I have had my LapBand 3 years today. So it is my anniversary....I have never had one single problem with it. Yes, I have slimed or gotten stuck a few times, but that was probably because I ate too fast. It doesn't happen often. No pain. I get full after a couple of bites of food. But the biggest problem I have had is that I HAVE NOT LOST ANY WEIGHT!!!

I feel like a failure. I don't have the issues with the band that a lot of you have had. So I am lucky in that regard. But I read where some of you have lost weight and then either plateaued, had slippage, erosion...all types of unlucky stuff. I have had none of that. Which is great except for the fact that I am still 300 lbs.

I eat very slowly with this band. I get full after half a pizza, but I will stay eating another 2-3 slices, if it takes me an hour. I eat everything. I know this is a tool and I need to put my part in, but you come to a point where you just give up and it becomes a habit to take an hour to eat. I don't eat because I am hungry, I eat for other reasons.

So changing to this amazing sleeve that you all rave about seems like a great idea, but is it going to work for me if I have the same mindset? I see how some of you exercise 3-5 times per week. That is great. If I were able to do that, I would not even need the band that I have.

So I am sure my insurance would cover this revision, but would it even work for someone who just doesn't have the strength that you all have.

I have seen a therapist many times over to try and deal with my food and eating problem, but that doesn't seem to work. What is going to happen, is I am going to have a heart attack if I don't change my ways. Even with 3 kids you would think you can control your health for THEIR sake, not even yours. But I still can't.

Thanks for listening to me. It always feels good to cry and share!

You are having alot of head hunger. I'm glad your seeing a therapist. However, your not losing weight because you give in to your head hunger. If you want to loose weight, you need to avoid those foods that made you fat to start with. pizza for me is a big no no. I would be eating Protein, protein, and protein, veggies, and tiny bit of starches. You really need to focus on the food you fuel your body with.

Your lap band is not to blame, it is the choices of food you choose. I really hope I'm not being harsh, I just want to be honest with you.

Start changing your dies and start exercising. You will begin to lose weight and retrain your thoughts to activities instead of food.

I agree no matter what u have as a tool u have to re train yourself on eating well and exercise. pizza maybe 1slice every 2 months as a treat, but then again u get the taste of bad food head goes I have her now, leads to other bad foods. By the sounds of it u have no close support to give u the encouragement to go down the right path, u need support is there no support group where u r, family, friends to keep u on the right track.

Before looking at anymore surgery u have to believe u can do this.

I wish u the best of luck

I have two thoughts to offer on this topic: The first is that I suspect you may benefit from the attention of a psychiatrist in addition to or instead of a psychologist. You might find that your compulsion to eat is substantially diminished with the right medications.

My other thought is that, if you do decide that you want a revision, I would urge you to discuss a malabsorbtive procedure with your surgeon in light of your current eating habits. That would be basically the RNY-GB or Duodenal Switch. Obviously, these are just thoughts and you need to arrive at your final decision after consulting physicians who know your medical history and details of your individual case.

I wish you the best of luck. Never give up!!!!! :-)

Post Date: 2/28/12 1:03 pm

You guys are all great! And very honest. I appreciate it. I am going for a fill on Monday, but I realize all the fills in the world are not going to stop me from eating if I really want to eat.

I have never had a good therapist, so I haven't figured out the "hole in my soul" and that is why I keep feeding it. I have a million friends and really don't have many insecurity issues. I just have issues with food and I lose every time.

But I don't think I am going to do any revision just yet until I figure out why I HAVE to eat when I am in the car on my way home. Or why I HAVE to buy cheetos and a snicker bar with my lunch. When I am at home my wife doesn't get why I don't lose weight because I eat half of everything on my plate and I am good. It is when I am alone that I lose the battle.

Anyway thanks for the tough love! You guys are always great. If anyone knows of any support groups on Long Island NY, please let me know.

