Awkward customer

Hi, I hadn't heard of PCOS before. Now I understand the issue at least in part.

Matt, I don't care whether Taylor gets a sleeve. You are entirely wrong in your accusations. You prove my point that "It's always amazing on forums when a dispute has finished its course, there is always someone who seeks to breathe new life into it". You have your own reasons for this.

It's always amazing on forums when a dispute has finished its course, there is always someone who seeks to breathe new life into it. Taylor is the one at fault. I merely gave her well-intentioned advice, and got the aggressive "thanks but no thanks" reply each time. I'm not being controlling: I've said that the decision is hers. I think now you've had the irreversible sleeve, you are seeking to "campaign for it". I guess it is working for you. But there are likely to be many people who will regret the operation (Google "gastric sleeve regrets"), so I'm not sure how well-intentioned your advice is if you're encouraging someone with a BMI of 31 to have a gastric sleeve. In the end, someone who has asked for advice has no right to respond aggressively when it's not the advice she wants. But one option has always been not to reply to posts/posters she doesn't wish to enter a discussion with.

Please stop your accusations. You are the one in the wrong here. You are the one being rude. While it is true that I don't know you -- for which I am thankful -- one can form a view based on forum posts. If you ask a public question, you don't have the right to respond in a rude fashion when you don't like the advice. Please stop the aggression immediately.

Taylor, you are the one in the wrong here. I gave you well-intentioned advice. You refused to accept it, and each time laced your reply with snide and aggressive remarks. Stop the aggression. There are people with lowish BMis who get banded, and so you do qualify. But it is an absurd thing to do for someone not significantly overweight. You fail to distinguish between those who don't care about you and will just tell you what you want to hear, and me who will tell you the truth in a bid to help you more sincerely. The likelihood is that in six months you will be posting here regretting your surgery. People like you are your own worst enemies.

In my view that is a sign of an overfill, unfortunately. You might have to get them to take a bit out. The way the lapband works even a small difference in the fill volume can have a big difference in the level of restriction. Also, constant gastric reflex could lead to long-term problems with the oesophagus, so you do need to slightly adjust the fill.

Are you playing the clown? You asked for advice on a forum.

Taylor, you don't want to listen, which is fine, as the choice is yours. But all these operations - band sleeve whatever - are extreme last resorts. If you wish to go under the knife for an extreme operation when you are only just in the overweight category, then that is your choice. The definition of obesity is controversial, as people with BMis in the 25-30 range live longer, and it seems the 25 cut-off point is only chosen because it looks good - and not because it is actually healthier. So you are only just over that. By the way, if you're 5ft6 and weigh 200lbs, that is a BMI of 32, not 31. If you are 5ft5 as you say in your profile, that is a BMI of 33. If you devoted the money to spending a month in a residential weight loss spa, you would probably be 185lbs or less at the end of the month - and would have spent less money. There are plenty of people who have had these operations who regret them (google "gastric sleeve regrets" for plenty of hits). You are nowhere near desperate levels of obesity. You don't seem to want to listen though - so do what you want.

I think a BMI of 31 is way too low to consider this type of surgery. None of these operations guarantee successful weight loss, by the way. If I had a BMI of 31 I'd go on a diet.

Dear all, I had a lapband in 2010, and it did massively kickstart my weightloss and I did get all the way from 364 lbs to 180 lbs. I remember that I was not really explained the refill process and did not know I would have no restriction following the operation, and it took about 5 fills to have restriction. At one point, even yoghurts were difficult to drink quickly. At some points I had to unfill slightly when waterbrash (like reflux, but just water) stopped me sleeping, but I think that was due to too much fluid in the band. I didn't enjoy the process last time - I didn't like vomiting so much, and maybe the band only did half my weightloss and then I started having things to eat I knew would not be caught by the band, i.e. less solid food (ice cream, soup, etc) and calorie-counting. So the second half of my weightloss was pure diet -- but the band did get me over the hump. Now after years of being unfilled, I have allowed myself to go back up to 280 lbs. There are reasons/excuses for this. I had a broken arm all last year and couldn't go to the gym. Finally today I've got an appointment for a refill. As long as it works, I can take the parts of the process I don't like (like vomiting or like suddenly realising you've eaten too much or having a problem when visiting people in their house and finding you're having to spew up in the toilet and the hosts know). And at least this time I know what to expect. So I've read a lot of posts by people who have had to revise the surgery, but I'm looking forward to my refill today and hoping it will work for at least a year to put me right. I can hardly believe what has happened to this forum. I remember before it was bariatricpal and most people were on LapBands and there was a generally positive vibe.

