Still hate my band

[123crod 170]

I feel very sorry for all who had such disapointment from the Lapband. I am so happy I have had my success, but know I would be so upset if I paid all that money and set myself up emotionally for it to work and it did not.

Cheri

[swirl 1]

Spartan, I so wish I could of read your words before I had this surgery. You said just want I need to hear. I really would like to read the posts of the member you were talking about that ended up getting by pass surgery. If you don't mind would you please give me their name. Again thank you!!

[Spartan 4]

Spartan, I so wish I could of read your words before I had this surgery. You said just want I need to hear. I really would like to read the posts of the member you were talking about that ended up getting by pass surgery. If you don't mind would you please give me their name. Again thank you!!

Swirl,

I will contact her and see if she will drop you a line, I'm certain she will. She does not participate here much now, but she cares very deeply about people and the suffering they go through.

S.

[hiddnstar 167]

I had my surgery on June 15, 2010. I posted soon after that it wasn't working. I seem to up set a few on here. Their replies pretty much turned me off of this site, so I have not posted. Well guess what I still hate this thing. It doesn't work for me. I will say it again...really think about this before you do this. it seem to work for some,but please understand it doesn't work for everyone. I see the Doctor Tuesday and I'm going to tell him do something or take it out. I'm done with it.

Hi Swirl

This is the first time Ive read one of your posts. I find it helpful to have all view points expressed on this site as it gives a more balanced view and more info -- kind of like reading reviews.

I was banded in July of 2010. It has only been recently (within the last few weeks) that I have come to love my band.

I'm sorry it has not worked for you and I hope you will find what does. Are you thinking of the other surgeries like the sleeve or will you go a different route? I hope you will not give up altogether on losing weight!

I get frustrated with my doctor because I feel I have no restriction (at least not as it has been described to me)-- I can eat anything I want. He is very conservative with fills.

I have also had discomfort in that i can feel the band physically and have not found anyone else who reports this. It is just now getting better -- and I believe this is because I am now seeing a physical therapist.

The two weeks post-op when I could have only Clear Liquids was a real trial; very very hard for me. But I learned to not be afraid to be hungry. I guess I needed that lesson and now there are times I actually prefer to be hungry for a bit.

Anyway, I mostly wanted to say I'm sorry the band is not working for you. I know the courage it takes to make the decision to have a band in the first place, the hoops jumped thru to get it, all the financial arrangements and time off work and the recovery period...plus learning how to work with it and for lots of us there is emotional upheaval as we give up our favorite and most treasured comfort. So for the band to not work for someone having gone thru all that -- I cannot even imagine the disillusion, perhaps even a feeling of betrayal.

Im glad you are seeing your doctor and being straight forward about the band. I hope you will find what works for you.

And I hope you will still post here. Your experience is a valuable lesson to people coming here for real information in their decision process. Thank you for being honest about it.

And best of luck to you!

~hiddn

[Humming Bird 275]

Hello remember me??? I'm swirl I started this thread. There have been so many replies I have got lost in them.

Someone said...The band is what you make of it

BULLCRAP!!! I just left my Doctors office and I had a nice long talk with him about all of this. He said they are finding out that the band is working for less and less people. He said it like only 70% of people that it works on. So when someone like me says "this thing just isn't getting it for me"...So Misses know it all, it may very well not be my fault. He said. I have beed filled has much has one can be filled and no restriction, but once and I throw up.

He said that they are not getting that good of results with the band, as time goes by. So in the mean time I got another fill and I go back in 6 weeks. We will see where I am at then.

Swirl,

Yes, I remember you Please understand that when most of us reply we are trying to help you through when you struggle. Many of us can only go by our own experience and try to give you tips with what we found helpful along our own journey. Did you tell your Dr. how pissed you are about not being able to eat 1/2 a hamburger and french fries like you talked about in your OP? Did he tell you that you should be able to eat anything you want but much smaller portions?

