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Anyone have any ideas

Just look down below....in less than a year....I whole idea of 'dumping' scared me from bypass

Sabertooth, I am totally against the bypass surgery for the obvious risks associated with it. You really need to make your own decision by researching, comparing the pros and cons and your level of commitment. The band is only a tool to help you to eat less. You will still have to work very hard to loose the weight. I know several people who have had bypass surgery and regret it. You are forever altered with bypass. There are many long term health hazards to be considered if you choose bypass. I choose the band because I felt that it was less invasive then bypass and the health risks were minimal by comparison to that of the bypass. With bypass you will loose your weight faster but you may also suffer from malnutrition. Please, please, do your homework. Don't feel like you have to go through with the bypass unless it is what YOU want. I have absolutely no regrets about having lap band surgery. I still have a long way to go to make my goal but what I am learning about eating healthier and living with my band is really going to help me to maintain my goal weight. Good luck to you!

I'm not so sure it's a bad thing .... dumping. That is exactly why many people opt for bypass, they are hoping they will be one of those that do dump. I have a friend that eats her 800 calories a day in good food and 5# of candy. Yes, daily. She has the worst true sugar addiction of anyone I have ever met. (She's banded) If she had bypass and dumped that would be a wonderful thing. The reason she isn't getting bypass is because it's not a given she will dump. When they first realized bypass could lead to dumping it was a concern. Today they don't look at it as a bad thing, they look at it as a benefit and if you talk to most bypass folks with sugar issues they hope and cross their fingers that they will dump. The issue with the person that claims one will dump with bypass isn't that it was a "potential" complication, it was that she flat out demands and insists bypass folks will have this issue and that simply isn't accurate information. And whether dumping is a complication or a benefit is ... opinion. Personally, I think it's a benefit. The reason I was banded was not because I really wanted a band, the real reason is that I did not want bypass. There were no United States long term studies on the band or the sleeve. I couldn't even find any long term studies on the sleeve anywhere in the world at the time I was banded. We had no idea what the long term results (regarding weight loss) would be. So, I got a band. That was one of the biggest mistakes in my case. I've since revised to a sleeve and it's a much MUCH easier journey. Personally, I'd never get another band. I honestly do not believe it is going to last more than 10 years at best in most people. Newbies want reversible. Once they get to goal they want permanent and forever. ;o)

Hello! As everyone has stated, the LAP-BAND or REALIZE band are much safer than gastric bypass. I have researched all of the surgeries for the past 15 months, and am going to have LAP-BAND (hopefully in September). I have an aunt and also new a school teacher who had gastric bypass and they both died because with gastric bypass, they don't get all of the nutrients. With the band, nothing is cut or rerouted, so your body will absorb all of the nutrients it needs. I have 3 good friends who have been banded within the past 15 months, and all have lost so much weight and say that they just wish they had done it sooner. Good luck! Peg

My neighbor behind me, his son in law had Bypass about 6 months ago. He told me about it as he has seen weight loss with me, thinking I had the same thing "NO THANK YOU !" His attitude is why would you put any thing in you, that's just going to cause you problems an choke? I told him why would you have them cut out 20+ feet of your intestines, cut your stomach up, and re route your insides. Only to have to suffer from Dumping Syndrome, and if you stretch yourself, you can gain the weight all over again.... He just walked away ! ! ! I didn't tell him that everyone that I ever knew that had Bypass are in the Ground. So if he wants to watch my progress,,, I guess I can watch his, as time goes by. I hope he makes it. He would be the first. I don't like those kinda odds..

So far I haven't had any plastic surgerys. I don't know if I will. My insurance is not wanting to pay for anything, and I don't know if it's worth it to me to pay cash. If I do fix anything it would be my arms. The rest doesn't look too bad. Yes, it could be tighter... But I am 52 yr old... Some sagging is acceptable at that age, right? As to why I have been successful when others aren't... I don't know. I was scared at first that I wouldn't be. It was alot easier than I thought it would be to be honest. I think it was a mind set thing. The first couple of times I overrate and ended up with the chest pain followed by needing to "throw up or die" it was so awful that I finally found the point where one more bite is going to take me to that place, and I stopped eating. Sometimes I could eat enough to not look ridiculous... at other times I might be 3 or 4 bites into a meal, and that was all I could comfortably eat. Around Chridtmas last year I had to go get all the Fluid removed because something was going on, and I was at the point where I couldn't even drink Water without having to throw up. I was actually 20 lbs below my goal and looking pretty bad (yes, you can be too skinny). When they let it out there was 4 cc in it. I went back a month later when I had gained back 10 lb and had them put in 1/2 cc and that's there I have been. I still don't eat alot. I don't snack, and I don't try to get around it by eating things that are easier to pack in. I still have difficulty eating meat, and have made an effort to get Protein shakes whenever possible. I had a friend who did it, and she barely lost any weight. I can say everytime I saw her she was "grazing". My advice is not to do that. Some people think that you "have to eat" a certain amount to be healthy. No, you don't. It's that kind of thinking that got you where you ate, and it will keep you there too if you let it. The only thing I "graze" on is sunflower seeds (the ones in the shell) I have heard that you expend as much energy shelling them as they supply in calories. I don't know about that... But it takes me all day to eat a bag... and keeps me satisfied. My Dr. Is thrilled too. He had tried to talk me into a bypass at first because he was afraid I wouldn't be able to lose enough... But I did.

