Should people barely over 200 lbs or below 200 get Lapband or any WLS...?

[smsmithart 4]

i say hell yeah let every get a lap band put a end to obesity...

i love my band and its not the easy way out by no means ...

i was banded at 195lbs down to 168

and ive got 18 more to go to get out of the overweight bmi

[Carrie_C 9]

I agree, it is not the easy way out. I hate when people say that.

[littlebit181818 0]

I am one of "those" who was banded under 200 pounds. I have lost and gained the same 90 pounds over and over again for the last 30 years. For some reason I saved all my Weight Watcher books (not really a saver) and showed them to my doc. He agreed that this was a good solution for me as I obviously have trouble keeping the weight off. I am thrilled to be banded and look forward to not focusing on my weight every minute of every day the rest of my life.

I am also looking forward to having more than two things to wear. As I would lose weight I would toss my fat clothes. Then when I gained I would only buy two things, since I was going to lose again. Well, the result was a lot of laundry and looking the same always. Now, I will be able to have a real wardrobe. What fun.

[fatme 0]

It isnt't just someones weight. What bothers me are the ages of people getting surgery. Surgery is suppose to be a last resort. Most older people have spent years trying everything they can think of to lose weight but now it seems to be a quick solution. Surgery is surgery it shouldn't be taken lightly. Just because someone is overweight and has the means to pay for surgery doen't mean they are ready for it. Lap band is not an easy answer you really need to know how to change your approach to eating. Even with all my years of dieting and experience with weight lose I still struggle with the band. I'm glad I had the surgery but it isn't the answer for everyone. When you need surgery to lose weight there is more going on than just weight. Think about it.

[MacMadame 81]

I went on my first diet at 13. Some people are obese or even morbidly obese in HS. I've been seriously obese since around age 25 and now I'm over 50. So that's 25 years I've been fruitlessly struggling with this problem. If only I was 25 now I could have cut out a lot of misery and unhealthy living.

So I ask: how many years does someone have to struggle with their weight and be unhealthy before it's acceptable to stop doing the things that don't work and start doing something that does? 20? 10? 5?

I say if you are obese and you have been on one serious diet where you got to goal or close to it and couldn't keep the weight off (or alternatively, if you couldn't even get to goal after a really great effort), that you've proven you are one of the 95-98% who can not lose and keep it off with diet & exercise alone.

If that happens by the time you are 20, then why should you have to wait any longer? Heck, there are kids younger than that who have been dieting since the age of 8. If you are 16, are 100 lb. or more overweight, and have been dieting since you were 8, then you've been dieting unsuccessfully for 8 years. How much longer should someone in that situation have to wait?

The only reason I don't like teenagers and younger kids getting WLS is because they are still growing and we don't necessarily know all the implications of WLS on a person's growth. But a WLS that is restrictive only is relatively safe and could help them maintain a normal weight while they are growing. I can't fault someone who has been struggling with their weight for years and is morbidly obese from getting WLS even if they are fairly young.

If we had another alternative to offer them, that would be different. But right now WLS is our only effective treatment. So their choices are WLS or obesity. I can't fault a young person for choosing WLS given the alternative.

[Froggi 4]

This thread isn't about age.

But yeah...my parents had me eating healthy and dieting when I was 2, 3 years old. My mom told me once I hit 1 I just kept getting chubbier and chubbier. I've been struggling since a toddler with my weight. I may be young at 23 to get surgery...I don't believe that's young though...I think anyone who is close to 18 or older than that has enough maturity to get it done. I've been battling my weight forever, I was offered RNY at 15. Said no cause it was too dangerous for me to even consider. If I knew about lapband when I was younger I would have done it but not real young. Prob 17 or 18. I didn't find out that lapband even existed until I was 20. I've been researching it since than and I started my process in April. I should be having surgery in November and it will be the best decision I have made in my life.

