failing with the band

[smitten kitten 0]

I'm curious because I know there are people that fail at using the band correctly. For the people that gain back or never lose, is it because they primarily eat around the band (ice cream, shakes, ect.) or do they still overeat?

I was under the impression that overeating with proper restriction would be painful (food stuck). Are these incorrect assumptions?

[Makulafamy 55]

I'm curious because I know there are people that fail at using the band correctly. For the people that gain back or never lose, is it because they primarily eat around the band (ice cream, shakes, ect.) or do they still overeat?

I was under the impression that overeating with proper restriction would be painful (food stuck). Are these incorrect assumptions?

Hey smitten, I think this is a really great question and I think the only ones who can answer it are those people who never lost or gain it all backed.

I can tell you from experience, it is easy to gain 5 pounds in a weeks time...even with proper restriction...and yes...I did this by eating around the band. Christmas candy, chips and dip, etc. But I dont think I could regain 114 pounds with proper restriction. It might be possible, but I would have to work hard at it.

My assumption is that those who regain the weight do not have proper restriction, either from lack of fills, a bad doctor, or the band just didnt work for them. One of the hardest things (and I also think one of the best things) about the band vs gastric bypass is our freedom. We don't get sick from sweets..and for the most part, we can still eat our favorite foods. But what I think the band does, if you are willing to listen to it and use it to the max, is give you time to learn better eating habits, how to give up some of the naughties (at least the majority of the time), and time to feel how good healthy feels.

Sorry, I got off track...

Amy

[smitten kitten 0]

Thanks for responding and congrats on your weight loss - 114lbs OMG!!

I think gaining with proper restriction scares me the most. I have a sweet tooth that is out of control and learning new eating habits will be the hardest for me. I guess I was hoping that having some sweets every now and then would still fill me up (provided they are solid). I was also hoping that if I slip and make a bad choice that getting "stuck" would be so uncomfortable it would be a future deterrent.

[Richardson 1]

From what I have read It would simply be impossible to Gain weight unless you lived on Icecream then it could be questionable. But what am sure of ids the Gastric Balloon does not work and is a waste of Money! i ACTUALLY GAINED 6ibs over the 6 months I have had it in.. I get banded on 2nd Feb approx..

So heres hoping>>>>>>

I was due tohave the Band LAST May but was unable to this was in Belgium Not trated very erll there and was ripprd Off basically..

Went to Prague for balloon wasted money!

Now in UK Privately under Dr Nisar lovely Man...

So 3rd Time Licky!

Edited January 16, 2010 by Richardson

[btrieger 21]

There are plenty of things you can eat while banded that will help you gain weight. You can wash all kinds of food down with Water or juice.

Even easier is drinking the calories. I don't personally know anybody that is banded but I do know a few that had bypass. One of them is an alcoholic and after losing only about 50 pounds managed to pack that and more back on drinking beer.

As for hurting when overeating; I'm not banded yet but I have eaten so much in one sitting that I was in pain for hours many times in the last 45 years. It never stopped me from doing it again and again.

[Aries32 0]

I have to say I agree with Smitten...The band from my experience is a tool that I have to use and the one thing I can say is that the slower journey helps you get to where you need to be mentally if you can be patient and learn what works and how to take control. I say take control because ultimately having the band is great if you embrace it for what it is suppose to do to help you. We as humans still need to put in the effort. I have lost 82.6 pounds and I will have to say it was not all easy. We banded folks are strong and we can succeed.

I again agree with Smitten because I know how easy certain foods are going down and you still get to enjoy food. That's ok, because God gave us the gift of enjoyment. We just have to stay careful. Wish you all the best. Hang in there...

Janetlaboricua.....

[mya92401 0]

I am hear to tell you, you can gain the weight back that you have lost with the band. I have had my band for almost 4 years now. I lost 75lbs within the first 6 months. Then, just stopped there. I needed to loose at least 50 more.

It goes without saying.. "old habits die hard". I was very dedicated to proper eating after I was banded. then, a too tight restriction got me to start drinking with my meal just to get anything down..and it all went downhill from there.

I am ashamed to say that I have gained back 30-35 lbs. that I had lost. I am ashamed of myself for letting this happen. I am still drinking when I eat. Two years ago when I finally got the proper restrictions, I never got back to the proper "lap band" rules. I continued to drink with my meals. Before I knew it, I was eating full size meals again and eating sweets and junk food because it went down easy.

