It's a long story but familiar to many of you on this site. I was banded in October three years ago. From the first few weeks, my restriction was fickle. Sometimes I couldn't drink Water. Sometimes I'd be a meal related to work and after one or two bites, BAM, I'd need to "productive burp" accompanied by slime. I was often uncomfortable and anxious when I ate. naturally, it was still easy to eat ice cream.

During the three years, i had five or six adjustments, but never had more than 4 cc fill. I often would be "stuck". This was not a case of not chewing sufficiently, just a device that did not work for me. At one point I had lost 12 pounds, but it was because i was having very expensive meals delivered.

I was self pay for $15,000. The after care was minimal.

I finally decided to have it removed and my insurance, Anthem, approved the removal. Oddly, it was less expensive to do self-pay ($3800) than to use my insurance, which would have resulted in a $6,000 copay co insurance.

Had the surgery on Monday and am SO GLAD to be free of the lap band. But, it's a bit more complicated. Turns out that scar tissue had formed under the band, restricting the stomach. So the restriction I had was from my body rejecting the foreign object. The doctor had to remove the scar tissue. Now I'm anxious about will it stay restricted (probably not)

So, I paid $19,000 to put and remove a device that gave me an eating disorder. If you're thinking about doing this surgery, do more research. UCLA has recently sent out a newsletter article that said that lapbands are only effective for 20% of the people that are banded.

I'm done with surgeries. I'd frankly rather be 50 pounds overweight than suffer from a bad intervention.

I'm so sorry you went through this.

I would be curious in seeing that article from UCLA, do you have a link by chance?

It seems to me that while some people do have problems with the bands by no fault of their own, the majority aren't successful at losing weight or have slips because of their own bad decisions. Overeating, walking around for months with over-filled bands, eating around the band, carbonation, etc. I have seen similar studies but very few take the patients part in it into account. The few that do differentiate between band errors and patient errors put the success rate at around 70%.

Best wishes to you.

Sorry, I hope you find something that works for you. I wish you well on your weight loss journey!

http://m.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=18&ref=1083&action=detail&no_server_init

I guess this is what she read...

I'm so sorry you went through this.

I would be curious in seeing that article from UCLA, do you have a link by chance?

It seems to me that while some people do have problems with the bands by no fault of their own, the majority aren't successful at losing weight or have slips because of their own bad decisions. Overeating, walking around for months with over-filled bands, eating around the band, carbonation, etc. I have seen similar studies but very few take the patients part in it into account. The few that do differentiate between band errors and patient errors put the success rate at around 70%.

Best wishes to you.

http://m.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=18&ref=1083&action=detail&no_server_init

I guess this is what she read...

OMG, what an irresponsible article! They make it sound like the sleeve procedure is safer than the lap band?!?! the sleeve has a 1/200 mortality rate, while the band only has 1/200. And they don't even mention the long-term, hugely painful complications that potentially come with the sleeve, namely stomach leaking...

Regardless, I do wish taogirl well!! It makes me so sad to hear that you've had trouble since the very beginning!! I don't know why it is, but it seems that there are as many different experiences as there are people.

Every surgery has a potential risk, and it's a really good reminder that there are no guarantees... Some people have a really hard time with the surgery, need revisions, removals, or even die...

And of course we all know the potential up side, which is why we're all here in the first place!

OMG, what an irresponsible article! They make it sound like the sleeve procedure is safer than the lap band?!?! the sleeve has a 1/200 mortality rate, while the band only has 1/200. And they don't even mention the long-term, hugely painful complications that potentially come with the sleeve, namely stomach leaking...

Regardless, I do wish taogirl well!! It makes me so sad to hear that you've had trouble since the very beginning!! I don't know why it is, but it seems that there are as many different experiences as there are people.

Every surgery has a potential risk, and it's a really good reminder that there are no guarantees... Some people have a really hard time with the surgery, need revisions, removals, or even die...

And of course we all know the potential up side, which is why we're all here in the first place!

Yea, it was not the best informational article but I can agree with one thing that I copy and pasted below.....

In fact, he notes, none of the weight-loss surgeries works without being performed in conjunction with lifestyle changes. "The surgery simply allows patients to get much more benefit out of proper eating and physical activity," he says.

The article states:

"The surgery simply allows patients to get much more benefit out of proper eating and physical activity. But it will not do the job for them."

This is VERY true, and then it goes on to talk about 20% benefiting from surgery. Nowhere does it say the other 80% fail or have complications, it simply says that is how many he approximates benefit. (not even that is based on a case study, mind you, it's his opinion only).

If this doctor approximates only 20% benefit, perhaps that is in his practice. In which case it begs the question- where is he going wrong to inform patients of the facts before making their decision? Again, I stress his 20% number is NOT based on some sort double blind case study. It is simply his opinion based on his own experience.

If you read these forums, you'll see a very high number of people who for lack of better words, are totally clueless about the band inside of them. They think just because they are banded they're going to somehow magically lose weight without changing their eating habits, or they walk around with their band so tight they can't eat and have a slip, or they eat way more than the portions they are supposed to have 'because they can'. The list goes on and on, and every day I am on here answering the exact same questions over and over because someone has been banded without educating themselves first.

Do I agree with this doctor's 20% opinion? Not at all, there are far more than 20% here alone that very much benefit from their bands. However, I do think there is a serious problem with people rushing into this surgery without a clue and failing miserably because of it.

I'm sorry that you didn't benefit from the band.I think there are great comments about the inconsistency in the article but one thing u said was key." The after care was minimal" I think that's where the problem starts.anybody reading this please do your research before and plan for your after care.I see my doctor once a month (banded 4/6 so I know I'm early in this) and even though I refused my last 2 fills cuz I dint think I needed it, I still go check in tell him how I'm feeling, ask questions about stuff I read on here.etc. Your relationship and communication with your doctor and nutritionist is key.I have my Dr.cell number and ge told me to call him for Anything and he means anything .I haven't used it but I'm so glad I have it. I think you can still use some of the tools here and lose weight. Like eating a cup of food, protein first, minimal carbs.good luck to you !