Nervous about the lap band

Hi everyone.

I had my first consultation last week for the lap band. It went well, started doing all my tests and began reading a bit more. But the more I read, the more scared I get. Is it common to have intense pain and vomiting with the lap band?  My initial understanding of the lap band was I could eat normal foods but the amount I eat will be restricted, which is good because self control and will power are big issues for me. But from what I'm reading......certain foods will make me nauseous and vomit. I didn't expect all these issues.  Is this nervousness normal? It's making me almost want to reconsider getting the procedure done.

Chyscross

The tricky thing about the lap band is that the experience seems to vary greatly from person to person, and you can't know how your body will react until the band is in you. In my personal experience, I was unable to ever find an appropriate restriction level. My band seemed to either be completely open (just like I never had surgery) or too tight so that I was frequently vomiting. For me, my band would randomly tighten without any fill from my doctor. I was always running to my doctor for an unfill until eventually it was completely empty.

The statistics on the band are poor at best, so you are wise to keep reading up on it. I had far more success with my sleeve and couldn't imagine having to live with a band again. I would recommend you stack the deck in your favor and opt for a procedure with a higher success rate.

Best of luck in your decision,

Lindsey

Excellent response BuckeyeGirl!

I found it very difficult to recommend the band to my friends.  I was doing well with it and my friends really wanted the same results.  Some had NO results.  One has lost 28lbs in 4 years and she's still struggling with fills and unfils.  Then other friends who did well, then gained all their weight back when they had to have their Bands emptied due to complications. 

I love my Sleeve and am so so very  happy I revised before my stomach was damaged permanently like others have had here.  I wouldn't recommend the Band to anyone.  Ever. 

Can you please tell me who did your sleeve and the cost. I want to have it done, thankyou

I am not sure if you're asking me or not, but my surgeon is Dr Metz, in Parker, CO.  My insurance approved the revision.  The cost of the entire surgery and 2 nights at the hospital cost $68K.  I paid the $1,500 deductible.

There are doctors in Mexico who do the revisions for less than $10K.  Some are very good and come highly recommended.  My friend had a revision done at the end of the year.

I agree with Lindsy. Just want to add one of the surgeons in our practice told me the band is good if you can live on a liquid diet.  I too had the band to tight and frequently vomiting or wide open and could eat to much.  It would randomly tighten too.  Not too much green going on.

I was told up front to only expect 50-60% EWL.  I have the sleeve now and at three weeks was down to my all time low that I reached with the band in almost 4 years.  The band did help me stave off Diabetes and I will be grateful for that  I just am doing so much better with the sleeve so far.

As the others say, our experiences are so different. I eat small amounts of normal foods, very rarely bring any food back, and if I do it is not being sick, just burps with food attached. Never without warning and never with nausea. Never had any pain, sometimes mild discomfort. Banded almost seven years.

It's true that band patients can have trouble tolerating certain foods (like very fibrous veggies, any dry meat). I was never nauseated because of my band, but occasionally would regurgitate the food I'd eaten because I didn't use good eating skills (take tiny bites, chew very well, eat slowly, etc.). Regurgitation (what we call PB's or productive burps) should be the exception, not the rule.

I understand your desire for a surgical procedure that will eliminate the need for self control and willpower, but no bariatric surgery procedure is going to do that for you. In fact, you'll probably need to pay closer attention to what you eat and how you eat than you ever have in the past. The band is meant to provide early and prolonged satiety. Satiety is the sense of having eaten enough - not the same as feeling "full". You won't see flashing lights or hear alarm bells when you experience satiety. It's a subtle experience that takes a lot of practice and mindfulness to notice and heed. If you eat to the point of pain or regurgitation, you can find yourself in an endless cycle of eating problems. Also, no surgical procedure will help you deal with head hunger and emotional eating. But my experience has been that with reduced physical hunger and earlier and more prolonged satiety, I'm better able to deal with the other aspects of my lifetime of overeating.

I've had the band and now the sleeve, and the eating skills I learned as a bandster are also important to me as a sleevester. It hasn't been easy to adjust my eating to life with the band or the sleeve, but totally worth it.

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate your responses. I will definitely take everything that has been said into consideration. Did my final set of tests today and will be seeing the doctor next week Monday. I will let you all know what I've decided to do. :)

Nausea with the band? No...there is a big difference between nausea and plain old stuck. I had the band for 6 years. I truly believed it would help me get down to goal. I had about 100 lbs to lose. I lost approx 20 lbs with it. I tried for 5.5 years. Fill, unfill, fill, unfill, etc....you get the picture. I would do more research if I were you. I think that is why alot of us revision pts come back here to the Lapband forum because we are here to help and if I can I want to help as many people as I can to steer away from this product.  I vomited EVERYDAY....and yes, I was unfilled plenty of times. You do not lose weight when you starve yourself. My hair fell out and my teeth are capped in the back because of the years of vomiting....And I chewed, chewed, followed the band rules. Please, look into the sleeve or something else,,,,anything but the band. Yes, the band has worked for some pts....but not most. I am so glad I got that thing out of me. I am now 29 days out from my revision.....and down 30 lbs....finally....something that is actually working. Good luck to you