WHATS IT LIKE LIVING WITHA LAP BAND

For all the banders that are doing so well i love my band

I would highly recommend not getting the crap band. It is the least effective was ther is. I regret getting mine.
if you want to diet again then get it, if not look into something else. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Maria is 100% correct!

 Good Luck to you.  MY experience at first with the band was like most who are a year out.  Couldn't figure out why "some" had revision surgery.

Fast forward 2 years and now I get it.  Revised to a sleeve last month and it is what I thought the band was except, I need no fills, un-fills and oh more fills and un-fills and then somedays can eat and some can't.    By the way I was self pay in the US for the band and also self pay with Dr Aceves in Mexico for my sleeve.  Sure wish I would've listened to the ones that said the band was crap, instead I spent $18,000 to find out.  IMO just too many variables getting the band adjusted and even more importantly keeping it adjusted.  

There are a few long time banders that are VERY successful and happy.  I give them a huge congratulations but if anything ever happens to their bands then they will also need to make a decision.  The band for me worked at first.  But with the adjustments and my allergic reaction to bug bites it was impossible to keep.

Good Luck to all no mater what surgery type you are getting.

If you are ready to make significant and PERMANENT changes in your life, then you can be 100% successful at losing your excess weight and keeping it off for the rest of your life.  If you want to only have to go on a diet for a year or so with the idea that, eventually, you'll be able to get OFF that diet, then NO WLS will work for you.  If you are ready to:

- change your eating habits by examing what you eat that keeps you fat and eliminating those foods forever (so if you can't give up Taco Bell 5 days a week, don't waste your time)
- commit to daily exercise of any kind
- drink LOTS of water

then you can be successful.

I recognized from the beginning that I am extremely carb-sensitive so no longer eat sugar or any high-glycemic carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, flour, pasta, etc).  And no, I don't crave or miss them one iota.  You may be one of the lucky ones who can eat "everything in moderation".  I am not.  I know this and live my life accordingly.  I was also Queen of the Couch Potatoes, but now walk 35-40 km per week (to work and back every day) and have started weight-training 3x per week.  I don't even remember who that obese person was 13 months ago and, more importantly, don't ever plan to see her again.  I remain 100% pro-active in my approach to conquering my obesity, and will continue to be so until I croak (which should now be later rather than sooner, given the vast improvement in my health - no longer pre-diabetic, perfect cholesterol and normal blood pressure, etc. etc. etc.).

Don't do this or any WLS without 100% commitment to changing your lifestyle and habits.  But if you don't want to re-route your insides, suffer from poor health due to malabsorption, or want a surgery that is adjustable and, if need be, reversible, then the lap band is a good choice.  It certainly has been for me.

It was extremely difficult for me, personally. It caused unimaginable chronic pain for me... (abdominal, left shoulder.)   I couldn't eat solid foods and was constipated more often than not. There was lot of gagging and throwing up.

Even if you have fewer complications than I did, it's a hard life change. It's very hit or miss whether you'll be able to tolerate the band. You learn by trial and error which foods will pass through and which ones will cause you to gag and throw up. And, when I say, "throw up," I don't mean a simple "throw up and done"... it might go on for hours and hours. And then your stoma is irritated and you need to let it heal before you can eat again.


It's not something I would recommend to anyone, honestly. Even under the best of cir****tances, the band causes a lot of physical issues.

First please check your insurance and see what surgeries your insurance will cover.  THis is a big thing.  Then second talk to your doctor about the different surgeries.

I had chronic pain with my band, my heart slowed so slow that they were thinking I might need a pacemaker at 38.  I got food stuck all the time.  I had extreme heart burn. I could never get to restriction where I felt full and could go 3-4 hours without eating.  I was hungry all the time.

Please do your research, all surgeries have thier complications.  Just understand what those complications and understand that yes, they can happen to you.  

I went in with the band thinking everything was going to be rainbows and puppy dogs.  Yes I did lots of research and thought I knew what I was getting into.   I followed the band rules and exercised most days.  Avid exericser.  I lost 54 pounds with the band and then stopped.  Never lost another pound.  I still had a lot of weight to lose. 

