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In may of 2003 I had the lapband put in. I have had 4 or 5 incidences of inflamation (that is what the doctor said) and chest pain here and there. I became pregnant in 2005 and had all fluid removed...about a year later, I had a small amount of fluid put back in but had no real success with true weightloss. I became pregnant in 2010 and had fluid removed again. I became pregnant again in late 2013. ALL 3 deliveries were csections. My daughter was born in august 2014 and about 5-6 weeks later, I began having major issues with acid reflux and abdominal pain. I have severe anxiety and began to think I was dying. I had an EGD and CT scan done and I was told it was just gastritis and put on PPI for a long time. I took myself off because they just kept increasing the doses and nothing was helping. Diet changes helped. I have had intermittent abdominal pain since then. I had a pretty bad flare up of abdominal and side and back pain in September of 2015 and had several tests run again to just be told it is IBS. I am not in the middle of another (the worst yet) case of abdominal and back pain and again, chest pain. My anxiety is through the roof. I went for cardiology appointments again and everything tested fine. The cardiologist is convinced it is my lapband and wants me to see a different bariatric surgeon for help. I am scared. I want this thing out. I am afraid it has caused permanent damage. Any one out there have similar experience? HELP!
brighteyes62,
I know it has been a long time since you posted this reply, but I hope you see this. I am currently having the EXACT issues you listed. I am curious what you had done?
My lapband has been in for 13 years this week and I am miserable.
HW:330 - GW:150 - MW:118-125
RW:190 - CW:130
As previous mentioned a Simple Flush of the band can tell you what's in it. The record's should reveal that same amount, perhaps a small amount less but NOT a full loss of 3 cc. That much Saline doesn't go missing from a closed system like the band.
Something to consider as well is that in the literature it states that a sudden loss of restriction to signify erosion.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038361/?report= classic
Hopefully you will finds some answers soon!
Post-op your body is still healing. 4 weeks usually is when they begin to do Saline fills which normally helps with weight loss of an average of 2 lbs per week so even at a month that only amounts to 8 lbs a month. Which is a good goal :) if someone is losing 30 lbs in the first month that may be due to the liquid diet before and after that accounts that that large of a WL. And unrealistic . good Luck!!
Try reducing/ cutting carbs. That tends to me a major culprit in weight gain :(
If your wanting a revision may I suggest finding a new Surgeon. If you start to develop complications from the band you Will regain :( And why Fight to retain the weight that you've already lost, especially if your Dr. doesn't seem to think it's a problem. Bottom line it's not about HOW much you have lost it's about What you manage to maintain as a loss ;) Dr's Don't seem to understand that. Good Luck
Thanks for the replies everyone. I went to my surgeon's office on Monday. I told them my issues with extreme acid reflux, night coughs, and vomiting and they did an unfill. I cannot begin to tell you how good it feels to get a good nights sleep without waking up in the middle of the night with bile coming out of my nose and jolting me out of bed. I was able to ask about the price of removing the lap band and the estimate for the surgeon's fee, the hospital fee, removal fee, and anesthesia fee comes out to $6,707 without insurance and I can pay in installments by going through a patient financial website to sign up for payments or I can pay it in full if I wanted to.
This amount is fortunately doable for me and I thank God for that. I was able to schedule a removal for mid August. They want me to get a revision to either gastric bypass or the sleeve, but right now I am leaning towards just getting the lap band removed with no revision. I still have time to really think about revision, but I am so afraid of having my stomach more than half removed or my intestines rearranged and then have the WLS not work again. I can't stand failure again...and plus removal plus revision would be much more expensive and would likely have to occur in Mexico. I live in the panhandle of Texas and Mexico is very nearby.
on 5/9/16 6:17 pm
Agree completely with Mexico. Going there was the only way for me to get surgery as my ins covers nothing to do with weight loss in any form.
They actually bumped me up and I was revised on May 3 ... So tomorrow I'll be 7 days out... And starting my Pureed phase. I'm feeling great ! I woke up in a lot more pain than I was prepared for.... However after day 1 and walking off all that co2 gas they pumped into me ... I was feeling fine since. Now I get tired around 2 and 7 pm and need a little rest. But other than that feel very very good !

Banded 6/9/09 HW 242 LW 142 Revision 198 m 1 loss 16 lbs 182. M 2 loss 4 lbs 178. M3 loss 6 lbs 174.m4 loss 4 lbs 168. M5 gain 2 lbs 170. M6 loss 7 lbs 163 M7 loss 5 lbs 159 M8 loss 1 lb 158 M9 loss 0 M10 155 loss 3 M11 154 loss 1 M12 loss 2 152 M13 loss 3 149 M16, 17 0 loss M 18 loss 4 lbs 145 (18 months 53 lbs)
I JUST RECEIVED a call from my insurance company that ..... She isn't sure what happen or why, but her boss just called her and told her I was approved for my revision surgery and I don't have to wait for the council meeting on May 24.
I DO KNOW what happen .... They were denying me for bogus reasons and I'm desperate and tired of playing their games and jumping through hoops so I called the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR !!! They got involved and contacted my insurance company. The department of labor got on their butts !!!
Anyways .... This band is coming out May 9 th !!!!!! Woohoo thank you for all of the love and support on this board, and I'll be checking in on the revision board as well!
Today is the 9th, how are you doing???? Did you get it out today?