Hello,

I am finding conflicting info regarding as to whether or not one can have a lap band with rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disorder. I am curious if anyone on here has RA and currently has or had a lap band? I am not talking about osteoarthritis, which is a totally different disorder.

In 2003 when lap band was fairly new to the US I went to a seminar and they told us if you had an autoimmune disorder you could not have a lap band. I decided that left me out. I have a positive RA titer on my blood test. I have not had any luck since then losing a great amount of weight.

The other day when I went to my rheumatologist I decided to ask him if I still could not have the lap band just to see if anything had changed. I was not seeing a rheumatologist back in 2003. My doctor told me he saw no reason why I couldn't have a lap band and did not understand why they would of told me that in 2003. His reasoning is that doctors put foreign objects in arthritis patients all the time in knee and hip replacements. He was all for me getting the lap band. I am obese and have diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, depression, sleep apnea and RA. He feels it would really help me.

I had pretty much convinced myself to go for it, but now I am uneasy about it. I can't seem to find much data on success of lap band patients and RA. I would like to find some people that have RA and have had success with the lap band.

I am taking a lot of medication and could most likely eliminate half of it if I lost a good portion of weight. I am 5 foot 2 inches and weigh 210. I have not always been overweight. I am 49 years old and would like to have a long life, but realize the odds are against me if I can't get some weight off. I have tried many things since 2003 with no success.

I am not interested in gastric bypass as my sister has had it done. She has had nothing but problems such as vomiting and diarrhea on a daily basis. I am not sure if it is due to her not following the protocol or just complications, but i have seen enough of her problems that I don't want to go that route. Her immune system is also a real problem.

Can anyone help me with any information? Do any of you think that it may be just something that I have to try and if it doesn't work out have it removed. That is what I am beginning to think as there are no guarentees with any surgery. Thank you for your time in advance.

Sincerely,

MichelleDenise

RA isn't considered a contradiction for the Lap Band. In fact, the majority of autoimmune diseases are fine with the band. The problem is specifically with connective tissue autoimmune diseases, like Lupus, but even some Lupus patients do fine with the band. (this is per the Allergan/Lap Band band website)

Btw, I too have an autoimmune disease and I've had the band for 16 months. I have Multiple Sclerosis. The band has done nothing but help me tremendously and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I've heard this as well.. The only things I have found is this :

Allergan intentionally did not study patients with either a family history or personal history of autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS or scleroderma, because of concerns about the dangers for those patients. We don’t know if FDA will require a warning for autoimmune patients and those with family members with autoimmune diseases, but they should. If the risk was too high to study Lap-Bands for those patients, it’s too high to sell Lap-Bands to those patients.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/what-you-need-know-about-lap-band-surgery?page=5

Here is a link to a similar thread

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/122498-rheumatoid-arthritis-lap-band-surgery/

Per the Allergan website, there is NO warnings or contradictions for people with RA or MS. It is NOT all autoimmune diseases that have a problem with the band, in fact it's only a very small number of them:

"You or someone in your family has an autoimmune connective tissue disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or scleroderma. The same is true if you have symptoms of one of these diseases."

Here's the original text: https://www.lapband.com/learn-about-lapband/lapband-is-for-you

Thank you to all that responded to my question. Thank you for that specific link Missy.

I have no input. But this is an interesting topic. I've never heard of these connections. I'm commenting mostly so I can read and follow this thread....

Good luck on your search, OP.

I have RA as well and I am doing great with the band. The only caution I was given by my dr was prednisone. All of my other medications I had to adjust (in size) because they were simply too big to go through my stomach.

Thank you Candtwalker for your additional input. Looks like you have almost completed your lapband jounrney. You are very close to your goal. That is fantastic.

With RA, were you MTX or enbrels okay? Did the RA go into remission ?