I'm sorry to hear of some people's bad experiences with the band. you are lucky that Medicare will pay for this. In the UK, gastric bands/sleeving are largely a self-pay area -- you can get the government health service to pay, but only at very high BMIs and after long waits and lots of persistence in demanding it. Let us all know Jelybene how your fills go and whether they work.

I also find fizzy drinks are consumable with a band in practice, although too much of the could be a problem depending on how much restriction you have. But: a key point here: the band does not "prohibit food consumption". It does not guarantee weight loss. You have to work with it. With a band at ful lrestriction, I found burgers and french fries impossible to eat - with the french fries and the bun the burgers are in being the problem. One bit of a burger - and I would have to vomit. And I don't think it is like normal vomiting: because you have a restricted entrance to the stomach, you can find you want to vomit something up but it won't come. So there is an unpleasant side to a gastric band. But it does stop you from eating that type of food in bulk. At maximum restrictions, I found bread, potato chips and the skin from chicken impossible to consume. But there are plenty of calorific things you can eat that will go down very easily. The more liquid or mushy something is, the easier it is to consume. But if you eat solid things like chicken and potatoes, you will find you can't eat as much in one go as you did before. That said, if you have lots of little meals throughout the day, then you can still consumer large numbers of calories. For me the band was a last choice in life: I got it done knowing that, and I'm prepared to accept some difficulties to get it to work for me.

Well, I want the band out eventually, partly because it has been there for 8 years and I don't want complications with erosion, and so I'm wondering if my band will be encased in scar tissue too at that point. It's not worth worrying about, as I'm having another go at the band again now. I thought my band was completely unfilled, but at the appointment today she said there were 8.5mils in and she took it up to 10 or 10.25. I think the 14mil bands don't give restriction until you have 9-10 mils in, and at that point even slight increases in the fill have a bit impact. She made me drink a lot of water in front of her to make sure I wasn't too tight, and decided first on 10.5, then on 10.25 then on slightly less than that, so the band was adjusted three times in the consultation to make sure I don't have to go back in days for an emergency aspiration. Matt Z if you're happy with your choice, then fine. But I want to try my band again once more time before deciding on something more drastic. However, you only live once, and so a drastic solution that works better might be a better choice in the long run as you have decided.

Dear all, I went to Manchester to have an unfill, and rather than have a total unfill, the man I met there (I don't whether he would be described as a nurse or medical practitioner) persuaded me to just have a half-unfill, to ease the reflux, but not to totally deflate the band, as, if I decide I need it back again, it will take several fills to get it back up and running. He also thought I would be ill-advised to take the band out after paying to have it put in. I was extremely impressed with the man - very pleasant and professional - and the band adjustment cost £90 and not the £125 charged elsewhere. And they do adjustments for people who were not banded by them in the first place too. So - watch out Hospital Group - you have competition. The man was from Belgium Surgical Services (belgiumsurgicalservices.com/) - they do banding in Belgium for around 4,000 euros (about £3,300) - a fraction of the exorbitant cost that The Hospital Group charge - and I got the impression that Rip Off Britain is at it again, overcharging for no good reason. So I am pleased to see competition on price from Belgium. He explained to me that many English people are reluctant to go abroad - but let's face it, Belgium is on the Channel Tunnel trainline that you board at London Waterloo - it's quicker to get to than some parts of England. I think people looking for solutions would do well to consider them - and those who need adjustments will find they do regular clinics in the UK in London, Manchester, Glasgow, as well as some others that I forgot to note down - and now Cork in Ireland too. He was very pleasant - and very handsome.

He was the Patient care manager, called Bart Rommes.

I was banded by him - and he asked me how the preop diet went, but did not make a fuss when I said I struggled with it. However - I would strongly urge people getting banded to shrink their livers by following the diet.

I now want my band out - and The Hospital Group charge £5,000 for removal. I don't know if there is a cheaper option in the UK - does anyone know? Obesity solutions - they are connected with a hospital in Belgium with Dr Marc Focquet - say on their website that a removal is only 1500 euros (1200 pound). But I am wondering if the price is historic, or only available to people who were initially banded by them. Has anyone had any experience of Obesity Solutions/Marc Focquet/ Belgium Surgery Services? I am going to their Manchester clinic on Thurday for an unfill (£90 instead of the £125 that The Hospital Group charge) - and want to ask about the options for removal of the band entirely...

