I had no clue there were two bands in the US. I was looking through my folder from the WLS Center and just noticed. Do I choose, or just leave it up to my surgeon? Also, does anyone have a Realize band? I am just curious on the differences, if there really are any....

My doctor said before surgery that he uses both of the brands. Not sure why he chooses one over the other but I have the Lap-Band.

Over all there really is no difference but, The Realize band is low pressure and the Lap Band is high pressure. I chose the Realize for that reason, I fugured being low pressure would cause less damage should anything happen, I could be wrong about that though. Realize has also been around longer with proven studies that Lap Band could not answer for me. The downfall is that it takes a little longer sometimes with the adjustments. Good Luck in your choice

My best friend and I were both banded within a few months of each other in 2009. I received the realize band and she received the lap band. We both had about the same amount of weight to lose. She initially lost weight much faster than I did. For whatever reason, it took me longer to get to the right fill amount in my band to reach the sweet spot. That being said, over the last few years it has been much easier for me to stay at the right maintaining adjustment level. I went in once last spring (2011) for an adjustment and she went to see her doctor 4 or 5 times over the last year for adjustments. I know everyone may experience different results but overall we have both been happy with our bands.

I originally had the Realize band. My surgeon offers both, and he said he usually just picks one unless his patients have a preference. I did a little research and decided that I wanted Realize. That was in May '11.

Jump ahead to November '11, and I find myself getting the Realize band taken out and replaced with a Lap Band because it had a leak. Yep, I had to have the ENTIRE surgery done over again. Upon finding out that my Realize band had a leak, my surgeon turned to his nurse and said, "We've only had three leaks in the past, and they've all been with the Realize band, haven't they?" Turns out, it is most likely a manufacturing defect...still waiting for the drug company to finish analyzing the band.

I'm not telling you this to discourage you from getting the Realize band. It could have been a flook for me, or maybe just one particular lot of the bands were defective. I'm telling you to question your surgeon further about his personal history with using each band. I wish my surgeon would have filled me in on the fact that he has had three leaks with Realize and no leaks with Lap-Band. Instead, he withheld that information and told me to pick whichever one I wanted. You deserve to know all the info before proceeding with surgery!

Good luck with your decision!

My doctor uses the Lap Band unless we request the Realize Band.

I have an Allergan band.

My doctor requests that his patient's choose. I told him that I researched his qualifications, his partner's qualifications and the practice track record; therefore, I trusted him to choose the brand of band. He told me that he prefers the Realize band because it is low pressure.

I decided on the Realize band because of the lower-profile port...My surgeon said most women pick the Realize band for that reason and that most men in his office pick the Lapband...I had done research before I went in and knew what I wanted.

My doctor chose the realize band for me because he likes the website better for patent interaction. I would agree! I also like the lower profile port

My doctor has done his own personal research on both the Realize and the Allergan lapbands. In his research of all his patients he has found Allergan to be the best. He said that people with the Allergan tend to lose more in the long run and keep it off better. He himself has the Allergan band. That is what I have.

My Dr uses the Lap Band (Allergan). I asked him about the port, and he said they have re-designed it to be low profile, bigger surface area to make it easier to fill.

Well now that you mention it I never gave it much thought but looked through my info and I have the realize band but I didn't know anything about the low versus high pressure. I guess I'm going to have to do some looking into this. Thanks for making my more alert!

I have the Realize band, I was fortunate enough to be selected for a band trial.