I want so bad to get back on track. I want to loose the weight again. I can feel my health going back to the way it was. I have called to make an appointment with my doctor, who I have not seem in two years, mostly because I was afraid to hear what he will tell me! I go on the 28th. I have been reading online all day about how to get back on track. I think I will start on Clear Liquids tomorrow... all the advice says to go back to where you started.

This may have been more info than you bargined for, but I want to be honest. Sticking to the rules and learning to change your eating habits IS the true key to the band success!!! Good luck to you, and to me too!

[smitten kitten 0]

I am hear to tell you, you can gain the weight back that you have lost with the band. I have had my band for almost 4 years now. I lost 75lbs within the first 6 months. Then, just stopped there. I needed to loose at least 50 more.

It goes without saying.. "old habits die hard". I was very dedicated to proper eating after I was banded. then, a too tight restriction got me to start drinking with my meal just to get anything down..and it all went downhill from there.

I am ashamed to say that I have gained back 30-35 lbs. that I had lost. I am ashamed of myself for letting this happen. I am still drinking when I eat. Two years ago when I finally got the proper restrictions, I never got back to the proper "LAP-BAND®" rules. I continued to drink with my meals. Before I knew it, I was eating full size meals again and eating sweets and junk food because it went down easy.

I want so bad to get back on track. I want to loose the weight again. I can feel my health going back to the way it was. I have called to make an appointment with my doctor, who I have not seem in two years, mostly because I was afraid to hear what he will tell me! I go on the 28th. I have been reading online all day about how to get back on track. I think I will start on Clear Liquids tomorrow... all the advice says to go back to where you started.

This may have been more info than you bargined for, but I want to be honest. Sticking to the rules and learning to change your eating habits IS the true key to the band success!!! Good luck to you, and to me too!

I hadn't even considered washing food down until btrieger made the point. Thanks for responding with your story, because to hear that it has actually happened puts things into perspective for me. I am struggling to break the habit and now realize how seriously detrimental it can be to my weight loss. I assumed overeating and eating around the band were the main factors and I stand corrected. I have read here about the ice trick and will be trying it out tonight with dinner.

I wish you the best in getting back on track. You have done it before, you can do it again!!

[SherryW 4]

Hi Everyone,

I'm just about 4 years out with my lapband. It's been a long journey but, one I don't regret no matter what I've gone through with it. Mya....I too lost 75 pounds. I lost it in about a year then I started to run into reflux issues. It wasn't diet because I tried all kinds of things to pin point it and the solution from my lapband doc was to unfill my band. The lack of sleep from the reflux made me too tired to exercise and also too tired to make the right choices. As my nutritionist said it takes three factors to loose weight...Eat right, Exercise and sleep if just one of those is off it causes the reaction for the rest. I was exhausted! The unfill eleviated my reflux but, then the hungry horrors started and the cycle begain. I fought with reflux, fills and unfills for another year. I kept thinking shouldn't we be checking to see if this band is sitting right but, my doc kept saying unfill. FINALLY a "fellow" or intern was there who read my chart while I was going to try, yet again, for a fill the day before Thanksgiving. He said "you haven't had a swallow test yet with all this going on?" No was my answer...that confirmed my thoughts and when my doc came in to do the fill I got the guts up to say to him "If this fill causes me issues again, you're going to order a swallow study right!?" he agreed. Sure enough, Thanksgiving day I could barely swallow my own salava. Back to the office on Friday they took the fill out and swallow test on the Monday. My band had slipped and my stomach was a bit prolasped. WHY didn't I demand the testing sooner? Revision surgery for me Dec 2008. It's now been a year and I've been going through the whole fill, unfill thing again and regained 30-35 pounds. When the band is unfilled it's as if you don't have the dang thing. I learned the good eating habits but, was constantly hungery so ate more than my body was used to. BUT....Mya...even with our 30-35 pound gain you know we're still better off than where we were. I've beat myself up plenty over it but, when I stop and really think about it if I didn't have my band (even with my issues) I'd be heavier than when I started. So cut yourself some slack and make small changes to correct your eating. You've started already by making that appointment. Be open and honest with your doc and nutritionist they are there to help you. I wish you the best. Me.....I had a fill on the 16th of Dec, two days later I was struggling to drink Water but, Christmas and all I struggled through it. I lost 8 pounds in 8 days, then another 9 in 3 days...yea I was in trouble and scared. We went to see family in NY even though I had started to throw up what little I got down but, my doctor insisted I shouldn't have had trouble with the 3.5 in my band....by the time I got to the ER I was dehydrated and ready to rip this band out. So tired of throwing up the liquid I could get down. So on the 27th to my frustration yet another total unfill!!! Not just the 3.5 in my band but, another 2 from the tubing etc. 5.2 was drawn out. A week of rest and then a call to my bariatric center for help. What I'm trying to say here is sometimes we know more about how our body feels than our doc does and we have to be more demanding about our care. I'm in that process now. My body cannot take an aggressive fill. I need to go a little at a time and my doc tends to be aggressive with it. I ended up speaking to the director/administrator of the surgical unit/bariatric center and explaining that I haven't been heard. It's such a long long story but, in the end it was her, my surgeon and me discussing my fills...my surgeon finally taking the time to read through all my charts, gathering the info on my fills in one place and realizing I'm not like everyone else...although I have the VG 10cc band my body won't take 5.5cc's like others may.....so another fill this past week to bring my band to 2.5 and the next fill when I'm ready won't be more than .5 tops. I told my surgeon I'd rather come in every week if I have to and only do small fills than to do an aggressive fill and not see him for 6 months. Basically folks.........be a part of your care. Don't let the doc rush in and out and not hear you like I did I've lost a year or two of losing weight because of it. I'm happy now that I finally did stick up for myself...basically saying I'd switch providers if something doesn't give. He listened this time and the administrator helped me realize this provider really does care I just need to say to him "Hey, stop and listen to me" if I feel I'm not being heard. WE all laughed because I told my doc I'd say "Hey, so-n-so, said listen to me" because I felt funny otherwise. So I'll use the admins name so he won't forget that I'll bring it there again if need be. I don't think I'll have to though....I'll be able to demand the attention because I know my own body and twice I was right...I won't allow a 3rd time for something to go wrong. I've wasted too much time playing around and letting someone else decide what's best for me. Sooooo with all this is it hard to get back to the "band way" of eating...sure it is...but, I'm trying :devil: One day at a time.

