Whats going on here,, painful eating.

Hello everyone, It has been a while since I have been on the forums.  I have lost 65lbs since my surgery in July of 2010. I would like to lose 40 more but that is beside the point. I am writing today because It is getting hard to eat solid foods again. I haven't had a fill in maybe 3 or 4 months and it is getting more and more difficult to eat, painful. alot of stuck episodes. I don't throw up but I do bring some back up, it is just painful till it passes. I cant eat things like chicken beef pork eggs bread pasta spinach asparagus broccoli to name a few. SO I basically live on cheese sticks, yogurt smoothies cereal soup. I dint know what to think. If I haven't had a fill i a while could I be to tight at this point and if so How? What could be going on? suggestions would be more than appreciated. I am going to See my doctor tomorrow but it is keep ing me up at night that something could be wrong

It sounds like you could be to tight and might just need a little taken out tomorrow and you should start to feel better.

Sometimes the band will just start to tighten on its own there are several ladies on here that has had it happen to them.

I dont even have a fill in my band and when it comes to that time of the month my band will get tight and even just drinking water will make me uncomfortable sometimes.

I hope you and your doc can figure it out.  If you get some taken out and it dont help matters any then I would go back and ask for some tests to make sure your band hasn't slipped just to be on the safe side .

hi i had my surgery in june of this year and for the past two weeks i have had the same problems as you are having i also have severe acid reflux at night my doctor said it is probably caused by my band being too tight so he was going to take some saline out but when he tried he could not get any fluid out he sent me for an upper gi to rule out a slipped band i am hoping to hear today if that is what has happened because i only had what the doctor put in at the time of my surgery so the band can tighten on its own i hope you get some answers good luck

Sometimes things like stress can cause my band to get tight and I haven't had a fill for sometime.. also my monthly visitor causes me to get a little tighter for a few days so I have to baby my band those days. Once I have repeated stuck eposides I get very swollen and it's hard for me to eat for a few days .. and if I try to and get stuck again I compound the problem. So I do a day of liquid and a day of mushy if I have a bad stuck eposide.

Because yours has been on going its best you see your dr for a tiny unfil you will feel loads better and it will help heal whats irrated ... you want to be careful you don't compound the problem by having a prolapased band by repeated pbing or vomiting..

Sudden tightness is always cause for concern but can be caused by many things.  "Bringing food back up is called pbing (productive burp) here on this forum and while it's not vomitting in the traditional sense, it is a regurgitation of food and it's not a good sign.  This should happen on the rare occasion, not regularly.  I've been there and the only thing that has helped is a slight unfill.  For whatever reason you are too tight and should see your surgeon to rull out anything serious.  Sometimes the foods you eat can irritate the esophagus and stoma and cause inflammation.  This will cause tightness too.  Dehydration, water retention, stress, etc. can also cause tightness.  IF you are turning to soft foods and liquids to avoid solids this is maladaptive eating and is a dangerous sign.  It's almost like an eating disorder if you let it get out of control.
Take it from me, go see your doc.  You'll feel beter knowing what's going on and will also get some relief.

You need solid foods to stave off hunger and you need protein for energy and hair health, etc.

Take care and keep us posted,
Lisa O.

I would experience frequent random tightening when I had my band. It's good that you are getting in to see your surgeon. Maybe a slight unfill will help.

Best of luck,
Lindsey

This is exactly why I had to have mine emptied (I chose permanantly) it kept tightening and I couldn't afford the constant partial unfills. I don't know this as fact but my theory is that the scar tissue starts building up under and around the band until it just keeps tightening. I can only pray that taking all the fluid out stops it because I can't afford to get a revision.