lapband not working

[big tom 0]

I havent posted here in a long time, so here is whats going on. I had a 14cc ap band put in on march 11th. sence then i have gaind 33lbs. I do not nor have i ever had restriction. i have had 3 fills a total on 6ml or cc. the last one was yesterday it was 1cc. I can eat as much now as i could befor sugery with the exception of bread (it maked me pb) my doc really dosent seem to belive me about not haveing restriction. I know im not eating all the right foods but if I had restriction i should still be loosing. she said she wants me to loose 20lbs befor i have another fill. I thing that might be hard to do if i dont have restriction to began with. the only thing is it takes me a little longer to eat (takes 10-15mins to eat 5lbs of food instead on 5 mins)..... well just though some one might have some uplifting words for me... tommy

[tp78 0]

I havent posted here in a long time, so here is whats going on. I had a 14cc ap band put in on march 11th. sence then i have gaind 33lbs. I do not nor have i ever had restriction. i have had 3 fills a total on 6ml or cc. the last one was yesterday it was 1cc. I can eat as much now as i could befor sugery with the exception of bread (it maked me pb) my doc really dosent seem to belive me about not haveing restriction. I know im not eating all the right foods but if I had restriction i should still be loosing. she said she wants me to loose 20lbs befor i have another fill. I thing that might be hard to do if i dont have restriction to began with. the only thing is it takes me a little longer to eat (takes 10-15mins to eat 5lbs of food instead on 5 mins)..... well just though some one might have some uplifting words for me... tommy

Ask them to do a baruim swollow test to make sure the band is place correctly.

Do not give up you will start losing.

Are you exersizing at all?

Are you eating following the bandsters rule. Protien 1st, Veggies 2nd then starch.

[ambraberger 0]

I don't know if it's possible with insurance/selfpay whatever, but could you see another surgeon? I'd be upset if I wasn't losing, but gaining? I agree, maybe it's not placed correctly. Seems like your doc would be more inquisitive as to why you're not losing. (I'm not banded yet, and I'm terrified that it won't work for me either.) Were you losing at the beginning?

[big tom 0]

they did a baruim swallow the day after I got my band and all was well. maybe it moved? I go see her agian in 2 weeks and ill mention it to her. No i dident lose in the begining, as a matter of fact i gaind 15 lbs the 2 days i was on the iv in the hospital that never came off (i guess i was dehydrated). maybe 6cc in a 14cc band isent enough to experance restriction?

[JeepGal 0]

Tom,

I'm gonna give it to ya straight.

The band is a tool to help you. It won't do it for you. You MUST make the right food choices and get your exercise in. If you can't eat breads, your band is working. However, you can still eat too much with the band and you can eat all the time with the band...there are SO many ways to cheat. (let's be honest) It really is up to you.

My guy friend that got the 14cc band didn't get any restriction until he was filled near 7.5cc's. My guess is that you don't have enough restriction. It sounds like your doctor is an ass. LoL you might have to just suck it up and lose 20lbs to get another fill.

For me the band (along with a lot of hard work) has worked wonders. I know it can work for you and I really hope you can get it to work. It's amazing to be at a size you haven't been at for YEARS, and to find yourself doing physical activities easily that would have caused you to worry about trying before.

The band is simply amazing!! I hope one day you can share my experience.

[Jodi_620 37]

I would demand a fill or try to find another doctor. This does not make any sense to me, most doctors withold a fill when you are losing weight not when you are not losing weight.

She is not allowing the band to work for you, simply getting you to the proper fill level is what you need. She is telling you to lose the weight on your own rather than using the tool that you went through so much to get...how aggrivating!

JeepGal, I don't agree. I got stuck on foods when the band was empty, just because he gets stuck does not mean that he is at proper restriction.

