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You are six weeks in to this and never experienced a regain? or are you a revision?

Hi Everyone :thumbup: I'm new to this site and so far it is soooo helpful. I currently have the band and I too have a lot of questions. Just want to clarify...when you say you get full really fast and once you are full that is it..done. So do you mean (sorry if this sounds really dumb) you can NOT eat another bite? If you do, do you get sick?? or do you just not want to or?? I find with the band that I over eat a lot. I don't plan on it, but I get full, then it seems to settle and I can eat more. Some days I can't eat much but other days you would never know there is a band in there.... I also thought I would be able to NOT drink when I eat...ummm yeah...not so much. Why is this one so hard for me..not sure. Can you drink when you eat with the sleeve? My biggest issue is this....if I could control my portions..I would never have reached my highest weight of 420. I thought I had done so much research before getting my band a year ago, but now I don't think I did enough. What I'm trying to find is a surgery that once I'm full I can't really eat anymore. I'm so afraid I have streached my stoma, pouch whatever it's called because I just seem to be able to eat too much...and sadly I can't seem to find the control I obviously need. At the same time I wonder...am I just being lazy? Have I not given this enough of a chance? Should I just keep getting fills and hope hope hope I find the sweet spot I keep hearing about? I mean I've been fat my whole life...obviously control is an issue with me..lol. I too am self pay and am thinking of a revision. I currently have had 5 fills I think in a year and I'm ready to make an appointment to try another. I now have 8cc's in a 10cc band. I've lost 70 lbs but have not lost an ounce since Christmas. I was actually down 78 but have gained 8 lbs since Christmas even after having more fills. I know I'm at fault because of my portions and I often make poor food choices because I'm sick of getting stuck. I have told very few people about my WLS and when I'm invited out to dinner and get stuck..I'm so sick of having to excuse myself, dash to the washroom to get sick . At the same time...is this my fault? Am I just doing this all wrong? Sighhhhh...I'm frustrated and don't want to make another mistake with the wrong revision...

Hi to all who come after me! My story, huh? Well, I've been overweight for 20 years now, and I've tried a lot of diets, exercise programs, and have had only marginal success. Two years ago I took the next step for me and had the Lap Band Surgery. That wasn't a good experience for me at all. The "minor" reflux I had pre-surgery turned into a monster, and I was always either too tight or not tight enough... and that was in the same day. After two years of foaming, vomiting, and spitting my way through practically every meal, I decided it was time to take control of my life again. At first, I was just going to have the band removed, but when I learned about revision from band to RNY, and how common it was, I found the courage to go through with it. I had my surgery June 3rd, 2011. It has been a rough recovery, but I'm happy to say it's getting better every single day. I'm excited about my future again, and can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for me!

Hello all...I too will be a Band to RNY revision. I'm waiting now on insurance approval. I have gained back all of my weight lost along and decided well that cellulite may be lonely , so lets add another 20 pounds to it... I'm glad to find others out there to talk to about these issues. Sometimes the Rose Coloured Glasses mentality can be frustrating...I know the band does work for some, but I unfortunately cannot include myself in those numbers. I look forward to talking to all of you. Leslie

I'm glad you made it through okay. I hope you heal well and feel better really quickly. Two friends of mine who used to post here regularly just had their bands removed due to erosion, as well. One was worse than the other- one was able to revise to VSG, the other wasn't. Best to you. Feel better soon.

I'm soon facing a revision to a sleeve (3 1/2 yrs with the band) cuz my band herniated. I don't remember the pain of post op lapband. What I'm wondering is: is it equal to, more than, less than the lapband surgery? Any advise u can give to a fellow lapbander?

It's been four months today since I had band to sleeve revision. After a complicated surgery and a rough recovery I was feeling really good. I've lost 72 pounds, have lots of energy and best of all, I haven't been in any pain. Fibro was a huge part of my life prior to surgery and honestly, after surgery I haven't had any fibro pain. However, the past 10 days have been very reminiscent of the pain I had experienced before. I know I'm walking much more and am more active than I have been in years. Maybe the increased activity is causing a fibro flare up, I don't know. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

That's good news for your husband! I am sorry that you are going through all this. Would you be denied from your surgeon or insurance? I thought it was pretty common these days to have the revision. I started at 40 bmi (back in August) and was so nervous I was going to drop below and get denied - that I unintentionally gained more weight over the course of 9 months. My process was a bit longer than most, because I was on anti-depressants, but not seeing a therapist. They wanted me to do 12 weeks of therapy. When that was completed, I was weighed in and was told I needed to lose 15lbs to before I was even allowed to meet with my surgeon. It never dawned on me that sleep apnea (I had just been diagnosed) would be considered a co-morbidity, until my nurse confirmed it. Extra anxiety over nothing. You should contact your insurance/surgeon and ask, just in case. Keep me posted on how you both are doing!

