Esophagus stretches over band

[MarQuida 0]

Hello all. I’m new to this site but have been banded since 11/9/05. I loved it. Went from 268 to 135/140 I’m about three years and have maintained over the past 11 years with on about 5-8 lbs fluctuations until this past February. My family noticed that I was starting to get smaller without me trying and I didn’t really see it as a problem. I was eating normally but did notice from time time I would get chest pains but thought it was just tightness so I would stop eating. By July I was down to 123 and was now waking up with these chest pains as if I had stuffed myself. If u have ever over eaten with a band, u know how painful that can be. Well I made myself visit my doctor. He couldn’t see anything wrong as so he decided to take .5 cc out of my band to give me less restrictions thinking maybe I was too tight n needed adjustment. Well not even 30 minutes later I was in bending over in pain in my chest. I went right back to the office. He was now in surgery n had to wait 2 hrs for him to return. When I described the pain again and he saw where I was hurting, he concluded that it possibly acid reflux glaring up into my esophagus. He gave me medicine to assist with it as well as the spasms and scheduled me for a one month follow up. Well I didn’t make it the full two weeks. Nine days later I was in the office. I had gained 17 lbs, was swelling like a balloon everyday and could not fit most of my clothes n shoes due to the Water retention. I was miserable. He scheduled me for a sonogram to look at my band and stated I will need to schedule an endoscopy to really see what’s going on. First I had to get the medicine out of my system, get my vitals back to normal n check my kidneys in fear of the medicine causing a reaction with them. I wasn’t able to get into the procedure until 9/22. Two months later. I was off the medicine n the spasms n swelling was now gone but I was up to 167 lbs with no answers. After the procedure, we were able to see that my esophagus has scaring probably from the reflux and had now stretched itself overtop of my band and was acting like my stomach!!! Thereby not letting my band work the way it has for over 11 yrs!!! I’m completely distraught by this. He gave me options of removing it and getting the sleeve but that to me does not give me the control that I’ve had with my band. I don’t want to remove it so I’m playing the waiting game to see if my esophagus will go back to normal n give me my life back. Has anyone else experienced this??? I need support and other sufferers to figure out a game plan. Lease!!! #iwantmylifeback

[Julie norton 2,850]

Hello all. I’m new to this site but have been banded since 11/9/05. I loved it. Went from 268 to 135/140 I’m about three years and have maintained over the past 11 years with on about 5-8 lbs fluctuations until this past February. My family noticed that I was starting to get smaller without me trying and I didn’t really see it as a problem. I was eating normally but did notice from time time I would get chest pains but thought it was just tightness so I would stop eating. By July I was down to 123 and was now waking up with these chest pains as if I had stuffed myself. If u have ever over eaten with a band, u know how painful that can be. Well I made myself visit my doctor. He couldn’t see anything wrong as so he decided to take .5 cc out of my band to give me less restrictions thinking maybe I was too tight n needed adjustment. Well not even 30 minutes later I was in bending over in pain in my chest. I went right back to the office. He was now in surgery n had to wait 2 hrs for him to return. When I described the pain again and he saw where I was hurting, he concluded that it possibly acid reflux glaring up into my esophagus. He gave me medicine to assist with it as well as the spasms and scheduled me for a one month follow up. Well I didn’t make it the full two weeks. Nine days later I was in the office. I had gained 17 lbs, was swelling like a balloon everyday and could not fit most of my clothes n shoes due to the Water retention. I was miserable. He scheduled me for a sonogram to look at my band and stated I will need to schedule an endoscopy to really see what’s going on. First I had to get the medicine out of my system, get my vitals back to normal n check my kidneys in fear of the medicine causing a reaction with them. I wasn’t able to get into the procedure until 9/22. Two months later. I was off the medicine n the spasms n swelling was now gone but I was up to 167 lbs with no answers. After the procedure, we were able to see that my esophagus has scaring probably from the reflux and had now stretched itself overtop of my band and was acting like my stomach!!! Thereby not letting my band work the way it has for over 11 yrs!!! I’m completely distraught by this. He gave me options of removing it and getting the sleeve but that to me does not give me the control that I’ve had with my band. I don’t want to remove it so I’m playing the waiting game to see if my esophagus will go back to normal n give me my life back. Has anyone else experienced this??? I need support and other sufferers to figure out a game plan. Lease!!! #iwantmylifeback

Wow. Wishing you well.
After 11 years, I had to deflate my band for 5 months. Worked well. Well except the 15+ lbs that came. Hard to lose. Just got a tiny fill. We shall see.. keep trying is my 2 cents!

