I have to sleep sitting up

[Hedwick 0]

Hi all - I will try to be to the point.

I was banded in May, 2005. Had 2 fills within the first 6 months. Went from 325 to 250 by July, 2006. Then my mother went into the end of a 2 year illness and she passed away in June of this year.

I started having reflux for the first time in my life about a year ago. I allowed myself to be so wrapped up in what was going on with my mother, etc. that I ignored myself.

Mylanta was not doing the job after awhile, so I would take a Tagament 150 each night before bed to be able to sleep through the night without waking up coughing from the acid splashing up into my throat, etc.

During this time I developed little to no restriction. Then I started to have an ice cream or a shake every day just to quell the burning sensation in my esophagus that I would get about an hour or two after I ate.

45 pounds crept back on in a year. The Tagament package says to contact your Dr. after 2 weeks of symptoms and now it had been about 6 months. I could not go on taking it for the rest of my life.

I was afraid to go to my lapband Dr. because of feeling like a failure in the weight coming back on. But I sucked it up and made the appointment for Sept. 19.

In the mean time, I went ahead and got a referral for a gastroenterologist from my GP who I happened to see for sinusitis.

I saw the gastro Dr. on Sept. 21 and he scheduled me for an edoscopy on the following Wednesday, Sept. 26.

My lapband Dr. was nothing but kind and extremely concerned for me. Almost as if he took it as a personal failure on his part that I was having problems. I expressed my concern that I feared my band may have slipped and briefly discussed how that would possibly be rectified if that was the case. He had me make an appointment to be looked at under the flouroscope on September 25, the day before my endoscopy.

On September 25, he looked at the band under the flouroscope and everything looked fine (huge relief and thanked God!) :Banane30: and he gave me a fill. He withdrew 5.5 cc's which was just about what he had put in previously total, and he added 1.5 cc to make 7 cc's total.

The next day I had my endoscopy. They discovered that I had Grade 3 Esophagitis - the lower 1/3 of my esophagus was inflamed with ulcers. :think:think

I was in a lot of very bad pain :think:think:think:think after the procedure as they had biopsied something else in there I had never heard of, plus I think the procedure irritated everything going on. I was out of work for the rest of the week and was told to drink fluids - Protein drinks - for a week.

They put me on Zegered - one capsule in the morning on an empty stomach with Water and you don't eat anything else for an hour. It stops all acid production in your stomach and lets things heal. The Dr. did not want to see me back until December 17 - it takes about 3 months to heal.

In the meantime, after a week of telling them I had very bad pain every day (as it said in the instructions I took home from them - let them know if you are in pain), the Dr.'s nurse finally relented and consulted the Dr. who said I could have 2 teaspoons of liquid Gaviscon 3 times a day if needed as it coats the esophagus.

Just about that time the pain relented and I only had to take it once.

From all this adventure I have lost 13 pounds in the 15 days that have passed. I have restriction again and am blending up my chicken or broccoli or potato before I eat 3 oz. of it. I eat 3 oz. of something or a protein/vitamin drink every 2 hours. I try to get in all my Water during the day as well. It is a full time job!

THE POINT OF ALL THIS IS: If you have been having reflux for awhile, get it checked out ASAP. You do not want to go through the pain I was in. I slept with 4 pillows under me for a year and it didn't do very well. I have tipped my bed up 8" and still have to sleep with the 4 pillows because although the stomach acid is neutralized, once a night I still get Fluid coming up a bit even though I only eat bland things and nothing after 4 p.m. The Fluid is not acid but it can still make you feel like you have something in your throat and have to clear your throat or cough a few times.

I did read on the internet that if you distend your stomach (I took that to mean by overeating) then after awhile you can throw the little flap (that protects your esophagus from acid coming up) out of whack. The acid reflux certainly would help make that flap not work correctly as well.

I believe that this is what I did to myself.

A no win situation! I would say I was eating more than I should have because I had no or little restriction in the past year.

I also feel that now I have a second chance as my band had not slipped and no erosion - so I am as good as gold.

Thus ends my saga - I signed on to this discussion board specifically in the hope that relating all this will help someone reading it to make that decision to take care of themselves better than I did before it is too late. Don't ignore or mask what your body is trying to tell you.

Grade 4 Esophagitis is as high as it gets and I have Grade 3. The nurse said "You don't want to know what Grade 4 is."

That's it for now. >phew!<

[rdbiles@sbcglob 0]

Thank you for sharing your story. I haven't had a fill in a few months since I was diagnosed with Barrett's and esophagitis. I go for my next EGD Oct. 26. I'm hoping to get a fill soon afterwards. I'm glad you're doing much better!

[CLEOPATRA3053 0]

thanks wendy i have lost 50lbs in 2yr and hve the same symtoms as you ....now i know i'm not crazy....thanks so much

[barbaratoo 0]

look get your bottom to the county hospital ,Flordia has a county hospital and they will let you pay some other time they will help you ,i know alot of people dont like going to a county hospital but ive work in a few and they do help you .get there now.

[TerryB 0]

I have had an really fill in my band for the last 7 months... I had gone to Dr Ortiz to get it done so I wanted to try and work it out. I have learned to live with it and after losing another 30lbs it is more manageable. Last night unfortunately I had some succotash right before going to sleep and paid the price. I threw up in my sleep, woke up to it! I have to be very aware of what I am eating and when. Also how much I chew or if the food will EVER break down. I am 2 lbs from goal and beginning to think I may actually need to get an unfill so that I will quit loosing 1-2 lbs a week.

[NewNewMe 277]

Wow! I can't believe this thread!

I have been suffering with this for a year. I was banded in Nov 2005 and lost 85 lbs my first year. Right around my 1 year anniversary I started having reflux issues. The Dr. took the Fluid out for couple weeks and then put it back in. It was not a very good fill, so I got another one in January. Then I moved to NC. I started have really bad refulx right after I moved. I have a new Dr. here, but he charges me $500 per fill/unfill. He sent me to the hospital to have tests done, and my band looks fine. So he took some Fluid out and I was fine. Then we tried to add a little back and the reflux was back. After going up and down, I finally decided to keep it loose (I can't afford to keep filling/unfilling). I can now eat bread, steak, anything. I don't have a whole lot restriction. For the most part, I don't have the reflux, but sometimes I do. I don't know why, since I am not very tight. I guess I have some perm damage or something.

One tip I found - it is gross, but works everytime. When I wake up with the coughing and reflux, I take a swig of Apple Cider Vinegar (I keep it in my master bath). I am then able to sleep the rest of the night. If I don't, I am up every ten to fifteen minutes.

It is good and bad to know that I am not alone out here. I have not lost any weight in year 2. And have gained and lost the same ten pounds all year. I am finally back to my 85lb loss, because I joined Weight Watchers. I think my band still helps with my hunger issues, but that is about all I am getting from it. I do think it helped me not to gain all 85lbs back though.

I hope the Dr's will discover that this is a "band" issue, and start discovering what is causing it.

~Rae

[ibarra561 0]

Wendy:

I also move from St Louis 6 months ago. I have a wonderful doctor here. Dr. Sandra French. She is great. Your symptoms are very similar to mine. I had a slippage and could not sleep. I would have vomits and bronchoaspiration during the nights. She unfilled the band and filled back again a month later. It fixed the problem. Now I have the same problem again due to a stomach flu, I had vomits and my band moved again. I was unfilled few days ago and I should have it fill again in 3 weeks.

[ibarra561 0]

By chance...I moved to Tampa