HELP NO SUCCESS WITH LAP BAND!!!

HELLO GUYS!!! IS MY FIRST TIME IN THIS FORUM I HAD THE BAND ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO AND LOOSE ONLY 45 TO 50 POUNDS IS TERRIBLE I KNOW I IAM NOT MAKING GOOD CHOICES BUT THAT IS THE ENTIRE ISSUE IF YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT IS BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO EAT HEALTHY OR YOU DONT HAVE WILLPOWER SO I BELIEVE THE BAND WAS A BAD CHOICE FOR ME CAN ANYONE HELP???                                                   THANKS DEBBIE

How disappointing!  Before you have a revision to a surgery that could fail, please check out the DS board.  Read my profile to find out why I chose the DS for my revision.

Best of luck to you. 

Hi Debbie, I'm sorry you are having problems and are disapointed with your weight loss. It is my understanding that EVERY WLS is just a tool and good choices need to be made , WLS is a TOOL not a magic pill.  Before you put your life at risk with another surgery I would recomend seeing someone to help with the head issues, It can only help , even if you decide on more surgery. I would  try to REALLY work with what I had for a while , make sure you have proper restriction , and get back to basics , and if you are still not happy with the band THEN see what your insurance would do as far as another surgery. I wish you the best in all you do

Starry and I had the same Revision surgery for different reasons, We both feel the DS is the best way to go and are having great success with it.  Please read our profiles before you decide what to do.  I did see someone to get help with eating issues before having revision surgery and it helped some, but also with the DS, you are less restricted.For me, the malabsorption was the key.  Keep researching and good luck. Beth

Hi Debbie Without more details it's hard to know what to say to help.  How many fills have u had?  Are u art ur sweet spot?  Have u tried talking to the doctor or staff?   This is my story... I had stomach stapling 20 yrs. ago when I was 26.  Went from 260 down to 113 for many yrs.  But  after so long would eat tto much and throw up and did not make real necessary changes.  Slowly several yrs. later I started putting the weight back on by stretching out my stomach as the staples separated.  By 1995 I was up to 145 and got pregnant and was on bedrest with complications ended up day of delivery weighing 207!  Fast forward to 2006 when i weighed 250 lbs. and luckily after feeling hopeless went to see a band doctor who was able to give me a lapband after running some tests.  But after being banded in April it took me FOUR FILLS and FOUR months until August to reach restriction.  Until then I was only loseing weight by sheer dieting.  U see I had to pay $16,000 for my band and I was damned I wasn't going to lose!  I thought WHY IS THIS BAND NOT WORKING??!! I was so depressed, but when that 4th fill kicked in it was like AHHH...now I know why I am banded.  That is why it is so important to do everything possible before giving up on the band.  No weight loss surgery will work in the long run if u don't work on some of ur issues for being a compulsive overeater.  I know several people who have had RNY and after losing tomns of weight the first year or two they are now struggling with trying to keep the weight from creeping up because their stoma has stretched back out - NO WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY IS PERFECT...BECAUSE WE ARE FOOD ADDICTS AND THERE IS NO WAY AROUND NOT HAVING TO DEAL WITH OUR ADDICTION PSYCHOLOGICALLY.  If u don't commit u can eat around ur band ur RNY and VBG and I speak from first hand experience!!   Wishing u all the best, Donna 

Donna!!!! Wow! what a wonderful ly, honest infirmative, heartfelt story! I just came in here for the first time just to look arond as I saw a post on lap band this morning and someone mentioned there was a forum for folks who were consdering a revision  as they were asking questions about revisions and saw your story Thank you for posting all this and I wish you would go to the lap band forum and post your story so too so there can learn from your experiences.... and  hope to see your posts more often Arianna...

I find you post most intriging   ..ok... so how much did you lose before you got to your sweet spot??  how do you feel different since getting your 4th fill??? what has changed?  and how much did you lose  since your 4th fill  when did you get this  4th fill?? I understand the part of having to diet and not eat  I seem to be at a total stand- stil and   wow it is  frustrating !! The band seems to be helping& I  seem to be eating less ,Iwatch what foods I eat  but  still not moving downwards ..  I need to eat even less ... I do have an appointement Feb23 (this coming Friday ) for another fill  (my 3rd)but Doc is gonna have a fit because i did not hardly losemuch  maybe 4 or 5 lb and it has not been easy . now have 1.8 in my 4cc band..(or so I hope is still in there lol)  i appreciate any advice and information you share with me ...

Hey Arianna you are so sweet...I weighed 251 the day of surgery (April 18th) and I weighed 224 on the day I got my 4th fill(August 10th).  So I was only down 27 lbs. in almost 4 mths.  Gee that is not much!! LOL  I only lost that much because I was dieting the whole time!  After the 4th fill the difference was amazing.  Within a couple of days of the fill all of a sudden restriction kicked in and I noticed I wasn't obsessing about food anymore.  I could eat a small portion and stop eating and not feel deprived.  It was great!! Gosh you are only getting your third fill now so you need to be patient!! LOL It is way too early to think it is a failure!  My doctor never gets mad when a patient is not down in weight he just says be patient we will get you to that sweet spot yet!!  My doc's office always tells us one of the ways you know you need a fill is when for a couple of weeks or so you are not losing or you are starting to gain  and felling hungry oftener or not feeling full easier.  So hang in thsere!!  The lapband is not a quick fix it is tricky and takes alot of fine tuning to get good restriction but well worth the wait! I would post this on the lapband forum but I only type with 2 fingers and it would be tiring!  I would cut and paste this but don't know how and not very computer savvy.!! Hugs Donna

I too had a lapband that didn't work.  I had a total of 8 fills, in fact my band was filled to over capasity.  Several people also suggested that I was doing something wrong, that I was not "working my band" correctly.  Well I just got a second opinion and was told that my original band was not placed properly, that I have a hiatal hernia and esophageal distension from storing food in my throat.  So now I know it wasn't me.  Unfortunately the lapband is being done by so many doctors now and they aren't all very skilled.  After 2 years of trying with my band, I am now trying to get insurance approval for a revision to a bypass.   Good luck.

Who placed your first band?  I know that a lot of doctors jumped on the Lapband wagon and did a lot of bands and ended up with patients with complications.  Now it's easier to find more experienced lapband doctors.  I hope you get better after your revision and lose your weight!