Hello:

I am new here. I had the band put in in June 2003 in Michigan by Dr. Mark Pleatman......the fills were never that comfortable to me (my sister called the LapBand "forced bulimia," as all I was ever doing was PBing after one-too-many (but really few) bites!). To make a long story, short, I lost about 50 pounds in that first year of about 90-100 that I wanted to lose, or roughly half. About 15 months after I had the procedure, I wanted to take a "break" from all of the golfball-feeling discomfort after eating anything other than soft foods, so I had a complete unfill. Around that same time, I also accepted a position doing home transcription in which I get NO EXERCISE in the course of my day....and I have now put on approximately 18 pounds from my all-time LapBand low.

I am very tired of the LapBand and did not understand when I had it done, as my doctor now tells me, that he has found that most people only lose about half the weight they wanted to after having the LapBand. I am seriously considering having it removed, because....call me silly, I dream of being able to eat HEALTHILY again, if only given the chance.... of being able to eat a whole piece of healthy Protein, be it steak, chicken, etc. and vegetables, without my food being doused with grease in order to go down through the band and not "fight" it, only to have me PB the food later, as is the case now. I want to try to lose this last 50 pounds by just being ABLE to eat right, which I am unable to at the moment, even with it being unfilled...there is still a restriction there that I can still definitely feel with certain foods. I am tired of sticking to all liquidy, greasy foods in the name of LapBand compatibility, and I don't think that this is the healthiest way for me to go. I want the opportunity now to prove I can do the rest on my own.

Trouble is, I have switched insurance carriers since I had the procedure four years ago, and the new carrier won't cover anything related to morbid obesity procedures (but they'll cover sleep apnea, diabetes, hypertension, etc.....don't GET me started!). I have already talked it over with my Lapband doctor in the past, and through an arrangement for self-pay patients with the hospital, it would cost approximately $5000 for everything to have it removed once and for all. Considering I initially had to pay a $2000 one -year "program fee" with my doctor for fills, nutritional support, etc. after I first had it put in and also $1000 or so for a plan deductible when I had my procedure, the 50 pounds I initially lost will end up having cost me more than $8000, with extra in gas to get to my doctor out of town for each visit. Ugh!

Although my doctor says it's not so, I also can't help but think that the longer the band stays around the stomach, the more the chance for problems or worse adhesions down the road. There is this little voice in the back of my mind saying, "Get it Out! Get it Out!"

Am I crazy for even thinking of paying this $5000 to have it taken out?

maybe check out dr. huacuz and see if he could take out the band and do gastric sleeve at the same time for the same price . i think the gastic sleeve or whatever it is called it around 10,000. i would like to know what you decide to do. sometimes i think it would have been better to do the sleeve. but, i wanted to go the safest route first. dr.huacuz is in tijuana mexico. he has a great private clinic. i trust him and his staff. they are really sincere . i think there are others in mexico you can check out too, i just dont know myself. maybe look online. good luck whatever you decide and let us know what happens.

I have to agree with chickie.

my surgery is scheduled for june 8th. i have been going through 6 months with my doctors, but i can now see why. they have really been on the band wagon as to make sure i know what i am getting into. that this is only a tool.

please give me some help i have had the band for 3yrs & i`m just happy with it, i havent lost that much pre- band105kgs now 92 kgs, help

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble.

I've been Banded for 6 years now (wow!)... but unfilled for a lot of them due to pregnancies. I agree that the Band can sometimes seem like forced Bulimia...LOL My life unfilled is pretty normal, though... unlike yours. I can eat almost anything... and rarely PB (although it still happens... but maybe 3-4 x/yr vs every day/week.)

I've been looking at the Sleeve Gastrectomy for two years now, and am really impressed with it... especially the testimony of former Bandsters who have gone ahead with it. I know Dr. Pleatman has a great self-pay package for the VSG... it's like $12,000 or so. He has a good reputation among the VSGers as well. You may want to explore it further either on obesity help's VSG forum or through the Sleeve Gastrectomy Yahoo group or vsgfaq.com website.

Regardless, if you're still PBing with no fill, then yes... I'd get a removal. I can't imagine living like that for the rest of my life.

Please help me .... what is PB-ing????

Please help me .... what is PB-ing????

PB stands for Productive Burp. Basically, it means that you regurgitate what you just ate. It's not like the typical vomiting one has when sick... usually it's a little cough or burp and up it comes. (You're emptying the pouch that your Band forms, basically.)

Your story is my story...exactly. A friend had the band and was able to eat everything only in small amounts and chewed very well. She lost 125 lbs. in less than a year. So I flew to Mexico and had the band done two years ago at a cost of $8,000. The first six months were good...able to eat most anything except eggs and bread and I lost 60 lbs. And that's all. For the past 1 1/2 years I've eaten nothing but slush and mush...soup, salad slathered with fatfree dressing, watery mashed potatoes with fatfree gravy and protein shakes. Haven't lost another pound and actually gained 20...How is that possible with eating less than 1,000 calories a day and exercising.

