Sensitive question- is it the band or addiction?

[Bandakat412 26]

So I'm 10 days post op and cautiously optomistic. I've read a million posts from people who hate their band passionately because of sliming and PB and being hungry. Usually they are a couple years out or more.

Question is, no matter what other medical reasons, we, the overweight or obese, have an unhealthy relationship with food.

In your opinion, are these veteran banders (not the ones with slips, etc), getting unfilled because of band failure (its a bad tool) or because of food addiction?

[Sojourner 2,446]

That's a difficult question to answer accurately. There are many reasons for having a band unfilled. There are also many reasons for why people fail to lose weight with their band.

If you are dedicated to your journey, likely an unfill is due to a band related complication. That is part of the risk associated with life with the band. It should also be noted that many individuals never experience any complications.

[Bandakat412 26]

I agree legit complications are sometimes the reason but I've had a few people say, as their first answer, "I wanted to be normal and I tired of starving".

Thanks for responding!

[brianb 81]

Great post and good points. I had the same questions, but now I'm a firm believer that the band works. It only started working recently for me, but here is what I've learned from reading a ton like yourself and thinking things through.

There is a lot of conflicting info online about the band. I personally believe this is because the band requires work from the patient. Lot of people aren't willing to do the following and they are very important.

- Get fills until you hit the green zone

- Chew chew chew to avoid a block which leads to vomiting and then a slip

- Eat slowly and stop when full to avoid pouch dilation which will lead to erosion or a slip

That's not much to ask in my opinion, but some seem to find this too much for them. I don't know if it's maturity or maybe some people are just so dang hungry all the time that they can't slow down enough to eat slowly and chew. We are all built different and some might have such uncontrollable hunger that the band is just not going to work for them.

I certainly don't want to judge others as we can't possibly understand unless we walk in their shoes (and live in their body).

If these things sound like too much, then I wouldn't recommend the band until they don't sound like a big deal:

- eat slow

- chew chew chew

- go to the doctor up to 7 or 8 times for fills (usually not this many, but it can take that long)

[brianb 81]

Ah, for hunger... I'm convinced that if a person is still starving or even hungry much, then this is because they aren't following through with fills.

Fills are a pain, but necessary and takes time. You have to keep going every 2 weeks to a month until the hunger is under control.

[brianb 81]

I've got to share this bit. B-52 wrote it in another post. Link is below and what he said follows. He really describes the green zone and what it's like for a band patient when they follow through with fills. I am happy to say he is dead on from my limited exp. I believe I was somewhat lucky and hit the green zone 4 days ago on my 3rd fill. I had pretty much zero benefit from the band before that. Now, hunger is pretty much just gone. Eating slow and tiny amount is a piece of cake. Today, I'm not really even interested in eating at all...

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/144728-am-i-in-the-green-zone-or-sweet-spot/

Here is a bit of what he said...

One of the characteristics of the Green Zone is "Patient Satisfaction" and you are not there yet. Patient satisfaction will happen when everything "clicks", and you stop "Struggling" Listen to what other people say, and you will see how happy and excited they get and they want to tell everyone.

I get PM's from some people telling me how excited they are reaching that point. That's how happy they are!

You are not quite there yet. GET Aggressive!

When it happens, you won't be asking if you are but telling everyone you are.

[loleary62 2]

For me, personally, it always comes back around to the fact that I am a compulsive and emotional over-eater and a sugar addict.

I just had my band removed due to complications that I mostly caused. I had band surgery in 2008 and was very successful my first year losing 115 lbs. in 9 months, (I was 335 lbs to start). I also was very regimented and mostly cut out all simple carbs and followed the band rules to a tee. But, in year 2, I took my eye off the ball and allowed sugar back into my diet. I not only stopped losing weight, but I couldn't stop with just a taste or bite. Even so, I maintained my weight loss for another year or so. In years 3 and 4 I started pushing the limits of my pouch capacity and was pb'ing too often. That started a chain of unfills and fills due to "sudden restriction". I honestly did not realize how much I was overeating and pb'ing because I was in denial. I struggled with emotional eating due to some family stress. I had been doing therapy for over a year and even learning the Cognitive Behavior Therapy tools that would help me, I chose to eat instead.

Pretty soon the reflux that was cured by a HH repair when I was banded came back and got worse and worse over time. Then I realized that every bite would come back up slightly and then would go down every time I swallowed. You see, I blew out the junction between my esophagus and pouch so there was nothing keeping bile (or food) down. My motility was fine (thank goodness). Having the upward pressure of the band fighting the downward pressure of the esophagus didn't help my case, but my band was right where it was supposed to be and I take full responsibility for what happened.

I'm not writing this to freak anyone out or bash the band because truly, I loved my band. It helped me accomplish many goals that I had previously given up on. It's not easy for me, (a supposed "band super-star"), to come here and admit that I screwed up the one thing that gave me a chance at a healthy life. I'm doing it because I want you all to know:

Reflux is not normal.

Pb'ing is not normal and should only happen on the very rare occasion if at all.

Having your band too tight will defeat you in the end.

Not being able to eat solid foods, turning to slider foods instead is not alright.

Take care of your band and, pending any surgical errors or equipment failures, it will be good to you.

Best of luck to you on your journey!

Best,

Lisa O.

[Bandakat412 26]

Thanks so much. These responses are very helpful. It's also comforting to hear that the band MAY feel useless to some people post op until a magical fill amount. I was pre-loaded so to speak and can't wait till my first fill. I don't feel it at all.