Thanks and God Bless to all of you who has figured out how to beat this thing!

alfieo - the majority of us are addicts, and you can't expect to be able to make these changes just because you had surgery or because you "want" to. If that was the case there would be 100% success rate with any surgery. I firmly believe food addiction is a disease, and is genetic. I agree with what others have said about getting with a different therapist and a 12 step group, you need support. If your therapist you're seeing now isn't helping you with the changes you need, then it's time to move on and try someone else. With your addiction having such a strong hold on you, without proper intervention by a professional, you will "eat your way" through any sort of WLS. Try and find a therapist that specializes in bariatric patients, most "normal" therapists don't have a clue about WLS patients and how to treat them. Good luck, and don't be so hard on yourself - just make the commitment to get clean!

First of all I want to say thank you for writing this post. I feel like you have almost described my situation. I was banded 1/2/09 and had at one point lost a total of 60 pounds. I'm back up 30 pounds now. I was doing some serious considering of getting the sleeve as well. Until about a month ago, i blamed my band for not losing weight. What the heck was wrong with this thing? I have never had any problems, other than the occasional "stuck" epidsode of sliming, etc. Then one night I was watching this tv show called My 600 pound life and it finally hit me that my lapband will not MAKE me lose weight, it will only HELP me lose weight. If i wanted to lose weight for sure, i should have gotten the gastric bypass at the time. But i didn't want to go that extreme. I also just realized how sedentary my life style is. I work at a desk for 6-8 hours a day, go home, work from home from a desk for a few more hours, sit and watch tv, etc. So, why have I gained weight and not lost? Because of choices that I make everyday. I don't eat nearly as much as I used to, the band doesn't allow it. If i'm not hungry, sometimes i can say no you dont need cookies, you aren't hungry, your head is, but other times i can't. I do get full with the band. But the most successful stories I have seen/heard with the band are people that exercise and change their eating habits. The band will give us that extra control that we wouldn't have if we didn't have it. It's science: if you expend more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. So for me, I'm not sure about the sleeve because i feel that i have not given my band the fighting chance it deserves. I truly hope that I don't ever have complications from my band. I need to be good to it, eat small bites, no caffeine, no soda, no smoking,etc. I have learned through the years that i can't drink coffee or my band swells from the acidity of it. I quit smoking because that caused it to swell. So i'm afraid if i get the sleeve that i'll just gain it all back after that wonderful first year of losing all that weight. And then what? I'm stuck with weight gain and no way to control it because there's nothing else to do. We need to fix ourselves first...give your band the chance it deserves. It does work, as long as you don't have severe complications from it, it works. We just have to fix ourselves first....I need to start moving...just walking...thats how i'm gonna start. I hope everything works out for you. You control your life...you can decide to do this just as i can. If you have a bad day, its ok, there's always tomorrow. good luck and Hugs.

I was revised from Lap Band to VSG on 9/15/2010. I lost to my goal in 10.5 months and have been maintaining ever since. The Lap Band was a failed experiment for me, and I too am addicted to food.

It can be done, and for me the VSG was a far greater tool than the Lap Band. *Hugs* There is hope out there!!

The sleeve is totally different than the band. The band was just a big joke for me. It never really worked and I was still morbidly obese after 3 and a half years. The sleeve changed my life. It did take me 14 months to get to normal weight, but I got there. I am so happy. Personally, my food obsession has been drastically reduced from the surgery. Food doesn't run my life anymore. I do! You should try the sleeve and I do think you can be successful! The sleeve works.

I was revised from Lap Band to VSG on 9/15/2010. I lost to my goal in 10.5 months and have been maintaining ever since. The Lap Band was a failed experiment for me' date=' and I too am addicted to food.

It can be done, and for me the VSG was a far greater tool than the Lap Band. *Hugs* There is hope out there!![/quote']

Did u lose ur hair after surgery?

I was revised from Lap Band to VSG on 9/15/2010. I lost to my goal in 10.5 months and have been maintaining ever since. The Lap Band was a failed experiment for me' date=' and I too am addicted to food.

It can be done, and for me the VSG was a far greater tool than the Lap Band. *Hugs* There is hope out there!![/quote']

I really want to lose weight but I'm scared that I won't be able to eat or will be throwing up a lot like with my Lapland.