I feel so much better with the bypass but thats just me.  There are other surgeries out there, each one unique

From reading on this form and from different people I know having the band reacts different for everyone. I am scheduled to have the lap band done the 6th of May.  It's been a couple years since I have been tossing this idea around and checking it out. 

For me the choice of the band is the right one. I have had to have surgery on both knees, it hurts to walk sometimes. I consider myself to young (52) to be thinking that much longer I wont be able to walk at all unless I use a wheelchair or dont move.  I am about 270 lbs at 5'9 and I have tried evrything.

Pills made me feel crazy, raceing heart, bouncing off the walls.
Low calories,  I gained weight
The meal plans, I have kids and bills I cant afford to pay all the time for the extra food just for me.
Slim fast,  way to sweet, I am not into sweets.
Low carb, that seemed to work out of any of them.
I think I own almost every diet book they have out.
Excerise, I have always walked alot, and also have a nice collection of DVD, even doing those before this last knee surgery, yes I felt good, but any real weight loss.  No.

With the band I figure it will be that extra HELP I need to control what I cant on my own. I am one of those people that seems to eat with out thinking about it.  I taste while I cook, then eat a meal and then walk by and without thinking about it will grab a few more tastes before it's cleaned up. Also i dont eat, I inhale my food.

I talked to my family Dr before I even made the appt to go to the seminar. Yes there is a cost for the fills, but the way I figure it, that about what I sent on other things to help me lose weight.   The last thing I considered is that if I really find out I cant live with this, I can have it removed.

To get a full representation of what it is like living with the band you would really need to post this question on ALL the WLS forums (VSG, rny, and DS). So many ppl that had the band revised to OTHER wls's when their bands didn't work! :-(

Let's see..  prebanding:

383, 5'5", recovering from hyst for cancer. Wore a size 5 or 6X (34/36). Had to hold on to cart to shop in grocery stores.  Hardly went out of the house.  Depressed.  Had about 3 or 4 outfits I could wear out in public.  Anytime I traveled I had to pack way more than others because I couldn't just drop into any old store and buy clothing.  Even the JMS things at Walmart were too small.  Catherine's loved me.

I was banded 03/09/09

Today I weigh about 193.  Yesterday I was buying shirts that ranged from XXL (juniors) to a 14/16 (womens).  I don't need a cart to hold onto.. I need one for all my choices.. which are almost limitless when it comes to clothing now.

I'm not home all the time now.  I've become more social (but not in a bad way..lol).  My oncologist says that with my weight loss, my cancer is very unlikely to recur. 

I ran (and walked some too) in my 2nd 5K yesterday.  I eat almost anything within reason, but smaller portions.  I don't keep my band extremely tight.. I don't use it as a strangulation device.  Today, I got hungry before I really should have.. so I'm pushing fluids to tide me over till meal time and that strategy is working.   If I continue to be hungry between meals for another week or so, I'll call to get a fill appt.  But it could be the (small!!) amount of carbs I ate before the 5K that's got my system discombobulated.

The band doesn't work for everyone, and not everyone works the band.   I didn't want to have my insides cut or rerouted.  That is my personal choice and I do not disparage anyone who made a different decision.  I'm very glad that there are choices since we are all different and have different wants, needs, desires.  No one fits the same mold or model.

Some will tell you "the band has the slowest weight loss".  Maybe for some, but not for me.  Some will say that "bands will eventually need to be replaced".  Maybe for some, but I know of people who have had their original bands for more than 10 years.  Besides, other prosthesis sometimes need repair or replacement and no one bats an eye at that.

I was encouraged to investigate banding by a male ob/gyn who had gotten one himself.  He saw himself getting larger over time and having great difficulty losing.  His wife, another MD, wasn't thrilled with the idea either.  He's done very well with the band and I think I have too.

Hope this is helpful.

 This is a really big decision for anyone, I really need to sit down and do some investigating.  I already suffer from chronic pain and a few other issues, I have tried diet pills, but the ones that were working for me they got recalled :(  Somedays I hate my genes!