Lapband Removal

I know for me, I was at my lowest weight with the band when my problems began. I then began to regain any weight I had lost when I had large unfills and felt like a bottomless pit again or when I would experience the random tightening and only slider foods (when any food at all could go down) would pass through.

I was at my lowest weight when I started having issues and my surgeon insisted I needed a fill as the barium swallow showed I was wide open.  When I did go to get the fill (I was sure I was to tight from people her) I had to have an total unfill to have an endo which showed several issues.

What do you mean by decreased digestive mobility?

there is damage to the esophagus and part of the stomach that aids in "peristalsis" -- so moving the food through the system is now delayed, which is not always a good thing.

What I am with the band said.  I am still suffering with this and have been for months.  The slowed movement of food through the digestive tract causes spasms, constipation, reflux, regurgitation of food eaten hours or even days before.  It's serious and can be life threatening.  When I got my band I had IBSd, which was managed with diet and probiotics.  With the band (which tightened on its own to the point of almost no barium passing through) I cannot eat most of the foods I once depended upon to manage IBS.  My GI doctor believes that the vagus nerve is irritated, since it controls the entire GI tract, it makes sense that things would run amok.  It's no coincidence that so many people with bands are developing dismotility issues that persist beyond getting the band removed. Mine got so bad, I was going 10 days or more between BMs and couldn't eat anything at all for days on end.

At this point I'm on two new meds, in addition to all the medications I was taking pre band.  I'm not sorry I got the band, but wish VSG had been available to me when I made my decision.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friends, unfortunately they are not alone, there are more and more issues like this every day here. I hadn't had a fill in a couple of years but kept feeling tight, I kept going in for an partial unfill usually 1cc at a time. Finally after the last one when I felt tight yet again I decided to have my band completely unfilled, since I couldn't afford to keep paying $225 per unfill! I've been that way now for over a year and so far I'm doing OK but I don't know what I'll do if it acts up again, I can't afford top self pay for removal.

The manufacturer has changed their tune, it used t o be oh they will last a lifetime. Now they say it's only good for 5-10 yrs. Well that seems to be more the rule than the exception because we are seeing that between 2-4 yrs is when the problems start. While I feel terrible for your friends I also am gl;ad to see you post this because it validates what so many of us have been saying for the last several years but we were dismissed as being band haters and not following doctors orders. Far from that being the truth, the majority of us followed the orders to  T. I hope these ladies are able to keep the weight off and have made enough lifestyle changes to succeed without their tool. Myself I have maintained what little I lost for over a year, so it can be done.

Sorry to hear about your 3 friends' situations. 

I experienced random tightening with my band and always rushed to the office for immediate unfills. I did this because it was miserable living with a band too tight. I don't know how people could stand that for any length of time. I guess I am thankful I was a pain to my surgeon's office because maybe it helped keep me viable for revision. I don't know.

Thanks for sharing their stories.

Lindsey

Wow, sorry to hear about your friends, hopefully they are able to heal and move on with their lives, too bad they are not able to revise to another surgery. It goes to show how different we all are and how each person's body reacts to complications with their bands.

I am going on 7 weeks post revision from my old 4cc band (which is no longer offered in the US) due to it being harder on the body and it caused more slips and dilations. I have the 'supposedly' better AP small band.  But strangely I am actually seeing MORE complications and complaints from the 'newer improved AP bands' than I did with the older 4cc/10cm bands.

Overall when I had my old band for over 7 years, I really did not have many problems with it, just nagging heartburn that was managed and controlled with acid reducers that was caused by an undiagnosed hiatal hernia that my first surgeon did not repair when he installed my lap band over 7 years ago, he actually butchered me and was new to banding, which many surgeons were over 7 years ago in the USA and their excuse at the time was -- not much clinical experience with the band and no long term data...same thing that they are saying with the Sleeve -- my biggest reason for not getting Sleeved, I simply do not trust it long term.

