I've had my lapband for 5 years. It has never worked for me. I lost 24 pounds on the liquid diet and I have managed to keep about 20 of that off. But, I never lost any weight with the band. I've had 13 fills and they kept saying, "Oh they put a large band in you". They finally sent me to the nutritionist who was a 90 pound vegetarian (not sure why she felt the need to tell me that) who was more interested in her phone than me. Her big suggestion after glancing at my diet sheet was to tell me if I get hungry in the afternoon, to have tuna on cucumber slices. Really? $16,000 and that's the advice I get? I left that day feelling like this whole thing was a mistake and I never went back. Now, five years later, I'm having pain around the port. I guess I'll have to go back, but I'm not looking forward to that. My advice would be to really do your research before you spend this kind of money. I would not do it again and I would have to advise other people to really think about it before they did it.

Pam Stevens

I'm sorry you have struggled.

When you say the band didn't work, what exactly do you mean? Did you have complications? Was your physical hunger never satisfied?

Some people fail the band. Especially when they take a 5 year hiatus. Just saying.

sorry to read this in regards to you.

and def hope people read your post as things (good and bad) do and can happen but not always.

I don't understand how the band can't work if you do your part....just sayin'...

Did the band fail or you? My cousin had bypass and said it failed, which BS, she failed. She likes to have wine every afternoon, a cocktail when dining out and loves snacking. Went for lunch recently and she had 2 large bowls of sausage soup, salad and dinner rolls. She failed and she's an RN and her mother also failed with bypass. I wish you luck with what ever you decide to do with your weight loss.

I don't understand how the band can't work if you do your part....just sayin'...

your picture of the ass in the mirror, that was my fat ass 1 year ago, thanks for sharing it.

I'm sorry to hear of your struggles. But the band really is just a tool to help curb hunger, were all responsible for what we put into our bodies and also for excersizing. This is a great post for anybody for considering the lap band, because you really have to be in the right state of mind and have a full commitment to have a life style change.

I think people have high expectations that the band is going to do all the work and the weight will fall off, which is not the case. Research is extremely important!

Best wishes!

Im over a year out and Ive lost under 30 lbs. I dont think the band failed me, I think I need to keep working and tweaking and trial and error to find what things/habits make me gain weight, and what things/habits make me lose weight. Im very sorry that you didnt have as much success as you would have liked, and Im sorry that you are now having pain near your port. I do sincerely hope that with this renewed need to see your doctor, you may be able to get more insight about how the band can be used to help you get to your goals.

Sorry to hear that it didn't work for you best of luck.

Weight loss is always about Calories Consumed versus calories Burned....no matter what method you use to accomplish that...any one of the 1000's of diets out there, hypnotism, miracle drugs, and on and on and on...Blah blah blah......I tried and failed at them all...so my last resort was corrective surgery..extreme measures in many peoples opinion, but the goal was to accomplish the same thing....LESS CALORIES CONSUMED......

Sometimes it comes down to the very basics...as one of my Dr.'s told me years ago and probably the best, simplest advise I ever received?

"You want to loose weight? STOP EATING SO MUCH!"

It's amazing how many excuses people can come with when they are overweight and unable to loose.....but the majority out there knows exactly why we are fat!

It's like the little boy with chocolate all over his face saying he did not eat any of the cake you had in th house.....the evidence is there right out in the open.for all to see.........

I could not stop eating on my own, I needed WLS to do what I could not do.....if I didn't need WLS I would not have done it...it is not a fashion idea....

Sometimes I wonder why other people have had WLS , judging by their attitudes towards it....but i digress....

I had a lot of fills too. Took me a long time to get to my green zone. I thought I'd never get there but I did. Did they fill you all the way to the top and you still didn't get any restriction?

I have to admit, I actually lost most of my weight before getting to that green zone. I worked pretty hard to lose actually because I couldn't count on having good restriction. But then when restriction did kick in, it made it really easy to lose.

I don't know that you've given enough information for anyone here to understand why they should avoid a band. I had really good results with it, actually, so I'm one of those who would recommend the band to those who are committed to working with it. Then again, I did do my research so I guess I knew what I was going into.

