I'm new here ! So please bare with me

Hello,

 I have an appointment on June 19th 2015. I'm kind of excited and nervous at the same time. I hear some many positive and negative  of the lapband. That is making me change my mind. The reason why I'm interested in having a lapband surgery is because I'm diabetic, high blood pressure and I'm over weight. I'm so tired of taking so many pills and injecting myself. Like I said I'm very confused now please help and thank you In advance. 

Please bear in mind that I am a very happy and very successful bandit now 9 years post-op. I do not regret my band, would do it all over again and if I ever have to have it removed, I would hope to have a replacement.

When I was banded in 2006, it was a miracle surgery. And for some people, who accept that they will still have to work hard, it is just that. It was and still is for me. But over the years it has become clear that serious complications necessitating further surgery are much more common than originally thought. Some of these are avoidable by careful eating and by not keeping the band tight; unfortunately others are beyond our control.

We used to be warned about band slips, leaks and about ( very rare) erosion into the stomach tissue but it turns out that a build up of scar tissue round the band (causing it to tighten) is quite common. It can be very difficult to get the right level of restriction and some people are tempted to keep it tight enough to physically limit food, in fact it was once thought this was how it should be. But this causes food to back up into the oesophagus and that risks problems such as oesophageal dysmotility which may be irreversible. It can also damage the vagus nerve.

Some doctors have stopped implanting bands as they found the removal rate was unacceptably high and it was too easy not to lose enough weight. Revision from band to sleeve is not uncommon! On this site you will read more bad stories than good. This is partly because there simply have been a lot of people who had problems but it is also partly because about three years ago, it became a very unpleasant board for banded people and a lot left. I was called a liar for saying I have been successful; people who had just had their bands implanted were told they were stupid and would inevitably have serious issues. People with the smallest complication were told to revise before catastrophe struck.

The band makes it easier by dimming hunger, but it does nothing for head hunger and, contrary to popular opinion, it does not and should not physically stop us eating. If it does it is too tight!

Having said all that, I love my band, I know many successful long term bandits in real life. My own experience has been good and so has that of almost all those I actually know and have met. I know IRL around 50 banded people; all over four years out, many over 8 years. I admit I have lost touch with some but of all those I know about only two have lost their bands. One of these admits she abused her band deliberately, the other had a no -related medical condition. My own doctor tells me he has removed a very small number of bands. He didn't specify what that meant but, unlike US doctors he is salaried and has no financial incentive to perform band as opposed to other surgeries (which he also performs). He still believes banding is a good option.

No surgery is perfect. I know two sleeved people whose lives are now truly miserable because of their sleeves and one bypass patient who very nearly died because of her operation and two years later is still severely affected by it.

Thank you so much for your honesty. I've been researching for the longest and i hear so many different stories good and bad. But reading your totally changed my mind. Thank you 😀

Changed it for or against?  

Really ?

Let me step in and give you the other side of the band life. I had my band for 7 years and self paid to get it removed last year because of so much pain from it. The first 3ish years were pretty good, I lost hardly any weight but it wasn't causing any particular problems, then it started feeling tight so I had several unfills. Well that got old really fast so I decided to have it completely emptied and that was pretty good until a couple of years later.

It was getting tighter again because scar tissue does indeed grow between the band and your stomach so even empty it continues to get too tight. By Feb. of last year I thought I was having small hear attacks or something because I would get horrible pain in my rib cage like an ice pick was jammed in there and being wiggled around. It was a pain I can't even really describe it was soooo bad I finally ended up going by ambulance to the hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack because my heart was "fluttering" too. Well turns out I do have a-fib something else the band can do to you, don't know for sure if mine was from the band or not because while I was in the hospital I told them to get the band out of me or I'd take it out myself!! The sharp pain did go away but since then I have had so many problems.

I got the band to supposedly get healthy and I'm in the worst health of my life! I have horrid stomach and bowel pains from gastroparesis, another problem that has gotten more prevalent lately with the band. This is where your stomach doesn't empty right and doesn't digest your food properly. So there is this constant pain like someone is squeezing your guts while pulling and ripping them all at the same time. There aren't even words to describe this pain, it is constant and awful. I already take narcotics for arthritis pain but I can feel the stomach pain like I wasn't taking anything for pain. I will have this for the rest of my life and there is nothing that can fix it.

Getting a band was the worst mistake I ever made in all my 60+ years. I barely lost any weight, only 20 lbs despite following every single "rule" for success. I kept my band loose and hardly ever got stuck or slimed but the human stomach is not meant to be squashed. It can't survive unharmed when it is under that much pressure. I have also lost some of my swallowing ability because of the band.

I wouldn't advise anyone to ever get a band, certainly not when there are better more successful surgeries available now. The band is not a life long tool like the other surgeries are. If you are wanting help with diabetes you need something that will last forever not just a few years.

The band is not very successful with weight loss so may not even help with the diabetes. Just know for every successful band there is at least the same number who have had no success whatsoever even tho they followed all the rules for being banded. It is a very poor weight loss tool. Please don't cause yourself a life time of pain!

"Just know for every successful band there is at least the same number who have had no success whatsoever even tho they followed all the rules for being banded"

Wow. That is a pretty sweeping statement .  Do you have any support for this? 

Only from 8 years of experience here and on other forums. The band is a failure as a WLS tool. When the Mayo Clinic and other university hospitals refuse to do them anymore that is pretty telling as to their effectiveness. If you mean research studies nope I don't need them to tell me how useless and damaging they are I live it every single day! I'm sure there are others here that can cite you research I don't have the time or interest in searching for them.

Thanks for clarifying where you get your info from.   

My mother and I were both banded over 7 years ago. We are both very happy with our decision. My mother was diabetic, high blood pressure, and on a CPAP machine, but now only has to take half a pill for her high blood pressure. Both of us have been very successful with our bands.

There are a lot of people on here that will tell very scary stories about the LapBand, but I know there are people with scary stories about EVERY type of surgery. Ultimately, regardless what anyone else says, you have to pick the surgery that is right for you.

I wish you the best of luck deciding your path and success on the path you choose.