I am 57 yrs old i did and am still doing great with the band.. age really isnt an issue as this is really just minor surgery, a bypass is much more involved and i didnt want rerouting of anything at my time of life. You have enjoyed food for 58 yrs, now is the time to make something else your priority in life, like getting healthy to enjoy your later years.. I have absolutely no regrets at all getting banded. You need to research all your options and make an informed decsion based on what u know u are capable of .. good luck !

Sabertooth; One other thing I wanted to comment on, and the previous poster did so as well. It's the hunger issue. The Lap band does NOT always deal with that issue. The Band CAN have appetite reducing characteristics, although they are not NEARLY as pronounced as those in the other procedures. And the appetite reduction originates from an entirely different source from the other surgeries, when it happens at all. Massive appetite reduction with the band is the EXCEPTION rather than the rule. So I would not count on the Band to do that for you, even though some people do experience it. As far as appetite reduction, The Bypass and the Sleeve are more appropriate options. It has to do with Grehlin. In the case of the Sleeve, the portion of the stomach that is removed during the Sleeve procedure contains the FUNDUS, which secretes Grehlin. Grehlin is a Hormone that stimulates HUNGER. It’s a complicated issue, but it’s an important distinction to make. Reduction of Ghrelin in the nervous system does not eliminate hunger entirely….but it DRAMATICALLY reduces it, and that is KEY to understanding why the Sleeve works. The combination of Grehlin reduction and restriction makes the Sleeve a very, very attractive option…an option that needs to be considered by anyone considering WLS. The very same mechanism produces a similar effect in Bypass patients. The Fundus is NOT removed in the Bypass, but it is ISOLATED and does not allow Grehlin to enter the nervous system from that location. Hence, a DRAMATIC reduction of the appetite. Again, get your info from Professional Sources, but if continual hunger is a very big issue for you, that could signal a "no" for the band, in favor of one of the other procedures. And I'll repeat where I said that SOME people experience appetite reduction with the band, but it is NOT the rule. HH

I struggled with this decision as well, and it's not easy. I also suggest doing a lot of research on all WLS procedures, including the sleeve (don't know much about it personally but seems to be gaining in popularity). I personally chose the band because it was less invasive than bypass and had a much quicker recovery time. I also chose it because it is reversible (depending on which one you have of course, they're not all reversible). I also know 3 people who have gained every pound they lost after having bypass. With the band, if you start gaining you can have a fill and get the same results you had at the beginning of the journey. With the bypass, the stomach can and does stretch out to it's original size (if you do back to old eating habits) and you are "where you are" no adjustments. It sounds like you don't have as much to lose as a lot of other people (100lbs or less) which works well with the band. However, if your main expectation is to lose the weight fast, then the band may not be for you. My personal experience has been fantastic and I am THRILLED I chose the band over bypass. Do you homework, and when you KNOW for SURE which one is the one you want, you won't worry! Good luck!

I will meet with the Dr for the first time Thurs, and I attended his seminar Saturday. I have a feeling I will have the same issue that u had at your Dr's. During the seminar he focused mostly on the gastric bypass. I will have to do some wheeling and dealing like u did probably. Thank goodness u stood ur ground. I plan to do the same.

my doc (im in Alabama) has stopped doing gastric bypass. He does only lapband now. He believes there are so many negatives to gb as opposed to lp which is reversible and there is no major intervention to major organs. Change clinics and get a 2nd opinion!! I am having lp tomorrow and would have never considered gb!! With lp they recommend waiting 18 months b4 getting preggo!!

I didn't tell anyone but my husband and my dad & stepmom because I didn't want anyone scrutinizing me or even paying attention to what I was doing. But seeing as you've told some people already and it's not working out so well you could either drop them from any updates (as in just say you want to be more private about it from now on) and carry on your merry way OR you could give them a crash course on what the band is all about: explain that the reason it's great is that it's NOT bypass so the weightloss is much slower and healthier (ie, 1 to 2 years to lose what you want), how the fills work and how you are not even at a stage where the banding is doing much yet etc etc. I hope you are able to make a choice and deal with this because these friends could really bring you down and you are doing really great. I'd hate to see you affected by that.