[DaisyMay 1]

I had my surgery on April 29 and I also have a 14 cc band. I have had four fills. Until my last fill I had no restriction. I had started to gain a little. At my last fill I received enough to be at 10.5 ccs and I finally have great restriction. Before that (at about 8.5 or less) I could eat virtually anything and everything. It took a little longer or I got full a little faster but not enough to really slow me down and my head hunger was raging so I couldn't seem to stop myself. After this last fill I finally understand what everybody is talking about! I have lost about 10 pounds in the last 2.5 weeks (yes, too much but probably mostly Water and now it's slowing down to a healthier rate). I can eat a green salad and a half a chicken breast and be full for four hours or so. I rarely am hungry and when I am it's real physical hunger and not head hunger. I have no cravings whatsoever. The only thing I really can't eat is bread. meat works as long as I'm careful. Fruits and vegetables go down pretty easily. I can't say it's all a bed of roses - I'm tight enough that there is some discomfort at many meals and I have to be really careful to chew thoroughly and eat slowly. Sometimes chicken works and sometimes it just doesn't. I've only had one serious stuck/pain/sliming episode and no pb or vomiting but I'm very careful - when I start to get the message that I might be getting full I stop immediately. That doesn't mean I'm perfect at all - it just means my band is tight enough right now that it means business and if I ignore the signals it hurts. I have eaten ice cream a few times and it does slide right down - but because my head hunger is gone (at least for now) and I'm not having any cravings I'm able to eat 3 or 4 spoonfuls and stop rather than eating an entire container. It sounds to me like you don't have proper restriction. It took me several months and four fills to get there but I'm finally there. Even with the pitfalls it is wonderful!! By the way, I also exercise quite a bit so that obviously helps - although it wasn't enough when I didn't have good restriction. Good luck.

[MistyD65 1]

To quote our Jack, **Super Moderator**: "Restriction is unrelated to 'gaining weight'. 'Over eating' is related to gaining weight."

Restriction or not, you still have to change your eating habits for the Band to work. You say you are eating 5 lbs of food at a sitting? Maybe you were exaggerating for effect. But if not, there is the root of your problem. You should probably be eating about a cup of food at a meal, and it should take 15-20 minutes to do so. With little or no restriction you will probably be hungry within a couple of hours of finishing. If so, eat another 1/2 cup. On the other hand, if you have really been eating as much as you say, you have probably stretched out the small pouch above your band.

You also said, "I know im not eating all the right foods but if I had restriction i should still be loosing." Actually, you could be almost completely restricted, but if you are eating mostly "slider foods" - milkshakes, ice cream, creamy high-fat Soups, mashed potatoes - those foods that go down easily, you will still gain weight.

This article by Jack really puts the changes all Bandsters must make into perspective. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/art-science-philosophy-living-band-74427/ Take a few minutes to read it. It may give you an "a-ha!" moment. Don't give up! You can do this!

[SaraJaneQ 0]

I am with JeepGal. I do not want to seem unsupportive, but the fact that you are gaining that much weight is kind of an indicator that you are not doing what you need to do to make the band work. I know every practice is very different in the kind of support/guidance they give, and it really does not sound (from your post) like your practice is giving you the support you need.

I don't want to lecture you with info you already have, but I just want to make sure you know the most important rules to eating with a band, because not knowing can easily lead to failure. PLEASE do not be offended by this. If you know all of it, just skip it. But I would hate to see someone failing because nobody bothered to educate them on how to use their tool!

NO SWEETS. Ok, we all know its not likely to give up all sweets completely, but if you are indulging in ice cream, cake, Cookies etc more than every couple of weeks....you have a problem. Even worse, these are usually soft calories (see rule two!)

AVOID SOFT CALORIES. liquid calories are pretty much evil. You need to avoid soda, alcohol, juice (should only be used sparingly), any drink that has sugar in it should really not be a part of your life. But even more so, anything that dissolves too easily is bad. Not necessarily to be completely avoided, but not good. My practice gives this recipe (offhand I think its just vinegar and water) that you can mimic the environment in your body. Things that dissolve too quickly will go past your band too quickly. Mashed potatos, Cookies, Pasta - they all dissolve quickly. The way lapband is supposed to work is by keeping the food in your pouch longer. If you eat too much of these foods, you trick your band.

Protein IS KING. You should be basing your meals around solid Protein if at all possible. This of course is meat, chicken, fish etc. These things take the longest to dissolve and will keep you full longest.

