Feeling like a failure

I was banded in 07 and initially lost 65 pounds. Because of various reason, which I take the blame for, 35 pounds have crept back. I have always had a hard time finding a therapeutic fill level. It is either too loose or too tight with only 1/4 cc fills. My doctor says this is very rare, but it is just the way I am made. When I go for check ups and I tell him that I feel like it is too loose, he refuses a fill saying it is in my head. It seems like he goes between these two opinions. If it is in my head, I can accept that and deal with it. However, when he is going between the two I don't know which one to go with. I started doing weigh****chers, and have had some success, but wanted to know if anyone else out there is going through this too, or had any advice.

Your story sounds identical to mine. Never really found the sweet spot. I don't have any advice, but my doctor said that they only have 1 other band patient that is as sensitive as i am.

Wow! I have never found someone with the same deal! He told me he has only seen this two other times. May I ask if you are losing and if so how you are accommodating to the goofy band?

It's not "rare" at ALL. It's very common, actually.

Go back through the history of this board alone and you'll see this problem pop up over and over and over.

That is THE most common reason for band failure!! My surgeon says up to 1/4 of their patients are having this same difficulty including myself. Of course the and makers deny this is a problem they just blame us for failing. It may be time for a revision if that's possible with your insurance.

Lindsay,

The biggest problem with the band is everybody has different stomach widths. 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 too 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.

Many bandsters will go in needing a small tweak and then weeks later will require a total unfill. That doesn't mean that they didn't genuinely need the fill.

Fills " fluid" can get vacuumed sucked into the tubing and later as pressure in the tubing releases. 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 pressure in the tubing.

Nobody wants to abuse their fills. It's an extremely painful way to live. Unfortunately there is no visual gauge that measure how full or empty our bands are. ( Kinda like the gas gauge in your car) and even if there was...there are still not enough band sizes to choose from.

Wow! Kinda nice to hear I'm not the only one. As I was getting fills I would go from being very hungry to getting sick with just the slightest fill. I did have weeks here and there when I was in a good spot. The band has not been the tool I hoped it would be. That being said, I did loose all my excess weight. I was self pay and the money spend was a huge motivator. I now choose to keep my band very loose, I had a large unfill afte maintaining my weight loss for a few months. Sorry to all that have not found the band usefull.

I'm sorry for your problems. However, there is one point that has been missed- you/ve kept off 30 pounds!!!! That is great! K

Thanks everyone!!!!

I don't think its rare at all,  I think there are a lot more people with that problem then they think there are. I have had small fills since I was banded. as little as .1 or .2 I never had any trouble eating and never pb'd but I would have to have unfills about three weeks after a fill due to tightning that got to uncomfortable. I finally had an episode where my chest and head  had so much pressure I thought I  would explode I went back and had a total unfill. my band was empty  for three months till yesterday. I have decided to start again I went in and had 1cc fill,  hope it helped to have it unfilled for three months I will know in a week or two. and will then be able to give some advice. The band is a lot of work and you will have the constant battle of head hunger,  at least I  have found I do  Please do not feel like a failure your band could be to blame it doesnt work for everyone