Why isnt it working?

[watergirl 0]

My mum has had her lap band in for a few years now. She weighs around 130kg and hasnt lost a single kilo. She has had the band filled and unfilled, and it doesnt make any difference. The band has slipped up once and she had to have surgery to fix it, then it slipped down and had to have surgery to fix it. The specialist she has is very well known and has performed heaps of lap bands. My mum is the only "failure" he has had. She doesnt have any Fluid in her band at the moment, yet cant keep anything other than Water, tea, yoghurt and thin Soup down. If she dares to eat anything else, she is vomiting for hours, no matter how much she chews it and how long it takes her to eat it. Has anyone else experienced this? What can she do now? She only become over weight in her late 30's and is now 55. She has never eaten "like a fat person" ie never eats junk food, chocolate, sweets etc. She is being treated for thyroid problems but all tests come back fine. Her cholesterol and blood pressure are also in the "normal" healthy ranges. So why no weight loss? Thanks for your comments.

[pippinje 0]

My husband has a friend who had stomach problems which caused him to gain weight. Maybe she needs to see a gastrointestinal doc to have some tests run.

I am in no way a physician, this is just my personal opinion.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Is she getting all these fills and unfills done under fluoro? Have slips, erosion, and various band complications been ruled out?

Something isn't right here, it takes a LOT of calories just to maintain a 130kg body, probably 3000 calories daily. If she is only eating tea, Water, yogurt, and thin Soup she can't be getting more than 1000 calories daily and you explain she has no active thyroid issues going. Something isn't right.

Also, two slips... usually that is from PBing too much or pouch packing. If she is only drinking her food, what is she PBing on?

She needs to see her doc.

[fabfatgrl 10]

I'm so sorry your Mom is going through this.

Some people who have a lot of issues regarding food eventually gravitate towards food their band will tolerate... chips, Cookies, caloric liquids, etc. They do this out of necessity... and sometimes because quite frankly, they're starving. It sounds like your Mom's body never tolerated the Band... and has been fighting it ever since. She should talk to her surgeon ASAP. If there is any Fluid in her Band, it should be removed. If no Fluid, she should consider a removal and possible revision to another surgery or different sized Band.

[anonemouse 1]

She should definitely get checked out for Cushing's syndrom/disease, IMO. I'm not saying that is what's wrong, but if she isn't losing weight and isn't taking in a lot of calories, that would be a place to start. It also sounds like she just isn't tolerating the band, period.

[Jachut 487]

I'd totally agree that she needs further investigations.

It just isnt right that that's all she's eating and not losing.

And on top of that, there's something not right with the band either. and I think inexplicably some people's bodies just can not tolerate bands, its too much restriction or nothing, there's not a lot of happy medium.

And if she's never eaten like a "fat person" one would wonder why she got fat enough to need a lap band too. There's got to be something underlying here.

[mbz 0]

Hi, and I am so sorry to hear your mom's story--. I think that she should look into a revision surgery. When my band failed, not only did my surgeon tell me he did not think I was a good candidate for another one, but quite frankly, I didnt want another one, to always be scared that the same thing would happen. Even if mine had been a slip, I would have taken it out, do do something else. I only need to loose a little over 100 lbs, but I still want something more permanant with less room for mechanical errors...good luck to her!

[Ses 0]

That's what's happening to me too. I never ate 'fat food' before the lapband, even though I got a BMI of 53, and even now three months after the band... And I'm having the same problems with the throwing up and pain.

I think my surgeon thinks I'm cheating too, he can't believe how bad I've done so far.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

That's what's happening to me too. I never ate 'fat food' before the lapband, even though I got a BMI of 53, and even now three months after the band... And I'm having the same problems with the throwing up and pain.

I think my surgeon thinks I'm cheating too, he can't believe how bad I've done so far.

Wait, what am I missing? You've lost 22 pounds in 2.5 months and he's telling you that you are doing badly? What's wrong with your weight loss?

Are you too tight?

[Ses 0]

God, I hope it's too tight. -points at other thread- That would be easy to fix, painful and expensive, but easy. The only thing I can eat are those dried pea Snacks.

[watergirl 0]

Just to let you all know, my mother saw her surgeon and he is taking her lap-band out tomorrow. She was starting to feel faint because of the lack of nutrition. Boy is she upset. That will make it four operations in total for the lap-band and no weight loss to show for it. Her body just wasnt meant to have a band in I suppose. Her specialist is still baffled.