Wouh what happened to this forum?

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Thanks for this post!!! I just started visiting because I'm considering band over bypass and was looking for some band education, good and bad. I've met a few VERY helpful people, even with bad experiences, but negativity seems to dominate a lot.
I'm so Leary to say anything because I know how sensitive the issue is, but there are pros and cons to every WLS. I'm proof! I had a successful RNY, buy because my tool has left me- no restriction, and I'm still a food addict, I'm gaining. Plus I just found out I'm majorly anemic as a result if the surgery. Would I take it back? No. Others with RNY have horrible dumping, leaks, etc. likewise several people with bands get erosion, stricture, etc. that stinks! I wouldn't wi**** on anyone but this is all full of risk.

It's so hard to make an objective deduction. I've been reading "I could only eat 500 calories", but with RNY that's all I could eat for six months. Anyway, I'm hoping to learn if people can make it work even with obstacles, and to learn from people supporting others who went through similar problems. I hope you stick around to help!

 

How are these people negative?  is it posting studies that is negative?  We don't write them, we just report them.  Is it telling you of our personal experiences?  Does that make us negative?  It is what it is.  Are they being dishonest with you?  Are they being mean to you?  Are they telling you stats and facts that come from peer reviewed journal articles?  Is that negative?  Are they calling you names and insulting you?  Are they insincere?  Are they not telling you what you want to hear?

Not telling people what they want to hear is common in the world of WLS.  We are a desperate group of people and we do tend to go through a time where we dismiss anything we don't want to hear and listen to only the good.  But none of the above that I have read regarding what people have written to you makes them negative.

The band really is a short term solution to a life long problem.  They don't last forever, they don't last 10 years in most people.  Does telling you the truth make me negative, too?

Reports like these?

 

High resolution esophageal manometry evaluation in symptomatic patients after gastric banding for morbid obesity. Claire Cruiziat, Sabine Roman, Maud Robert, Philippe Espalieu, ... Francois Mion Our aim was to assess esophageal motility and clearance in symptomatic LAGB patients using high resolution manometry (HRM). Twenty-t... Dig Liv Dis 43:116 (2011) PMID 20943447 Email - Log in to bookmark - Z  

 

Esophageal Dysmotility Disorders After Laparoscopic Gastric Banding-An Underestimated Complication. Naef : This study demonstrates that esophageal motility disorders after LAGB are frequent, poorly appreciated complications. Despite adequ... Ann Surg :1 (2010) PMID 21169806 Email - Log in to bookmark - Z  

 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1381%2F09608920677522200 5?LI=true

 

 

My own advice to those not currently having problems:

 

Watch out for these signs your band is causing damage:

 

LB symptoms you might mistake for something else, causing delay in treatment and subsequent damage.

 

1) returning heartburn: many of us obese folks had heartburn/reflux and hiatal hernias preop.  After surgery, losing weight or HH repair, our symptoms resolve, we go off our meds and carry on with the business of losing weight.  IF your reflux symptoms return or increase at any time, at any level, call your band surgeon and consider a small unfill.  This early warning could save you from further complications, lifelong damage and misery.  It might allow you to lose more weight, since you will tolerate raw veggies, salads better with a bit less fill.  It might save your band.

 

2) chest pain, mid-back pain that radiates to left shoulder, neck or jaw is a sign of trouble; vagus nerve irritation, esophageal spasms, etc.  this was my first sign of trouble.  I'd waken during the night, with mid epigastric pain, radiating to my left arm, neck, jaw and teeth.  Drinking a little water and/or changing positions helped...over time, it did not.

 

3) change in bowel habits.  I had IBSd most of my life.  This last year, it changed to IBSc.  I became so constipated, I was having a BM only every 10-12 days.  I attributed it to intolerance of salads and fibrous foods.  Turns out, I developed a motility disorder affecting my entire GI tract.  This is a serious and potentially life threatening disorder.  

 

4) regurgitation of food.  If you're eating and feel like you might get stuck, then regurgitate food, your food might not be getting out of your esophagus.  This is true, especially if you've had the above mentioned symptoms.  If you are burping a lot and regurgitating up small bits of an earlier meal, this is a warning that you have retained food in your esophagus.  I have had tiny bits of food from meals days before just come up...

 

5) random tightening of band (without a recent fill), getting stuck on liquids or soft foods: this is a sign of an esophageal issue.  The food isn't getting out of your esophagus, so it's not necessarily your band tightening, it might be psuedo-achalasia, a recently recognized complication of banding.  If treated promptly, it can be reversed.  If allowed to continue, you risk losing your band and potentially damaging the esophagus permanently.  It's amazing to see this on ex ray.  The fluid goes into the esophagus, distending it, while the esophogeal muscles contract violently, trying to force it through.  In my case, the entire distal portion of the esophagus was tightly contracted, the mid portion dilated 4x normal and the liquid sloshing around in there.  My heart rate increased a lot, since all of this was happening directly adjacent to the heart, hence the name "achalasia cardia".

 

6) feeling tight with an empty band.  This is also a sign of trouble.  Empty bands slip more easily.  Food getting stuck in your esophagus feels like food stuck in your band...no way to tell without an Esophogram.

 

Any one or combination of the above symptoms is cause to call your band doctor.  I'm posting this to bring awareness of these symptoms and prevent someone else from suffering the pain and anxiety I have for the last year.  I also believe that had I recognized these symptoms sooner, had some saline removed early on, I might have saved myself a lot of misery and lost more weight.  I only had 3.5 cc in my band, was compliant in all respects with diet, nutrition and hydration, but since I saw people posting about their "fickle bands", random tightening, getting stuck on liquids and these things being chalked up to a "normal" consequence of banded life, I wasn't alarmed.