What might happen after your gastric band operation, just what are the possible side effects? Its a fact that all operations have risks – up to and including death; but possible gastric band side effects are very specific. From burping to vomiting, acid reflux to band slippage, to name just a few, there are plenty.
This page was written by Martin and Marion Shirran. With over 10,000 hours of clinical treatment time at their clinic in Spain, exclusively helping people achieve permanent weight loss, and as the authors of the best selling book Gastric Mind Band, published World Wide by Hay House, they not only know what they are talking about, but they may also be able to help you, to achieve your dream weight loss. Plus of course another interesting fact is that their proven treatment costs as little as £1,495.
When you sign authorisation for any operation you accept there are risks. That might even include death, it’s a small risk of around 1 in 2000 maybe, but you shouldn’t ignore it. However there are particular gastric band side effects after surgery, which once the operation is over you also have to bear in mind. You can read details of the possible side effects on the NHS web site here.
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Complications are problems that occur during or after the operation and being very overweight increases the risk of them following any operation. You’re more likely to have complications from the general anaesthetic and are at a greater risk of developing blood clots. Other health conditions linked to your weight, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, can also increase your risk of surgery being problematic. Possible complications of a gastric band operation are listed below.
- An infection around your gastric band, the tube under your skin, or in one of your wounds.
- A chest infection.
- An injury to your stomach or other organs in your tummy area (abdomen), such as your spleen, during the operation.
- The gastric band may slip out of place, leak and deflate, or slowly work its way through your stomach wall. If this happens, the band may need to be re-positioned, removed or replaced.
- If you lose weight quickly, you may develop gallstones. These can be painful and you may need surgery to remove them.
During your operation your surgeon may come across an unexpected problem and need to make a larger cut in your abdomen. This won’t affect how well the operation works but it may mean that you take longer to recover.
Not everyone loses as much weight as they want to after the operation, and some people put weight back on after losing it. If this happens your surgeon may suggest other treatments, such as gastric bypass surgery. However, if you make the necessary changes to your lifestyle, such as exercising and eating healthily, you should lose weight. The above information was taken from the BUPA web site.
Of course the Gastric Band isn’t the only type of bariatric surgery available. Read more about other surgical options, and their success rates on our Gastric Surgery for Weight Loss or Gastric Sleeve Surgery pages.
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Gastric Band – The Risks
There is no shortage of forums for ‘bandsters’, this being the name given to the brave community of people who have gone ‘under the knife’ and had their surgical gastric band fitted. You can read the many Gastric Band Side Effects stories as you search around Google. And although there are those who barely mention problems, there are plenty who give vivid descriptions of, for example: sickness, bruising, pain, swelling post-op. Having to continually take vitamin supplements because they are forced to follow a restricted diet, maybe for life.
Leakage if the reservoir or tubing is damaged during fills. Erosion – the band can work its way into the stomach wall. Gallstones if pre-op or post-op the weight loss is very fast, often resulting in the surgical removal of the gallbladder. ‘Productive Burping’ i.e. vomiting if you try to eat too much or take a large mouthful of food, some describe it as being like a bird and regurgitating their food. Acid reflux – the sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach sometimes allows acid back up through into the esophagus, causing burning. Over-tightening – sometimes people can’t even sip water without it coming back up. Over the years at our clinic we have spoken at length to a number of people that have had a surgical gastric band fitted, the number one non surgical issue they talked about, which for many was the reason for them having their band removed, was the often devastating effect it had on their social life. Enjoying dinner at a nice restaurant with friends or your partner was for many no longer an option.
Gastric Band Side Effects – Cheating
Also worth mentioning is that although it’s not a side effect, cheating is a major problem for people with particular ‘craving’ foods… for example chocolate, or junk food, or alcohol… all of these can be ‘slid’ past the band if they are put into liquid form. Yes, some folk even liquidise their burger & chips, or melt their ice cream in order to get around the restriction they’ve maybe spent thousands of pounds having put in place.
Of course one of the most extreme and tragic Gastric Band side effects is that it can sometimes be fatal. Only recently, the Daily Mail featured the heartbreaking story of a 50 year old woman who died just 7 weeks after the surgery. After her first adjustment the poor woman tried to eat her first meal and was sick afterwards. The retching resulted in her suffering from gastric peritonitis (a perforated stomach lining), which wasn’t picked up on in time, and she died less than 2 days later. Just one example of the Gastric Band Side Effects.
Gastric Mind Band Weight Loss
If you are seriously interested in taking control of your weight then maybe you should first investigate a possible alternative, the Gastric Mind Band (GMB) procedure, which has attracted so much media interest around the world. The therapy has become something of a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic, developing into the treatment of choice by members of the public and celebrities alike. The Gastric Mind Band Permanent Weight Loss treatment was developed ten years ago at the British run Elite Clinic in Spain by Martin and Marion Shirran. Their procedure is now the subject of the best selling book, The Gastric Mind Band, published by Hay House.
GMB clients benefit from the considerable research and development that went into the GMB method. The developers, Martin and Marion Shirran, have now built up more than eight thousand one to one clinical hours, over the past ten years, working with clients who fly to the clinic from around the world each week, each determined to achieve their ideal body weight. At the end of the GMB treatment each client leaves the clinic with his or her own set of carefully prepared tools, most are completely unique to the GMB including a very extensive manual, and a set of individually produced digital audio recordings of each of the sessions. Because the GMB treatment is Psychologically based there can be no fear of a return to the old yo-yo dieting scenario; this is a permanent solution, with Zero side effects, other than losing weight of course. The treatment of course does not end when you walk out of the clinics door, for many it is just the start, ongoing contact and support is provided as you progress along your weight loss journey.
