Nighttime aspiration - too tight ?

[finallyonmyway 0]

Hi all,

I need some advice. After my 2nd fill I started experiencing nightly aspiration. The contents of my pouch would come rushing into my mouth (sometimes my nose) in the middle of the night. I would wake up coughing and sputtering and often would cough "stuff" out of my lungs in the wee morning hours. After a couple of nights of this, I went in for a partial unfill. That solved the problem.

Now, after my third fill, (a very small one) I am having the same problems. I am careful not to eat or drink after 6 pm, yet sometimes I still have problems. I've tried sleeping sitting up, but that is difficult. After a rough night of these symptoms, I wake up and I'm am achy all over and my chest hurts.

I hate to have another unfill, because it quickly becomes too loose and i have no restriction for weeks.

I've been reading this thread and am now aware that this is very serious and I should be worried about aspiration pneumonia.

I need to know....does anyone else have this problem?

Am I too tight?

Has the band slipped?

Am I not chewing my food well enough? (BTW- how long should it take for a meal to clear the band?)

I appreciate any feedback/insight you all can share. Thanks.

[4ferme 0]

I had that too and ignored it for a long time until recently. I was told it is from the band being too tight and the esophagus dilating to compensate the food in the pouch.

[Alexandra 55]

Yep, often an unfill is the only thing that will fix this problem. I've had it on several occasions. You can try babying your esophagus--going on liquids for like a week--and taking Prevacid or something similar to calm things down, but if those measures don't work you really should have a slight unfill.

Believe me, being a little loose is nothing like the agony of having permanent esophageal problems and possibly losing your band. If your band is as tight as your body can handle it (for now), you have to go with that and realize it's better than nothing. Things may change in future, but you really have to listen to your body and treat it well if you want it to stay healthy enough to stay banded.

[kebsa 1]

As someone with permanent esophageal probs I really agree with Alexandra. having a short term unfill is far better than the alternatives- if fluids only and perhaps medication as suggested do not improve things- see your MO

[finallyonmyway 0]

Karen, Alexandra,

Thank you for the advice. I agree with you that I don't want to lose my band or end up with lifelong esophageal problems.

Thanks for your help and support!

[CCBSTX 0]

Loosen her up a bit! Just a bit!

Shawn

[Kayford 0]

Hi all,

I need some advice. After my 2nd fill I started experiencing nightly aspiration. The contents of my pouch would come rushing into my mouth (sometimes my nose) in the middle of the night. I would wake up coughing and sputtering and often would cough "stuff" out of my lungs in the wee morning hours. After a couple of nights of this, I went in for a partial unfill. That solved the problem.

Now, after my third fill, (a very small one) I am having the same problems. I am careful not to eat or drink after 6 pm, yet sometimes I still have problems. I've tried sleeping sitting up, but that is difficult. After a rough night of these symptoms, I wake up and I'm am achy all over and my chest hurts.

I hate to have another unfill, because it quickly becomes too loose and i have no restriction for weeks.

I've been reading this thread and am now aware that this is very serious and I should be worried about aspiration pneumonia.

I need to know....does anyone else have this problem?

Am I too tight?

Has the band slipped?

Am I not chewing my food well enough? (BTW- how long should it take for a meal to clear the band?)

I appreciate any feedback/insight you all can share. Thanks.

I am beginning to wonder if I will ever have a perfect fill. My last fill was not too bad at first and then got tighter and I started having acid reflux at night. Dr. Malley tells us that means the band is too tight. I went to my PCP and he started me on some Prevacid solutabs and they did help but I still had to go get an unfill. Now I am LOOSE and have to wait until Feb 26 to get another fill.

Some of us just seem to "react" and swell after the fill and I have found fighting it does not work. I bet you have NOT slipped and will just have to get some removed. Last time they took out .10 cc of a .20 fill and now I have very little restriction.

I guess I will just learn to live with this and lose really slow.

I do think the best thing will be to go get some removed. That is safer than letting it be too tight. Dr. C talks about that all the time. A little loose is better than a little too tight.

Good Luck.

[brasil11373 0]

Dear FinallyOnMyWay-

I am very sorry to hear that you are going thought similar experience as you. I had my lapband surgery on March 22, 2002. I was 286 pounds the day of surgery 3 months later I has lost almost 60 pounds. I was my Dr. (Dr Christine Ren) star patient. All in all at my lowest weight I was at 152 lbs. The last year and a half has been very difficult with my band, and I also have been suffering the same symptoms you have at night. At first I was not sure what was happening but I also was waking up in the morning very achy and having some difficulty breathing. When I finally went to the doctor I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I was shocked I have never been that sick! Then my doctor explained how it occurred and called it nighttime aspiration.

Long story short I am home again with pneumonia. I went to Dr. Ren on Thursday and she completely unfilled me. The most I have been filled was 2cc's. When my doctor weighed me on Thursday my weight was up to 211 lbs. I am so upset I have done everything right, go the gym, eat right. Only the last year have I begin to gain weight and also have complications from the band. Now my doctor has told me that she wants to take my band out because it is not working for me no more and perform a gastric bypass. I am very scared and I do not know what to do.

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this, but please you cannot stay this way for long. Let your doctor at least unfill the band to give you some relief.

