Two reasons why the Lap Band can't possibly work for everyone.

The reason the lap band is attractive to pre-ops is because:

1. It's " Minimally invasive.

2. It's "adjustable..."

One of the problems with the band is that the width of our stomach walls are not all the same. The new and " improved lap band has two sizes. The older version came in two sizes as well. That's 4 different sizes that your surgeon gets to choose from.

There are not enough choices in band sizes to meet everybodys needs. My daughter who was roughly 50 lbs heavier then me had a thinner stomach wall then I had.

We were both given the Inamed 10 cc band and both bands unfilled were still to tight. Later when our bands slipped, I was given the larger AP band which if I remember correctly was a 14 cc and my daughter came out of surgery with the smaller AP 10 cc band.

There is no " One size fits all " when it comes to the lap band. This is why you see so many people that are either not able to find any restriction or they are unable to tolerate even the tiniest of fills. Then you have all the others that fall in between.

Fills " fluid" can get vacuumed sucked into the tubing and later as pressure in the tubing changes. It causes the band to become tighter. This is why some bandsters experience tightening of their bands even after they have had their bands completely unfilled.Their surgeon cannot empty the band completely because of the vacuum suction in the tubing.

One day I went in for a fill and my surgeon had me chug water down as I was being filled. He stopped when I was able to communicate to him that it felt just right. I left his office with perfect restriction. Two days later I was unable to swallow my own spit and went immediately back for an unfill.
A week later another unfill, and a few days later...a complete unfill.

You can see how expensive this can become if you are a self pay right ?

Unfortunately there is no visual gauge that measures how full or empty our bands are. ( Kinda like the gas gauge in your car)

So if your contemplating on getting a band, and you want a restrictive procedure only. I encourage you to look into getting a sleeve.

Link to sleeve forum:
www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/

You can see how expensive this can become if you are a self pay right ?

Unfortunately I know all too well how expensive this comes out to be.  Initially my Dr's office didn't charge for unfills, then unexpectedly their policy changed and each fill and unfill came out to $100. 

Not picking a fight, but I'm surprised that there are DSers who've gained ALL of their weight back.  Are there any on this forum?

To others: Do you know of any DSers who've regained all their loss?  It's possible, I'm sure, I just haven't heard of it.  (Not disputing that some DSers don't make it to their goal, but, NO surgery can claim that)

I guess she couldn't come up with any supporting evidence to back up her claim.

Well I'm just wondering how many people you know in person that have had the DS that gained their weight back ?

It did not offend, but your statement was that you knew RNYers and DSers who had ....  gained all their weight back.  I do know (in person) some RNYers who've done so, but I wasn't aware of any DSers that did, and was questioning that part.

Stacey,Your first reply to me was this,

"I know people who have had RNY and DS and who have not only not lost all of their weight, but regained what they did lose."

To me when you say, "I know people" it makes it sound ( at least to me ) that there were a lot more then just two. That's two DS'ers with " failure rates " out of how many Lap Banders with failure rates ?

More importantly Stacey, nowhere in my OP did I bring up the " failure rates " in regards to weight actually lost or regained. My post was about, why most people choose to have the band and to explain why finding restriction with the band is very illusive thereby explaining why the lap band isn't for everyone. I think a better title for my post might have been. Why many lap banders cannot find restriction.

I think my title sucked.

I lost 70 lbs with my band and kept it off, but it was a very painful way to lose 70 lbs. When I first started down the path of researching WLS I was taking only 2 medications per night.  Currently and not counting my supplements, I am taking 10 medications because of the band.

There are huge risks for DSer's who chooses to not commit to their required commitments, but I'm not seeing a lot of those around...are you ?  We can see the risks as stated by Allergan actively being posted on the Main,Revisions,Failed WLS & Lap Band forums EVERYDAY.