I also developed Afib when I had my band as have others I've seen online. The vagus nerve that is affected by the band also has some control in the heart area so there is speculation that the band may cause some heart issues too. Depends on where the pressure is on the vegus nerve and where scar tissue may be forming. I had my band removed for other reasons but still have to take my Afib medication so don't know if it was the band that started it or not. So far I've managed to not only keep off what little weight I had lost but I also lost another 75 lbs because I was too tired from the afib to do anything but sleep most of the time. Then all of a sudden I stopped losing and am staying at my goal weight of 150. At one point I had to add food so I wouldn't lose so fast. How ironic is that??! Might be worth keeping in mind tho, that the band has been found to cause many issues we wouldn't think of.

Hi Susan,

Welcome Back  We are so sorry to hear all you have been through with your health issues and my deepest condolences for the lost of your parents   

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me... 

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Hi all.  Some of you may remember me from a few years back.  I was banded in May of 2010 and did very well, losing a total of 98 pounds.  I have kept 51 of those pounds off.  It most certainly has been a chaotic couple of years.  My dad died, a few years later, my mom died and I was responsible for settling all the things associated with that.  My husband and I bought my family home and did lots of upgrades and changes (ourselves!) and shortly after that, I  started getting 1-3x a year, atrial fibrillation events which were unresolved except for electrocardioversion. I stopped exercising, had the band unfilled because of over restriction due to scar tissue and just fell off the path. 

For the past 2 years, I have been in and out of A. Fib- 3 months at a time.  It is exhausting and nearly impossible to exercise with all the meds that slow the heart down.  I went in for a cardiac RF Ablation 2 weeks ago, (6 hour surgery) felt good for 2 days, then wham- went back into A. Fib.  Two days after the surgery, I decided I needed to get my butt in gear and lose what I had gained and get back into a better fitness level.  Decreased carbs to a very low level, lots of water, swimming, walking and eating 900 calories or less and I have lost 14.5 pounds.  (I know this wont last- the first few are the easiest!) 

So I am returning to what I know worked.  Logging in all my calories (Yeah! fitday.com) posting occasionally for some degree of accountability and, of course exercising the best I can.  So, here's to a new start.  Any encouragement would be great.  Hope to talk with some of you regularly.

Blessings!

Susan

Hi Courtnin

If the band has slipped it depends on what kind of slip it is, in most cases yes it may need to be removed. If it's repositioned then most likely trouble will follow :(  I personally wouldn't Wait for the Endo I'd find a different Dr. to do it for you. Pain in the stomach sounds more like an Erosion than a slip,  ( but of course I'm not a Dr. just heard from over 3000 ppl with band complications on Facebook. I'm surprised that the ER personnel were able to see much on the Xray. just because he said it slipped means it's not in it's normal position. But, more importantly what position is it in?? Have you had any bouts of Vomiting that is a huge reason bands slip , but not the only reason. I'll attach a link so that you can read about Slippage and symptoms.

 I hope you find answers !!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038361/?report =classic

Exactly what conazza said.  The band depending on what your eating will feel different, more than that depending on the time of day or your personal body's water weight storage will change how it is.  I called mine the "little plastic demon".  I'll give you some examples so you can experiment.

Try to eat only dense meat with nothing else.  No sides or drinking.  See how much of that you can eat.  Do something like grilled chicken and note how moist it is.  The less most the more it should hit that banded portion of your stomach and just sit there.  

Next try the same chicken on another night but eat mashed potatoes or another moist food like salad with dressing with that chicken.  You should notice you can eat more.  This is because you won't "clog" the drain hole up and the food will slide into your lower stomach portion which can hold nearly as much as you could eat before.

Now for the full effect of knowing your new plastic friend.  Sit down to a meal of something like a creamy pasta.  Something fairly moist like spaghetti, with this food you should notice hardly any restriction and you should again be able to eat a very similar amount as before. This is because the tightened portion will not clog and it'll drain right into your lower stomach just like before.

Lapband succes isn't going to depend much on the band.  I had mine for 8 years and it did help at first because I was scared to eat many things because each fill was always something new.  Also sometimes in the morning I'd be tight and breakfast wouldn't go down, I'd have to drink something warm like coffee to open it up.  Other times when my monthly visitor would come I'd be tight all week and so I'd stick to slider foods.  Me and the band developed some pretty bad habits.  It was always easy to eat nachos but never easy to eat plain grilled chicken.

The best way to use your band is to eat solid proteins such as meats and cheeses, limit the amount of moisture in any foods you eat, and put solids down first to clog the drain and then put sides on top.  Now for your fills you want to be able to eat a small portions and feel full which feels more like a ball in your chest than full IMO however the goal is to get your fills every several weeks until you can eat a reasonable portion without getting stuck often.  I say often because depending on your body swelling and water weight it will be tighter some days over others.  One day you can eat corn, and others you will get stuck and throw it up, normally at a restaurant when you really don't want to. It took my until I was at about 8 of 10 on my fills to get the just right feeling.

Anyway feel free to ask me more questions as you want to.  In then end I had that thing pulled out and VSG done and I'm happy for it.  However I lived with it for 8 years so I can tell you all about it.  Overall the band wasn't horrible to me, I don't have any horror stories like some people do.  But it was not the right tool for me as me and it found ways for me to still eat whatever, whenever, and almost as much as ever.