Very frustrating....I have no restriction whatsoever! It has been two years since I got banded and after losing about 40 pounds, I have gained all of it back. I lost my insurance so I was self-pay and couldn't afford the $150 for every fill. I got insurance now and I cannot wait to go get a fill. I am able to eat anything without any problems. I have never vomited or felt any restriction. I am still struggling with drinking and eating at the same time. My band holds aprox 14cc and I am at 5cc. My surgeon is too conservative on the fills. Any suggestions? When I say I can eat anything..I mean it. I know that the band is just a tool but if no food is off limits because I can eat it, then what's the use?

I am posting a new chapter to the story....he won't take my insurance now so he wants me to remain self-pay! If I knew how to control my portions, I wouldn't need the lap band. This is why it is important to me that I feel restriction.

Wow...that is a mess...can u find another doctor..or find ways to save up for a fill..like I mentioned I am self pay and my fills are $250..so I feel u on the money issue..but I didn't go thru all this to let my surgery go to waste...check with ur insurance company and see what doctors accept ur insurance.

I agree with Jennifer... Honestly gitl sounds like a crook to me.. Do some searching for another one.. The band is too costly to let it go to waste.. Keep us posted please..

I got my band 5-24-12 was 300 lbs now 263lbs . I keep losing then gaining over and over, I too am wondering if I should of went with the bypass, thus counting calories have work for short part of time then I stop, and I'm starving all the time , bread get stuck just like pasta , I have only 2.cc in band , I was wondering if my food get stuck sometimes does that mean that I don't need a full , or am I just eating to fast, I do throw up sometime and it very embarrassing when we r out to dinner and I have to run to the bath room , really getting tired of that , I'm really think I'm wanting a bypass but, figure that sense I haven't had the band that long that I Probaly won't be able to get it and I supose there got to be something wrong like the cabs slipping before I can get a bypass ? Idk ? I'm hopeing that another fill will help in making me feel full , cause as is I'm always hungery. And I can eat anything , just bread get stuck in mornings .

It's too early, when I had my band it took me almost 3 to4 months several fill and unfilled. Weight goes up fast but comes down slow. I would check with Dr and see if you can get fill maybe .5 cc start small. I love bread and I usually toast it very well so it's crunchy and I chew it. It takes time lapband has his own brain and takes time to get a hang of it. For two years I had PBS finally two months ago I am ok with my fill I don't get hungry often and I eat solid food just be patien. I was banded May 2012 I lost 35lb and gained 10lb between up and down .

You've lost 37 pounds and aren't happy with that? That's 9.25 lbs/week, and average weight loss with the band is 1-2 lbs/week. I would suspect that your body is now in a quandary because of the big initial weight loss and trying to readjust your metabolism.

It's way too soon to judge your restriction or your band's success. I think you need to work on your band eating skills. Read the article I wrote about that here:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/page/index.html/_/support/post-op-support/how-to-eat-like-a-bandster-r58 )

Also, you need to re-think what "full" means to you. It's not healthy for anyone, especially a bandster, to eat and eat until they feel "full". Eating that way is overeating, and overeating is how we got fat in the first place. And when a bandster overeats, it overloads the stomach and esophagus and can cause esophageal dilation,stomach dilation, and band slips. So, don't go looking for "Thanksgiving dinner Full". Eat only until the physical hunger pangs are gone.

You wrote: I'm really think I'm wanting a bypass but, figure that sense I haven't had the band that long that I Probaly won't be able to get it and I supose there got to be something wrong like the cabs slipping before I can get a bypass ? As I said before, it's way too soon to decide your band isn't working. And no, you won't be able to revise to the bypass so soon after your band surgery unless you have a lot of cash and can persuade your surgeon to do it. The bypass isn't going to work like magic either. Weight loss is hard work no matter what surgery you have. I don't know what you mean by "the cabs slipping." What is "cabs"? If you mean that a complication like a band slip could justify revising to the bypass, you're right, but you can't assume that your insurance is going to pay for revision to another procedure because some policies allow only one WLS in the patient's lifetime. So your insurance might pay to remove your band, but not to do the bypass.

I was hungry at lot as a new bandster. It will probably take a few more fills for your band to start helping with that. In the meantime, hang in there!

just because you can eat whatever, do you really you think that is good? didnt over eating junk/high food food get you/me in this position to need wls surgery??

its a 3inch plastic band in your stomach. the real changes are mental. YOU have to make the band work. with that type of thinking, you maybe doomed before you even give yourself a chance.

You may be one of those bandsters that need a lot in their fill to feel anything. Everyone is different. I have a 10cc band and I am at 3.9 and it's *almost* a perfect fill for me. The highest i have gone is 4.4 and I could barely eat anything. It may take you quite a few fills to feel anything. Hang in there.

I agree with those people who really upset because they are looking for real restriction. My friends and two of my sisters are banded and they feel full if they eat two slices of pizza and no wat to drink or eat after that. To reach this stage you need to be really tight or you could yous the other method "using the band as a tool" in Saudi Arabia the Drs dobthe filling under x-ray and you got the perfect fill. My sister, she is in her perfect wight now shebtold me that when she get filled and go home and feel she is eating ormally she go backbtonthe Dr and let him to add another fill. I thinkbthis is the perfect way to Lose weight because all of us tried to control our self from being eating but we failed and we went for the band to stop us not to help us.

I am glad i found this topic..my dr is conservative as well..it can be frustrating because surgery is risky and costly not to see the results expected..i feel like my struggle is near where it was before surgery. And maybe i should have gotten the sleeve. But then i people with other surgeries that have regained weight and are opting for the band as well...i do agree that having a serious talk with our dr is due..or find one that will fill us more..