Help!!!! 1.5 year after lap band

[maxxim42 0]

Hello. I a hoping that posting here will provide me with the answers that I am looking for. So, here we go!

I had the lap band in August of 2009. I started out at 221 lbs before surgry. I followed the diet plan and results have shown quickly. By October I was 184lbs and still trucking along. Since the surgery, I have never eaten like I had before. I was unable to eat chicken, steak, pork chops, Pasta or even cheeses, but have eaten cottage cheese (lots of protein) and yogurt (also lots of protein). Fast forward slightly, I went through a nasty divorce and seperated in January of 2010 and the stress piled on. I ate very little for many months. By May of 2010 it seemed that I stabilized around 142-145. I was able to eat, not alot,but salad, Soup, fluids etc. I remarried, happy living a great life. I lifted weights to maintain shape and toned. I exercised every day. Now I failed t mention in January, 2010 my surgeon had given me a fill to 4.2 in a 10ml band. I went off out of state for a week and had discovered that I could not eat, swollow fluids, was getting light-headed. I called him from another state and set an appoint the next day. He removed 0.5 from my band and have ben at 3.7 since January 2010. Since the new year, 2011 something has changed.

I found that I am not able to eat again! ANYTHING> I swollow coffee, and I get that mucus plug where I have to purge to feel better. The pain in unbareable. Most days I can not eat, however, there are sometime when in the evening I can sit and eat small things like, a small bowl of soup (tomatoe), or icecream. My weight is steadily decreasing, and although some would say this is good, Im worried. I am currently 135lb down from 137 in one week.

Here's the problem. I have moved out of state my job offeres no insurance. My surgeon is in another state, trying to get him to make appoint. I( I live on border of new state). I am trying to find if anyone has had this problem and how they resolved it, or have they resolved it. I always thought being stressed would have some corrolation, bnut I'm happy, so that theory goes out the window. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[TKW 501]

Well... I'd say you are either too tight or your band has slipped. You should be able to eat solid protiens. I think you should see a dr. weather your insurance pays for it or not. You've had great weight loss, congrats! But you should be eating healthier just for your overall health. Good Luck!

[FutureVet 1]

Hi Maxxim,

I've also had a similar experience with my band. I was banded in February of 2009. Things were going great and I was losing alot of weight. I was able to eat solid Proteins but not things like bread or chips. Around June of 2010, I started noticing that I would get acid reflux at night. It was miserable and very painful. I also started to get sick frequently due to eating too much and trying to eat around the band. I was still happy though because I was losing so much weight. Eventually in August of 2010, I noticed I could only eat mushies and Soups and then eventually just liquids. Again, it wasn't fun but I was losing weight so I was happy. One day in mid August, Water and hot tea would not even go down. I tried every liquid but nothing worked. I would develop a mucus plug and would have to purge to get some relief. I finally decided to go see my lap band doctor. I was self pay so I was very worried. They did a barium swallow and saw that nothing was going through. I was told that my pouch was very inflammed and the band had almost slipped. My docotor was very worried and now, so was I. He had to completely unfill the band to give the pouch time to heal. It healed rather quickly and now I feel so much better. I can't think of any incidents where I was horribly sick or vomited alot. It just seemed to get worse and worse. Anyway, I feel so much better now. I really didn't want to see the doctor since I was losing so much weight but I feel so much better now. I tried to just stay on liquids to see if that helped, but it didn't. My advice would be to see your doctor as soon as you can before you do perminent damage. I was so close to having damage since I waited. Once the pouch healed, I was able to be refilled and I am back on track. Hope this helps!