[fatme 0]

Calm down MacMadadame. I agree with how you feel. I was also a fat kid and I wish I could have lost weight and kept it off when I was younger , but thats the whole point WHY does it take surgery to control our weight? There is something to be said for understanding why we do the things we do. Did you ever hear of a dry drunk? It's the same with food. Plenty of people have not just the banding but gastric bypass and some still gain the weight back. My whole point is understanding yourself- if possible- I just don"t think that if I had surgery in my 20's that i would have been sucessful in keeping the weight off. Nothing is fool proof!! Again think about why we need surgery to lose weight. Why are so many children obese? Back when I was a kid a fat kid really stood out-not any more.With all that we know now about health it should be the opposite. We shouldn't have so many young people in this position. Just something to think about.

[Carrie_C 9]

I don't see any problem with a young person getting this surgery. How many of us that are older wish we would have had it when we were younger? I am only 30, but I wish I had it done a long time ago. It is so much easier to lose weight when you are in your early 20's than when you get older. I think I would have lost the weight a lot quicker if I had been banded when I was 20 instead of 30. It has been a slow loss for me, but it is still one of the best decisions I ever made. I think anyone who is at least 30 pounds overweight, regardless of age, should be able to get this surgery.

[Mysticalks 0]

I am 5'4'' and I was 218 lbs when I got my lap-band surgery performed. I had PCOS, insulin resistance and high blood pressure. I was only 21 years old and was taking about 10 pills a day on average for those 3 health issues. Since then, I don't take metformin, which caused many problems for me by itself. Although I've only lost 26 lbs so far, it's made a world of difference for me regarding my health. I don't have as many hypoglycemic attacks anymore, I've cut down on my medications, and I can actually RUN on the treadmill now! As much as I dieted and exercised, I couldn't lose more than 1/2 lb a week and I would lose motivation and stop. Everyone has their own case, and just because the scale says one thing, someone's weight-affected health tells the truth about whether they should go in for WTL. Plus, I don't think it's anyone else's business whether that person has WTL anyway. It's their money, their health, and their choice. It's been fantastic for me so far, and I couldn't have made a better decision!

[MacMadame 81]

Calm down MacMadadame.

There was nothing uncalm about my post.

WHY does it take surgery to control our weight/

Do you want the long scientific explanation? Or the short one?

The reality is that an obese person's physiology is different from those of the "normos" (as Jack calls them). We have 3 to 10x the amount of ghrelin in our bodies, for one thing. They've done studies that show that the brain activities in the part of the brain that registers satiety is less active in obese people compared to the normal weighted. These are just two examples of how the bodies of obese people work to keep them obese while the bodies of normal weighted people do not.

This is why 90-99% of the people who diet and exercise without getting surgery don't lose the weight but then they get surgery and they can. WLS will cut down on your ghrelin and does other things to our bodies that we don't 100% understand that allows us to feel satiety and to be satisfied on much less food. Many WLS patients report feeling satiety for the very first time in their lives, in fact.

If you never/rarely feel full, if you are always hungry, then dieting and exercise are like putting your finger in a dyke but never repairing that dyke. Eventually the Water will pour out no matter how much self-control and willpower you've got.

We shouldn't have so many young people in this position.

I agree, but that's a different question all together. That's about prevention.

I don't know what it takes to prevent. But denying/discouraging WLS for the young or to the "only" obese doesn't prevent obesity. Once someone gets to be obese, prevention is too late for them.

[Carrie_C 9]

I totally agree with you MacMadame. I was one of those people who ALWAYS felt hungry no matter what I did. The band has taken care of that.

[Mysticalks 0]

I'd like to reply to FatMe's post. In specific:

"What bothers me are the ages of people getting surgery. Surgery is suppose to be a last resort. Most older people have spent years trying everything they can think of to lose weight but now it seems to be a quick solution."

I'm 22 years old and got the surgery when I was 21. Yes, I'm young. Lap band surgery WAS the last resort for me. I remember going on my first diet in Kindergarten. I was 5 years old and while all of the other children ate pizza during our class's "pizza party", I sat there holding a bag of carrots to munch on. Ever since, I've been on a rollercoaster ride with my weight.

I've been on every diet known to man, and have cost my parents (and myself, when I turned 18) thousands upon thousands of dollars on diet plans, nutritionists, gym memberships, and everything else. You name it. When I followed a diet that assigned me a number of calories appropriate for my age, height, gender, weight, etc., I wouldn't lose a thing. I was 100% strict and have always had the willpower to stick to a plan. When I turned 16, I started TELLING the nutritionists, consultants, etc. that I wouldn't go on the diet unless I was given a plan for 1000-1200 calories tops. I wouldn't lose a thing if I were to eat any more than that, and that included at least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise daily. This is a ridiculous amount of calories, especially for a growing child/adolescent.