If you're experiencing pain in your port I'd suggest not to wait but to go back to see what it might be. It may be nothing but you never know.

I can relate. I've had my lapband for going on one year now. I had a difficult time after surgery because the doctor fixed a hernia at the same time and put in one stitch too many, so I had to undergo a second surgery the same day. Needless to say, I was off work for one month. I was 272 when I decided to have lapband. In the month before the surgery, I got down to 250. After that I stuck with a low-carb diet and was really careful about not overeating and eating slowly and got down to 190. I was originally told that I would not be able to ever eat bread or drink carbonated beverages (sodas were not a problem since I don't like them anyhow) and, if it meant that I would be skinny, I didn't mind giving up bread. I was also told that I would only be able to eat small amounts of food or I would throw up. Well, once I reached 190, I decided to "test the waters" so to speak. I tried eating more and I was fine. Then I tried bread. I was fine. Then crescent rolls and pizza. Fine and fine - never felt sick, never threw up. Before I knew it, I was eating like I had before. I had one fill between the time of my surgery and the time I reached 190. Then I went back up to 230 and had another fill. I felt no restriction have either fill. I even had them x-ray me to make sure the band was in place. Everything looked fine. My doctor said "Well, if this doesn't work, we'll go back in and remove the band and do a gastric sleeve." OH REALLY? And who's going to pay for that???? Really pissed me off. So, once again, after a lifetime of dieting (I'm 62), I feel like the biggest failure in the world. All my friends know I had lapband and I can just imagine what they're thinking. How embarrassing. Oh well, I guess I was never meant to be thin.

Anybody else out there have this same story?

I can relate. I've had my lapband for going on one year now. I had a difficult time after surgery because the doctor fixed a hernia at the same time and put in one stitch too many, so I had to undergo a second surgery the same day. Needless to say, I was off work for one month. I was 272 when I decided to have lapband. In the month before the surgery, I got down to 250. After that I stuck with a low-carb diet and was really careful about not overeating and eating slowly and got down to 190. I was originally told that I would not be able to ever eat bread or drink carbonated beverages (sodas were not a problem since I don't like them anyhow) and, if it meant that I would be skinny, I didn't mind giving up bread. I was also told that I would only be able to eat small amounts of food or I would throw up. Well, once I reached 190, I decided to "test the waters" so to speak. I tried eating more and I was fine. Then I tried bread. I was fine. Then crescent rolls and pizza. Fine and fine - never felt sick, never threw up. Before I knew it, I was eating like I had before. I had one fill between the time of my surgery and the time I reached 190. Then I went back up to 230 and had another fill. I felt no restriction have either fill. I even had them x-ray me to make sure the band was in place. Everything looked fine. My doctor said "Well, if this doesn't work, we'll go back in and remove the band and do a gastric sleeve." OH REALLY? And who's going to pay for that???? Really pissed me off. So, once again, after a lifetime of dieting (I'm 62), I feel like the biggest failure in the world. All my friends know I had lapband and I can just imagine what they're thinking. How embarrassing. Oh well, I guess I was never meant to be thin.

Anybody else out there have this same story?

You've made the same mistake so many make. The band won't make you lose weight. It won't make you eat less. It will only dim your appetite so that you can gain control over your food addictions. It sounds like you gave up far too soon? It takes most of us more than 2 fills to find that one fill that gives us satiety.

If you really want this it's still achievable. Some people just can't let go of their food addictions. No shame in that, but you could turn it around if you changed your mindset.

tmf

Yelorz.

Yep I am going thru the same thing. I was banded on feb 2011. I did awesome and within 5 months was down 50 pounds. I had 2 fills during this time but I was always hungry. I never felt full. It was horrible. I finally got to the point where I was tired of being hungry and was gonna eat more. I went to my doctor a few months later and he basically yelled at me for gaining weight and its just head hunger. Needless to say I have successfully gained all the weight back and am scared to death to go back to him. I feel thensame way I am just meant to be fat!

I'm not a big fan of cliches, but there is one applicable here: the band - or any other WLS method - is only a tool and only works as well as the user uses it.

'nough said.