I hope this helped you folks a bit. Congrats on your band journeys and please feel free to ask me questions about my journey etc. if you'd like. I know it's been helpful for me to have some help from my lap-band friends. :eek:

Sherry

[MoonWalker 0]

Hello! I'm Andrea and I'm getting banded in 2 weeks. I think we'l have the same doctor. Do you have any experiences to share. I'm really apprehensive about it, but my excutement overrides that. Did you find it hard to get dietary materials here in Korea?

[sweetbean70 2]

Hello! I, too, have a fear of failing even with my band. I am a self-pay ($13,000 out of pocket). My parents paid for the entire thing. On a side note, my parents paid for everything b/c they figured I would get the band w/ my inheritance (eventually) and they wanted to see my success. My mother also had weightloss surgery and she wanted a WLS Buddy. :thumbup: I was more than happy to oblige! So, not only do I want to be successful for me, but I also want to be successful so my parents.

I was banded on 6/8/09 by Dr. Curry in Cincinnati, OH. As of my 7 month BANDiversary, I have lost 60+ pounds and 40+ inches. That includes losing 4 pounds over the holidays. I was somewhat dismayed when I only lost 4 pounds in 8 weeks, but my surgeon was pleased. I guess putting things into perspective really helps... I lost instead of the usual gain over the holidays. Since my last fill (1/8/10), I've lost another 3.5 pounds. I now have 4.6cc in a 10cc band and have really good restriction.

For me, sweets and junk food have never really been the issue. I am a volume eater plain and simple. I will take a pepperoni pizza over a hot fudge sundae any day. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy sweets now and then. Damn those holiday sugar cookies! Thankfully, the band mainly addresses volume and helps me with Portion Control. :thumbup:

[janellody 3]

I have read here about the ice trick and will be trying it out tonight with dinner.

What is the ice trick?

[smitten kitten 0]

For me, sweets and junk food have never really been the issue. I am a volume eater plain and simple. I will take a pepperoni pizza over a hot fudge sundae any day. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy sweets now and then. Damn those holiday sugar cookies! Thankfully, the band mainly addresses volume and helps me with Portion Control. :thumbup:

Unfortunately for me, I'm a volume eater and sweets lover, so polishing off a pizza AND some donuts has never been a problem here. Making healthy food choices has to be my number one priority and hopefully the band will help with the portion control.

[smitten kitten 0]

What is the ice trick?

Someone posted about it here. Apparently their nutritionist recommended that at meal time fill a glass with ice. Whatever melts as you slowly eat, is what you can drink. If memory serves me, it helped the poster break the nasty habit of drinking and eating. *fingers crossed*