missyt

Ok If I hear one more person or article say the band is a "tool" I may have to scream. No sh** its a tool but for me its like having a hammer and its missing the head of it. So my band is in place and is pretty full, got it. When they do I feel nothing? No wait I do feel something and its reflux, even when drinking Water. The only time I lost any weight since having my band done 4 yrs ago was when I was on the next to nothing diet. My Dr had me terrified of solid food so I ate broth for 2 months and wouldn't ya know I lost weight...go figure. But was I hungry, more like starved! I never thought more about food in my entire life than when I wasn't allowed to chew a single thing. I know what I should eat and how many calories I should consume and if I could have done that without any help why on earth would I have gone through surgery? So now I have this foreign body in me that does absolutely nothing! GRRRRRRRR. Wow, feeling a bit better for getting that out. Thanks for listening.

As you can see from the replys there is no shortage of blame. I tend to think of it like this. Medications are helpful to people, but not every medication works for every person. Everyones body is different and responds differently. So that is why doctors will often have to prescribe different medications for different people. Its obvious that the lap band works in some bodies better than in others. It just sucks for those of us that it doesnt work for. Thanks for responding and sharing your story, It helps me to know I am not alone.

I would say the most I had lost ever was about 28 lbs. This was pretty much right after surgery and within I would say about 6 mos. For the first 2 months I was barely eating any solids at all and was completely miserable. Once I resumed eating solids the weight stopped coming off and after about 1 year I began to regain. I do want to mention that I do exercise regularly. I enjoy doing cardio at the gym 3-5 days a week, usually about 35 min and about 3 miles on the elliptical.

I expected to feel less hunger and be satisfied with much smaller portions. While even before the band I wasn't a person to consume large portions I was told I would only be able to eat maybe 2-3 bites of something and then feel full. I was also told that if I ate small amounts of food 6x daily I would not feel hunger. I can with absolute certainty that even when I was doing Protein drinks for meals and following a very strict diet, I was very hungry. So yes I will say that this "tool" has not done anything for me. People can criticize all they want but if the only difference I feel from the band has been reflux how can anyone say this is a tool for me? I went through all the classes, the mental health prep, the support group meetings, and the pre-surgery diet. I did not go into this half heartedly, nor did I expect it to work like a magic pill. I expected help with weight loss. I expected that I would rarely be to the point of feeling starving and therefore I can make better choices for food. I expected that small portions would fill me and if I chose protein first I would be satisfied. I am now feeling like more of a failure than before the surgery.

Hi! I'm here after a google search of "lap band doesn't work." I was banded in August of 2007 in Western MA. The first few weeks after the surgery felt like pure hell. I never expected to feel so hungry after getting the band. I thought that it would be hard not eating anything solid but I never imagined the intense hunger. In the first few months I lost about 15 pounds. After that I slowly went down to almost a 30 lb weight loss. My hunger has never really disappeared, although a different times I would fill up more quickly. Fast forward to today and my search that led me to this site. I haven't seen my doctor is almost a year. The last visit before today left me in tears because I had gained back about 15lbs and the dr. insisted I meet with the nutritionist. Today's visit was the worst. I have gained back all but 5 lbs since getting the band. My doctor was quite short with me and basically refused to do a fill. He has given me 2 wks to decide what I want to do. My choices are: remove the band, review my handbook and fully commit to the "lap band" diet, or discuss other surgery options. I feel like such a failure. This dr. was not the surgeon who initially did the band but his associate. He stated to me that he doesn't think I was a good candidate for the band because of my hectic life (i have 6 children, and work as a parent educator, also going for my degree). The doctor also told me that I probably couldn't make the time commitment needed to have the lap band work. Gosh what a rant...sorry. Well that's my story as of today. I welcome and comments and/or suggestions. Thanks