Everything had gone well until recently. I have a 10cc band and had 3.25 cc in it. My surgeon stitched the band to help prevent slippage. I have no idea what happened but suddenly started having problems, couldn't sleep through the night due to regurgitation of acidic fluids. Went to dr who diagnosed a hiatal hernia and gave me protonix. Symptoms got worse. To the point were even saliva wouldn't stay down. Had an endoscopy and all normal. On Thursday the dr removed .25 cc of fluid from band and have been a bit better since. Still alot of burping (but not nearly as much as before) but I can sleep. Just moved to soft foods last night. Dr believes that the band has slipped but never mentioned removing all fluid and giving it some time to see if it repairs itself. Told me to go and get some xrays, he would review them and tell me if it slipped. I moved since having my surgery and am seeing a different dr for my fills. My insurance didn't & won't pay for my surgery and/or anything related to it. I am so worried and scared of it having gone bad and needing more surgery or worse yet having to take it out. I love the band and never had a single problem with it until a few weeks ago. I think I will contact my surgeon and talk to him about it. It is great to read that others have had similiar issues and what worked for them. BTW, my surgeon told me to take mucinex when cold or allergy seasons hits and i feel kinda stuffy as mucus can plug the band and cause vomiting. which as we know can cause slippage.

Interested to read about your experience. I was banded in July of 2009, and my last fill was in October of 2009. I have been loosing slow and steady (21 pounds since Oct 09) and never had a problem....UNTIL the middle of July this year. One evening I had such severe chest pains radiating up my jaw and into my arm that my spouse insisted on taking me to the ER. We are talking pain that morphine didn't take away. ER thought it was angina, did a CT and saw a hiatal hernia. The nurse told me that when people who have been heavy lose weight, hiatal hernias are common as the slit in the muscle that the esophageous runs through is enlarged due to the weight we were carrying. Once you lose the weight, the enlarged slit allows the stomach to slip up through it. And if the hh slips up and gets torqued or squeezed it is supposed to be painful. So have been treating the hh with protonix. But still continued to wake up with acid in my throat during the night and eating is hit and miss. Sometimes it is all fine and sometimes even water feels stuck. Had an endo 2 days ago to eliminate possibity of stuck food or stricture, tumor ect. So today I went and got an unfill; from 3.25 cc to 3 cc. The dr who did the fill seems fixiated on the idea that my band has slipped. He kept saying that because I hadn't had any problems for so long he felt that the cause of these sudden problems is band slippage. Which, ihho (in his humble opinion) happens to EVERY one who is banded sooner or later. He recommened an xray to see if the band was in proper position and I will probably do that in the next few weeks just to be safe. What makes me question his dx is this: last week I was fine; I even ate about 1/2 of a bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys. No problems at all. Then over the weekend tried to eat a couple of bits of a turkey burger and bam! can't keep anything down for 2 days. Wondering.... if it was slippage, wouldn't the problem be consistent? Deborah:confused:

Has anyone checked to see if you have a hiatal hernia? Those happen to people who have lost a lot of weight and heart burn is a big indicator of a hiatal hernia. I had those horrible chest pains too and was dx'd with the hiatal hernia (hh). The hh also effects your ability to eat. So today I had an unfill ( I was at 3.25 cc) and they removed .25 cc. I also take protonix 2 x's a day which helps with the heart burn. How did they dx'd that your band had slipped?

Hi! I am new to this site. I was banded in July '09 and have lost 54 lbs to date. My surgeon was Dr. Daniel Huacuz @ Huacuz Weight Loss Center in Mexico. My insurance felt I wasn't fat enough and that my other health issues were not significant enough to warrent them paying for weight loss surgery for me. So I searched around and wound up with Dr. Huacuz. So far so good. :thumbup: