One day I'm tight, the next day I'm loose

Whenever I flew with my band it always clamped shut. It would take days for it to release.

Thanks everyone!

I didn't know about the heat and humidity being an issue. That may have been what caused it because it has been humid the last few days. It stormed last night and now its cool & windy and my band feels looser again. LOL

I agree with those that say the hot and humid weather can effect the band. I know mine tends to tighten up on hotter days.
I've just learned to live with it. It's a foreign object, and like any other  installed bodily appliance, it's subject to changes in weather, blood volume and all kinds of other things.
I try to take advantage of those "tight" days to eat less.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Mary

Hi Amy,

If you have food sitting in your esophagus for three hours it's more then likely that you are experiencing Diffuse Esophageal Spasms. This type of spasm is an irregular, uncoordinated squeezing of the muscles of the esophagus. This can prevent food from reaching the stomach, leaving it " stuck " in the esophagus.This is common with the lap band.

Sure taking papaya enzymes may help to dissolve the " stuck " food, but more importantly you need to understand that your esophagus is not functioning normally.

Wow--I didn't know this. Would this mean I am a better canidate for revision? Or wouldn't that help the situation?
It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen maybe once every 2-3 weeks.

I'm going to send you a link to another bandster who you can contact with any questions you may have. She is already aware of your problems. www.obesityhelp.com/member/terilynn112/  ALSO....
Here is a brief history of the problems I experienced.

Hope this helps.


 I was banded with my first band on June 19Th 2006. This band caused me to vomit multiple times per week, and suffer from severe esophageal reflux every night when I went to sleep.
I had to sleep in an up right position....Yet still I would awake with a mouthful of burning acid.

The acid was so hot that it actually burned the back of my throat and that lasted for a few days. My PCP had me on a PPI and even that did not stop the acid. There were many times I was unable to swallow my own saliva and/or swallow water. Even unfilled I suffered from the acid reflux and band tightening.

I experienced left shoulder pain from day one and it never went fully away. I listened to those on the Lap Band forum with their well meaning advice telling me it, " was just gas " or that I was eating too fast, or not chewing my food well enough. I followed their advice and still I kept experiencing esophageal reflux every night.

Left shoulder pain can be considered normal under certain cir****tances. For example :
After abdominal surgery ( WLS ) you will experience trapped gas in your shoulders, but that gas usually dissipates within a week or two MAX.

The only reason someone with a band would experience left shoulder pain months/years after surgery is because they are experiencing diaphragmatic pain. The diaphragm cannot feel pain and refers the pain to the left, right, and sometimes both shoulders, as well as the chest and neck.

This pain can be confused with cardiac symptoms and anxiety attacks. Your left shoulder, arm, back,throat,neck and/or chest will hurt like you are experiencing a heart attack.

If the band is not removed in a timely manner the damage to your diaphragm may become permanent.

My daughter who was banded the same day as myself had to have her first band removed for the same exact reasons I had to have mine removed.

Our bands had slipped.

I was banded with my second band in December of 2008. This was an unplanned emergency surgery, so I was not prepared to revise to another surgery without being fully informed. I regretfully chose to have a second band placed, as well as my daughter.

At this point I had loss 70 lbs the hard way. From 2008 to the time of my second revision. I was still able to maintain my 70 lbs loss. This was not because of my band. It was because I was determined to not gain any of my pre-op weight back. I had been through enough and I wasn't going to allow myself to gain any of that weight back.

I experienced even more left shoulder, back pain, and now was experiencing a whole new set of problems.  Esophageal Motility Disorder & Dysphagia.

"The esophagus functions solely to deliver food from the mouth to the stomach where the process of digestion can begin. Efficient transport by the esophagus requires a coordinated, sequential motility pattern that propels food from above and clears acid and bile reflux from below. Disruption of this highly integrated muscular motion limits delivery of food and fluid, as well as causes a bothersome sense of dysphagia and chest pain"

I woke up with my air passage fully obstructed one night. I tried very hard not to panic and ran across my room to the bathroom where I was able to bend over the toilet while using both fists to press in on my stomach. I was able to successfully dislodge the object from my air way. I could have died right then and there.