Many bandsters who have posted in this thread have had struggles along the way. It does work very different for all of us and some of this 'help' may not help you with your problems at all, but it is worth reading and worth trying some of it out. You just might find the one tip that makes it so much better for you. I know a couple bandsters who posted on this thread that were ready to have the band taken out, but chose to give it another try and "work it" in a last ditch effort.

I want you to be a success, but I am very far from an expert. I can only tell you things I have learned along the way and my own experience. I don't do it like 90% of the other bandsters here at LBT. I do it my own way and it works for me.

I do hope you find your own way to success even if that means some other type of WLS along the way. Even Spartan had to resort to gastric bypass.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Spartan - your post was exactly right. I have experienced much of what you posted, including having had an inexperienced surgeon, one who I think just wanted to cash in on the lucrative WLS, then getting a second opinion and changing doctors as a result.

Everyone has different eating styles that got them to be obese in the first place. Mine was not junk food or unhealthy foods for the most part. It was just a lot of food because I have a huge appetite, a lot of hunger and a lot of food to feel satisfied led me to obesity. So I was looking for a WLS that would address that. And the band is promoted as curbing hunger. It has always taken a lot of food for me to feel satisfied, even when I was a skinny kid and young adult. I could eat what I wanted, stop when satisfied and not gain any weight. And I know the difference between thirst and hunger and head hunger and real hunger. That ability to eat until satisfied and not gain all changed, obviously.

And the band has never worked for me this way. Not one day. Ever. And my doctor concurred that it doesn't work for everyone as it does for some.

[IdaM 0]

There's a 50 percent success rate. I've been scared to death that I would mess up...and even though I'm on the mushy stuff...I still worry about getting stuck. Where I work...they bring in restaurant food every week...and there's always food around the building. I'm so pathetic...I went in today just to SMELL the stuff.

I'm only 10 days in (banded on 1/10/11)...and my post op weight loss is at 18 pounds (24.2 including the pre-diet I started 1/5). Last night I caved a little bit and chewed two bites of a bacon cheeseburger...and spit it out. I felt so weak and depressed because the truth is...I love food...I just wanted the taste...the mouthfeel. I was worried the whole time that I'd swallow some of it. It was gross...I know...but it's the truth.

The decision to be banded came after two years of frustration...high blood pressure...and later asthma and sleep apnea. I was walking around worried that I was going to keel over...and because I'm an emotional eater...I'd do what? Eat. Of course.

Truth is...I've lost 30-40 pounds so many times...and gained it right back...that the band seemed like the perfect way to regain control of things. And as much as I like losing the weight...it's still sinking in that this is something I'll have to live with forever. I thought I was prepared for that...and now I'm discovering that I wasn't. I went in to my doctor's office this week and while waiting in the lobby...there were three women in there talking about how much weight they had and hadn't lost...and it was really a downer. And then it occured to me...that I've been following everything to the letter...I'm still on mushy foods...but every day that sucks...I'm waking up to smaller number on my scale...thank GOD. Otherwise...I'd be miserable.

So with all that said...I just wanted to say that I understand the frustration...at least I think I do a little bit. Going through all of this and NOT dropping weight...would be awful. My heart goes out to you and I hope you find a workable solution. The malabsorptive procedures all seem pretty intense...and I've known several people that have had those and were totally happy...and some that had them and gained their weight back and then some. Finding what works for you is not the easiest thing to do sometimes...but I wish you the best of luck. If I could give you a hug...I totally would.

[Nanook 2]

I don't know if this helps but I had the lap band in 2007 and had it removed and then ended up revising to RNY. I never did well with the lap band and I don't believe it's the right surgery for everyone. Each surgery takes work but at least with RNY you get a jump start! I'm getting close to my two year anniversary with my RNY and am still very happy to have had it. I was lucky and was able to lose a big chunk of weight and the weightloss actually stopped six months after my surgery. Due to my age and my revision and my starting weight I probably didn't lose as much as the average person but for me this did make a big difference in my life.