Not finding anything specific unfortunately, at least nothing "new" or recent (or clearly outlined). Rebound rates aside, if you've got a slight reflux now, it will be amplified with the sleeve and reduced with the Bypass, based simply on what the surgery does. And in the off chance that you end up with a major problem... there is no going back after the sleeve, 90% of your stomach is rotting in medical waste somewhere (or been incinerated), with the bypass, everything (for the most part) is all still in there. The sleeve is ONLY a restrictive surgery, there isn't any reduction in caloric intake caused by the surgery itself outside of forcing you to reduce your intake, but then there are all the "slider" foods etc. I made the mistake of choosing the lapband back in 2011 because I was under-educated about the bypass, and well, I didn't want to make any permanent changes, which is ironic, because, I didn't get any permanent weight loss. So, second surgery to remove the band and revise to the bypass in March and I really couldn't be happier... I really do wish I went with the bypass from the get go. A personal (in real life) friend of mine had the sleeve, and he's getting it revised to the bypass because of the lack of progress. Just things to be aware of.

Hi all. I'm a 34-year-old mom of 2, dd is 10 and ds is 7. I was banded in August of 2006. Immediately after my port flipped and needed to be repaired. THat should have been my first clue I made the wrong choice! I managed to lose almost 100 pounds with the band in the first 2 years, but it was s-l-o-w. At the end of 2008, my band surgeon said I should get a consult with a plastic surgeon about my huge apron of skin. It was horrible, hung down past my girlie bits, made me look a lot heavier than I was, my skin was constantly tearing and it gave me rashes. So, in Feb of 09 I had a tummy tuck and breast lift. Holy crap what a difference! He took off 16 pounds of extra skin and the surgery took 11 hours. The recovery was horrible. Because of the band, I've had problems with medication working right and it took a bit before we found an oral pain killer that actually worked. I was off work for 6 weeks and the recovery was horriblle. I managed to mess up my knee the day after surgery so it was always going numb and giving out on me. No one knew why. Then I got a stomach virus and puking after a tummy tuck, with a lapband, is it's own special kind of hell. Just as i was starting to feel human again I got scarlet fever. Which I thought went out of style with hoop skirts and mutton chops! Evidentally not though. My pcp said because my system was so screwed up due to the surgery, a strep infection just went haywire. That took another 2 weeks to recover from. I'd finally gotten to a weight that, while it wasn't as low as I wanted, I was happy with my body. I looked good, felt normal for the first time in my life and liked the way I looked in the mirror. I no longer walked into a room and got that horrible feeling of "Oh no, I'm the fattest person here". I felt like people noticed me and not my weight. A couple months ago I started having restriction problems, bouncing between too loose or too tight, and waking up at night with horrible reflux and choking on my stomach contents. Yuck! Had an upper gi done last week after an unfill didn't help matters and surgeon says the band needs to come out. It is extrememly tight, which he said makes no sense because it's empty and I don't feel like I have any restriction (which is why I've gained some weight back ). So, now we start the process of getting insurance approval for the band removal and revision to the sleeve. He said he'll push for the sleeve instead of bypass because bypass does not appeal to me. I'm already deficient in B12 and vit D and take injections and supplements for that. I'm afraid of what would happen if I had the malabsorption issues to deal with too. If insurance (Anthem Blue Cross) wil only cover the removal but not the sleeve, I'm hoping it will be cheap enough for me to self-pay for the sleeve. And I really want to get this done soon! The idea of being on a liquid diet over the holidays is not at all appealing. I've been reading all your stories since finding out I might lose my band and have gotten so much help from them! Thanks for sharing your stories. :001_smile:

Let me cut to the chase...Lapband is a living nightmare.I have had it since 2004...I was going for a revision to the sleeve but this is my 2nd and last WLS and I have decided to go with RNY....it allows you to lose the amount you need and if you are like me I don't have the time to lose a little?.i want the proven Gold Standard with the history of success and data....Do yourself a favor and research....I thought it was the band...then then the sleeve...finally I have it RNY.I am a few pounds shy of 300 no time to play games..RNY....but it's your choice.

Mind telling me what your allotted calories and carbs are each day? I am also a revision patient and have a bigger pouch. I didn't get any guidelines as to what that should look like other than 5 small meals a day.

Yeppers, we are smack dab in the middle between Pensacola and Destin. I had my revision at Eglin. The husband is stationed out of Hurlburt Field, and we live off-base in Navarre. It's about a 40 minute drive to downtown Pensacola from our house.

I was banded 12/3 and was rockin my band until they realized my band wasn't working properly due to a kink in the line. I had surgery again to revise the port 2/8. The problem is the incision where the port is happens to be much larger now and slower healing. It's really difficult to wear a bra due to it rubbing right on it. I work at a hospital and we have try a few things to make it more comfortable but it continues to pull the glue off the incision. Any suggestions on something else to use. Thanks in advance!

