lapband intolerance?

[new-name 4]

I've been banded for 10 months and have only lost 1 net pound outside of the initial liquid fasting phase. I lost 10 lbs and it came back slowly over time. My surgeon said not to stress about it because it was common and the weight would come off when I got into the green zone. I never got there.

I have been battling band issues for months (port pain, many stuck episodes per week, no restriction despite having nearly 9 ccs in Fluid in the band, and constant nausea). My surgeon said that the band needs to come out and did not recommend doing a conversion to another surgery. He said that if my body didn't adjust to the band, it likely wouldn't adjust to the other surgeries either and at least the band is reversible. He said he's had a handful of patients over the years with the same issues as me, and they had it removed as well. I feel like such a fool and a complete failure. I've spent so much energy, effort, time, and pain on this with very little to show. I now have to go back and fight the good fight with my weight, back at square one.

I'm so sad and angry. I did so much research before this surgery and never heard of lapband intolerance. My surgeon never once mentioned it.

[chasingadream 1,311]

Sorry to hear that this has happened to you.

Don't beat yourself up over it not "working"…if you had heard of band intolerance before would you really have thought it would/could happen to you! ? You didn't purposely have the band not work….

You did all the right things to make yourself healthier and for some reason this was not meant to be.

I know that is no consolation but I would like to believe that there is something in the future that is meant to help you with your struggle…right now it is just not the band.

Wishing you much luck and success and hoping you find some peace and answers to help aid you with your weight loss efforts.

[paula84mail 1]

Please do not beat yourself up over this. I never heard of lapband intolerance either and my doctor did not mention it until I had problems. My band is around as full as it can get and all I do is eat.My doctor told me after I had these issues that if this didn't work they would not do anything else.I have acid reflex but not as bad as before. My son is a GI doc so he put me on some meds thatt helped that. I weighed 237 before the band. The week after the band was put in I lost 30 lbs. For the next 5 years I went up and down with my weight. No big loss no big gain. But, I broke my ankle last year and immediately lost 30 more lbs. over 2 months.

I will be thinking of you

[mirihawk 7]

I got my band in the summer of 2011 and have had no luck at all with it. I lost 29 pounds at my lowest point but every time the fill gets over about 6 cc's they have to deflate it. I have no fill now and still some tummy pain. I'm going to have an upper GI and see the doc. I don't know whether to pray for a medically necessary removal (the only way my new insurance - which doesn't cover bariatric surgery - will pay for it) or to hope that it is in place properly and that I can get it, finally, to work. I would say I am down a net total of about 10 or 12 pounds from my highest weight right now.

I think the most frustrating thing is that, during the "selling" phase they told me I wouldn't become diabetic with the lapband (runs in my family); now that I am pre-diabetic they say I mustn't have been eating right. Blame the patient.

I have to say that I am not afraid of having it removed, as long as my insurance will cover it, since having it hasn't made any difference in my obesity at all. I lost more doing Atkins in the years before my surgery. What I am wondering is, if I get the band out and am "natural" again, is there a support group for that?

[darstvader 31]

I had mine removed this morning after having the band for 11 years. I've kept off 150lbs but had to have it out or possibly die. I had severe aspiration where the contents of my stomach went in to my lungs every night for the last 8 months. Very horrible and scary.

I'm high on painkillers right now but already feel better.

No regrets about any of it. Onward and upward and a wheat and sugar free lifestyle once I'm healed. 70 lbs left to lose. Never look back, you'll do just fine. ????

[darstvader 31]

Mirihawk, definitely check about the insurance. Medically necessary means NOTHING if bariatric is an exclusion in the contract - they won't cover an exclusion. Please check thoroughly.

I'm a health care insurance broker.

[mirihawk 7]

Thanks for the head's up - as it happens, my Upper GI shows that the band is still in place, but sufficiently tight with no fill at all. I'm actually going to try again, I had a talk with my NP yesterday about it. I was surprised, but the upper GI showed no erosion, no scarring, and no slippage. I had prayed for a sign. I'm taking that as time to try once more.

Edited July 24, 2014 by mirihawk

[darstvader 31]

That's great it hasn't slipped or shown any erosion!

Your pouch is probably dilated and they'll put you back on fluids for a week or so to calm it down. Fingers crossed for you. I know too well how hard it is when something like this happens!

[mirihawk 7]

My doctor has never put me back on fluids; and I didn't stay on fluids as long as people with different doctors either. She DID say that she thinks my swallowing issues could be related to the pre-diabetes, which upset me because it was never even mentioned as a possibility in my pre-surgical state. I'm to eat smaller meals a little more often, which never would have occurred to me because of the grazing prohibition. Instead of eating every 3 hours I may eat every 2, and cut my meals down a good bit.

I'm excited about the good result of the upper GI, now I know where I stand and I can work with it! I asked for a sign and I got one, so I am off to make the most of it!!

[MEL0129 9]

My band was removed after 2.5/years. I had a slippage, revision and nothing but pain, bloating, and trapped gas after the the slippage and revision. Finally, it was removed. I am still ,3;years later, experiencing really bad gas and bloating. Before removal surgery, the doctor said i had developed too much Scar tissue and in fact, a band of Scar tissue was around the base of the band causing all these problems. He wanted me to go from band to another surgery in same time but I would not take the chance. After surgery, when the doctor comes to talk to me, his story has changed. There was not much Scar tissue and he labeled it band intolerance. WTF???? Now, 3/years later, even as I type this, I am still having trapped gas and bloating. It's a yucky feeling. How could it be band interlorence when everything was good the first year and up until slippage. Also, during barium swallow, the person giving test told me that stuff was barely moving through my system. The nurse at the doctors office, also showed .me the narrowing. Well, today, there is a lump look to my Scar. Left side has a bulge. I think I was lied to and he left Scar tissue in there since I wasnt going to do another surgery at the time. Am I crazy?

[al1234 4]

The band caused me great misery. I had it removed

9/17/15. I want nothing more to do with any type of weight loss surgery. Fool me once shame on you. Well you know the rest. I will not be played the fool a second time. Good luck people. I do not trust these doctors.