I knew my problems with the band were becoming worse, so I had to do something about it. I called my surgeon and was able to get in that very day. I was directly admitted to the hospital where I stayed for six days. They removed my lap band and performed a VSG on me.


My band had slipped again.

There are many who have been programmed into thinking by the makers of the Lap Band, Realize Band, and The O band that the band is " Minimally Invasive & Reversible " That is complete brain washing and anyone who chooses to go forward with having a band implanted for these reasons, needs to research more because as you can see just by mine and my daughters experience alone.
That our surgeries combined total altogether SIX ' Minimally Invasive " surgeries.

My band was not reversible....it was removable, but not until it had already caused severe nerve and thoracic pain which just may end up being permanent damage.

Only time will tell........

Do not let the moronic poster that goes by the name of NaNa, Naomi, or NaCaca spoon feed you any of her bull**** ill advised propaganda. The woman is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Quite frankly these kinds of posts scare the $@it out of me because they run so true to my story. My band surgeon and I struggled for three years to get to a "happy" place for my band. Unfortunately I was nearly killing myself to prove I could make it and be a success. And I'm not being dramatic either. I was malnourished and dehydrated so many times that my insurance company contacted my surgeon and primary physician and instructed them to do something drastic as I would surely die. I even saw a councelor who specialized in eating disorders as they suspected I was doing harm to myself on purpose. I don't usually tell that last part but am ready to now.
I started wondering if I WAS doing it to myself on purpose. My esophagus was in such bad shape from puking daily, it was nearly lifeless. Not to mention the blood work that routinely came back dangerously lacking in nearly everything needed to survive. They said my esophogus looked like purger and my blood work looked like a bulemic's.
If I had known then-I would've ripped that band out myself. It took me months after being emptied to gain strength back.
I would have had that band emptied a LONG time ago Amy-I beg of you and just hope that your body readjusts and you have no lasting effects. And one of the healthiest things was the hardest things for me to eat-eggs!
God Bless and I hope that I scared you enough to have that band taken out tomorrow if at all possible!!

I also had this issue but sometimes I would bring my food back up.  My surgeon did an Upper GI and found I had a hyatal hernia.  Had surgery almost 2 weeks ago.  He also revised my band too.  Hopefully yours is something more simple.
Best of luck to you!!!!!!

My biggest complaint with the mechanics of the band, and I have seen this in so many people, is that restriction isn't a constant and you can drastically change restriction levels between meals. I never got my band past 4cc in a 10cc band and I usually stayed at 2cc.  There were times at 2cc that I could actually eat healthy non-sliding food and have no issues at all. Then there were times when I would feel miserable on liquids.  It also seemed that the longer I had my band the more I had to keep having fluid removed to be able to eat solid foods.  Towards the end of my band experience I was having issues with solids on a completely unfilled band.  Year one was definitely better than year 3 with the band.

I know this isn't the same for everyone who has the band, but I will say that I don't feel alone in this experience as I have had several people on here and in my real life experiences that can relate to this story.

I will tell you that having the VSG my restriction is consistent and I go into a meal knowing that I am going to be able to eat a certain amount and get full from it, and not be stuck.  I'm not the only one who notices this, my partner and all of my friends have commented on how differently I eat now. My choices have opened up and I can eat ANYTHING.  I've gone salad and veggie crazy as of late and I am enjoying it.  I fear no dry protein.

This happens to me all the time.  Whenever I say I don't think my band is working, I can't eat hardly anything for 3 days.  I can't eat eggs, they get stuck everytime.  But I have lost 100 lbs over the past year and kind of like being able to eat sometimes.  Most times I feel restricted and that helps me lose.  I think we are the lucky ones!  Good luck!