Question for April bandsters!

[desertmom 297]

hi

I just want to know a few things.Do any of you suffer from reflux or heartburn?

Do you still have discomfort in stomach area or can you "feel" the band?Any esophageal spasms? Anything?????

Im not doing as well as I thought I should at almost 8 weeks out and cant get reaction from my dr.

I am losing weight so I'm greatful but I want to know what is normal at this stage?

Thanks for your help!!

[the best me 6]

YES! I have had my share of temporary issues. All of which seem to be related to being quite restricted after banding. Once the swelling went down (after about week 2) I had good restriction and was able to experiment with different foods and as I moved to solids I had a bit of a bout with self-diagnosed esophogitis. I had burning in my esophogus all the time. I had reflux and it irritated my esophogus...I'd have to look back at old posts to see which week this was...I'll post a link when I finish this reply...but I treated it with Prilosec twice a day. I started out crushing it (post-banding) and by the time the espohogitis was an issue I was able to swallow the pill whole and wash it through with about 4-5 ounces of Aloe Vera juice. I bought the Aloe Vera juice at Wal Mart, but you could get it online, for sure, if you can't find it locally. I used the Prilosec OTC which says once a day and it's sustained release. I ignored this and took it twice a day and crushed it. It worked great. Seems like all that trouble was ages ago, when in fact it was probably just weeks ago!

I haven't had any trouble with the band itself, just the swelling and irritation it has caused. All is fine now and I have scheduled my first fill. I was banded 3 weeks before you were. Hope that helps. Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know. Lemme go find my esophogitis link...

Here's the thread...go read, you may get some really good info!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6713&highlight=Esophogitis

[j.s. 0]

desertmom,

I have not had any problems what so ever. I do take a Prilosec solutab every night before bed per my doctors instructions but really feel no need for it, only take it because I was told too.

[the best me 6]

JS, do you get the solutabs OTC? I only see the 24-hour kind at the drug store. I'd love to have that handy!!

[dixie 0]

Could someone please explain what a "stoma" is? Had my surgery on 6/7 - My Doc has not mentioned this!

Thanks,

Dixie

[lins12 0]

BIG WOO HOO for Kathy. I am only on day 13 and I was having BAD reflux. I do the priolsec twice a day -crushed with the aloe juice (which I found at my grocery. It said it was a new item). I am doing SO MUCH BETTER!!!

THANKS KATHY!

[the best me 6]

Could someone please explain what a "stoma" is? Had my surgery on 6/7 - My Doc has not mentioned this!

Thanks,

Dixie

Hey Dixie, the word "stoma" refers to the area of stomach that passes through the band. It's the tightened part with the smaller hole where the food passes through. Hopefully very slowly. Hope that helps!

Wow lins, that's cool! Glad you got relief!! It's so nice to be able to help someone...just paying it forward! You do the same! Wahooo for you, too!!

[TrishS 3]

hi

I just want to know a few things.Do any of you suffer from reflux or heartburn?

Do you still have discomfort in stomach area or can you "feel" the band?Any esophageal spasms? Anything?????

Im not doing as well as I thought I should at almost 8 weeks out and cant get reaction from my dr.

I am losing weight so I'm greatful but I want to know what is normal at this stage?

Thanks for your help!!

I havent had heart burn since my surgery.. oh and I love it!! I use to get heart burn 4-5 times a day without meds.. and now NONE!!

I cant "feel" the band but, I can feel when i start to get full... I just wish I can learn to stop... The stuck feeling is the worse feeling in all the world!

I didnt think I was doing as well either.. but I know a fill will help/boost my weight loss. Just keep an eye out for what you are eating.. I know its hard but we all have to learn, I know im still trying!

Seems like everything is normal with what you are having to go thourgh. Good Luck with everything!! Take Care!!!!!

[desertmom 297]

hi

I am getting increasingly paranoid about stuff like is the band positioned correctly?

The fact that I have this tight feeling on the outside of my stomach is driving me insane.I am aware of pressure in my abdominal area almost 24/7.At night I can sometimes forget that I had this done because I dont have this feeling when Im lying down and even sometimes when I wake up and just lie in bed....no sensation of anything different....As the day progress I increasingly get this tightning feeling and by late afternoon I have a very "hot" esophagus and a very pressured feeling around my abdomen......and then I start worrying about long term erosion and stuff like that while sitting on my chair without my bra and nothing touching my abdomen........

The dr have never done an upper GI or Barium swallow ever.I have had the same symptoms from around 3 days after the operation.It is not changing.Is is the same every day.

I certainly dont physically feel the same than before the operation.I am aware of this thing all the time because I feel like I have a SIZE 8 CORSET ON A SIZE 26 body and I cannot get out of it......Nobody told me that this was what it feels like.Nobody tells me that now for that matter.How can I just accept this as normal?It is changing my life,ok, but not positively.....

