question: acid reflux and the lapband

banded in 2007. PB'd maybe 5 times in 7 years. Lost 100lbs and never had any problems. About 3 months ago my tongue turned white for no apparent reason. Went to doctor & dentist and they gave me medicine for thrush. Nothing was helping so went to ENT and he said acid reflux. Told me to take Pepcid Complete. Got me to thinking if it might be band related because iveI've never had acid reflux before, so went to band Dr. checked me under fluro and loosened me up a tad (just because) and im Nice and open and by band is in perfect place. I have no symptom, no heartburn, no coughing at night, no  Nothing. Just a white tongue and its driving me crazy. I have been on omeprozole for a little over a month now still with a white tongue.

so my question is...what in the world could be causing this issue all of a sudden? it has been 7yrs with 0 problems. has anyone experienced this and if so, what did you do to get your tongue pink again?

PS...I even had a endoscopy and everything turned out good with that too. 

thanks in advance for any advise you can offer

It sure doesn't sound like reflux to me (but I am not a doctor) sounds more like thrush. What did they give you to help clear it up? If you haven't tried Gentine Violet Not spelled write but your pharmacy will know what it is. Also drink lots of fluids, dehydration could cause your tongue to do that. If you have reflux I would assume you would know it. From experience I had reflux for 20 years before the band, when I started getting it again it was horrible. I had some fluid removed and the reflux went away. Good luck hope it gets better soon.

For thrush I've done gen. Violet, the dissolvable losenges, nystatin and diflucan. So we know for sure its not thrush. Actually we know for sure its acid reflux, but the silent kind with no symptoms. The ENT said the tongue shows all kinds of things and it should go away in time. But iI have never heard or known of anybody this happened to so I was wondering if there is something I can do besides prescription strength omeprizole. Should I loosen the band even more? Uugh....

Over here I had that exact same thing happen, started with the silent GERD, I would get a little out of my band and it would go away. Then it would start again and I'd get a little more out of my band. I finally told them to just empty it because the band wasn't doing anything to help me lose weight anyway. Well I went 2 yrs with an empty band and thought everything was gonna be fine but alas it started up again and I finally had my band removed Feb. og this year and I still have horrible GERD and take a couple of meds for it but it is still nasty I'm just kind of waiting to feel like dealing with it again. Usually when this happens it is because the scar tissue is building up between the band and the stomach so it can't be seen until they get inside because you can't see this from the inside or they outside tests. I had mine for around 7 yrs too alot of people don't even make it to 5 yrs so you are doing good. Just make sure you stay on top of this so you don't end up with permanent damage like i have!

Wow! That sounds awful, I feel for you. Hope you get some relief soon.

I'm kinda afraid it may be with me for life altho I had a few days last week where it was pretty good, then this week arrrggg horrible again. Part of the problem I think is I have slow emptying stomach and so stuff sits there and brews then finally gets full enough to empty and I feel pretty good. Then the more it backs up the worse I feel and this has been going on for 2 yrs or so! I can't get an EGD because of my lungs they want to keep any anesthesia to a minumum to protect my lungs. I did see an EGD done with a nasal scope today on TV so I think I'll ask about that and see if that would work. At least then maybe they can see if I have ulcers or just what the acid issue is. So I'm hoping next year I can get this under control. I've gotten healthier this year than I've been in several years and much better since getting my band out, that was just NOT a good thing for me. My next venture is to try to get my gut settled down!  So thanks for the good wishes.

Have you switched toothpaste or dish soap lately try switching to a green detergent I know some people allergic to the petroleum in some detergent, my friends son grew hair and his tongue turned purple looking. 

ahhh...thats interesting. i never thought of that. but you know what? i have been trying different toothpaste. wonder if that has anything to do with it? ive never been allergic or sensitive to anything, but then again ive never been over 40 until now either...LOL

ima go back to my other toothpaste and see if that makes a difference. thanks for the tip!