What am I doing wrong?? Help Please!

[Alyce24 0]

Banded in May 2009 I have thrown up once about 4 months after my surgery because I ate too fast. Since then no more problems.... until this past Thursday. I am at 2.5/4 ccs, last fill about 3 weeks ago. Everything has been going down fine since my last fill so it wasn't like an immediate problem.... Last Thursday I started eating lunch and quickly experienced extreme discomfort that usually indicates I've eaten too much and I ultimately threw up. I scolded myself afterward and was determined to eat slowly and be more conscious of what I was taking in. Friday passed by fine, then Saturday I'm eating dinner - I had a little over 1/8th cup veggie, and 1 and 1/2 3 inch long "wraps" with a toasted tortilla. The pain came again and I ultimately threw up my dinner Saturday. Sunday night I'm eating a Smart Ones meal, chewing well and halfway through my meal...guess what??? I threw up. And again today for lunch I had 1/4 cup of carb, 1/8th cup veggie, 2 small pieces of nugget size chicken and just threw it up!!! That's 4 times in 5 days!

I'm taking prescription strength Prilosec nightly due to severe acid reflux/GERD and honestly it's not helping a tremendous amount. I'm wondering if this is a band slip or is this somehow related to my acid reflux...? Has anyone else experienced this to some degree? I'll go back to my doctor if I have to, but honestly my local docs aren't that knowledeable about bands and it's hard to go to them for information... I'm so very frustrated. How do I suddenly suck at this?!?!:thumbup:

[Spartan 4]

Alyce;

I would see your doctor about this. It's happening too much, too frequently. Probably nothing to be concerned about, but I would certainly ask your Doctor.

S.

[gatorgal 0]

I, too, would contact your doctor. I had some of the same symptoms recently and finally went to see my doctor today. He did a slight unfill (I was at 3.4/4 and am now at 3.1/4). I will be on liquids for two days until I slowly resume a normal diet. The doc said that sometimes the "newer, improved" bands can suddenly decide to be too restrictive. So, we'll see. I was at a standstill with my weight loss because I was not eating enough (or was eating slider foods in order not to throw up), so hopefully this will kick start my weight loss again.

Just wanted you to know you're not alone, but I would call your doc tomorrow.

[cwm812 11]

Contacting your doc is never a bad idea, but I suspect the problem will be resolved with a few days of liquids. I think you are swelling up after your stuck episode on Thursday. For me, I stay swollen for at least a day sometimes 2 or 3. Because you're still swollen, more things get stuck and then you are in a really bad cycle.

It's possible you need a small unfill, but I'd hate to mess with a fill that's been working well for you, without trying to give your stomach a break for a day or two. If you can't eat normally in 2-3 days, you really do need your doctor.

Cindy

[BetsyB 9]

I'm with Cindy on this one--I'd baby it with liquids for a few days, advance my diet slowly, and then call the doctor if problems resume.

[Alyce24 0]

Thanks SO much everyone. I decided to go with liquids, etc for the next few days and let my stomach heal. I forget about the trauma vomiting can put the organs through and I think cwm is right and I never really let my stomach recover from that episode. I'm going to give it a few days of liquids & mushies and then see where I am after that. I've been under a lot of stress lately not to mention my acid reflux and I think combining everything has just put my digestive system through the ringer. If I don't see an improvement in a few days I'm definitely going to call my doc and see what can be done. At least the frustration is gone, and a plan is in place.

Thanks again to everyone for responding - it's really nice to be reminded that there are others out there

[Spartan 4]

Hi, Alyce;

As I said in my earlier reply, it is PROBABLY nothing to be concerned about. However, it did concern you enough for you to post about it on a forum, so for your own peace of mind I would suggest that you take a few minutes and call your Doctor's office and make them aware of it. It certainly never hurts to make a quick call.

There are many things that can (and do) go wrong with Lap Bands, and it's important that you pay attention to anything out of the ordinary that is happening. Your Surgeon's office MIGHT have some very specific intructions on how they would like you to handle this.

One other thing is that a GOOD Lap band Surgeon likes to be made aware of things like this.....different things that happen to different people as a result of different things that they do/do not do at various stages in their Band experience. It all depends on the Surgeon and his level of involvment with his Patients, but many of them do record events like this.

Again....probably nothing to be concerned about, but a 5-minute phone call will certainly give you the information you need on the correct way to proceed.

Hope you feel better soon.

S.

[Alyce24 0]

Thank you Spartan. I realized soon after my last post that the pro-doc responses are completely correct there's nothing wrong with contacting my doctor. The tough part is I was banded in Mexico so my best bet will be email (which I've written) and they'll be getting back with me soon hopefully. My hometown docs aren't very knowledgeable about the band, though I have one that I can turn to if my surgeon can't give me good info. So between here, mushies & liquids, my Mexico surgeon, and my one band conscious doc here hopefully I'll get some good results! I'll update if there's some revelation that one of the docs share with me! Thanks again, I really do appreciate it.

[Spartan 4]

Ah, ok....that makes a little more sense...I didn't realize you were banded in Mexico, and I was wondering why you didn't just make a quick call....but, it's easier said than done cross-border.

This is, unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of going outside one's geographical area, and out-of-country. It is often difficult to obtain the kind of support that you might need post-op.

But, I also recognize that in some cases, going out of country is the only way the surgery is going to happen!

Please do keep us posted, I'll be curious to know how they respond....and, again, I am quite certain that it is nothing to be concerned about!

S.

[Alyce24 0]

Update for those who are interested... I emailed my surgeon and got a response. He says that he's not concerned since I've been able to keep other meals down and my current diet of liquids & mushies is going okay too. He says if I'm back to throwing up after I return to my regular diet then I need to go to a local doc, but otherwise it was probably swelling from the initial episode that kept me running back to the bathroom... So we'll see how I am when I get back to regular food this weekend. Now if they could only find a cure for acid reflux:rolleyes2: