4th fill - now way too tight can't even get down water :(

[ccjll 177]

So much for eating my Jenny Craig food - LOL - I had my 4th fill to 8cc's on Tuesday and I'm thinking I'm way too tight. I was hoping that it would adjust and get better but I'm not able to eat or drink anything - including Water. I've been able to manage a Protein drink per day that takes me a few hours to get it down - all with agony. My best luck has been around 11:00 a.m. eating - I've tried to eat Soup last night and Thursday night and it's real painful.

Let me describe the pain and what's happening in my body. I feel like I have a deep lump in my throat like right beneath were an adams apple would be - it's real tight, almost a muscle tightness. When I try to drink or eat Soup, yogurt, cottage cheese it just feels like it's choking me however I feel a rhythm of pulsing and gurgling in my esophagus. I have thrown up a little bit, usually after I've eaten 1-2 sips - another thing that has been happening is like a stuck episode - where the back of my thought gets really salty and fills with saliva, really not good I know! I did call the doc on Thursday and the nurse told me to come in but I got busy and stupid me I was hoping that it would get better - that this was the tightness that I'm supposed to have to get to the green zone. ... well probably not. I'm going to take it real easy this weekend and suffer quietly and sip sip sip albeit very painful and go sit at his office door on Monday morning. I guess a little unfill is what I'll need.

Bright side - I'm in the 180's!!! My intention however is not to starve to get there. I've got mixed feelings over this, happy to see that my band is capable of completely cutting me off because for a while there I didn't feel like I'd ever have the right amount of restriction - now I see I can have too much and this again is a journey and day to day life experience - wowza - I don't wish this on anyone.

Thanks for listening!

Cheers

[Bandista 7,466]

If you cannot drink Water you need to get Fluid removed from your band immediately, but you must know this. Dehydration is very dangerous. I would go right to the ER if my doctor was not a available due to weekend, etc.

[kll724 3,055]

Why did your surgeon allow you to leave without making sure that you could drink liquids? I know that sounds harsh, but I also , had a fill on Tuesday. He made sure that I could swallow liquids, he wouldn't put anymore in without me swallowing. I ended up getting .1 cc because anymore was too much for me. Believe it or not, .1 makes a big difference. Please go back and have some removed. You need to drink, don't allow yourself to become dehydrated, you might need intravenous if you do! Best wishes,Karen

[2muchfun 8,927]

Sounds more like esophageal spasms. You might want to get a .25 CC unfill?

[ccjll 177]

Why did your surgeon allow you to leave without making sure that you could drink liquids? I know that sounds harsh, but I also , had a fill on Tuesday. He made sure that I could swallow liquids, he wouldn't put anymore in without me swallowing. I ended up getting .1 cc because anymore was too much for me. Believe it or not, .1 makes a big difference. Please go back and have some removed. You need to drink, don't allow yourself to become dehydrated, you might need intravenous if you do! Best wishes,Karen

I did drink 8 oz in the office after the fill and it went down pretty well, I didn't really eat anything that night and then on Wednesday I was able to eat really slow, it wasn't until Wednesday night and all day Thurs and Friday that I progressively got worse. I've been able to have a Protein drink this morning albeit it took 90 minutes to drink 12 oz - and my throat is muscle sore - 2MuchFun just commented that maybe it's an esophagus spasm - I wanted the doc to be aggressive - lesson learned. I do <now> believe that .1 makes a big difference and I WILL go in on Monday - as long as I"m able to get in at least one Protein Drink a day I feel I'll stay safe and I don't feel dehydrated - thanks very much for the concern.

Actually since I've finished the Protein Drink I feel better I'm wondering if it's just an adjustment that I have to get used to or if I do need an unfill - probably just a little bit.

I'm also writing to enlighten others to what's happening to me - so many don't have restriction and I did feel like I would ever reach restriction - well... NOW i'm restricted and I can't imagine eating anything let along Pasta, bread and dense stuff.

Happy Saturday y'all!!! Thanks for all the well wishes and support. btw - just weighed in at JC and I'm down 6.8lbs in ONE week - HOLY SMOKES happy dance.

[ccjll 177]

Sounds more like esophageal spasms. You might want to get a .25 CC unfill?

The more I think and suffer thru this 2MF - I think this esophageal spasms makes sense to what's going on with me - it really is quite painful and it almost feels better to eat a dry cracker in itty bitty pieces than it is does to drink anything - do you know much about these spasms and the lap band? I'm off to go google such to find out more.

[gowalking 10,790]

Hey cc....just don't let the weight loss overshadow the issues you are having. I have a freind who was so thrilled with the rapid weight loss that she was too tight and stayed that way. She wound up with a revision and still has problems a year later. I don't want that to happen to you...OK?

[2muchfun 8,927]

CC..No, I don't know much about them but I've seen them posted before from people who have had them.

Here's a thread where it's discussed. If you type in spasm or "esophageal spasm" into the search bar under forums you'll see several discussions about it.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/297322-went-to-the-er-with-chest-pains-guess-what-it-was/?hl=+spasm

[kll724 3,055]

Well take care, we are only here to be a sounding board and offer advice, take it or leave it. Best wishes.

[mrsto 2,925]

The last fill I had about 2 ½ months ago put me over the top. I was fine for about 10 days, but then things got weird; lump in throat, sore throat all the time, reflux, chest pain, etc. They took out the amount of that last fill, and I went back a week later with the same issues. They took out another 1.6ccs and I was back 6 days later.....with the same issues. They took ALL the Fluid out and sent me for an upper GI swallow. Fortunately, the band has not slipped and the pouch is not dilated. All of that was a little over two weeks ago, and I'm still having issues. This Friday I go for an upper endoscopy. We'll see what that shows.

I haven't posted anything about this until this morning (someone else's post who had their band removed for what sounds like the same issues). My point of posting it here is.....sometimes when we go past green into red, doesn't always resolve with the removal of that last fill. If you are so tight that you can barely drink Water, go get it handled ASAP. I always thought that if I went into red & had issues, that the fix would be simple. I'm finding it a little more tricky than expected. I'm so glad I have plication, because even with an empty band, I still feel the signal and nothing has changed with my eating.

cc - be smart about this. As gowalking above said, don't let the weight loss overshadow the issues you're having. The band (hopefully) is for life, and there is no rush. Don't mess yourself up in the process. I was perfectly fine before that last fill, and now it's taking a long time to resolve it.

Edited March 23, 2014 by mrsto

[SandyM 1,956]

You are right, people don't take the red zone serious enough