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I've been banded for 10 months and have only lost 1 net pound outside of the initial liquid fasting phase. I lost 10 lbs and it came back slowly over time. My surgeon said not to stress about it because it was common and the weight would come off when I got into the green zone. I never got there. I have been battling band issues for months (port pain, many stuck episodes per week, no restriction despite having nearly 9 ccs in Fluid in the band, and constant nausea). My surgeon said that the band needs to come out and did not recommend doing a conversion to another surgery. He said that if my body didn't adjust to the band, it likely wouldn't adjust to the other surgeries either and at least the band is reversible. He said he's had a handful of patients over the years with the same issues as me, and they had it removed as well. I feel like such a fool and a complete failure. I've spent so much energy, effort, time, and pain on this with very little to show. I now have to go back and fight the good fight with my weight, back at square one. I'm so sad and angry. I did so much research before this surgery and never heard of lapband intolerance. My surgeon never once mentioned it.

I'm 9 months post-op and am really frustrated, to the point that I am regretting this surgery. I lost 24 lbs during the 4 weeks of my pre-op and post-op liquid diet. I lost maybe another 10 pounds in the months after, but those have all come back on very slowly. As of this morning, I was at a loss of 24 lbs. For 9 months, all I have to show is that I could lose weight when only consuming liquid pre/post-op. I knew that this wasn't a magic fix for my weight issues; I did my research and knew what was entailed. I thought it would help me feel satiated and allow me to eat less. That was the goal, right? I can't eat solids for hours in the morning and have to do a Protein shake for Breakfast. Once I've been up for a few hours and can eat solids, I'm never satiated when I eat. I don't feel restriction even though I have 9 ccs in my 14 cc band. I've had port pain and felt tugging on it at times. I've shared all of this with my surgeon, but he doesn't seem worried. He told me that his goal was for me to lose 50 lbs in my first year. That seemed reasonable, but I'm 9 months through the year and only halfway to that goal. I feel no differently now than before the surgery. I do all of the same things - weigh/measure my food, track my food, exercise, fight the feeling of hunger, etc. I feel like a failure and that I made a mistake by having this surgery done. At what point am I considered a lapband failure? I need some words of advice or encouragement because I'm contemplating getting this thing removed. At least I woudln't have to deal with port pain anymore.

Yup, officially a lapband failure. Saw my surgeon today and I voiced my concerns. In the past week, I've also had several stuck episodes on the same food I've been eating all along, and lots of nausea. It basically came down to him telling me that the best course of action is to have the band removed. He did not recommend doing a conversion to another surgery. He said that if my body didn't adjust to the band, it likely wouldn't adjust to the other surgeries either and at least the band is reversible. He said he's had a handful of patients over the years with the same issues as me, and they had it removed as well. I feel like such a fool and a complete failure. I've spent so much energy, effort, time, and pain on this with very little to show. I now have to go back and fight the good fight with my weight, just like I have done for most of my life. Thanks for your support and advice through this thread. It was appreciated.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm set to see my doctor in 2 weeks and will be raising my concerns to him. In the mean time, I'm being careful about my 1,200 calories per day. I went to bed hungry last night because I ran out of calories. Actually, I went over by 46, the exact amount of broccoli I ate with my dinner. I knew this would be a tough journey, but I thought the band would at least take the edge off. So far, no dice.

I've been walking on the treadmill for an hour 5x a week.

Interesting. I told my surgeon that I was concerned that I'd get filled up and have no other recourse at that point. He told me that he doesn't have any patients who have completely full bands. At my last fill, he put in 1 cc, and then took .5 cc out after looking at the scan of me swallowing. He said he didn't like the way the liquid went through the band and how long it took.

Wow! Thanks for all of the responses. I am ready to lay it all out on the line with my surgeon at my next appointment in 2 weeks. I'm frustrated and discouraged. Here's what I ate yesterday: breakfast: low carb Protein powder, unsweetened almond milk lunch/snacks during day: 3 oz chicken, 8 wheat thins crackers, apple, carrot sticks w/hummus, string cheese afternoon snack: baked sweet potato, 100 calories of chocolate (my treat for the day) dinner: chicken (didn't weigh due to how it was cooked), 1/4 c black Beans, sprinkle of cheddar cheese dessert: 25 calorie no sugar hot chocolate I didn't exercise yesterday, but will be today. I've spoken to my surgeon about eating too much vs too little, and he told me not to be too concerned with calories right now and eat until I'm satiated. I'm hardly ever satiated. Due to my schedule, he wants me eating a 2nd small lunch/snacks because I'd go nearly 7 hours between lunch and dinner. That's why I have Snacks during the day and afternoon. The practice's nutritionist told me never to eat snacks. I think she was pretty useless overall. She didn't have much to tell me that I didn't already know about dieting and eating well. She also told me to change my schedule so I could eat at better times. That just won't happen due to my profession and she couldn't understand that. The nurse practioner who sometimes does the fills told me to stick to a strict 1,200 calorie a day plan and not eat more than a cup or so of food per meal. Everyone gives me contradicting advice and I don't know which way to go. I just know that waht I'm doing now doesn't work.