Hi everyone(: Just to put it out there i am in the process of getting a EGD done then hopefully i will get a date for my surgery (if i dont have to have anything else done after that).And since it seems close but so far away im just very curious about your stories(: I wanna hear YOUR success stories and even you horrible moments/stories. Im just so curious about what could happen possibly to me also.. Haha i think too much i know:/ Also if you had a EGD how was your experience with it? Can you somewhat tell me what to expect? Dos and donts of having the lapband. Im just really nervouse but more anxious to get it, it just seems so far away:/

I will have to disagree! I have been what the doc calls the Poster Child for LapBand as I have been religious about getting a new fill every single time I can see that I am able to eat more (too much) I have not had to work at it...I have not been to the gym except for the first 2 months after banding. I eat what I want, when I want and have for the last almost 2 years since surgery. I wasted tons of money in the first few months trying to find a Protein shake that I could gag down since they all taste like crapola...so I have never drank one since. While my hair did thin and I ended up cutting it all off, I think this is pretty normal no matter what. I have been tested for every single little deficency possible and everything is Golden! YES, the band absolutely IS a miracle cure!! It does take many months to feel like you are at your "sweet spot", but that is completely normal! I started out in a size 20 pre-surgery and in less than one year I was in a size ZERO! Just look at my pics IT ALL HAD TO DO WITH FILLS!!!! Fill, Fill, Fill! If you want to be able to still eat like a horse, that is your perogative, if you won't tighen your band then you won't lose, SIMPLE AS THAT! Me, I always kept my band as tight as I could comfortably stand it. I haven't had any fills in about 5 months and feel perfect! If anything I will get an unfill to gain back about 5 lbs.

Agree 100%. My Dr. Said about the same thing to me last week. Banded just over a year and he said I am one of his best cases!!!

I do not regret the band one bit. Never had a problem. Sure, I've been stuck many many times, but that goes with learning to adapt to the band. NOT the other way around.

Yes, there are foods I will never be able to eat again, but SO WHAT! Small price to pay in contrast to the big picture.

When they told me 2 years ago, that they would put a band around my stomach, and adjust it tight to the point I would NEVER be able to over eat ever again....I said BRING IT! I was ready and motivated, and still am today in spite of all the uncertainties posted by all the NEWBIES.

Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow, and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have worried twice.

HHmm... it has been a bit past 2 years for me and the most i have lost is 52lb. right now i believe i have gained back 12lbs. Why?? because i have been sabotaging myself for the last 6 months or so. The band lets me eat "snacks" and funny enought if i get stuck it is with chicken, meat,... the stuff i should be eating.

I do not regreat getting the band...it is not her fault that i have been lazy with going to the gym and have been using the stress of having 3 small kids and finacial struggles as excuses.

I KNOW i need to buckle down and get down to the bussiness of taking care of myself.

Since the band i have given up all Soda and all caffeine. Also bread...but i have not been able to gove up rice and Pasta.

my biggest down fall is that i graise...and calories add up that way.

I have not seen my Dr in over 1 years. I just dont want to hear what i know he will say. Supposebly my band is at 8.5 CC and that is Alot. Even though i can eat alot more that 1cup pf food at a time.

Best of luck with your journey...just remeber that the band is just a Tool and there is always a way to go around it.

HHmm... it has been a bit past 2 years for me and the most i have lost is 52lb. right now i believe i have gained back 12lbs. Why?? because i have been sabotaging myself for the last 6 months or so. The band lets me eat "snacks" and funny enought if i get stuck it is with chicken, meat,... the stuff i should be eating.

I do not regreat getting the band...it is not her fault that i have been lazy with going to the gym and have been using the stress of having 3 small kids and finacial struggles as excuses.

I KNOW i need to buckle down and get down to the bussiness of taking care of myself.

Since the band i have given up all Soda and all caffeine. Also bread...but i have not been able to gove up rice and Pasta.

my biggest down fall is that i graise...and calories add up that way.

I have not seen my Dr in over 1 years. I just dont want to hear what i know he will say. Supposebly my band is at 8.5 CC and that is Alot. Even though i can eat alot more that 1cup pf food at a time.

Best of luck with your journey...just remeber that the band is just a Tool and there is always a way to go around it.

