10 YEARS

ON NOVEMBER 4TH IT HAS BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE MY LAP BAND, i DON`T REGRET HAVING IT DONE, BUT LATELY I HAVE BEEN HAVING, MORE AND MORE HEART BURN, I WAS TOLD BY A A FRIEND THAT SHE READ IT CAN BE FROM MANY YEARS WITH THE BAND, AND SOME PEOPLE ARE HAVING IT REPLACE WITH THE POUCH OR BYPASS ANYONE HEAR OF THIS??

THANKS RON

Yes it is very common and I'm surprised that you still have yours at 10 years! Please try having a bit of fill taken out to try to relieve the heartburn. What happens is scar tissue builds up around the band causing it to be tighter which can cause the heartburn. Sometimes just a bit of an unfill helps but quite often it ends up requiring a removal of the band. It is something to take very seriously and not ignore the symptoms. The band has caused some very serious problems for many such as erosion into the stomach and permanent damage from all the scar tissue. I'd suggest a visit to your surgeon and have some tests to check everything out.

I only had one fill so if I do I won`t have any restriction, guess I willl have to ask my Dr about it. 

Thanks for the info !

Hello,

I started to have nagging heartburn regardless if I was tight or not with my old 4cc band, also the older 4cc bands are  no longer used in the US due to the high complication rates with them, MOST have had them removed.

I had my old 4cc band removed and new AP band placed last year and I am happy to report I no longer have reflux, heartburn and I have very good restriction.

The newer band feels softer and not tight on my esophagus, I feel the fullness in my pouch area instead of in my esophagus. I was first banded over 8 years ago and was happy with my older band but I am MUCH happier with my new band. Some people are revising to the Sleeve or Bypass, I did my research thoroughly and decided to get rebanded and I have no regrets. I don't know what the future may hold, but at least if something goes wrong again with this new band I still have options.

Thanks I will Have to look into it, 

thanks for the reply 

Hi Ron,

I forgot to mention there are a lot of people getting banded plication now and they are having good success with it and faster weight loss, I hear that slippage is rare with this new procedure. Lots of people are getting it now..you may want to research that as well. It's similar to the SLeeve but without removing the stomach, but having the lap band as a back long term for restriction.

I am 7 1/2 years with my band. I have had two occasions when I had mild heartburn for a few weeks. Once about three years ago, once about six months ago.  Both times, I had a tiny bit of saline removed, just 0.1 cc! And that did the trick.