Lap Band Red Zone

You hear a lot about the Green Zone (sweet spot, optimal restriction) with gastric bands, the yellow zone (lap band hell, unrestricted) and sometimes being too tight (RED ZONE).  The reason I'm bringing this up is to talk about the Red Zone and not being "over-filled".  If you are having the symptoms described under "Reduce Fluid" and you have had your fluid removed, it is important to follow up with your bariatric surgeon to determine what is happening with your band.  Many people who have been banded for 2 years or more are experiencing random tightening of their bands without additional fill or after a complete unfill.  



In addition, other random and seemingly unrelated (to gastric banding) symptoms have been reported by members of OH (www.obesityhelp.com/group/failed_lap_bands/discussion/ ) such as palpitations, dizziness, back pain, reflux, etc. 

I have been at the same fill level for 15 months and have been experiencing some of these symptoms.  I have been through a slew of cardiac testing and my heart is fine.  My cardiologist and my PCP feel that my issues are gastric and I am going to my regular gastroenterologist for evaluation (don't want my band doc involved at this point) of my symptoms.

The reason for my posting is that these symptoms have been going on for months and I attributed it to stress (dealing with FIL's death and estate away from home for 5 months) and didn't seek out help.  Waiting to get symptoms evaluated can only lead to damage to internal organs if the symptoms are due to our bands.  Don't wait and don't let the doctor tell you that you're not following "the rules". 

Many folks have debilitating symptoms such as the ones I describe above, and they have followed all the rules...

This post is purely informational and intended to raise awareness that if your band is too tight or you are experiencing red-zone symptoms without fill, you need to seek medical attention promptly and persistently.

Thanks for reading...

Steph M

Hi Steph,

Sorry you're experiencing problems. I have also seen this happen over the years... I think the stomach and surrounding organs get inflamed, causing the band to feel tighter. If everything's constricted, nerves get irritated, as well.

My broken record: Vagus nerves. There's no avoiding them with the lapband. And they control a lot of the body's functions. They might not give you trouble for a year, or even more, but once they DO start giving you trouble, there's really no turning back. And it can seem to happen really suddenly, catching people off guard.

This is good info, Steph. It was nice of you to share it. I agree with you about the "rules" thing. Sometimes you can be the model patient and your body still revolts against the band being there.  It's very important for people to know this so they don't end up with permanent damage.

I hope you'll be OK. Are you still experiencing the symptoms you listed?
~Nic

 Thanks Nic, things have calmed down, but I'm eating a lot of soft foods just to keep things moving through.  My BP ha remained high despite my doc increasing my dosage TWICE!  The last time I had pain was Monday, lasted 5 min or so but was so intense I thought I might need to go to the ER.  It was in my back, right side under the scapula.  I had some nagging residual pain for a few hours, but nothing since.

I'm sorry to hear about the BP AND the pain. That's no good. I hope it's not serious and you can get relief from it.

That back pain can be intense, can't it? It seems like it just comes like a shot out of nowhere. I get it on the left side still on occasion. It's fewer and farther between, at least, now.

Another thing to think about is that the band can cause scar tissue buildup around the outside of the stomach along the band.  This can happen pretty quickly and cause you to be really restricted even with no fluid in the band.  It's good to remember that there is a limit to how much fluid could be taken out of the band and once you hit that unfill limit and you are still in trouble you can really experience problems.

Alos, that green area in the example above can be a huge moving target for some people.

 Yes, scar tissue forms with any surgery, but it seems that AGB patients are especially prone to scar tissue, based on the experiences of many on the failed bands board .  When I went for my 2nd fill, the port was hard to access due to excessive scar tissue formation, took about 20 min to get the needle in.  That was 15 months ago...

I'm not talking about incision scars or port scars (which are an inconvenience as well) .  I'm actually talking about scar tissue forming on the lining of the stomach inside the band ring.  In that particular case scar tissue is a really bad thing.  I had a 10cc band and even completely open with 0cc of fluid the sucker wouldn't let liquids pass towards the end because of the scar tissue.  It caused acid to build up and sit in the pouch until I went to sleep and then it would shoot up into my lungs once the esophageal sphincter relaxed.

I was also starting to get really bad esophageal dysmotility.

 I believe my band was putting pressure on the vagus nerve causing the mystery pain.

 I was awakened at midnight by this mystery pain.  This time it started under my right rib cage, radiated up to my jaw, mouth, shoulder, back.  Lasted 10 min, after drinking some water.  I was awakened again at 5am and it started in my right jaw and then spread down to my mid back.  This is three episodes in less than a week!
Thursday I had problems with salmon, then Friday couldn't eat anything at all...jus****er.  
I'm calling my band doc tomorrow and getting some answers and an unfill.

Steph, I think air trapped under the diaphragm can cause right referred pain. You don't still have your gallbladder and appendix, do you? That's the first thing I thought of... but a lot of us don't have those buggers anymore.  Gastric ulcers can cause that pain, too.  Have you been checked for them? I developed quite a few during my time banded.

I hope you get some answers and feel better soon.

~Nic