niche

I'm somewhere in the middle of the two of you. I have had a pretty good experience with the band in the sense that it allowed me to lose 'most' of the weight I was trying to lose. I have had an unfill but was able to refill 3 weeks later, so it was a relatively minor speed bump. I will say as a warning to people looking for a band that this is not the answer for everything. You will still have to follow a diet that allows you to lose weight, bear in mind that this diet may not mean the one that is easiest to eat with very tight restriction. I started gaining my weight back after about the 4 year mark where I was 21lbs above (189) my lowest weight (168). Now I have gone to a low carb diet because it completely eliminates my cravings and provides the maximum nutrient density. Not to mention, it keeps my insulin under control and stops the fat storage from continuing. I am now under my low weight at 166 and am shooting for my 150lb goal. Finally. Then on to maintain land!

I'm glad to see that some low-carbers have come here to support each other. The science really is with us - read 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' and it extensively outlines the endocrinological reasons that carbohydrates are not good human food. The reader's digest version is: carbohydrates drive insulin, insulin drives fat storage. In order to nip fat storage in the bud, nip insulin in the bud by avoiding excess carbohydrates. I am almost 5 years banded and I began regaining my weight because I went down the Standard American Diet path. It had my hunger levels completely out of control and me feeling very sluggish. And for all of 'you calories in, calories out' people, this is an example that fat storage does not happen because you are slothful, people are slothful because their fat metabolism is dysregulated. Now that my fat storage is regulated thru low carb (actually near zero carb, but I won't shock all of you with the science for that) I feel great, and my energy levels are wonderful. I am a huge proponent of low carb eating for health for nearly every human. I am glad that this space is here on LBT. Let's keep using this for support. It works!

yep yep yeppers! apparently "yep!" is not a sufficient post length.

i think it's because the actual size of the pouch is 1/4 c. but while you're eating some of the food goes through the stoma allowing you to eat more than the size of the pouch. i think the card just says that to avoid litigation for stretched pouches, slips etc. if someone eats more than they should.

there has absolutely been a lot of great advice but i'm a bit puzzled at why all of us WLS patients discount that surgery may actually be beneficial to this young lady even though she is young. i'm not saying that every health possibility, mental and physical, should not be explored, but we here all know the chances of succeeding at dieting long term. so i just say that to say, MAYBE she needs/would benefit from a medical intervention to help her regulate her weight.

i also loosen after exercise. it's only when i exercise that i can drink anything in the morning.

i am also really saddened that the lap-band wasn't made available as a wls option for her. there is a lot of research that has been done on the safety and efficacy of the procedure for young adolesents. i don't disagree with the lipo per se, it's just that it is a procedure that is not intended for weightloss and probably won't work for the girl in the long run. if all she needed to become one of the 3% of effective dieters was a jumpstart, god bless her. but it just seems like a strange course of treatment. and probably more risky to lipo 35 lbs than a gastric bypass and definitely a more dangerous surgery than a lap-band.

i'm in a 10/12 now but my goal is a solid 6. i'm 5'8"

my nurse practitioner, who is banded has the 10cm 4cc inamed and says that he has had up to 4.7ccc's in the band and that the 4ccs is just mfr's suggestion.

my eyes water and i know it's all connected up there.

i put my fill experiences in my signature not so that people can compare their level to mine, but just so that people know that you can have restriction from day one or some people may have to get to the higher numbers. i didn't feel anything until 3.4ccs. but it's like obscenity, you know it when you -feel- it. lol

on plastic surgery - i vote YES. lift up these hound ears (a.k.a. my breasts) at first financial opportunity.

yep, gaspar is a sweetheart and gave me tissues through my angry tears. i guess i realized that i may have complications at some point, but i genuinely was *not* ready to contemplate the possibility less than a year into the band journey. i hope i've cheated the complication boogie man for a while and continue with good restriction. i hope yours ends up being nothing too!

i definitely agree that there is an age and gender dynamic at work here that has only been touched on by a few people. it seems that older men are least likely to have bariatric surgery for any cosmetic consideration and younger women are most likely to have cosmetic surgery for cosmetic consideration. i definitely fall into the young women's category and i had not yet had any ill effects from my obesity. i do have all of the typical comorbidities on both sides of my family but at 27, the decision to have surgery was *absolutely* influenced by the goal of improving my mental and emotional health. which is certainly influenced by the way other humans treat me. i know i wouldn't have done this (at least at this point in my life) if rubenesque were still the ideal. so what? i certainly do not consider myself immoral. i weighed the risks of surgery, and the cost/benefit was acceptable to me. i am simply another person taking advantage of better living through technology.

this very same thing happened to me. i went in in august to be raised from 3.4 to 3.6. after the fill i didn't feel any different, but i was on liquids, so i didn't really pay attention until i started solids and ANY and EVERY thing would go through. so i went back and there wasn't 3.6ccs in but .2! so they put me up to 3ccs and the restriction was somewhat there. then i went back and they took out 2.4ccs. so .6 had disappeared. then they took me up to 3.4. i went back and there was 3.4 in and then they took me up to 3.8 where (i hope!) i am now. so apparently they said my issue was a 'fluke'. and the saline prob went into my skin as opposed to my port. and it just looked like a leak. i hope that is the case. so, definitely keep going to the doc to see where you are. but they told me that if the fill keeps leaking, the port would have to be replaced. so that seems to be the standard treatment. best of luck to you!