My point is... I feel as if 18 years spent on extreme weight fluctuation, diets involving starvation, and feelings of disappointment, anger, and failure are plenty of reason to believe that my WLS was a last resort. I may be young, but I've wasted my entire childhood striving to be healthy (while every plan failed), and I refuse to spend my adulthood as an unhealthy individual, starving myself, while I know in the back of my mind that nothing else has worked.

Phew! After all of that, I just wanted to say that I appreciate your post...it's really nice to hear other people's views on the surgery because many people are too shy to express their opinions. Keep it up!

[ronwifey 0]

I remember when I was at a seminar this lady who was about 100 pounds heavier then me, looked me dead in the face and said, "what are you here for?" I was shocked!!!!!!! HOW RUDE!!!! It's no ones business why I want to go under the knife unless they plan on paying for it. I was 250 at my first weigh in and my height is 5'6". My isnurance paid for it because my BMI was 40. My Dr. told me that the way I was going I would weight 300 pounds in a year and it would just get worse and worse. I wanted to finally do something proactive with my life. I could care less what anyone thinks (saying that in the nicest way )on why my Dr. and I thought this was for the best for ME. I would do it over a million times over and recommend it for anyone who is not happy with themselves and dieting does not work for them.

[Jachut 487]

It isnt't just someones weight. What bothers me are the ages of people getting surgery. Surgery is suppose to be a last resort. Most older people have spent years trying everything they can think of to lose weight but now it seems to be a quick solution. Surgery is surgery it shouldn't be taken lightly. Just because someone is overweight and has the means to pay for surgery doen't mean they are ready for it. Lap band is not an easy answer you really need to know how to change your approach to eating. Even with all my years of dieting and experience with weight lose I still struggle with the band. I'm glad I had the surgery but it isn't the answer for everyone. When you need surgery to lose weight there is more going on than just weight. Think about it.

Ok, I've thought about it and I disagree to some extent.

I mean, yes, surgery is a last resort but where is it written that you can only reach your last resort after a certain number of years? Like McMadame, I was on my first diet at 12 years old. Its not a quick solution, the lapband is a fairly recent invention that's had a fairly length period of being an unusual and little known surgery where statistics on the guinea pigs were being compiled, and of late, its come into its own as an effective solution to obesity for many people. That's why people appear to be jumping on the "band wagon", because we've reached the point where we have a history, some statistics, some experts to train surgeons etc.

I dont like the implication yet again that some people are somehow more "worthy" than others of being allowed the priviledge of surgery. The only difference here is that its agist instead of thin-ist (is that a word? If not, it is now!) In fact I'd argue that its often the most long term and heavily obese patients that have the least ability to really change their outlooks, lifestyles and activity levels. I really believe my journey was much easier for the fact that I was light enough to be active and to run, I was not as disordered in my eating patterns as some others (hence why I got to a BMI of 36, not 56) and I had a much less extreme lifestyle overhaul to make. I certainly dont know many 60 year old morbidly obese people that would be able to take up running or triathlon! That's a huge generalisation I know, but its got some merit.

If I have the money to pay for it its my right to have it, no matter what anyone else thinks. There's enough of it to go round, I dont understand why people seem to feel their territory is being invaded by the less obsese - yet again more fodder to fuel my belief that there is every bit as much bias and prejudice against thinner people from fat as vice versa.

[fatme 0]

I don't get you people. I'm not saying don't get surgery. That is up to you and your doctor. All I'm saying is THINK about why any of us get into this position to begin with.I have been overweight my entire life because I have eaten a tremendous amount of food.I have felt full many, many times and I still kept eating.The whole point of this thread was people of certain weight getting banded-I'm sorry I got this so off track. So what do I think of people just over 200 lbs. getting banded? Why not? As I said it's up to you and your doctor.I though,will never stop trying to understand why I have the relationship with food that I have. And I certainly want to take responsibility for MY actions.