[olga Heide 2]

On 2/12/2018 at 5:29 PM, MarQuida said:

Hello all. I’m new to this site but have been banded since 11/9/05. I loved it. Went from 268 to 135/140 I’m about three years and have maintained over the past 11 years with on about 5-8 lbs fluctuations until this past February. My family noticed that I was starting to get smaller without me trying and I didn’t really see it as a problem. I was eating normally but did notice from time time I would get chest pains but thought it was just tightness so I would stop eating. By July I was down to 123 and was now waking up with these chest pains as if I had stuffed myself. If u have ever over eaten with a band, u know how painful that can be. Well I made myself visit my doctor. He couldn’t see anything wrong as so he decided to take .5 cc out of my band to give me less restrictions thinking maybe I was too tight n needed adjustment. Well not even 30 minutes later I was in bending over in pain in my chest. I went right back to the office. He was now in surgery n had to wait 2 hrs for him to return. When I described the pain again and he saw where I was hurting, he concluded that it possibly acid reflux glaring up into my esophagus. He gave me medicine to assist with it as well as the spasms and scheduled me for a one month follow up. Well I didn’t make it the full two weeks. Nine days later I was in the office. I had gained 17 lbs, was swelling like a balloon everyday and could not fit most of my clothes n shoes due to the Water retention. I was miserable. He scheduled me for a sonogram to look at my band and stated I will need to schedule an endoscopy to really see what’s going on. First I had to get the medicine out of my system, get my vitals back to normal n check my kidneys in fear of the medicine causing a reaction with them. I wasn’t able to get into the procedure until 9/22. Two months later. I was off the medicine n the spasms n swelling was now gone but I was up to 167 lbs with no answers. After the procedure, we were able to see that my esophagus has scaring probably from the reflux and had now stretched itself overtop of my band and was acting like my stomach!!! Thereby not letting my band work the way it has for over 11 yrs!!! I’m completely distraught by this. He gave me options of removing it and getting the sleeve but that to me does not give me the control that I’ve had with my band. I don’t want to remove it so I’m playing the waiting game to see if my esophagus will go back to normal n give me my life back. Has anyone else experienced this??? I need support and other sufferers to figure out a game plan. Lease!!! #iwantmylifeback

read like my story!!! but i have chosen to get band OUT as fast as possible. here come RNY

[Travelher 915]

On 2/12/2018 at 5:29 PM, MarQuida said:

Hello all. I’m new to this site but have been banded since 11/9/05. I loved it. Went from 268 to 135/140 I’m about three years and have maintained over the past 11 years with on about 5-8 lbs fluctuations until this past February. My family noticed that I was starting to get smaller without me trying and I didn’t really see it as a problem. I was eating normally but did notice from time time I would get chest pains but thought it was just tightness so I would stop eating. By July I was down to 123 and was now waking up with these chest pains as if I had stuffed myself. If u have ever over eaten with a band, u know how painful that can be. Well I made myself visit my doctor. He couldn’t see anything wrong as so he decided to take .5 cc out of my band to give me less restrictions thinking maybe I was too tight n needed adjustment. Well not even 30 minutes later I was in bending over in pain in my chest. I went right back to the office. He was now in surgery n had to wait 2 hrs for him to return. When I described the pain again and he saw where I was hurting, he concluded that it possibly acid reflux glaring up into my esophagus. He gave me medicine to assist with it as well as the spasms and scheduled me for a one month follow up. Well I didn’t make it the full two weeks. Nine days later I was in the office. I had gained 17 lbs, was swelling like a balloon everyday and could not fit most of my clothes n shoes due to the Water retention. I was miserable. He scheduled me for a sonogram to look at my band and stated I will need to schedule an endoscopy to really see what’s going on. First I had to get the medicine out of my system, get my vitals back to normal n check my kidneys in fear of the medicine causing a reaction with them. I wasn’t able to get into the procedure until 9/22. Two months later. I was off the medicine n the spasms n swelling was now gone but I was up to 167 lbs with no answers. After the procedure, we were able to see that my esophagus has scaring probably from the reflux and had now stretched itself overtop of my band and was acting like my stomach!!! Thereby not letting my band work the way it has for over 11 yrs!!! I’m completely distraught by this. He gave me options of removing it and getting the sleeve but that to me does not give me the control that I’ve had with my band. I don’t want to remove it so I’m playing the waiting game to see if my esophagus will go back to normal n give me my life back. Has anyone else experienced this??? I need support and other sufferers to figure out a game plan. Lease!!! #iwantmylifeback

The longer you leave the band in, the more opportunity there is for further damage. i would listen to the medical advice and have it removed. I revised to bypass and have found it much much better. I have never heard of someone who started having band complications have them resolve on their own.

