My Lap band is not working Please help!

On April 11, 2013 at 6:32 PM Pacific Time, tonnabug wrote:

I am scheduled for revision to sleeve on April 29!

yay!!!!!  I hope to be posted a similar post soon!!!!

The last 2 years of my LapBand experience, my band was not slipped and in a good position.  I too, experienced what you are describing.  I ended up having a revision to the sleeve.  When my surgeon did the revision he told me that there was nothing wrong with how my band was placed.  (I had a surgery 2 years prior to fix a slip)  So, the only explanation we both had is my body swells pretty easily, and inflammation does not work well with the band.  Stress, TOM, a cold....any little reason would put my band too tight to eat.  It was so frustrating.  I ended up turning to sliders a majority of the time and regained quite a bit. 

Hope you find a way to work it all out!

So far it sounds like revision is the real only answer.  at the time that my bad closed off I was very stressed.  I have all but given up on getting fills, because it is a difficult process.   This has been a impossible journey for me.   Starting everything over to do a revision seems like it is also impossible,  making all those appointments work around my schedule is not going to happen. 

I am sad to find out that there is more people having trouble with bands.  I was so hopeful when I started.   Lost

I try not to be a total band basher because I know it has worked wonderfully for a lot of people.  However, problems like ours, seems to be common, and there is no real solution.  For me, an empty band was not a solution and no help......I got surgery for a reason. 

I got my revision a year ago, and my sleeve works just like the band is supposed to work.  It's not the magic bullet, either.  I haven't lost rapidly because I find myself eating the wrong foods too many times.  I never get stuck or slime on any foods....even bread, so sometimes it's hard to stay away from bad stuff. 

So, if a revision seems to be drastic or hard to obtain, then maybe just having a minimal amount of saline and trying to stay as low-carb as possible will hopefully work for you.  Good luck!

Hi Melly,

I didn't mean to trash my band either. It worked really well for a few years.  I am in process of hopefully getting this horrible band out of me and getting the sleeve. May I ask a few questions? Do you experience hunger anymore? I read that they remove the piece in the stomach that signals the brain that you are hungry. How much are you able to eat at a sitting? Is it the size of a cup total or less? How long did you have to do liquids after your surgery? How long were you in pain after? Sorry for so many questions.  

Ask away!

Gherlin production is removed from the stomach, but other parts of your body can produce the hunger signal hormone, and compensate.  Some people do not ever feel real hunger, just head hunger.  While others, do feel hunger.  Unfortunately, I do feel  hunger.  When my band was working  properly, I never felt hungry.  I had head hunger, of course, but unless I went all day without eating, I didn't feel hungry.  It was so nice!  I miss that!

If I stick with solid protein, such as chicken or steak, I can only eat about 2, sometimes 3 ounces.  I usually get in a couple of small bites of veggies with that.  Eating more slider type foods, like eggs, and ground beef, I find I can eat a bit more, but not a lot.  So, in all, I probably eat 3/4 of a cup all together at any meal, and feel very satisfied. 

My surgeon had me on full liquids after 3 days and I had to stay on full liquids for 2 weeks.  However, full liquids includes protein shake, yogurt, thinned down cream of wheat and cream soups, so it's not all bad.  After my 2 week check-up, which was more like 3 weeks, I was released to soft foods, like fish and ground turkey.  I couldn't handle much solid food at all in the beginning, which is typical....seriously like maybe 1/4 cup, 

I really wasn't in a lot of pain after surgery, except for my drain.  Not all surgeons use a drain, but mine does because it was a revision and therefore riskier.  He is also located about 4.5 hours away from me, so he wanted me to have the drain in until my checkup.  OYE!  That was a pain, literally and figuratively. 

I have a question for you as well. How did your band work really well for years when your doctor just injected saline into your body ?

Sorry, that didn't make sense. I got the band in 2006. I got 1 fill about a year later. It was a 4cc band. Then I was successful at losing weight and keeping it off until 4/2010. Then, I was rear-ended by a texting driver and very injured. I began gaining weight extremely rapidly but thought it was the meds they put me on and the steroid injections in my spine. However, I also had NO RESTRICTION at all. I went back to the surgeon (who has a very nasty attitude) and explained I was in a car accident and my ribs felt broken for a month after the accident, the weight in coming on very quickly (this while still eating low carb/no sugar diet...but much more of it because of no restriction) he would inject a fill and I would tell him that there is still no fill after he did it (I would bring in handful of supplements and gobble them down in front of him to show him) I was NOT able to do that when I had a fill. The surgeon kept telling me to come back (to get the $$$$$$) each month and I would BEG HIM to listen to me. But, no. He would wiggle the stupid needle around (ouch!!!), take my $$$$ and tell me to come back. I actually put up with this for a YEAR (all of 2012) FINALLY, FINALLY, I was blessed to get another surgeon to take me on and that surgeon immediately ordered a fluoroscopy. That is how we know it is completely upside down and needs to come out. What is unreal is how inept some doctors can be. If I were still with that guy, he'd be taking my money every month and blinding putting saline into me. And, as he did, tell me I was just eating too much of the wrong foods. What a LONG ROAD this has been.