LAP-BAND AND ALCOHOL: CAN YOU DRINK AFTER LAP-BAND SURGERY? Thursday, 15 December 2011 11:54 You may have heard conflicting information about your ability to drink alcohol after Lap-Band surgery, or even horror stories about WLS surgery patients who have had a dangerously high blood alcohol content after just one drink. Some doctors may warn you that you can never drink alcohol again - ever - after being banded, because of the risk of damaging your liver. Others say that it's fine to begin drinking moderately six months after surgery, but to exercise caution. So why the difference in opinion? WLS AND ALCOHOL The warnings about WLS and blood alcohol content apply mainly to patients who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RNY). Because of the changes to the digestive system that occur with RNY, alcohol passes directly into the intestines, where it is rapidly absorbed. This can cause patients to become dangerously intoxicated from small amounts of alcohol. Gastric bypass patients should use extreme caution when drinking, and should never drink and drive. Lap-Band patients do not undergo the same changes in anatomy and therefore do not experience the same rapid absorption of alcohol as RNY patients. However, that doesn't mean that Lap-Band patients don't experience some risks related to alcohol consumption. There are some important considerations to take into account when deciding whether or not to pick up a beer or pour yourself a glass of wine. ALCOHOL MAY STILL AFFECT YOU DIFFERENTLY You're losing weight and eating less, which means that you may feel the effects of alcohol more strongly, especially if you drink on an empty stomach. If you do decide to drink, do so in a safe environment, and never drink and drive. Sip slowly and keep your alcohol consumption low until you know how it will affect you. ALCOHOL CONTAINS A LOT OF CALORIES Many doctors prefer that their Lap-Band patients don't drink because of the empty calories in alcohol. Mixed drinks such as margaritas, mai tais, pina coladas, and long island iced teas contain a lot of sugar and as much as 600 calories. Always factors in calories when drinking, and opt for low-cal drinks such as dry wine, vodka mixed with Crystal Light, or light beer - if you can tolerate the carbonation. Some Lap-Band patients find beer easier to drink than soda, but it may take some experimentation to find out what works for you. If champagne is your drink of choice, you may need to open it well in advance and let it go a little flat. SOME WLS PATIENTS STRUGGLE WITH ADDICTIONS Your doctor may prefer that you err on the side of caution as many WLS patients experience a phenomenon known as addiction transference. Because they are no longer able to overeat, they may turn to other unhealthy behaviors for dealing with stress and emotions. If you have a history of alcohol abuse, it's best to avoid it completely. If you want to continue enjoying an occasional drink after Lap-Band surgery, consult your medical team and follow their recommendations as closely. They may advise you to wait six months following surgery to give yourself time to heal and adjust to your new diet. http://www.malleysurgical.com/news/lap-band-and-alcohol-can-you-drink-after-lap-band-surgery.html

Hi, I have a bmi of 32,off on holiday next week so it is bound to rise over the two weeks away, my question is this,is there any way I can get a sleeve with this bmi, Ive been offered the band but really don't want it as there seems so many complications and horror stories Would it help my case if my mum and two sisters have developed type 2 diabetes and my dad has had to have a quadruple heart bypass? Anyone had the sleeve in uk with lower bmi and who did you go with? Any advice greatly welcomed x

As others said, work with your surgeon to understand which surgery is going to be best given your current health. If you have severe reflux or gerd they should steer you to the RNY bypass. If you don't, both surgeries work fantastic. Also....this should never be about losing weight fast, don't get me wrong with both surgeries that will happen. The biggest factor is getting yourself to understand the lifestyle changes needed to get to goal and maintain your loss. Remember the surgery is only a tool. You have to learn to change a lot of your own behaviors to lose the weight and keep it off and that takes time to do. It took me 15 months to loose 151lbs which I consider fast, now I work very hard every day to maintain that loss.

EDITED: I didn't see that you are bypass. I'm sleeve. May be different. Orginal response: You are 2 weeks ahead of me, and in one week I can try "regular" (healthy) food, so I think you're doing ok. But your doc is the real expert.

thanks everyone! I got a new referral today to a surgeon who does VSG. She also does rny and the band - so in 2 weeks I go to the informational seminar, and hopefully will be able to make a decision from there. I am so on the fence. I feel like bypass will make the losing easier because of malabsorption, but I'm just nervous to have a potential deficiency for the rest of my life because of it. the sleeve seems safer to me. I just hope i'm successful with it, if that's the route I choose. TOO MANY DECISIONS!

