I got a band in 2009 for much the same reasons as you are contemplating it. It was reversible, I wasn’t fat enough for serious surgery etc.
It helped me achieve my goal weight and maintain it for about 6 years and then I started regaining .
There are a lot of things they don’t tell you preband , the reality of living with it is very different to the marketing.
You get told if you overeat it will make you sick, you don’t get told that you may get sick on your first mouthful of healthy food because for some reason it didn’t go down right today. You may have taken a small bite, chewed it well and it could be something you have eaten multiple times before but for some reason today it’s not going to work.
You wish that being sick actually meant vomiting because that would be over quickly and a lot less painful than being stuck. Being stuck causes pain in the chest, you think you are having a heart attack, you can’t swallow anything, not Water and not your own saliva. In extreme cases you end up going to emergency to get an unfill and put on a drip to rehydrate you.
They don’t tell you that healthy food is really hard to eat yet high calorie unhealthy food will go down really easily. Be prepared to say goodbye to steak, chops, chicken, corn, lettuce, raw carrot etc all whilst cursing candy, Cookies ,ice cream etc.
You will never feel full or satisfied like a “ normal” person again. Instead you will feel a horrible pressure in your throat and or chest.
You hear about this magical sweet spot. Well that can be as elusive as the holy grail. Not enough fill and you are still really hungry, too much and you can’t swallow your spit. The difference between the 2 can be O.01 ml and for some reason you still can’t get that sweet spot.
Be prepared to spend lots of time in restaurant loos instead of chatting with your friends ( see my comment above about getting stuck)
Then there is the reflux. Waking up in the middle of the night choking on acid is no fun.
In spite of all this I loved my band as it helped me keep the weight off ( until it didn’t). I was horrified when my surgeon told me they have a limited lifespan and that it was unlikely to do what it was designed to do any longer. He suggested a revision to RNY and I was horrified. That seemed way too extreme.
I went home and did lots of research. Came back into these boards and other Facebook groups and asked lots of questions. I decided to go ahead and my revision to RNY in Jan 2019.
What can I say, the difference is like day and night. My RNY does what the band was supposed to do. I can eat small portions of healthy food and feel satisfied. Hello steak, chops, salad etc. When I’m full I feel it like a normal person would, no more horrible pressure in my chest. I can still eat cake, cookies etc but in much smaller quantities as too much sugar makes me feel gross( which is a good thing). I can go out to eat and spend the time chatting to my friends, food doesn’t get stuck and I haven’t vomited since my revision.
So with the benefit of hindsight if I had my time over I I would not have a band I would go straight to bypass.
If you still feel the band is for you, good luck, do lots of research, be very aware of what you are signing up for. Also start saving so you can fund your revision surgery at some point within the next 15 years.
