New here! Researching and Learning!

I had my band put in when I was 24 also, at about 370 lbs.  I also thought that I didn't want anything "overly invasive."  Please understand, because I didn't at the time, the band will NOT "help to curve your hunger."  It will ONLY prevent you from eating a lot and that's only after you're filled properly. Or in my case, your band can be filled to capacity and you can still wolf down a foot long sub and chips in 20 minutes without any restriction....or sometimes you can take a bite of apple sauce and then throw it up.  The band was designed for people who need to lose around 50lbs, not people who want to lose 150.  You will still be on a "diet" your entire life.   You can't imagine how FRUSTRATING it is to be physically HUNGRY but not being able to eat anything because your band is not letting any food down.   

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider the VSG or the DS.  The DS has the malabsorption factor so you will never lose the ability to lose weight. 

What finally made me realize that the DS is the way I wanted to go was  when I spent some time on the Revision Board here on OH.  Spend some time there and pay attention to what people are revising FROM.  The majority of the revisions are revising FROM the lap-band to something else.  The lap-band has a very high failure rate, it's in the high 70's percentage, 75% or 73%, something like that.

I don't want to discourage you from getting a WLS, but the band is on it's way out and is being replaced by the sleeve, and the DS is replacing the RNY.  I know people in every surgery category and you will always find hand fulls of people who love what their surgery did for them.   Everyone is different, but for your weight and your goals (curing HUNGER), I would very much encourage you to re-consider the lap-band.   I wish you the BEST of luck! 

Listen to what the majority are saying here and stay away from the band.  With hindsight I'd go with VSG (or DS if I'd been eligible).

Don't bother with the Gastric Plication Surgery either, people on www.sleeveplicationtalk.com are now starting to experience complications (stomach necrosis and having to have the GPS undone due to blockage).

Weight loss seems to be minimal too (there are several of us struggling to get past the 20lb lost mark.

 Hi!  I encourage you to do all you can to find our as much as you can about lapband. I am not on the bash the band wagon, but I will share my experience.  Let me start by saying that if I had to do it again I would not.  I was banded in 2007 and lost about 75 pds the first year or so... great... but during that time I was not able to eat a normal diet, I threw up all the time.  My energy did return some because of the weight loss but also during that time I struggled with depression because as you lose weight your hormones can get out of wack and this can cause depression.  I had already had depression but this increased it so I took Abilify and gained 50 pds as a result of the meds.  I have not been able to get that 50 pds off, no matter what I did... the reason no matter what I did is important is because my band was too tight.  I tried counting cals and moving more and eating this instead of that all the time throwing up every single day.  My band was too tight, my fault and the docs fault for not helping me with the fills and understanding that the band is not to be so tight that you can't eat, but rather the band is to help you feel full faster with a smaller amount of food.  This was not represented to me from my doc.  He left me with the impression that if you are not losing then you need to tighten your band.... that is not how the band works.....
OK, so I have a 10cc band which should only hold 4cc fluid.  I had been getting fills on a normal schedule until I moved over an hour away from my doc and the 50 pds were not coming off so I was embarrassed to go back to the doc... once again I can't get the weight off... anyway, fast forward two years.  I had my last fill in Oct. of 09 and I had around 10 cc's in my band.  I finally, after throwing up nearly daily, decided to find a new doc and get an unfill or at least find out what was wrong. By this time I had beat myself up pretty badly that I had not lost my weight and that I failed at everything I tried not understanding that having your band too tight will KEEP YOU FROM LOSING WEIGHT!! That is because you can only eat what are called slider foods which are usually high in cals.  So, I went to the new doc and he unfilled my band and told me that I had over 12cc's in my band???  What??  I only had around 10 cc's in?? The band had filled itself somehow, something that the doc's don't want to talk about but if you read around on different boards you will find that it does happen.  He told me that he didn't even know how I could even swallow my own spit and some days that was a challenge.  I had suffered for 4 years with throwing up, pain and depression all because my band was too tight.  Yesterday I had an upper GI because since I have had the unfill I have had horrible belching and heartburn and acid rolling up into my mouth, none of this except the belching (you get that with band but this belching is much different and sounds like a demon trying to come out) did I have before the banding or while the band was filled by the way.  With the band filled I only had heartburn if I ate and went to bed too soon afterward and the only reason I didn't have heartburn with the band filled is because I wasn't getting food into my stomach so the stomach has not been having to work for the past 4 yrs. I did have plenty of pain with stuck episodes though. So now I have a hiatus hernia, a direct result of the band being too tight, grade C reflux esophagitis, gastritis and lesions on my esophagus from the acid, and GERD, all as a direct results of the lapband being too tight.  Once my band was unfilled my stomach had to start working and it was too much for my system and I have developed all of these things as a direct result of the lapband being too tight.  My sphincter muscle doesn't work anymore as a direct result of the lapband being too tight and this is what is allowing the acid to roll up into my mouth when I bend over.  I will now have to be on meds for heartburn for the next year.  
I have just changed my diet to almost all raw fruits and veggies, eating only a few cooked veggies during the day and only meat a few times a week.  It is refreshing to be able to eat at all but the fruits and veggies are great.  I had not been able to eat a piece or even a bite of fruit or a veggie for the past 4 years without them getting stuck and making me throw up. What else has enough nutrition in it to feed our bodies?? Certainly not what I was left with as a option to eat because the band was too tight. 
This is just my story, I was very excited about the band when I first got it and I agree that no other surgery was or is right for me, so I went gun ho with the band.  It is true what they say about Hind sight...there were many things that I had to learn along the way that my doc just didn't inform me about, and many things I have now had to unlearn that my doc taught me and as with anything it is a journey but for me, if I had to do it again I would not. 
My band has not eroded so I will not have it taken out at this time unless some problems arise with it.  I will not have it filled, but I will follow up with the new doc to see if it is filling on it's own.  
Good Luck with whatever you decide but I would encourage you to really pick a plan and really stick with it and see what you can do it before banding because if you can't stick with a plan with out a band, you won't be able to stick to a plan with the band, and there is a plan that comes with the band, something that I truly didn't understand in the beginning.  I was told all you have to do is get fills and eat smaller amounts... this is not all there is to it.
Good for you for really checking in to it before you move... if you decide to have it, it will be a hard journey, just like any weight loss program and if not then may you have to courage to find a plan that works for you and stick to it .