My doctor refused to remove my healthy gallbladder during the sleeve surgery. ....I asked her to, but she stated insurance would not pay for it. I also asked her to put me on Actigall and she refused, stating I didn't need it and it was mainly for bypass patients. If I get an attack, I will be pissed off and would find another surgeon if I needed surgery. I was psyched about my surgeon in the beginning, but has since "fallen out of love" with her. I feel she is only interested in the results her "procedure" brings, and not in the process of the actual journey I'm on to get the results. At my three month visit I realized I just didn't like her. Sad face..... sorry for the mini rant.

As I've not had either surgery (I am trying to revise to another procedure from lap-band due to a slip, though, so I'm doing a lot of research), the only advice I can give is to take predictions of how good the sleeve is going to be with a grain of salt. After all, researchers were saying the same thing about the lap-band back when I was first banded. It was supposed to be the wave of the future and it had a predicted long-term success rate that rivaled or exceeded that of the bypass. We all know how that turned out. I can't tell you which procedure is best for you, that's up to you and your surgeon to determine. I can share a few things that I've found while researching: Malabsorbtion of calories with RNY lasts for 12-24 months, Vitamin malabsorbtion lasts forever. There are new transdermal vitamin Patches on the market that mean you don't have to worry about malabsorbtion of those nutrients since they aren't passing through your digestive tract. "Dumping" is not a guarantee with RNY. VSG can cause severe GERD, so if you already have GERD, it's not recommended that you have that surgery. You can succeed or fail with either procedure. Success with either one depends on your particular food issues, on how successful you are at resolving those issues, and how you've changed your lifestyle. There are a lot of people out there that are trying to revise from sleeve to bypass and from bypass to DS or band-over-bypass.

I had gastric by pass 3 years ago. Lost 107 lbs. Now I have gained 10 lbs and would like to get it off. Any suggestions would be so wonderful. Dom IN NEED OF HELP

Hello, You feel pretty much as I do right now. I have also gone through all the necessary steps for my surgery. I acutallly had a date, it was October 6th then 2 days before my surgery, I called and postponed it. I also think can I do this on my own, I tried Atkins diet & lost 38 lbs then gained it back, I also tried WW but it didn't work. A coworker of mine lost around 100 lbs on weight watchers & everytime I see her I think I can do it to, but in reality I cant I think I need some help I never thought I would turn to weight loss surgery, but I know Lap Band is the less invasive surgery, and if it doesn't go well you know It can be removed, that's why I think I am going to go ahead with Lap Band. I am not mentally ready for gastric bypass and Lap Band good for me. I have another date Nov 27th. I hope you choose the right choice for yourself, I am tired of yoyo dieting also you have to at least give yourself credit for all the efforts and attempts you tried on losing weight. Good luck with your decision.

Carol -- Thanks for your help. There is a doc in Coffeyville, KS I will probably go to. I live in Tahlequah and Coffeyville is about 2-3 hours away. OKC is closer but I don't think any of the docs there will do fills for Mexican surgery. I teach at NSU and our health insurance is terrible. They won't pay for much, so I'm having to pay for lapband myself and I can't afford it in the States. I'm pretty worried about this band thing because the idea was to lose weight without being really hungry and I see a whole lot of people on this forum are really hungry. How are you getting along? Thanks for replying to my post. I know a bunch of people in OKC have had this surgery. I don't think any docs in Tulsa do it. They do gastric bypass and get the big bucks. So there probably won't be a support group around here unless I start one. Maybe I can belong to one of your support groups via email. Sharon

Thanks, I figured you guys would appreciate it. I'm always amazed that WLS "deniers" (yeah I stole that one from Al Gore) don't look at it rationally until you put that little "conundrum" of the thin bypass person versus the thin regular person in front of them... I have a pet theory that morbid obesity is just some genetic side effect of being famine-resistant. We are OBVIOUSLY hard to starve to death, since all of our surgeries effectively put us in a famine-like state and still can fail at keeping us thin! I tease my skinny friends that when the apocalypse happens and there's no food, I'm gonna be looking AWESOME riding around in my Jeep like Mad Max. ;D

well I can speak from the side of the fence you are refering to...I did no research, I guess everyone is different...I only went to Dr. Spivaks seminar and Loved him from day one!! So I didnt need to go any further....unfortunatly insurance didnt pay for mine..I did self pay! I did have several people I knew that did the lap band and one cousin that did Gastric Bypass, from the begginning I knew I wanted less invasive and once I talked to both sides I made my decision...but I must say I had been under the knife before and that part didnt bother me....so I dont know if you would call speaking to two friends and one family member research or not, but that is how I went about my decision...I guess everyone has thier own way..... cynthia