I went into my lap band surgery hoping it would work and probably not knowing enough about it at the time. I also was a bit too frightened to have RNY to begin with. Anyway long story short I gained weight after banding and also gained a few more co-morbs along with it and my insurance paid for it's removal and subsequent revision after I was put in the ER for chest pains due to GERD. I was lucky in that respect and not everyone has that option. I kept up with my appts. with my surgeon after banding and he and I both came to the decision it was the wrong choice for me and he also did my Lap band removal and then a few months later my RNY surgery.

To be honest the "free ride" you get in the beginning with RNY is over for me and I stopped losing and over the holidays have put on about 5 lbs which to me seams like a ton but in reality really isn't. Most people do gain a percentage of weight back after RNY and it's "normal" I just have to be more careful now about what I eat and how much. I'm hoping to keep most of it off for the rest of my life and change my attitude about myself and my weight issues. I was a large kid growing up but forced on diets by my mother and I think that may have played into my weight issues. So learning to eat "normally" is something that I had to learn and having a much smaller stomach has helped me with this.

Anyway to all of you who have issues with the lap band meaning it's not working as you had hoped it would there are other options out there and talk to you surgeon or someone who can help you with this. You didn't pay all this money and go through all of this to feel like a failure again! Good luck and take care Nancy.

[EdmontonGal 4]

Thanks for sharing Swirl... and all others! I agree with those who appreciate the honesty from either side of the fence. I too am new to being a bandster - 3 days to be exact and was told that it may not work for me by my surgeon during my entire journey. I decided on the band as I am not concentrating on weight loss. I am concentrating on changing my lifestyle and my relationship with food so that I am not at risk of developing diabetes and the other weight related diseases that run in my family. I spent a year and a half working on this before I decided the band was the right choice for me along with a team of professionals. If I hadnt had the team, I would have thrown down the money looking for a fix and at that time, I wouldnt have been ready. I am still not 100% that the band will work for me and wont be sure for a while but I have to trust myself and the skills I have strengthened this past year to help me in this process. My band may not work, I may have hit my natural plateau or it could be a great addition to my bag of tools?! Who knows? Whatever the outcome is, it will be something that only I will have to deal with on a daily basis and hope that I can still rely on this site for the support from thsoe who have been there and done that. Some of the posts on this thread make me doubt that. Differences in opinion is a spice in life. Lets not forget that.

GOOD LUCK all!

[Thora 0]

Good luck getting your bands removed.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

If your band isn't working as it should, this video might explain why. What the doctor says about what one cause of obesity could be and how grehlin and the vagus nerve work in relation to the band and RNY is absolutely right on with my experience. When I watched it I thought he was talking about me.

I posted this elsewhere, and as I said there - I KNOW that the band works wonderfully for many of you and you love your band, so this isn't a call to have post after post saying so. This is just to show that there is another side to the band and it is the band sometimes and not the person.

[Humming Bird 275]

Interesting info on the video. I watch a few other videos while I was there. Cleo's, does this mean you are leaning more toward mini bypass?

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Interesting info on the video. I watch a few other videos while I was there. Cleo's, does this mean you are leaning more toward mini bypass?

No, not at all. My insurance would never pay for it and I can't afford it. I have lost about 75 lbs, but only 15 of it post-band (well, after the post-op liquid phase was over). So my insurance would not see this as a problem worthy of revision. But I continue to fight the hunger and lack of satiety and what this doctor said could have been written for me, except I don't eat around the band, but I could.

[Nanook 2]

No, not at all. My insurance would never pay for it and I can't afford it. I have lost about 75 lbs, but only 15 of it post-band (well, after the post-op liquid phase was over). So my insurance would not see this as a problem worthy of revision. But I continue to fight the hunger and lack of satiety and what this doctor said could have been written for me, except I don't eat around the band, but I could.

[Nanook 2]

Thanks for posting this link Cleo's Mom found it very interesting! Nancy