Hello all! I found this forum after doing some research and would like to get your input! I currently still have my band, though have had issues with it for many years. I was banded over 9 years ago. Several years back, my doctor over tightened my band to where I had horrible heartburn/reflux and could hardly eat. He took a good amount of Fluid out after an EGD and I haven't had it tightened since. I ended up re-gaining nearly 30lbs, though regained control of my weight. I am finally down to 142 (and still losing!) by going low carb and losing the remainder eating a keto adapted diet.

I still have bad reflux and am living on Prilosec, so my primary referred me to another bariatric doctor. At the moment, he seems to be convinced that my pouch is dialated versus having a hiatal hernia. I'm going to have an upper GI done this weekend to be sure of what is going on. If that is the case, he will completely empty my band. While he was nice and seemed knowledgable, he also gave me a grim outlook on what would happen if (or when) we eventually remove the band. He states that all patients regain weight back to their start weight prior to surgery, no matter how determined they are or how drastically they changed their lifestyle. He also seems to be convinced that removing fluid from my band will cause me to gain weight. He mentioned something about hormones and such; while I know fat cells have awesome memory, it makes no sense to me that removing fluid, or the entire band for that matter, would cause me to re-gain weight if my lifestyle remains the same. I have been living grain/sugar free nearly 5 years and have no plans on returning to my old lifestyle.

Sorry for being long-winded! Has anyone been in this situation? Has anyone here maintained weight loss or lost weight after having their band removed (without any additional bariatirc procedures)? I would love any input!

Way to go on working through so much -- keep working with your medical professionals to get to your green zone.....

I had the same issue years ago. My own fault however. I didn't take care of myself at first and by year two of neglect ,I had given myself a hernia. My band was placed in '06 and I had a hernia in '08. What I learned was I had an early version of the band at the time. My doctor repaired the hernia and gave me a new band. I was told the newer band had more leeway and flexibility. Therefore, even if you over eat you are not as likely to cause severe damage as with the old version. I never had an issue again after the revision. To be honest, I often still drink to fast and sometimes still over eat. Still my band is alright.

Before Banding, I could not control my eating....no self control.

After being banded, I not only obtained my goals, but went onto a weight I thought never possible...my body determined what was optimum = very little body fat.

It has been almost 4 years.

Last summer, I was feeling pretty good about myself. It had all become second nature, just another day....in other words, I started to take my band for granted.

So, when I saw my surgeon on a routine visit, I asked to have 1/2cc removed. He asked me why, and I had no good reason other than I felt perhaps I was doing good and the band may not be that important.

He tried to talk me out of it. Basically said why try to fix what's not broken. I had no complaints, no complications, why change anything?

Long story short, he took out 1/2 cc....and guess what...my hunger returned, my portion sizes increased, I started to have cravings and head hunger...and most importantly, I started to gain weight. Not much, but the scale was moving.

two weeks later, I was back getting that 1/2cc put back in...My Dr. had a big grin on his face and said things like "Are we done experimenting?" and "Don't say I didn't tell you so"

So you see, for me, I need the band. Perhaps 4 years was not enough. Perhaps the rest of my life will not be enough....

Like my Dr said, why fix something that is not broken? (in my case that is)

So I am back to normal...the NEW Normal...and I'm happy.

I am so glad to hear that the band has helped so much in your journeys! To be honest, I don't know how much Fluid I have in my band at this point, though I don't think it's too much. The doctor I saw today pretty much told me that he will no longer perform lap-band surgery due to the failure rate. I just have a difficult time understanding/believing that completely emptying the band/having it removed will make me regain 140+ lbs, when I lost nearly 50 by lifestyle changes.

I eat calorie-dense foods that are high in fat. I'm pretty sure I ate many more calories when doing a less restrictive low carb diet and still lost before hitting a pleateau around between 160-170. I wouldn't be surprised if I ate 1600+ calories at that time while losing and maintaining. Mind you, I was likely averaging that many calories with the band, not without. I learned that what you fuel your body with is more important that calories in/calories out. Low carb/keto just works for me and has helped in so many ways. I currently average 1200 calories daily and have been slowly/steadily losing at that amount. I tend not to over eat a lot, though I have my days sometimes. The reason for the current calorie restriction is so I can lose those last stubborn 5-10 pounds.

I don't know if many banders track their calories, though I know when I was first banded, I was lucky if I even ate 800 calories daily. How many calories do you all average daily? Do any of you keep track?

This is why I am having a hard time understanding how just the act of removing the band will cause my body to go crazy, cause me to go back to my old eating habits, and regain it all back. This is essentially what my doctor told me would happen, though I eat a lot more than I did when I was first banded and have lost and maintained since.

Lap band gone as of 02/20/15. Had it since 09/18/07. Nothing but trouble. Went to get my 3rd fill, left and went all weekend throwing up all water I managed to even sip. Couldn't ger any help from Fri till Monday because my dr was not in the office. Had the fill taken out but it never helped. Had to go back get more out a few mths later. Finally the last time was about a year later to completely empty it and was told they no longer accepted my Medicare/ky sprit ind. the whole reason I chose the dr. I went from sometime in 2008 till now finding a dr that would take this thing out. Throwing up 2-3 times a week. Get up one morning no problem them get up the next feeling like a tight bra was on and can't eat without it getting stuck. I hated the thing. It was miserable. My last call was when I ate a subway salad as I always did, I love salads, but this one oh and I lost nothingwas bad. 2 hours after eating, I got so sick, but my stomach shut down. Could not throw up or drink. Sat up all night dry heaving until I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. Stomach so sore from the motion. Went to my family physician she hot a general surgieon to agree to take it out. Sad. But thankful it's gone. Won't have trust in a mother dr for any thing like this again. My sister went to Paducah, got the gastric banding, was told when she lost so many lbs they would take the extra skin off. The dr got fired. So now she has no one and her stomach hangs past her knees. This is not right!! I will take my chances on myself.

Lap band gone as of 02/20/15. Had it since 09/18/07. Nothing but trouble. Went to get my 3rd fill, left and went all weekend throwing up all water I managed to even sip. Couldn't ger any help from Fri till Monday because my dr was not in the office. Had the fill taken out but it never helped. Had to go back get more out a few mths later. Finally the last time was about a year later to completely empty it and was told they no longer accepted my Medicare/ky sprit ind. the whole reason I chose the dr. I went from sometime in 2008 till now finding a dr that would take this thing out. Throwing up 2-3 times a week. Get up one morning no problem them get up the next feeling like a tight bra was on and can't eat without it getting stuck. I hated the thing. It was miserable. My last call was when I ate a subway salad as I always did, I love salads, but this one was bad. 2 hours after eating, I got so sick, but my stomach shut down. Could not throw up or drink. Sat up all night dry heaving until I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. Stomach so sore from the motion. Went to my family physician she hot a general surgieon to agree to take it out. Sad. But thankful it's gone. Won't have trust in a mother dr for any thing like this again. My sister went to Paducah, got the gastric banding, was told when she lost so many lbs they would take the extra skin off. The dr got fired. So now she has no one and her stomach hangs past her knees. This is not right!! I will take my chances on myself.

Edited February 25, 201511 yr by lbutts

And I can add. Went in at 236, was 236 a few mths ago. Diabetic in 2011. Finally got on good dialectic meds and lost to 219. Not from the band. It never helped only hurt.