I will bet when you go back to the doc and they take out the Fluid to measure you will no longer have the 8.5cc. In a year some of the fluid does go away. It's not a leak. The fluid goes away through osmosis or something. You will find it so much easier if you go back every 10-12 months for a tiny fill to keep you in the zone.

Im enjoying all the post...learning from them all to...and im with you holly im sure i will ave a few "stuck" times...but after reading here i hope im smart enough to think twice....thanks for sharing.good luck !

I was a slow loser in the beginning. Instead of beating yourself up over it, think how much more you could weigh right now if you hadn't had the surgery. I was down 13 pounds the first month and only 18 by the second. I would tell myself, "Be happy weighing 217 right now because if I didn't have the surgery I could be easily gone up to 240"! I love the saying, "It's your journey, not a competition". You have had a lifetime of bad habits that got you to where you were. Habits are definitely hard to break, the lapband isn't wrapped around your head!

Im enjoying all the post...learning from them all to...and im with you holly im sure i will ave a few "stuck" times...but after reading here i hope im smart enough to think twice....thanks for sharing.good luck !

Sometimes dee it may take me 10 times to think!!! Yesterday my girl and her friend were eating my favorite cheese its in the car. Smelled so good and then I come home and see my boy's goldfish crackers sitting on the table. Now those I have never had a problem with. I threw a few of those back and then I started to have a yogurt with 1/4 c granola and it started going down slow. I waited awhile and then I finished having that with no problem. So even a year out it can still be hard. I'll prob be wanting to have some of those Cheese Its til I go to the grave! Can't help what I like!

Hello,

I'm not a fan of my band. I've had mine for 3 years now. In preperation for the band, I ended up loosing almost 80 pounds but I chose to continue with the procedure. I lost maybe 10 pounds with the band, moving up and down. the dissapointment hit me hard about a year ago and I sortof gave up. My horror story is as follows: I was so desperate for this to work. For a year I went in for fill adjustment after fill adjustment. After one fill, I woke up the next day without the ability to swallow my own saliva. It was Saturday and my only choice was to wait till I could make another appointment or go to the emergency room. By this point in time I'm broke. I wait. I didn't sleep for days, everytime I laid down, little bits of what I guess were stomach acid would come up but could go back down. I sit in bed with burning and I couldn't eat or drink water. Obviously, after 2 days, I went to the hospital. I can't afford to adjust it and I don't have the money to go to the doctor as of this moment. I have horrible heartburn sometimes, I can't drink water till later in the day and I'm thirsty all the time. As soon as I can, I'm going to get all the fluid taken out. I wish I never put this foreign thing in my body. I've adopted a plant-based diet and I stay away from meat, dairy and anything processed. To be fully successful, I have to get rid of the band, I need my stomach to operate naturally (it's hard to over eat veggies!) . One poster talked about smoothies and let me tell you, they are awesome! I feel better and better everyday. The most successful part of my band experience was the therapy, the nutritionist and the regular doctors visits. I contribute my initial 80 pounds to that more than anything. The thing about the band is that you're still on a diet. Don't forget that. It doesn't take away your ability to eat junk. You still need discipline and control.

Hello there. I am coming up on a year and very happy with my band. I can't say that it has controlled my hunger' date=' hoping my next fill will do it. My horror story? Thank goodness there is only one! I ate a handful of cheese Its, packed my band full and then drank a slushy. Not even thinking that I shouldn't have the slushy after eating, I was excited because my kids wanted one and I saw they had a sugar free one. Well, shorthly thereafter I couldn't even swallow my saliva. When you do get something stuck, you will get a ton of saliva and that's what comes up for me whenever I have had something get stuck.

After 5 hours of throwing up, I finally decided to call my dr. Mind you, I was camping and now it was 7:30 pm! I was atleast 50 miles away from the office and thought I could just crawl into my tent and just sleep it off. Nope, no way, no how! My physician asst met me at the office at 9:30 pm. She took a tiny bit out and instant relief! Did I learn my lesson? Well, yes and no. I never did it to that extreme but I did have Cheese Its one more time and felt them going down slow. So, since then I haven't touched them! I wish the same thing would have happened with chocolate!

Good luck! Can't wait to hear your success story down the road.[/quote']

Just a thought. I used to drink sf slurpees then as I got tighter they made me burp. Did some research and found out they are carbonated.

Hi there!

