It seems that some of the drs in my area are turning their backs on the lap band and going for the sleeve and the bypass. Now they are passing their lap band patients off to other drs. The whole thing is discouraging. It has me wondering if there will be an experienced lap band surgeon available to help me if I have problems years down the road. Have any of you noticed this trend or is it local to me?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XN32lLUOBzQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXN32lLUOBzQ

Laura, this may be the best post I've seen you make.....Love it!!!!

Trust me we will be separated soon..

Sorry to the 10 of you that want to keep it integrated

Sharpie, bariatricpal may be no pal to you but what about your other pals that love and appreciate reading your post? I think we all need to continue to give this place our patience, agree to coexist and have faith that the segregation that Alex promises will happen. I for one like having the openness of the forums but I know most don't. I do not like however the bullying and will not tolerate it. That's where we should just report the bullying and move on. We have a choice to only get involved in the threads we want to. I think if you join a thread and don't like it, change your postings to read something like "edited to remove my content", unsubscribe yourself and then move on. I hope everyone will choose to stay and find ways to work with our new tool that has been provided for us. I know that without it, I would not be as strong in my efforts as I am.

wow this is quite a active thread.. I had 55 emails related to t this subject.. I joined this site (Lapbandtalk) to see other people's success and learn about their issues with their band.. I don't want to banter back and forth with bypass and sleeve people all the time.. it's counter productive.. You are not going make me run out and get a sleeve or bypass because you think you are right... I lost a friend who had bypass surgery and was okay for a little while then had severe malnutrition.. I see people who have re-gained all of their weight then some who had bypass (case in point Carnie Wilson).. she now has a band over bypass.. don't know about the sleeve don't care I'm not have my healthy stomach hacked up... My surgeon specializes in lapbands.. however he did discuss the other options with me.. It was my decision.. I am totally happy with my band.. I think some people just need to get a life and stay out of other people's business... I am going to stop visiting Bariatric Pal.. it's no pal to me...

whatever you, keep in touch with me....i agree with a lot of what you wrote and even about leaving...i am not on her much anymore that is for sure..

I'm glad you said this. Brings up a lingering question I've had. It seems like I read or hear so many instances of huge loss amounts within months of the surgeries aside from the band. This is great for those people losing weight and I commend them on their journey. My question is this though, can you lose weight too fast?? I've heard that you can and its obvious that dramatic amounts of pounds can be shed quickly with the other surgeries. Excuse my ignorance again but is that really all that healthy or safe? Again, I'm asking, not trying to wage a war. I truly seek an answer.

I'm not a physician, and I'm really terrified to respond to anything in this thread, but provided you are taking in adequate water and nutritional supplements (vitamins), I do not believe you can lose too fast. Much in the same way as a bear would take in excess calories to bulk up before hibernation, our bodies are capable of taking in extra calories and storing them as fat for the leaner months. Without modern conveniences, people farmed and/or hunted for their food, and food storage would have been limited (some canning, some dry storage, etc.). Bodies were capable of putting away calories for times that foo was scarce. Present day, food is readily and easily available, one doesn't typically have to labor (farm/hunt) to get it, and additives in our food heighten our cravings, so we pack on and store way more calories than we need. As we over eat, the surface of the stomach stretches and increases, thus altering the production and reception of hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin. To me, this reflects the viciousness of the obesity cycle: the more we over eat, the more our bodies will demand we continue overrating. When we interrupt that cycle by having weight loss surgery, we are restricting our bodies from taking in the excess its grown accustomed to demanding, and we are forcing our body to function properly to burn up the calories we have stored as fat. Can that happen too quickly? No.