Water IS GREAT. Well, most of the time. Try not to drink right before and after eating (consensus hovers around a half hour before and an hour after) so as to not push food past your band too quickly. The rest of the time, get that Water in as best as possible. I struggle with getting my water in, but I can absolutely assure you when my water intake is up, not only do I feel better, but I lose faster.

I really hope things turn around for you. Maybe if you can get like 10lbs off your doc will see you are trying and give you the fill you need. Best of luck to you!!

[HappyCamper 0]

I havent posted here in a long time, so here is whats going on. I had a 14cc ap band put in on march 11th. sence then i have gaind 33lbs. I do not nor have i ever had restriction. i have had 3 fills a total on 6ml or cc. the last one was yesterday it was 1cc. I can eat as much now as i could befor sugery with the exception of bread (it maked me pb) my doc really dosent seem to belive me about not haveing restriction. I know im not eating all the right foods but if I had restriction i should still be loosing. she said she wants me to loose 20lbs befor i have another fill. I thing that might be hard to do if i dont have restriction to began with. the only thing is it takes me a little longer to eat (takes 10-15mins to eat 5lbs of food instead on 5 mins)..... well just though some one might have some uplifting words for me... tommy

I have a 14cc AP band and I didn't feel much restriction until I had 8cc's in my band. Even with good restriction you still have to do your job making sure you're eating the right kinds of foods and exercising. I hate exercise, and resisted doing anything for a long time. My weight was stuck in the same place for months. Then I started tracking everything I ate, wore my pedometer and walked at least 10,000 steps every day. Now I finally broke my plateau and am losing again. I think you need a fill and if you eat right and exercise, I think you'll find that you too will start losing. Good Luck.

[WishUponABand 0]

if you aren't eating the right foods you won't lose weight even with the band. It's not a fix it's an tool you should utilize...eat right and workout and you'll see results. Good luck

[big tom 0]

sorry to give some of you the wrong ideal on the 5lbs of food part. a better example would have been "a full dinner plate" as for sweets and ice cream, they dont come in the house. my son's 1st b-day party last saterday was prolly the 2nd time ive had cake sence march. most of what i eat comes from a can or a box out of the freezer section, we just dont take time to make meals. I do like the jenny O turkey roast but they have to cook almost 3 hrs. I am thinking about seeing another doc and asking for a 3cc fill for a total of 9cc but the next closest one is a 4hr round trip and theres no garentee he will give it to me.

[neverB4 2]

I won't say what you're doing wrong, but I'll tell you what was strongly implied in my pre-op training and is working for me!

You have to work the band first. This can take up to 6-8mos, until you reach your sweet spot. You're sweet spot is when you FINALLY feel restriction. Until then, it is up to YOU to eat only 2-4oz per meal, sensible meals. I do not eat high caloric foods. High Proteins and complex carbs are it for me. 4oz per meal is my max. And I sit at the kitchen table for all meals so I can actually concentrate on each bite, savor each one, and learn my new sense of becomming satisfied, not over-stuffed.

I have 3cc's in a 10cc band. I was told it can take 5-8cc's before I hit that "sweet spot". So right now for me, it takes self-discipline on my part to have the restriction I need at present. Don't get discouraged. Evaluate what YOU are really working at, then what you feel your BAND should be doing!

[Britt_bander_235 0]

Although the band is a tool, it is NOT a magic fix. YOU have to decide to eat the RIGHT foods. If you don't, it means you weren't ready to have the surgery in the first place. You have to commit yourself 100% to this. It can save your life.

If you don't start eating the right foods, you've wasted time and money. Please make the right decision!

:biggrin:

[Nanook 2]

I've had restriction so I know what it feels like and I think you know whether or not you're restricted or eating around the band. I never was able to lose weight banded and am a year post-op and now am having problems associated with the band and have been unfilled for a few weeks but still feel "filled". I would see your doctor. I believe we all are a bit different on the band and no one situation can dictate what another's situation should be on the band.

If this doctor is not helping you and you are being as proactive with your health as you possible can then I definitely would seek out another! Good luck to you Nancy.