Acid Reflux - its not always the fluid making the band tight!

[pgkpjs 113]

So I have been struggling with the fill amount in my band for almost four months now. I have had two small un-fills and I am now at less Fluid in my band than I have had since mid December. December was when I got my last addition of Fluid to the band as I was close but still a little too loose.

In the past week I have finally figured out that it is my acid reflux that was irritating my band area and was causing me to be still too tight even with un-fills.

I have upped my acid reflux medicine and it has done wonders for my ability to eat consistently. I think I will need to spend the next 2-3 weeks getting back into the groove of eating solid food consistently and not only during the day time (on the days my band permitted). At that point I will probably be ready for another fill.

I have discussed acid reflux with my doctor in the past but he never mentioned that it may feel like a too tight band so I never suspected it as a root cause for my band being tight.

[CHEZNOEL 4,061]

Good luck getting to the bottom of this.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

What size is your band?

It's not common but it's possible for your band too tight even empty.

Did you have acid reflux before getting your band?

[pgkpjs 113]

Missy

I had some occasional heartburn but nothing more than that before the band.

My band is a standard 10 cc. When I said an unfill I meant removal of a small amount of fluid: 0.2 - 0.4 cc. My doctor and I were thinking I was in the red zone so he did minor tweaks. I still have 3.0 cc in my band. I suspect my Green zone is around 3.5 cc.

My best and most comfortable level was at 3.35 cc which felt just a touch too loose as I was getting hungry every 2-3 hours on the correct amount of food.

That said I am still happy with where I am at, I have lost 70 lbs in the past 8 months since I got the band. I would have just preferred to know that reflux symptoms are not always heartburn but can be similar to the band being tight.

[nerdybrat 1]

After reading your blog I'm wondering if this is what is wrong with me.

I haven't had an adjustment in a year now but at times I still feel like the band has tightened itself and food gets stuck, no matter how much I chew it.

How did you find out about the reflux symptoms? In other words how were you diagnosed? By who?

[pgkpjs 113]

I have noticed in the past couple of weeks that my band feels tighter when I have spicy foods. I'm Indian so that is pretty much the normal home fare. When I stopped the spicy foods, my band still felt tight but not to the extent that I would have to stay on liquids all day. Based on that I have increased my dosage of the Prevacid and I have seen dramatic improvements in just 3 days. I still have to confirm this with my doctor though so don't use my experience as a diagnosis. I do plan to discuss this with my doctor at my next visit.

I just feel that if it is indeed a possible cause of the band feeling tight without any accompanying heartburn or reflux, we should be aware that this could be a potential reason and watch for it.

I was prescribed Prevacid Solutabs by my surgeon as part of my pre-surgery packet. He did recommend 6 months back that I should take it regularly as I was having reflux and heartburn. He did not say that the symptoms could be similar to band being too tight though.

[nerdybrat 1]

Thank you so much

I've been having some difficulties lately and feel like giving up. I go days at a time without eating because food hurts my tummy so I just don't eat.

I live far from my surgeon and sometimes after a fill, I go home and the band tightens more. It gets so tight that it closes my stomach, horrible feeling.

I don't regret getting it at all : )

[pgkpjs 113]

Don't give up, if you are too far from your surgeon, plan to stay in the area for a few hours. Definitely have Water at the clinic and wait 10 minutes to make sure you are not too tight before you leave. Then stay in the area, maybe have a Soup or something for lunch, wait some more and then go home.

I have been too tight and it is no fun. Hang in there and maybe try for smaller fills.

[Julie145 5]

This is really helpful. I've been struggling with acid reflux for the last couple of weeks. I thought it might be because the band is too tight, but maybe it's the reverse problem. I'll check with my doctor. Thank you for this post.

[JACKIEO85 308]

Just an FYI: when taking PPI's( Protein pump inhibitors for heartburn) , gerd, reflux..it's best not to stay on them long term if you can prevent it and when you do go off of them it's Best to taper off or you can experience Rebound reflux worse then what you started out with .(information that Doctors don't always share)

Prevacid, Nexium, Omeprazole,Protonix to name a few....