I hate the way this is turning out.I did research on this operation for 2 years.I never for one minute considered that I could have "phantom" symptoms that no one seems to recognize as real that would change my life like this..

In those 2 years I tried my best to lose the weight by myself.well, I was very positive about this operation and now I feel kind of lost and not knowing how to make the dr see that this is real.

I have been fat for many years but I have always been healthy and happy.I see myself as a well adjusted person without "hypochondria" and I hate the idea that this is how the way I feel might be seen by my dr or anyone else for that matter.

Every morning I get up feeling good and every day I believe that this will be the day that will change my life back to normal....and every day I am dissapointed again....

Im sorry if this sounds like a whine but sometimes this gets to much for me now.It is summer holidays and somehow holiday seems so out of the question when I feel like this.

Hope you all have a good "losing" day....

[spldgrl 0]

have you tried the tums or gas x chew tabs? I had the same feeling, tightening and stuff, but this was a few days after surgery. Called a friend who said,"chew a gas x now" I live 1.5 hrs from my doc and thought I would die before then so I chewed and kept chewing gas x till the feeling was gone. went to dr. found out the acid in stomach fills up threw the stoma and causes the tightening. now I chew a Calcium tums almost every day no more stomach pains at all dont even notice the band is there except for port and my nails are growing too. so try the chew gas x only don't try too many or your gut will hurt from that. only 2 then wait and see. max 4 a day. good luck.

[Heather Joy 0]

Srangley enough i have had absolutley NO acid reflux since my surgery,and i definatley had before.

I have had one fill and i couldnt hold down any food for about a week,now pretty much everything goes down ok,but still losin!

when i press on my stomach i can feel the port...it feels pretty cool!ol still on pain meds for port pain-am trying to avoid another surgery!!!

[angiebell 0]

Larry was on Nexium for a couple of years before he was banded and if he missed a day he would have severe heatburn. Since his surgery he has not had heartburn even once. I was not on a daily med but I did have bouts of heartburn now and then. So far I have not experienced it either.

DesertMom it sounds like you might need to see your doctor about the pain you are experiencing. Is the outside pain you described in the stomach area or the esophagus?

[the best me 6]

....As the day progress I increasingly get this tightning feeling and by late afternoon I have a very "hot" esophagus and a very pressured feeling around my abdomen..........

Girl, get you some Prilosec OTC. Take it twice a day. Crush it if you have to. Drink it with Aloe Vera juice if you can get it. What do you have to lose? Try it. Do it faithfully for a week. Do not make yourself miserable waitng on a doctor who might think you are making stuff up. Just do it. You don't need a barium swallow to do this. You don't need an Upper GI or an Endoscope. It won't hurt you, it will reduce the production of gastric juices, that's all it does. Wash the pill through very well to keep yourself from becoming worried about something else. Try it. If after a week you have no improvement, whine all you want to and get a second opinion from another doc.

Prilosec!

[desertmom 297]

Hi

I keep wanting to answer but keep forgetting.I cannot get prilosec or prevacid here in this country.I am on a presumably good protronpump inhibitor.I have tried the pharmacy for both products but to no avail.

I am going for a "gastrograph" tomorrow to see if the band is in the right position and to check the motility of my esophagus.My dr says that you just sometimes get people that have a ultra sensitive esophagus and it is very difficult dealing with that.I have actually stopped taking all meds since yesterday and I dont feel better or worse for it.

When I know that the band is 1. in normal position (havent slipped or been placed to low..) or that it will not cause erosion because of the reflux from day one...I will start taking the meds to relax the esophagus and to stop reflux and I will start taking pain medication more regularly to help me.

I will then work to lose this weight as fast as posible because you dont know what can happen in the future.

I must say.As I am sitting here it is 22:00 and I still have pain in my chest with the spasms.I know when I actually lie down (any time of day and night) all the symptoms disapear as if they never existed and that is not normal.Reflux is usually worse at night but not this.

So,if I have to live like this I can do it for a period of time.If I keep my mind focused and know that it is not forever.

I will get thin with this band.This was my last resort.

Kathy,what does the Aloe Vera do?

I actually saw it in a health shop over here so I can get that....

Thanks for your interest in this.

[desertmom 297]

O, by the way.

I lost all my restriction while TOM.I could eat anything without a problem.I did fall of the wagon a little.Today my restriction is back and the pressured feeling around my ribcage that was missing for the past 2 days is back...I now figure I actually have a physical sensation of being restricted.How and why that is I dont know.It might have to do with the pressure on the esophagus in general...we'll see what the dr's say.

Just thought I would mention that I love having the thing that stops me from overeating.It feels so normal to me to stop when I actually FEEL FULL.I love it and would like this feeling to be with me forever.