[frust8 963]

Please get the band out. What you have sounds SCARY. Another thing you want to avoid is Barrett's esophagus, the symptoms you're having could predispose you to get it . You do not want this, it is a precancerous condition. I lost my cousin JuneEllen who I dearly loved to esophageal cancer. She was 68, died on the table at Cleveland Clinic. She thought she had some mild indigestion, she could wait until it got worse, maybe it would heal on its own. It was 2 years come May and I still miss her like it was yesterday. Maybe you'll be still okay but I doubt it. You may be walking around with trouble, do you really think it's worth it? If I had a hash tag it would be # do you think it's really wise to wait?

Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

[MarQuida 0]

Good day, all. Having a follow-up endoscopy next week to see where I am internally. Doctor wants to see everything before giving me a fill or suggesting the removal if my condition internally has not gotten better. Clinically, I want to to be healthy but I am not too happy about getting another surgery. Since the incident, I have put on over 30 pounds and can not fit the majority of my clothes from just 6 months ago. I have increased my work out routines, scaled back my eating and still nothing. I admit, I have had stress moments and eaten the wrong things once in a blue moon but this is nothing like what I have experienced in all of the 12 years I've had the band. Trying to stay focused. No more spasms or acid reflux episodes so I'm hoping that that is mostly behind me. I have no signals of fullness and the restriction I have is next to nothing but there is a difference from six months ago when the dilation of my esophagus was discovered. I believe in my band and not ready to say it's broken. (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) LOL WIll keep you updated. If anyone else has had a personal experience, I'd love to hear.

MarQ

[shlyle 2]

Your story is similar to mine. I knew my band was tight but I wasn't really having problems with eating but looking back I was probably in a bit of denial also. What finally prompted me to go back to band dr was problems breathing at night when trying to sleep. I thought I was developing asthma or something. After an xray and CT my general dr told me my esophagus was extremely large and would cause problems with my airway when I laid down. So being too tight led to food backing up in esophagus, enlarging it and causing breathing problems. Got a complete unfill and heartburn hit with a vengeance. Have spent the last few months getting incremental fills hoping to find sweet spot again. I have been watching the scale move depressingly up and would like to get down about 25 pounds. I still wouldn't be at "goal" but would be at a point I think I could manage to stay at if my band functions properly.

[MarQuida 0]

Update family. Had my endoscopy. Esophagus has gone back down to its normal size and there is minimal scaring seen!!! Hallelujah!! A partial fill was given to me at that time of 2.5cc but once the swelling of the procedure went down after about three days, no restriction. 😩. So went back and received another fill ten days ago up to 3.0cc. Bingo!!! We gave restriction!!!! Was on liquids for the first week again. Even tested the waters with something more solid for my body to quickly remind me that was a no go. 😂. So. Started on soft woods three days ago and I still have great restriction. Down ten pounds in the past 10 days and the journey back to my sweet spot continues. Due for another fill in four weeks to I will keep everyone posted. There is a light at the end of my tunnel!!! Also spoke with my initial surgeon Dr Rumbaut in Monterrey and agreed that the infill and progressive refill should do exactly what I need. I caught it early enough to not cause long term damage and if the scaring healed on its own with the unfill then he saw no need to remove my band. She state the possibility of my port being a bit more difficult to access due to the access weight right now but other than that, I’m on my way back. Yeah me!!! I believe in my band. I know it’s a tool. Remember that faith is the source of strength. J prayed for healing and I am seeing the results of my belief. Patience is my journey now. In back to the drawing board per say but great place to be at the moment for sure. Thanks for all the responses and comments received. I hope my journey is helpful and uplifting to anyone that may be suffering from the same issue and scared. At 161 nor with my goal weight back to 135/140. Small but steady wins the race. I’m praying for you guys success as well.

[michellemybelle 28]

Hey Marquita ...I'm so happy too read the great news. I had a similar situation, but it was a food pouch forming over my band and I had to unfill my band. I heard many ppl say after an unfill the experience no restriction and I was scared. I go back tomorrow after a month without ant Fluid in my band and they will start slowly filling it up again. I'm glad to hear you have restriction. And I love your slow but steady wins the race motto. I have to keep that in mind when I'm trying to loses the few pounds I gained. Thanks for the update...Michelle in NY