I am going on four years with my lap band. Next Monday (2/6) I have an appointment for an endoscopy. I am looking to get my band out after struggling with it since the beginning.

After explaining to my Doc some of the symptoms I've been experiencing lately she thinks I may have have Erosion. If you haven't heard that term yet' date=' it's when your band begins to migrate into your stomach.

Anyways, I've struggled constantly with throwing up, my hair started falling out, I developed terrible acne after never struggling with blemishes at all, the roof of my mouth swells painfully (which i've now come to learn is an odd effect of Vitamin B deficiency) I have many other deficiencies as well. I have pain and nausea when I eat.

In the 3 1/2 years i've had this I've lost approx 45 lbs, most of which was from constantly vomiting. I'm constantly exhausted and I can't wait to get mine out.

My biggest suggestion to you, is if you get the banding done invest in a great juicer. Juicing is one of the best things you can do for yourself with the lap band.

Also, EGD's are super easy, you have nothing to worry about with those. This one coming up will be my third.

I wish you all the best with your weighloss journey.[/quote']

Sorry for you're troubles but you may have helped me. I have chronic dry mouth and most the time my mouth and tongue feel terrible sore and dry. Recent found out I am deficient in B and very much so in D. Never thought it could be Vitamins. Maybe it is. Best of luck to you.

My reply is to the juicing comment, in my opinion it is one of the worst things you an do. The band is meant to be used with high protein solids. Juices will not keep you satisfied and have a lot of sugar. I have never seen this suggested before.

Hely88 you are very correct as if I haven't heard it enough from everyone in the support group all the way to my doctors they are against drinking your calories because they don't have enough volume to stick with you for more than a half hour. They slide down. Yes they say fine for puree or liquids stages (sometimes) but after that they want you to ditch them. I say this as a smoothie lover a healthy smoothie lover. No extra sugar, lots of protein, veggies and few fruits.....and now they are not good for me to be able to use my band to its fullest potential. The bands not magic....you can fail it just as easily as it can fail you. Nothing in this world is perfect. Also any other advice I have is pointless since I'm only 6 days post op haha! But feeling great so far. Best decision of my life and already down 10 PDS from surgery and I'm not dehydrated or nothing. Oh and he fixed my massive hernia and my reflux is gone! Yay!

Why would you eat cheese Its? Honestly....

Because we are recovering addicts. RUDE.

Your hair thinning is normal? Why does your hair thin with the band??

I don't think that is normal. That can be prevented by eating all your protien and stuff. My hair is just as thick as it has always been.

Hello,

I'm not a fan of my band. I've had mine for 3 years now. In preperation for the band, I ended up loosing almost 80 pounds but I chose to continue with the procedure. I lost maybe 10 pounds with the band, moving up and down. the dissapointment hit me hard about a year ago and I sortof gave up. My horror story is as follows: I was so desperate for this to work. For a year I went in for fill adjustment after fill adjustment. After one fill, I woke up the next day without the ability to swallow my own saliva. It was Saturday and my only choice was to wait till I could make another appointment or go to the emergency room. By this point in time I'm broke. I wait. I didn't sleep for days, everytime I laid down, little bits of what I guess were stomach acid would come up but could go back down. I sit in bed with burning and I couldn't eat or drink Water. Obviously, after 2 days, I went to the hospital. I can't afford to adjust it and I don't have the money to go to the doctor as of this moment. I have horrible heartburn sometimes, I can't drink water till later in the day and I'm thirsty all the time. As soon as I can, I'm going to get all the Fluid taken out. I wish I never put this foreign thing in my body. I've adopted a plant-based diet and I stay away from meat, dairy and anything processed. To be fully successful, I have to get rid of the band, I need my stomach to operate naturally (it's hard to over eat veggies!) . One poster talked about smoothies and let me tell you, they are awesome! I feel better and better everyday. The most successful part of my band experience was the therapy, the nutritionist and the regular doctors visits. I contribute my initial 80 pounds to that more than anything. The thing about the band is that you're still on a diet. Don't forget that. It doesn't take away your ability to eat junk. You still need discipline and control.

So it did work just not in the way intended? lol. Good job on losing that weight. I am very happy with my band now but I went throught years of hating it. I spent all my savings on it and I couldn't afford the adjustments either. I have switched doctors and they are very good about taking payments. I totally understand about being thirsty all the time. Good luck on the rest of your journey.