[Loser75 0]

I was just diagnosed with having a slipped band and one of the symptoms I've had for a while has been the nighttime aspiration. I was also running a fever off and on for months and couldn't figure out what was going on. I think I was possibly getting lung infections. I'd be very surprised if you have a slipped band so soon after having it installed unless you have other symptoms along with the night thing - like lots of nausea especially later in the day/evening, not being able to eat or drink anything within 4 hours of going to bed unless you want to have a miserable night, vomiting during the night, acid reflux, esophagus inflammation. I let things get to the point that I was coughing up blood before I would go to the doctor. That's how bad I wanted the weight loss to continue and not give up the band. However, I have now realized that your health is something that all the money in the world can't buy when you've had permanent damage.

[lapbandjen 0]

Don't ignor reflux at night. I have had aspiration pnemonia twice because of a slipped band. This is a very life threatening condition, resulting in loss of work and health. I have been banded for three years and have slipped my band three months ago. It has been the nightmare that no one will talk about. My surgeon is jerking me around, charging me 5500.00 dollars over and above my insurance, because revisions are harder. I am spending 9000.00 on a lapBand repair with full insurance coverage.....figure that one out. Be aware that your doctor may not support you once things don't work out. I am basically being blackmailed because my surgeon said he won't do the repair unless I pay.......I did not realized that I would be so screwed. jennifer P.S I charged it on a credit card my revision in april 2 2007...new band...I have lost 80 pounds.

[Kayford 0]

Hi all,

I need some advice. After my 2nd fill I started experiencing nightly aspiration. The contents of my pouch would come rushing into my mouth (sometimes my nose) in the middle of the night. I would wake up coughing and sputtering and often would cough "stuff" out of my lungs in the wee morning hours. After a couple of nights of this, I went in for a partial unfill. That solved the problem.

Now, after my third fill, (a very small one) I am having the same problems. I am careful not to eat or drink after 6 pm, yet sometimes I still have problems. I've tried sleeping sitting up, but that is difficult. After a rough night of these symptoms, I wake up and I'm am achy all over and my chest hurts.

I hate to have another unfill, because it quickly becomes too loose and i have no restriction for weeks.

I've been reading this thread and am now aware that this is very serious and I should be worried about aspiration pneumonia.

I need to know....does anyone else have this problem?

Am I too tight?

Has the band slipped?

Am I not chewing my food well enough? (BTW- how long should it take for a meal to clear the band?)

I appreciate any feedback/insight you all can share. Thanks.

Well I had a fill in Feb and told Dr. Malley I wanted it to be conservative so I would not need an unfill again. He only put .15 cc in there and I can barely tell that I got a new fill. I can tell in the early a.m. but can basically eat anything in the evening. Now I can't eat near as much as I could prior to banding but can eat quite a bit.

So I get another fill on April 11 and hope it will hit my "sweet" spot but have my doubts. I hate not losing much or stalling but I would hate a SLIP more. So think of me as I am trying to fine tune this fickle band of mine.

Before my last unfill I did take Prevacid solu tabs to calm down my 2 nights of REFLUX. I have learned enough from these sites to realize that too tight is dangerous. Better safe than sorry but not moving the scales much.

I was down to 204 when I had an infusion of magnesium and unfill. By the time I went for my February fill I was back up to 218!!! I am sure some of the weight gain was just the replacing of my fluids after being dehydrated but some of it was because after the unfill settled down it was like NOT having my tool.

I need some restriction back that is for sure.

[khoelscher 0]

I have not had a fill in over 6mths, but I have been eating junk food like ice cream too much and of course slowed my weight loss. Got back on track about 1 week ago but have woken up choking/coughing the last few nights. No other changes. Have always been tight in the mornings and have PB very quickly if I overeat. I have never experience the choking/reflux since having the band the last 2 yrs. Am I overreacting to think I may have slipped or could I just be irratated? I recently got over a sinus infection that resulted in a lot of coughing but am over it now. This fill has worked over 6mths, could it suddenly be too tight?

[elaine20821 0]

I had a fill an was doi g good, however per my Dr. went in for a endoscopy a was told I had GERD, aka acid reflux. He put me on presciption prolosec but since having the endoscopy I feel the band seems to have gotten tighter. I wake up in the middle of the night with that acid in my throat an it wakes me up choking. I have been banded for apx 5yrs an have lost over a 100lbs. I had not been in for a fil in several yrs an was feeling like maybe a small one would be ok. My chest hurts my stomach hurts an can not keep much down. Any thoughts anyone:)

[JACKIEO85 308]

I'm posting a link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038361/

Complications associated with adjustable gastric banding for morbid obesity: a surgeon’s guide

it looks at the complications that occur with the lap Band I HOPE it Helps .

[Merle 2]

I just went thru the exact same thing recently. I didn't know what I was doing to my body, the damage. When the food or liquid enter your lungs they told me it is aspiration pneumonia. My band was so tight that no food or liquid would go thru so consequently I stretched my pouch and stretched the size of my esophagus. They took 4cc out figuring that should do it, and on my way..2 weeks later, same feelings of being uncomfortable after I eat and ending up vomiting to relief the very uncomfortable pressure in my stomach.I'm afraid that I waited too long to involve the doctors and they will need to remove the band because there is no relief. At one point she felt that the band had slipped. The doctor needs to know about any uncomfort immediately