PCOS and Lapband surgery

I have been diagnosed with PCOS for years and I have struggled so hard trying to lose weight....I am now considering having the lapband surgery....does this make losing weight easier?  If anyone that has had the lapband surgery could share I would love to hear from you....

I've lost 53 pounds so far and it's not been a struggle like trying to lose was in the past. There are others on here who had greater success than me. It works!

I seem to be still struggling with weight loss. I had lap-band surgery on 8/17 and to date I have only lost 10 pounds. I thought it would be much easier than this!

cms.clevelandclinic.org/bariatricsurgery/documents/pubs/PCOS.pdf Here's a study I found that helped me in my choice.  All the best in your decision!!

I'm a PCOS'er and had lapband two months ago yesterday.  I've lost 15 pounds since surgery, and 22 lbs since I started losing pre-op.  I was a "lightweight" (haha) with a BMI below 40 when starting the process, so I know it's going to be a slower loss for me.  I deliberately chose Lapband for many reasons (plenty of posts around here on surgery choices)....and I am very happy with my choice, but I have to admit that my weight loss has not been as quick as I had hoped even though I have been strictly dieting since my surgery (I am not filled yet).  I have to wonder if that's my lovely PCOS at work.....making my body hold on to those pounds! I think you can be successful either way - I didn't let PCOS be a determining factor in my choice of surgery - there were so many other important risk and lifestyle factors for me.   Good luck! And PM me if you have additional questions!

I too was a smaller lap-band patient. My BMI was 37.1 at surgery. I have only lost the 10 pounds, but my surgery was 2 months ago. My doc said at my last visit that many people end up at my starting weight, but that does not make it easier for me. I had not been taking my metformin since surgery, but started taking it again this week. I am starting at a very low dose and working up to my normal (1500mg). I am hoping that this will help some. I am totally bummed about this. I thought it was just going to fall off!

After talking with my OBGYN and family docs (and that was after trying different drugs to control the PCOS) we all decided that the best thing for me was gastric bypass. And that after a year of more research on top of the 2 years of research I had already done on WLS and PCOS... since there is such a strong link to turning Type 2 diabetic it wasn't worth getting the lap-band because while it would help me lose weight it would take 2 times as long to lose it... and with the new research that is coming out about gastric bypass and people being able to reverse their type 2... so that is the way i went... I'm now 7 weeks out... at my 3 month check up we are going to go over my new blood test results and see if my testrone levels are coming down or not... my girly hormones are normal...

I asked about gastric bypass after hearing about the greater results, but I did not qualify. For once, I was NOT heavy enough and my BMI was only 37.

My PCOS was not a factor in my decision on which WLS I wanted to have.  For me I chose the RNY because I wanted better results than what the lapband (on average) provided.  I had a start BMI of 45 and at 5'3 weighed 254.  With the average weight loss with lapband of 50-60% of excess weight I didn't want to go through surgery and still be fat.  I also didn't want to deal with fills & unfills to find the 'sweet spot' or deal with the possibility of erosion at the band site or band slippage.  I'm very happy with my RNY choice. I was a cyster who'd already gone from IR to Type II Diabetic and was on 2000mg Metformin, had hypertension where I was on 300mg Labetalol, and had severe sleep apnea and slept every night with that oh so lovely CPAP machine.  Not to mention that my hormone levels were through the roof.  My testosterone was like 3-4x what it should be, my insulin was way high, my FSH & LH ratio was way off, and after 8 years of fertility treatment I still wasn't pregnant...I was a 'medical distaster' as one doctor put it.  For me I needed the RNY.  I now weigh 140-143 and I'm just over 3 years post op.  My diabetes is gone, I've not taken any Metformin since the day before surgery and when I did get pregnant...I wasn't even gestational diabetic!  My hypertension went away, but for some reason came back 3 months post partum but is now very easily controlled with 10mg Lisinopril.  My sleep apnea is gone and all my hormone levels are normal.  And the icing on the cake...9 years and 4 months after we decided to start trying for kids...I got pregnant.  No medical intervention needed.  We just decided to not use protection one month and boom...I was pregnant.  I fully believe (and my OB/GYN as well) that had it not been for my WLS and subsequent weight loss that I would have never gotten pregnant.  Ten years after we started TTC...I gave birth to a healthy little girl who is just the light of my life. The decision as to which surgery to have is a personal one and one where you have to look at each surgery & your individual cir****tances and decide.  I'm on another website and there's a group of us who all have PCOS & have had some sort of WLS.  There are 3 ladies on there who've been banded.  One is around 2-3 years out and has lost all her excess weight.  The other 2 are both coming up on a year post op and have lost around 35-50lbs each (including pre op weight loss) since surgery. With the lapband the weight comes off much more slowly than with RNY regardless if you have PCOS or not.  You can't compare your weight loss to a RNYer or a DSer because each surgery is different and the surgeries don't loose the same.  I can say that with the lapband (from what I've learned from my friends) the weight comes off much more slowly and they have to work harder than they anticipated, one girl is even considering revision to RNY.  With lapband you have to be more strict (IMO) with your diet as there is no dumping syndrome from sugar/fat sensitivity so there's nothing stopping you (other than yourself) from having a high calorie/high sugar drink like Starbucks, Jamba Juice, milkshake... So...weigh your options...and decide which surgery is best for you.  Good luck!! Kristy