Question for those with the Realize band.

[SueAZ 3]

I figure it's has to be what I've been eating. I've only had 1 fill and found I still could eat more than recommended. I tried last week to really watch what I ate and took salads for lunch just meat and a potato for dinner and the scale actually dropped 2 pounds. I think my food choices are my problem. I am going to have to bomb the vending machine at work cause I am a weak person on some things. I don't get in the exercise but walk and lift all day at work and am tired when I get home. I guess that counts as whining. Sorry. On the bright side 2 people said was looking smaller...I'm going in tuesday for another fill.

[rockbandster 0]

The Realize band holds 9cc's MAX- do not overfill it or it can break.

It takes longer for the Realize Band to work vs the new LapBand..hang in there!

[9pdmnm5 0]

Reading the posts, it looks like a lot of you are frustrated with the Realize band? Correct? I am having surgery in a few wks. and am trying to decide which band to have placed. Do any of you who have the Realize wish you would've gotten the Lap band? Thx!

[rockbandster 0]

The Lapband is clinically superior according to several large clinical trials. 62% vs 43%

The technology used in the Realize band is 12 years old vs 2007 for the lapband AP. If you truly do your research and dont listen to bullshit, it's a no brainer. Many people well and many people do crappy on both. If I were you I'd play the odds. This implant is going in you until you die, I'd go with the one that has a morecproven track record globally, not what your individual doc says. If you talk to 10 different docs your going to get 10 different opinions.

[4crazyboys 0]

Here's my 2 cents for what it is worth on the question of which band to get (all based on my observations and experience). No matter which band you get, you will experience a lot of frustration. We are trying to break years of bad habits that NO devise will change. You can eat around any band you get. These are tools and people can tell you that over and over and you won't truely understand the tool thing until you live with a band for months or even years. It does work wonders, I think mainly because if you eat too much you feel TERRIBLE not because it magically makes you stop eating. Eating healthy will always be up to you. All of the doctors preach that the weight loss will be slow and we all get impatient, but the research shows that over the long haul all of the bands have basically the same final results. I wouldn't be basing your decision on HOW fast you lose but how SAFE you lose. Look at complication rates of the bands AND of your physician because "installation and mainatainance" is half of the battle. Slips and erosions are risky for your overall, life long health, not just in your weight battle. If you get any band, you will lose weight, if you follow the rules, plain and simple. To worry about percentages of weight lost over a short period of time is missing the point. We are doing this to improve the rest of our lives, which, for most of us, is barely half over if we get healthy. I think that is the point. Pick the band that you and your doctor agree will offer the lowest complication risk for you for the rest of your life. You may think that you are more concerned about weight loss now, but once you get this thing, you will worry that something is wrong, we all do. I think all of the bands offer about the same result, it is the band complication rates that SLIGHTLY vary, more often it is the physicians care that causes the higher complication rate. Basically, pick the BEST DOCTOR you can afford.

[4crazyboys 0]

I guess I should add... I chose the Realize band at the urging of my physician who offers all bands and bypass, too. So far, I have been frustrated and concerned about this thing at times but overall, I've lost 50 pounds and it is getting easier because my eating and exercise habits are changing!!!:thumbup: I chose one of the best laproscopic surgeons in the country at one of the premire hospitals in the world. I couldn't be happier with my choice of medical care and think the band choice is secondary.

[HeatherO 7]

I have the Realize band as well and am very happy with it. Be careful with people stating they are unhappy with their band choice . . . some problems are not specific to the band as much as being banded and the difficulties that banding alone brings.

I remember being very frustrated when I made my initial decision because I could not find any hard evidence stating one was better than the other, only anecdotal statements. Even the doctor did not steer me strongly one way or the other.

Someone mentioned statistics above on Lapband vs Realize band. Where did this information come from? Do you have a link to share with us?

[rockbandster 0]

The 43% EWL is on the Realize web site.

The 62% EWL with Lapband was done on a few years ago by Dr.Jaime Ponce in a clinical trial with over 1000 patients - you can google it. I saw a copy in my docs office. The 62% weight loss trial was done by Paul OBrien which can be googled too.

[rockbandster 0]

The bands DO NOT offer the same results. A band is not a band as much as BMW is not a KIA.You cannot judge by an individual result here and there as opposed to a clinical trial with over 1000 patients.

You cannot compare a product that came out in 1996 that Johnson and Johnson put in a new box and changed the name from Swedish band to Realize to a product that has been re-engineered 3 times that can be implanted with a prefill and has design changes to prevent erosion built into it.

Im not sayingthe Realize is bad, but it 12 years old and you cannot tell me the technology that went into making medical devices 12 years ago is the same as it is now-that just doesn't make any logical sense.

[4crazyboys 0]

New technology is not always better technology. There is a reason that the old technology has stayed around, which is that it produces results that are good with less risk. Shouldn't compliction rates be as important or more important than quick weight loss? After 2-3 years the weight loss is pretty much identical but realize does have less of a complication rate.

[rockbandster 0]

less complications as compared to what? Which complications are higher with Lapband?

You clearly do not have an understanding of Johnson and Johnsons agenda. There are 5 bands in Europe and the Swedish band is the least popular. If has been used 100,000 times vs over 400,000 times with the Lapband.

J&J wanted to enter the banding market so they acquired Obtech who distributes the Swedish Band, developed nothing but the website. This band is being used only to enter the market. Their next generation band will be out next year to if this old technology was so good that wouldn't be happening would it? y

[rockbandster 0]

based on which clinical trial is the 2 to 3 year data the same? Please cite your references

[tomatogirl 0]

Im not sayingthe Realize is bad, but it 12 years old and you cannot tell me the technology that went into making medical devices 12 years ago is the same as it is now-that just doesn't make any logical sense.

1. You cannot tell me you are not saying the Realize band is bad. You have some kind of personal vendetta against it. This is the only forum I ever see posts from you in and they're all anti-Realize band posts. Baby, take up knitting or something. You need a new hobby.

2. What about the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". After 2-3 years (depending on what study you look at) the weight loss is comparable. The Realize band has less complications. I'm not seeing the need for improvement here. It works. It's not killing people. Why change?

[tomatogirl 0]

Higher complication rates with Lap-Band vs Realize band: SpringerLink - Journal Article

[rockbandster 0]

That's an unfair comparison. First of all, your comparing the Realize Band which is a low pressure band vs the OLD Lapbands with high pressure systems which had higher erosion rates. Some of the participants in those studies with the Lapband were done with the Perigastic approach which is no longer used due to higher complications. Its basically a different surgical technique which is no longer used in LapBand Surgery.

I don't hate the Realize band or anyone else. What I do hate is deceptive marketing which is what Johnson and Johnson is all about. This is reason for my posts, this is the exact bullshit Johnson and Johnson spews out, biased unfair comparisions and deceptive marketing.

Compare the Jaime Ponce trial data with over 1000 lapband patients, still using older bands but with the Pars Flaccida approach to placing the band:

slippage 1.4%

erosions 0.2%

tubing problems 0.5%

obstruction 1.4%

Weight loss:

40% at 12 months (about = to the Realize Band at 3 years)

52% at 24 Months

62% at 3 years

Further, saying if "it ain't broke don't fix it" doesn't apply to medicine, that is really an ignorant statement - the reason why we all live longer lives is because companies put millions of dollars into research and development to make products better they work better for patients.

People come here for advice so if your not an advanced laproscopic surgeon which who knows what they are talking about, you really should stop saying these products are equal unless you have clinical proof to back it up, comparing apples to apples-not a reprint which compares different pressure bands and the way they were implanted.