I'm going to copy and paste what I just replied to someone else asking if they should get the band.

My advice is that I would RUN don't walk from the lapband.  I had 2 slips, a dilated esophagus and now have a permanently damaged esophagus from the band.  I never kept a tight fill and had one of the best band surgeons in the world and still had 2 years of misery.  Yes I lost over 100 pounds but that was mainly because there were days where I would vomit from soup.  I was in pain and misery and finally 3 months ago revised to the sleeve and couldn't be happier.  That is the VERY condensed version of my story.

Go to the revision board and you will see a ton of people revising from the band.  Go to the Failed Lapband Board to see how many people have had problems.  Don't let anyone tell you pain or throwing up is normal because it is not!  I do know a few people (like Bette and Kate and a few not on the board) who have had long term success with their band, but they are so few and far between.  The majority have had problems.  Don't let the "least invasive" and "reversible" fool you.  The band may be removable (along with all the scar tissue and adhesions on your stomach), but it is certainly not reversible.  Just ask Nikki (N.M.) on the board.

Do you homework on all 4 WLS, not just the band and make the best decision for you. Don't let your doctor, a commercial or even people, especially the newbies who haven't yet really settled into their bands, tell you what you should do. Doctors will advise you to do what they are most comfortable doing and what will make them the most money.  Do extensive research  and then make an informed decision.

I had lap band surgery in December of 2005. I threw up several times a week with no rhyme or reason. I went through 5 1/2 years of sheer torture, never knowing from one meal to the next if I would be able to keep it down (usually that would be a "no"). I initially lost weight but I was so sick I was not living a full life or really any type of life at all. Finally after getting anemic and so weak I could barely get up and go to work, I told my surgeon that it had to be removed. In 2010, I went in and had it removed. I enjoyed the next 6 months of actually getting to eat without throwing up so hard, I would throw up blood. My uncle had VSG in June of 2010 and went from 498 to 330 in a very short period of time. He was truly a food addict and spoke ravingly of the surgery. I knew if he could do it, I could to. By the time my surgery date came around, I had regained all the weight I had lost and was actually the heaviest I had ever been. I started out at 283 at a height of 5'4". Almost a complete square (lol). In 3 short months, I've lost almost 60 lbs and have never regretted the surgery not once. It is the best thing I've ever done. I don't know if everyone has the experience I've had but I've not thrown up because of the sleeve's restriction but I know completely with all the bells and whistles exactly when I've had enough. I can tolerate any foods, just eat a much smaller portion and I am completely satisfied. Good luck with your decision and enjoy life!!!

Thank you to ALL of you who have shared your insight with me. I am still continuing to do my research and even looking into other WLS but also deciding with my physician. I am a medical coder and have been able to ask a lot of the providers I work with better questions because of your shared experiences both good and bad. In the end I will definitely go with what is best for my health. I have never heard of the VSG or DS. And will continue looking at ALL my options before coming to a decision. But once again MUCH MUCH MAHALO for all your guys shared thoughts I really appreciate it and it's helped me so much already in this journey, and Ill still be checking if anyone has more to share. Have a wonderful day!

Stephanie that is my experience exactly.  Starving, roiling with hunger tummy, but can't get anything down.  It is horrible.  I hate the band and would never recommend it to anyone.  I can't even tell you what a relief it is to see so many other people having the same experience!  I now regret waiting so long to go for a revision, but for a long long time I hid from the boards, thinking my failure was my own fault.  So I wonder how many people are out there, like me, ashamed to come here and share their stories.  That's just heartbreaking to think about :( 

Prettypixels, I'm so glad you came and talked about it. People who make others feel like band failure is the patient's fault should be slapped. SO many of us have had horrible experiences and we need to talk about it. And potential band patients also need to know what they may be getting into, so I'm glad you're here.

Like so many others, my band surgery was unsuccessful.  It actually encouraged unhealthy eating habits.  Overly processed, high carb, high fat foods were the easiest to get down.  The better quality the food, the more likely it was to get stuck and be regurgitated.  BTW - the band never helped me with appetite suppression.  I thought that was one of its benefits as well, but it wasn't for me.

After living with the band for 4 years I decided to have a "do over" surgery.  I had the DS in October 2010 and have lost 88 lbs.  I'm very glad of my weight loss from the DS.  However, just know that I would almost have certainly lost more weight if I had not had the band first.  Most people do not loss as fast or as much with a second surgery as they do with the first.  So, just choose very carefully. 

I was in the same spot as you when I had the lap band.  I didn't want to do anything too invasive and I thought the band was the answer.  For me, it wasn't. 

Good Luck!