I had more health issues after surgery than before. My reflux got extremely worse which led to bronchities every 3-6 months, my BP was always high, snoring got worse, I lost a lot of hair. But now I'm scared of the hair loss, and losing too much weight, not enough Protein and the throwing up.

Any advise?

Did u lose ur hair after surgery?

Hi Slim, yes my hair did fall out. It started in month 4 and lasted all the way until about a year out. I guess that was around the time I began to eat more balanced meals as I was complete with my hard core weight loss phase. I was also taking Biotin 5,000 mcg from GNC. I've tried other brands and this is the best I've found. It doesn't help with keeping hair from falling out rather helping it to re-grow. My nails are excellent too so bonus!!

I really want to lose weight but I'm scared that I won't be able to eat or will be throwing up a lot like with my Lapland.

I had more health issues after surgery than before. My reflux got extremely worse which led to bronchities every 3-6 months, my BP was always high, snoring got worse, I lost a lot of hair. But now I'm scared of the hair loss, and losing too much weight, not enough Protein and the throwing up.

Any advise?

All advice I can give you is that I too was worried about a lot of the same things you were. Not so much losing too much weight, I think I lost to (for me) is perfect, exactly how I wanted. Right now I'm just focusing on bettering my body and getting more tone. I'm not really worried about losing more weight, I just want to continue getting more and more fit.

I too had reall bad reflux due from my lap band, and I've got it under control now with the help of Prilosec. I don't think it will ever go away... which is sad but I can't do anything about it, just do my best to control it. My advice to you is continue your research and make the best decision for yourself. I won't say that its the sleeve, because everyone's different. All feedback I can give you for that is my personal experience with it, and living the life I have at this moment FAR OUTWEIGHS (pun? lol) any side effects I am enduring.

Hi, I too am still banded....was banded in 2005, at 315...then got down to 280, now its 2012 and I'm 320....yeah, I typed it, 320....I am the same as you, no history of erosion or slippage or herina or anything.....but I eat slowly, very slowly and I will sit there and eat and eat.....

When I got the lapband, my surgeon warned me that it may not work, I should consider RNY....and the RNY scared me....so I insisted on Lapband....now 7 years later, what scares me more is diabetes, high blood pressure and premature death....with that said, I made the desicion to do the VSG...

I've decided to get sleeved in June of this year in hopes to finally have a tool to end this battle of the bulge.....I believe that and finding a good therapist is what I need....I have alot of issues with food that go back to childhood (been over weight since age 6, went on my first diet at age 8)

One thing I have learned since having this lapband is that I am a food addict....I know, understand and accept it...now I need to work on my mindset and being healthy...

I believe this surgery will work.....but you (and me) will need to put in the work...its not a magic procedure that will cure all and end all...

Hi, I too am still banded....was banded in 2005, at 315...then got down to 280, now its 2012 and I'm 320....yeah, I typed it, 320....I am the same as you, no history of erosion or slippage or herina or anything.....but I eat slowly, very slowly and I will sit there and eat and eat.....

When I got the lapband, my surgeon warned me that it may not work, I should consider RNY....and the RNY scared me....so I insisted on Lapband....now 7 years later, what scares me more is diabetes, high blood pressure and premature death....with that said, I made the desicion to do the VSG...

I've decided to get sleeved in June of this year in hopes to finally have a tool to end this battle of the bulge.....I believe that and finding a good therapist is what I need....I have alot of issues with food that go back to childhood (been over weight since age 6, went on my first diet at age 8)

One thing I have learned since having this lapband is that I am a food addict....I know, understand and accept it...now I need to work on my mindset and being healthy...

I believe this surgery will work.....but you (and me) will need to put in the work...its not a magic procedure that will cure all and end all...

Hugs, I so have been there. I want you to know right now that it IS possible to beat this. I did it, and though I still fight every day, I still got to a good healthy and fit weight for me. You can too!! You CAN DO THIS!!