Lapband or Realize, which band is safer?

[anastasia566 0]

Hello,

I am trying to make a decision as to which band I wil have inplanted on my upcoming surgery.

Does anyone have any information on the safety of these bands long term? I have done extensive research over the past several months and want to make sure I am not missing anything.

Also, I see there were recalls on both types of bands, the Realize and Lapband. Any feedback on what band you have and why you chose it?

Your feedback will be most appreciated!

[CheckYes 46]

I am pretty sure that your surgeon will select which band to put in.

[zeniada 9]

My doctor didnt give me a choice on which band I got... He determined it by the size of my stomach and my weight... when I was researching bands I just did a google search and got really good info off of that.

[amber2604 4]

My doctor made us choose at our last pre op appointment. I chose the original allergen lap band. He told us that he honestly had no preference. I chose the original because he had so much experience with it and he has never had a patient gave any diffulcities with it. I asked his nurse and she said if she were picking she would pick the original so I went with that. I honestly didn't do much research bc I assumed I was getting the original anyway. All of the blogs I read that have been amazingly successful have the allergen original band as well so that helped as well. Good luck with your decision making!

[ElfiePoo 109]

I didn't have a choice and I asked my doctor almost a year after surgery why he used the Realize band vs. others. He said he just liked certain aspects of it better than other bands (low port, etc.). It's the band he chose when he had his put in a year earlier.

.

[roundbeard 0]

Great question. I too was offered the choice between the Realize band and the LapBand. My doctor said he had no real preference, so that left it up to me to do the research and make the decision on my own. I chose the Realize band, and here are some of the contributing factors for my decision.

-Low port profile. Also the port is attached using an intra-muscular attachment system....no sutures are used to attach the port to the stomach muscles.

- The "Realize your Success" online. Realize band is the only company with an interactive post-operative website geared specifically toward your individual weight loss tracking. I don't know if LapBand has followed suit with anything similar. I must say it is a feature I am glad to have and I use it almost weekly to track everything from weight loss, food diary, appointments, band fills, photos and tracking reports.

- Ultimately the DR decides what size band you will receive, but as I understand it, the Realize band offers the greatest range of sizes, thus allowing for a more aggressive fill regimen, if needed.

I have seen recently that Realize has had a voluntary recall, due to a possible weak point in the connection between the port and port tube running to the band. Info about that recall is on their site. The design has been changed to reinforce that area.

The choice is yours. Do your research and decide what you think will work best for you. Good luck.

[Jennifer Hathaway 12]

My doctor only uses lapband so I had no choice. But I love it. No complications and I have gone from 262 lbs to 165 lbs in 7 1/2 months. Just research and decide what features you like best, but just getting a band no matter the brand is a great step towards better health. Good Luck!

[ddow58 2]

Great question. I too was offered the choice between the Realize band and the LapBand. My doctor said he had no real preference, so that left it up to me to do the research and make the decision on my own. I chose the Realize band, and here are some of the contributing factors for my decision.

-Low port profile. Also the port is attached using an intra-muscular attachment system....no sutures are used to attach the port to the stomach muscles.

- The "Realize your Success" online. Realize band is the only company with an interactive post-operative website geared specifically toward your individual weight loss tracking. I don't know if LapBand has followed suit with anything similar. I must say it is a feature I am glad to have and I use it almost weekly to track everything from weight loss, food diary, appointments, band fills, photos and tracking reports.

- Ultimately the DR decides what size band you will receive, but as I understand it, the Realize band offers the greatest range of sizes, thus allowing for a more aggressive fill regimen, if needed.

I have seen recently that Realize has had a voluntary recall, due to a possible weak point in the connection between the port and port tube running to the band. Info about that recall is on their site. The design has been changed to reinforce that area.

The choice is yours. Do your research and decide what you think will work best for you. Good luck.

I also have the Realize band for the same reasons as mentioned above. My real decision was based on range of adjustment of the Realize band. The recall will not effect you as they pulled any unused bands and replaced them with the corrected band.

[rktaurus71 4]

Hi,

My surgeon said "it's like Coke or Pepsi". I let him choose which he felt was best . In my case, he felt the Realize band was best. I would let your surgeon choose. Good luck!

Hello,

I am trying to make a decision as to which band I wil have inplanted on my upcoming surgery.

Does anyone have any information on the safety of these bands long term? I have done extensive research over the past several months and want to make sure I am not missing anything.

Also, I see there were recalls on both types of bands, the Realize and Lapband. Any feedback on what band you have and why you chose it?

Your feedback will be most appreciated!

[Nicole74 4]

when I first started the band process in Feb 2010...the office only did realize..they had books and info all over the place on it. I did my research and was set on realize..and was glad I was getting that one...well I had my surgery this past July and on my first visit I asked what size band I had and he said the lapband 11cc...I thought the whole time I had the realize band but the doctor informed me that they had some issues with the realize band in the past year and a month before my surgery they changed back to lapband. He said he found that the fills were harder with the realize band and he saw more success with lapband than realize during the year they tried it. either way I am very happy with my band!