So I'm thinking about giving up on my insurance fight and just switching to self-pay. I had a slipped band over a year ago. It took 6 months to get the insurance company (Fed BCBS) to finally agree to remove the band but they denied a revision to VSG stating it wasn't medically necessary because my BMI was under 35. I submitted an appeal to the Federal Office of Personnel Management in October for what was supposed to be a 60 day appeal. They "lost" my case and had to start over. Then they closed it because they didn't understand I was asking for a revision and not some sort of random partial gastrectomy. They finally sent it out for review but it sounds like they didn't select a bariatric surgeon because the answer last week came back that it isn't medically necessary because my weight isn't over a 40 BMI. The told my attorney to wait for the report and then call and talk to the nurse but I haven't heard back yet. At this point it's been almost 7 months since I submitted the appeal. This has been going on for so long I'm almost back to my original weight. If I had it to do over again I'd have done a self-pay revision with Dr. Aceves right from the start. Heck, I'd be at my goal weight by now. I just don't have it in me to keep this up. I went ahead and requested a surgery date with Dr. Aceves and put first-class airline tickets on hold on my miles. I can't think what hoops the insurance company would have next. They just don't get that the standard of care for a revision doesn't require you to regain all your weight first. I could go forward with the surgery and then sue them after the fact but I'm not sure it's worth the mental energy after all this. I had some old Microsoft stock lying around and it's almost enough for the surgery. I'm thinking that I'll never miss the money and can just get on with my life. I don't want to self-pay up here because it's really expensive and they don't cover complications like Dr. Aceves does. I could be down there next weekend having this done and just moving on. Thoughts? I could use some additional input... Thanks! Britt

Thank you - I like it. I do not plan on telling my nosey coworkers WHY I am having surgery. Don't feel like dealing with the know it alls that feel the need to give their "just diet and work out" advise that works for them to get their extra 5-10# off. One of my other coworkers recently was sleeved and lost over 100# between the surgery and doing his part by being in the gym first thing every morning working out. "If he would have just gone to the gym every day, he wouldn't have needed the surgery." I told one of them the other day to go carry 100# of weights as they run on the treadmill and let me know how "easy" it is for them. They just don't get it and I don't care to involve them in any part of my journey. I already had my gall bladder removed and had a hiatal hernia repair at the time of my initial lapband procedure (now going for revision to the sleeve). I have reflux issues, so I just read that I can blame that on fibroid tumors that will have to be surgically removed when the peanut gallery sticks their nose in. Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

Maybe we all place too much emphasis on enjoying what we eat. We should all concentrate on the better things in life, not worrying about our sustenance. For me part of my weight problems were the fact that all I did was think about the next thing I could put in my mouth, I still have those thoughts, only 3 weeks out, but I can already feel them waning. I still remember how things taste and reflect on those at times of real trouble. I also try to revise the food items so that I can eat them. Deconstruct a Reuben sandwich and you get some lean meat (trim the fat please), cheese, sauerkraut and a little sauce, minus the bread of course but just as satisfying.

OMG I got it after my surgery in both feet. I was working out a lot and still over 220#. I was stretching enough. So I also had Achilles tendonitis with it. It's awful. I went through pt and got cortisone in both feet. I also had to wear a boot which is excruciating. I hope that with my revision and additional weigh loss it solves it. It flares up, but my feet never feel 100% most days. I roll my feet with a golf ball. I also do stretches of my feet and calfs. I did not go back to foot dr. Because I know my weigh is gonna come up.

I had band problems and mine had to come out my insurance required 6 months of appts and counseling was well worth wait my revision was done November 16 2015. Down 50lbs. It's frustrating to wait but well worth it in the end.

Everyone is different...I have PCOS and a sluggish thyroid.I am also a revision and over 50....ugh a long slow process awaits but I will work as hard as I can.

@@1Cor2:9 Well done and Congratulations! Awesome result! I am 1Ib away from being a sleeve success. I lost 60Ibs 5 months post op. Well, my revised goal is another 22Ibs down, and my stretch goal is 33Ibs away. I most certainly don't want to stop at my current weight. I want to keep losing until I reach my goal, then maintain it. My motivation is like yours, so I wish you all the best! We can do it

to to revise still having problems with this band, has the surgery to fix hole in tubing had a fill of 3 cc's that day went back this month and lo and behold had nothing in my band again, went for a port-o-gram and dye fill to check it and wouldnt you know it it is leaking again in same place, so its back again to have it fixed yet again

While I weighed 250 in 2009 when I was banded, I weighed 174 9 mths ago when I had my sleeve revision. My BMI was 28. But my insurance covered it cuz I had a band complication. I had a 24 hr pre op diet so I'm of no help there So yes, there's a few of us around that started at less than 200. Good luck to u!

Bypass is only a tool, and is not a cure all. We now have the responsibility to use this tool and plan, track and manage our intake and exercise to get and stay where we need to be at. I could see that if I did not plan and stick to the macros, even with a pouch, I could over eat calories and carbs to derail my progress. I too can eat anything and no real dumping. Also, due to revision, I have a much larger pouch than many others, and the volume I can eat at a sitting can seem huge. Luckily small amounts keeps me satisfied, I eat 5 to 6 small meals a day, and do not go over my allotted calories and carbs each day. Each of us has a different challenge, and ours is our bypass does not control fully what we can eat. Good luck.

Sounds like GERD. One of the big components of it too is having the feeling like you're going to burp but it winds up being regurgitated food/drink. Definitely get the assessment from your doctor though, they might order other tests too. I have moderate GERD/reflux going into a sleeve next month and crossing my fingers it doesn't make this any worse or I could be facing a revision too.