Lapband Weight Loss Question

Hey Lapbanders,

I am curious about the following and would like to know about your personal experiences. How many fills did you get before you really felt your lapband was doing its job?  Did you feel restriction right away after surgery? Were you able to lose measurable weight before you had the correct restriction? 

I am on a slow crawl of weight loss as I get my fills with my weight remaining almost the same after 2 months (maybe 2-3 pounds less). I thought the 2nd fill was good, but a week later I hardly can tell. I am seriously questioning my surgeon's abilities and experience with lapband patients. Just curious if other people have similar experiences.

Thanks,
Tom

Hi Tom,

I have had about 10 fills.  After my 2nd fill I had really good restriction and appetite control.  Then after a little weight loss the restriction was gone.  The last fill I had really did the trick.  I get full on a small but reasonable amount of food and am satisfied for a few hours.  Although I do have to admit that is starting to go away now.  What happens is that as you lose weight the fat pad around the stomach shrinks as well and thus the band loosens resulting in loss of restriction.  My weight loss has been slow, up and down at times, but satisfactory.  I was banded in March of 2007 and have lost 75 pounds.  I wi**** was more but slow and steady is the band for me when it comes to weight loss.  Also, it can take a few fills to get good restriction because the docs don't want to be too aggressive with their fills.  A fill that is too tight is no fun. I had that once and had to have a slight unfill. I hope this help. 

Paul

Paul -- Thanks for your reply. I go from being happy with my band to being frustrated. At this point, I feel almost no restriction. My surgeon is extremely cautious on fills. After my 2nd fill 2 Fridays ago I thought I felt good restriction. Now it feels like there is almost none. When I looked at the big picture on how much weight I lost since surgery I don't think it is a lot. Most of my loss is from a pre-surgery diet.

It does have me seriously questioning my surgeon. He is really big into gastric bypass. I see so few lapband patients at the surgeon's support group. That is why I question how able he is to work with lapband patients. Now I question whether it is indeed seated/positioned properly. On my first fill, he removed the initial fill from surgery. He expected it to be 3cc but it was 1cc. He just kind of said he was surprised. That statement alone got me questioning his abilities. Add to that, I guess I feel the fills should be more aggressive to the point I know it has indeed occurred.

I am willing to maybe see how my fill the end of this month goes. If I am not satisfied, I have no reservations on seeking another opinion. I am fortunate to have some very good hospitals with bariatric programs close by. -- Tom

I have had 6 which equals 7cc's in a 10 cc band.  My dr is conservative with fills and spaces them about 8 or so weeks apart.  Wants to be safe and have little or no problems.  I am a slow loser.  Good luck to you!~Ann~

I had 9ccs in a 10cc band within the first five months. I have some limited restriction depending on what I eat. If I eat protein and veggies I have restriction. Unfortunately I can also eat a fair amount of bread, muffins, cake etc. and I have to make the choice not to eat them. There doesn't seem to be much restriction for me on those foods; I wish there were.

I do like the fact that I can eat anything that I want if I eat slowly and chew totally. If I make good choices I lose weight. If I don't make good choices I gain. I'm almost at a year and have lost 84 lbs.

Connie 

Hi Tom

I have had four or five fills and I am 10 months out.  If you have a band that holds more than 10cc and your doctor is being extremely careful and slow with your fills, it will take longer for you to get the proper restriction.  I have the APS that holds 10cc and I just got a fill Friday and I now have 6.6cc.  My last fill before this one was back in April and I was on the tight side. I had to be VERY careful what I ate and how much or I would get stuck...NO fun!! 

There are others that have the same surgeon that I do that have had their bands longer than me that still don't have restriction....so I'm not really sure what causes such differences.

I wish I knew more.  If you have any other questions I would be glad to try to answer them,  just let me know.

(Nice to meet you btw)

~Kimberly

Kimberly, Thanks for your response. I have a 14cc band with 6cc in it now. I felt good restriction for 4-5 days after the 3rd fill and it went away. This Friday I am having my 4th fill. My surgeon tells me that it is unusual for a person to need above 8cc in a 14cc band. He is doing this fill under X-ray so that he can see the and and give me what he believes is correct. We'll' see how that goes. It has been sort of disappointing to me not feeling restriction. I eat pretty healthy and exercise regularly now. It's just frustrating to see the weight remain the same. But, I also look at this in terms of what my wt. is today. I am 45 pounds less than I was in May. That is an achievement. I just tend to be an impatient person. My surgeon is very conservative. I need to be more forceful with him in terms of working with me. I know I also need to work on it to. I guess I keep coming back to the fact that I paid for a tool to help me and yet I don't see that value from it yet.  -- Tom 

I am about 14 months out and have lost 100lbs with a 5cc band. I have had about 8 fills and am at a 4.4 level. I got fills right away whenever I felt like I was hungry too often or eating more than a cup at a time. I lost most of it in the first year and really have not lost any in the last 2 months...I am in the maintaining phase and I just went on vacation and ate and ate and ate...gained 4lbs in 10days...so got a fill as soon as I got home..hunger gone....So just keep on top of your fills if you feel you are hungry too often or eating too much!!!