Also I had problems trying to KEEP a good restriction level, whenever I was at a good point, I always had the night time reflux and regurgitation and I always had to remove saline, (but the reflux went away when I removed saline) and which I later learned was actually caused by a hiatal hernia pushing up against my esophagus and hiatal hernis are a contradiction to banding, and my new surgeon mentioned that my old band never really worked, but I still managed to lose over 130 pounds with it, by keeping my meals small and exercising.

I guess we are all different because when my surgeon went in to remove my old band, he mentioned that he had to remove a lot of adhesions (scar tissue) and my band tubing was tangled up towards my liver too. So he had a LOT of work to do to fix me. It took him over 2 hours to dissect and repair a large hiatal hernia, and carefully remove my old band and port, and then place a new band and port in at the same time.

My revision was not 'urgent' but I had started to have problems caused by my hiatal hernia last September, but I guess it could have been 'urgent' and I could have suffered worse complications if I had not removed saline when I started to have problems and sought immediate medical assistant whi*****luded a variety of diagnostic testing which was very expensive.

I opted to get a replacement band -- if I could, and if there were not too much damage, but I was also ready to get my band removed and move on with my life, but I was lucky to be given a second chance with a new band and I am going on 7 weeks post revision with my new band, and I have to say for ME, my old band WAS reversible and I have NO permanent damage done to my body even with all the scar tissue my surgeon had to remove and my tubing was tangled up to my liver too, but my surgeon was very skilled to methodically remove my old band without damaging my body and he removed tons of scar tissue and I am pleased to say now I have absolutely NO PAIN....

I was suffering pretty bad about 4 months ago with debilitating burning after eating, back and chest pain and shortness of breath, I can believe how good I feel now as if I have no band at all, no port soreness....atucally I feel too good, I thought I was at my sweet spot since he put 5ccs in there during band replacement, but I guess I was still swollen from surgery.

I just got my first fill adjustment last week and now I believe I have 8cc in a 10cc band and I have no restriction,  and I am very concerned about this since I am already near capacity I believe and I am not even 2 months post op....but my surgeon says that the AP band can hold more fluid than my old 4cc band and for some people it takes a lot of saline before they start feeling restriction and he mentioned that he can go over 10cc so I should not worry......

But most importantly I feel good and I don't have to be on PPi's or Prevacid or TOMS....and that is new for me...I am hopeful with this new band, but I am also realistic to know it may not last forever...but again, if I can get 10 years out of it, I will be happy because when I am older, I would just unfill it if I still have it, or it can be removed if I have issues with it...that is the number one reason I picked the band again, I can remove it, if problems pop up....you can't undo any other type of weight loss surgery.

I totally agree....reflux and frequent vomiting are the first warning signs to band problems and sadly many people ignore this....until the problems get so severe the band damages the body and that may be irreversible.....

I am not a band supporter, nor am I band basher, I did not pay 1 dime for my first band, nor did I pay a dime for my revision...my insurance paid 100 percent,  and I do NOT exaggerate problems with my band, I just tell the truth about MY experience with it. I would guess if I paid over $15,000 out of pocket like many do, I guess I would probably be a bit more nasty and bitter about the band like many do, but I guess at this point I really can't complain about the band when it 'helped' me lose a lot of weight without ever being hospitalized with it, until I got it replaced. It is definitely NOT perfect and I would NOT pay a dime for it if I did not have insurance it's just too risky. In fact, I would not pay a dime for the Sleeve or Gastric bypass, they are all surgical tools that can cause complications.

And by the way....my first surgeon who 'butchered' me and nicked my liver and did not repair my hiatal hernia when he installed my first band is also now a "Center of Excellence" haha....that does not mean crap when it comes to experience, I think it has do to with certain procedures they follow...and MOST US surgeons follow those procedures if they deal with reputable hospitals...

Nana! I appreciate what you wrote and read every bit of it!!!  I have a very similar story. But I still have my 4cc (broken) band. THANK YOU for all your informative words!!!

I'm sorry to hear it.

It's going to get worse as time goes on, I'm afraid.  I've been watching this for the past 9 years now.  Of all the people who were banded around the same time I was, hardly any of them still have bands.

Having been damaged completely by my band, I really feel for anyone who has to go through this.