adiehl13

Ross- I also have been a long time lurker on this site, and a gastric bypass site. I was seriously considering one or the other, and went to a seminar in my area to get information and meet with a doctor. However, because I have 2 small children, I decided to try one last time losing weight through a supervised program with a doctor before surgery (and yes, this doctor did give me a prescription appetite suppressant, called Phendimetrazine that worked for a good 6 months; I also was on phentermine for 4 wks). I have lost 85 pounds since last June. I tell you this, because there are alternatives to the band. I also would share, that in my research, I came across a fair amount of data in the medical literature about long term negative effects of gastric banding, that made me pause. I'm not sure your goal should be to be on a band long term. although we're all looking for something to keep us on the straight and narrow, at the end of the day- it's like we've always heard- it's up to you to make good food choices. And, as a long term dieter and someone who has struggled with weight my whole life, I believe there is definitely a genetic component that predisposes one to overeat (be it lack of satiety gene or something else), but also a mental component. Because, we know, as we're eating a cheeseburger and french fries how bad it is for our bodies, and yet we chose to do it anyway (I call those my, "I'm pretending I don't have a weight problem days"). Best of luck in your journey. Ann Surg. 2001 Jun;233(6):809-18. "High failure rate after laparoscopic adjustable silicone gastric banding for treatment of morbid obesity." DeMaria EJ, Sugerman HJ, Meador JG, Doty JM, Kellum JM, Wolfe L, Szucs RA, Turner MA. Source Department of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298, USA. edemaria@hsc.vcu.edu