I'm 5'2" 159lbs with a BMI of 29. Do I qualify for a Lapband? I'm tired with my yo-yo diet and keep going back and forth losing and gaining weight.

Do I qualify though for a Lapband. I'm planning to look for a lapband surgeon in Singapore. Anyone have news regarding this?

Technically you don't qualify for the band, but that doesn't mean you cant find a surgeon who will do it. The FDA says 40 BMI or 35 BMI with co-morbidities but I was banded at 32.

That being said, I am going to caution you that since you only have 30 pounds or so to lose, when I got down to the last 15 I quit losing with diet alone and had to exercise the rest off. What I have seen on these boards is diet alone only gets you down to about a BMI of 25-27 and if you want to go lower you have to burn the fat off with very vigorous exercise. So the band would (probably) only help you about 15 pounds or so, so it might not be worth spending the money.

If you are paying cash you are likely to find a surgeon. I had a BMI of 30 and my doctor was totally on board and never said I was too small for the band. I was banded 10 days ago. If you lie and say you are 5 foot 1 yor BMI will be up to 30 which is considered Obese. I am 5 foot 9 but said I was 5 foot 8 to change my BMI. Nobody checks your height. They just chec your weight.

If you are paying cash you are likely to find a surgeon. I had a BMI of 30 and my doctor was totally on board and never said I was too small for the band. I was banded 10 days ago. If you lie and say you are 5 foot 1 yor BMI will be up to 30 which is considered Obese. I am 5 foot 9 but said I was 5 foot 8 to change my BMI. Nobody checks your height. They just chec your weight.

That is not necessarily accurate. My PCP and my surgeon BOTH checked my height. Any ethical doctor would.

With regard to ethics, I would steer clear of any doctor willing to do the surgery on anyone who does not meet the criteria set forth by the manufacturers of the Lap-Band. Off-label use of drugs, devices, etc. is common, but it is not right - or legal.

Specifically, for Singapore, I know that their health authority (like the FDA in the US) looks to the labeling approved by the FDA for their local labeling, so they would likely have the same criteria as is in the US labeling.

Then again, I do see that many people here don't seem to care about that. It is all about how to cheat the system (wearing weights for weigh-ins, lying about height) to get a band.

All this said, YOU are the one who will have to live with the consequences of getting banded, so make the decision that makes sense for you.

I do not think that anyone on this board is here to "cheat the system" or using "unethical doctors". We are all overweight, unhealthy, and have found ourselves incredibly unhappy with our situation. It is not a good idea to cast stones at people trying to make themselves happy and healthy.

My doctor is part of a very large, ethical, and successful practice in SF. Not some seedy back door establishment. His record and liscense are clean as a whistle. Banding someone with a BMI less than 35 is not illegal as you state that it is nor is it unethical. The manufactururs make guidelines but are no way stating that you can't band a fat girl that is a size 18 and is obese but not technically morbidly obese.

I paid cash and cheated nobody nor did anything unethical. Perhaps nobody measured me since I paid cash and was not using my insurance? My PCP did not do a pre-op measurement either when he cleared me for the operation.Many people on this site are with a BMI pre-surgery lower than the reccomended BMI on the Lap Band and have good doctors and good intentions.

Edited August 29, 201015 yr by BeachBabe

My doctor is the most ethical doctor I've encountered (and I have encountered many), and he never measured my height. I guess if I'd claimed to be something different than I am, his antennae might have raised, and he might have chosen to do so. But when faced with a responsible adult honestly answering scores of questions about her health and history, I guess he chose to trust the answer about my height, as well.

No one is looking to "cheat the system" here. A person posed a valid question.

I know my doctor would not band a patient with a BMI of 29--because when I hit that level, he celebrated, with me, moving out of the band-able category. (And I'm only referring to what he would do.) Self-pay or no, 29 is not a level for which he does banding--largely for the reasons Leigha describes.

...No one is looking to "cheat the system" here. A person posed a valid question...

We must be reading different boards because I have seen posts in which people list their tricks for making weight. In fact, I have sent PMs to folks asking them for their tricks and they are all too willing to share with me. Some ways include wearing heavy clothes (jeans and sneakers), wearing weights (around the ankles or even in the bra), slouching when height is measured, and even eating salty food (Chinese, specifically) the night before a weigh-in. Also, I recall reading here something about people faking their required 6-month diets or making fake entries in food journals.

I am just stating facts. No more, no less.

So explain to me exactly how I "cheated the system". My Dr weighed me at 195, I am a true 5' 5" and I paid $10,200 of my hard earned money for my band.

I have read all of the posts you are referring to with the weights, height, etc. For goodness sake if someone has a BMI of 39 and is needs to be 40 for insurance to kick in is it really a big deal to use weights instead of gorge themselves on cakes, ice cream, and fried foods to get from 39 to 40? I think pigging out and getting fatter so you don't "cheat the system" is silly and it is better to use weights!! What it all boils down to is that everone here is overweight and trying to get healthy and happy.

Off-label use is not illegal in the U.S. I take an anti-seizure medication for migraines. I am thankful for it every day.

Also, the BMIs listed on LAP-BAND website are guidelines. It states that only a surgeon/physician can decide if this surgery is right for the individual.

If Leigha's surgeon felt that this surgery is an appropriate treatment for her medical condition, and she gave informed consent and wrote the check, there is nothing wrong with that.

The BMI/comorbidity REQUIREMENTS in the U.S. are for insurance companies to pay for the surgery.

Many insurance companies are now requiring proof of a history of obesity in order to avoid people gaining weight or wearing weights to appointments specifically to qualify for WLS.

While I'd argue that wearing jeans and sneakers to an appointment is different that adding weights..the latter being fraud, the former being clothing, why don't all doctors weight patients in gowns? Why aren't all doctors' scales calibrated?

Weight Watchers in California got all their scales calibrated by the State Board of Equalization when a life time member raised a fuss about being charged for being over goal weight when on a different scale she was not.

At the time, weekly fees were $14.00 and someone raised a stink over the scales for that? But no one questions the accuracy of a doctor's scale when we are talking thousands of dollars on the line?