janetj

I hate it when something works for someone and they think that means it has to work for everyone. Before the lapband, people would say to me "WeightWatchers works, and if it is not working for you the problem is you and not Weight Watchers." They would say that because it had worked for them. But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work for me. So now to read people say "the band ALWAYS works for EVERYONE and if it doesn't work for you it is YOUR fault." I totally disagree.
The band worked for me--and I am very grateful to God for that. But I don't believe it works for everyone, any more than I believe Weight Watchers or ANY program works for EVERYONE.
My surgeon told me one of the ways the band works is that by having the food at the top of your stomach, it activates the nerves that send the full message to the brain. I think some people may have a flaw in these nerves and even with the band they don't send the message. I think some people have more sensitive nerves and others have less sensitive ones--that's why some people can hit their sweet spot with little to no fill and it takes others way more fill, and still others have nerves that are so de-sensitized that they never hit their sweet spot and thus the band doesn't work for them.
If you did everything you know that you were supposed to and the band did not help your hunger, then the band failed you--plain and simple. It's unfortunate but true. Just like some people can take a medical treatment and it cures their disease and another person can take the same treatment and it doesn't help them--that's how the band works. And just because you are one of the lucky ones it works for, don't try to make the others feel bad. Just be grateful that it worked for you!