This is in the UK forum.

I had to have many many fills before restriction. 4 or 5. Most people have restriction after 1 or 2 fills.

Well, there will be people on this forum for and against the band after having it done - I think people have to make their own decision. I would not have had it done if I had know what it was like. In particular, that it does not prevent you from eating and putting on weight - you still have to follow a diet - and many people put on weight with the band! It works only on certain types of food - I can't eat burgers and chips and bulky things like that - but I can exceed my calories by eating calorific things like ice cream and snacking through the day. There is no guarantee of any weight loss at all with it - but you are guaranteed to have a lot of vomiting and unpleasantness - and gastric reflux when the band is too tight is something I no longer want. You can get up one day and eat loads on it, and the next day suddenly find your band tighter and struggling to eat a yoghurt. And if you don't want it in you once it's in, that's another £5K to have it out, as the NHS won't do it.

I have done relatively well on the band - I have lost around 105 lbs. I lost a bit more than that a while ago, but some crept on and in recent months it has stabilized at a net loss of 105 lbs. Many people would more or less pay anything to accomplish that. But since my surgery in Feb 2010, my experience has been up and down - particularly with GERD sometimes an issue, and the way the band is sometimes much tighter for no apparent reason. I have got used to having to spew up my food. It is definitely not a normal eating experience once you have had the band - and I find I really need to stay in places where I have a toilet to be sick in fairly close. Eg a friend took me to a Chinese buffet - and I could only eat one plateful, although it was "all you can eat", and had to do that very carefully, for fear of having to make an emergency vomit trip to the restroom. Also now I have lost a lot, I can exercise more freely and would like to do it via exercise from now on. But in recent day, I have a much more unpleasant problem emerging - waking up with my mouth filling up with saliva - like I am drowning in my own saliva. This is not acid - it's not regular reflux - the fluid is just my saliva, or is tasteless - but it is nonetheless alarming. And I go to bed rather fearful now, wondering if I am going to drown in my own saliva in my sleep. Last night, I was woken up EVERY FIVE MINUTES by a mouthful of saliva - and this is just no way to carry on. I believe this water in the mouth is called "water brash", but it cannot be addressed by indigestion tablets - as it is nothing to do with acidity. It feels like stuff is not moving through my stomach properly - it is sitting there just below my oesophagus in such a way that I cannot "burp" - there is sickly fluid of partly digested food immediately the other side that will come up if I attempt to burp. This is the worst problem I have had since I started the band. And to make it worse, I can only drink fluids at the moment - and even soup sits there and some of it has to come back up. I have booked in for a complete unfill on Thursday to see if the problem is solved by that - and unfortunately I don't have the money for a band removal at present - but as soon as I do have in 2013, it is coming straight out. I am in the UK and the Hospital Group charges £5,000 (US$8,000) for a band removal, the same price as for putting a band in, despite the fact there is nothing to put in. It must be easier to remove?? But this website - http://www.obesity-s...-procedure.html - implies they can remove a band for 1500 euros (1940 dollars, 1200 pound sterling), although it requires a trip to Belgium. I don't know if that price is historic, or only for those whose bands were put in by them. But I want to find out - as they are the ones who are doing my unfill on Thursday in their Manchester clinic so I will ask them about their removal prices. Has anyone else had this water in the mouth problem? I am ill at the moment with an abscess on my back, and I have taken a week's course of penicillin, which seemed to cause my oesophagus to swell up. Is it possible that illness-related stress is causing the water in the mouth?

I had my gastric band put in at Bromsgrove by an Icelandic surgeon. I will say this: you may lose something in the first few days after being banded as you can't eat much while recovering, but the The Hospital Group had never intimated to me that the band would only start working months later after I had had enough fills. The first few months are awful - you've paid the money, you've had an operation, and you have no restriction - so it is simply a case of having fill after fill until it works.

I work out in the gym, and to build muscle drink protein shakes with semi-skimmed milk. You need to pick a good one - high in protein and low in carbs. One example in the UK is this: http://www.body-building-uk.com/p-903-body-building-ukcom-speed-up-whey-protein-225kg.aspx I have that - but you must be able to find similarl low-calorie high-protein shakes State-side.

Well, I only have a ten minute slot for my band unfill, but I will attempt to explain everything to the clinic and see what they advise!

Thanks it is probably time for unfill!