So two months ago I went to my family doctor and she ordered blood work which diagnosed a condition call PCOS...I'm on meds for that now and have lost 4 lbs. in those two months. I think I could stand the band and the fills (without boring everyone with all my fill and unfill horror stories, let's just say I'm now over $15,000 self pay into this) if I had lost the 150 lbs. I needed to lose to be at a healthy weight. But I'm at 220 and at 5'4" that's way too much especially since most of the fat is in my stomach. I'm still wearing all plus size clothes...24-26...so not much has changed for me with the band.

So now I'm going to have a complete unfill next week...hoping that will accomplish something like my being able to have a piece of fruit which I crave...maybe even a few bites of something normal. That's going to be another $1,000. Now reading your story I wonder if I shouldn't just have it removed. But I guess I'll wait to see what this new bariatric surgeon says when I go for the unfill.

I too found out the hard way that lapbanding is not for everyone and I wish I hadn't done it. But maybe I needed to have this dreadful experience in order to get a grip on my eating and perhaps I'll be able to follow a normal diet. I used to drink about 10 sodas (not diet) a day before the band and now, of course, have not had a soda in 2 years so am hoping I won't fall back on old habits.

Sorry for all the trouble many of us are having with the banding.

Hi Sizewize! Congrats on the 4lbs. I know they will have been hard fought for!!

Regarding your PCOS. The best thing you could do in terms of eating with PCOS is to eat low GI. It keep your blood sugar stable, and that is what helps us PCOS'ers lose. There are quite a few good books out there in low GI.

The best way to treat PCOS is actually diet and exercise, I am managing all of my symptoms through lifestyle change (low GI, plenty of exercise, Water, and so on) I was on Metformin for years, and lost and gained the same weight (plus a few Kg every time) It was only after my banding, and conversion to Vegetarianism, I started losing significant weight.

Best of luck.

Sam.

I feel exactly the same way, but don't see my doctor for two weeks.

I hope my insuranve pays for the removal as they did for the installation!

Good luck!!!

Chicken Chest

Alexandra- I have seen your postings on different threads. I always wonder how you are doing since your rebanding? I know you were supposed to have it about a week ago. I hope all went well and you are feeling better.

Alexandra- I have seen your postings on different threads. I always wonder how you are doing since your rebanding? I know you were supposed to have it about a week ago. I hope all went well and you are feeling better.

I'm doing great, thanks for asking! A week out all my bandages are off, I'm only feeling a twinge here and there, and working my way toward the wondrous mushy diet.

On the topic at hand I completely understand how if being banded makes one miserable it makes sense to have it out. But I'm THRILLED to be rebanded and look forward to eating normally--and lightly--again.

I haven't seen my surgeon yet as he is on vacation. I feel stupid telling him I want it out after being one of his "stars" and shining examples. I plan to see him the first week in September. I just can't continue to PB and worst, vomit at lunch and dinner. It is sooooo painful. I can't do this anymore. Has anyone out there in the band removed world gone through all of this pain? I have never sweat so much in my life. I mean excessive! I can't fix my hair anymore because it is soaked within minutes. It's not only very uncomfortable, but embarassing as well. It interferes with my social life. My husband feels for me, and I believe it is tied to my lapband as I never had this prior to getting my lap-band. My hair has thinned and I have pain all over my body. I am sixty, but am healthy except for these things.I think I'd rather be a Goodyear blimp than go through all of this for the rest of my life.So, please let me hear from you only if you've gone through this or similar experiences.Thank you.CC

Yikes Chicken!

I'm so sorry. Good luck with your decision...

Maria

Hi all, this is my first post. I am also new here. I got my band in 2002. I am probably the smallest person ever banded, and my insurance covered every penny of it! I am 5' tall, and weighed 180 pounds at start. When first banded, I got down to a wonderful 138!! But.....all the sudden my band was TOO TIGHT! My doc says he wanted me to take a break, and took all the fill out. Since then, I have had nothing but a horrible roller coaster ride.Fill-unfill, weight loss, weight gain, fill-unfill, weight loss, weight gain. I have lost and gained the same 40 pounds over the last 5 years, and I am sooooo very sick of this!!!

I currently have all my fill out due to horrible reflux, and even with all the fill out, I have the reflux. I currently feel like I have nasty week old food lodged in my throat.

My doc says when I was banded back in 2002, they gave me a size 9 band, and he wants to put a bigger one in. He thinks this will solve my problems. Let me add, I had a scope ran 2 times, the first time I tested positive for H-Pylori, and now this 2nd time, he wants to run a test on me by having me swallow some radioactive eggs!!! He says the food isnt leaving my stomach properly!! I NEVER had problems with my stomach till the band.

I read with one of the other posts stated that they couldnt eat anything unless it was smothered in grease or some kind of sauce to get it down. I sooooo can relate to that!!

My theory is, "A FILL IS A FILL" what difference is the "SIZE" of a band going to make? I mean tightness is tightness, I have no fill at all, and feel like I need to burp constantly. I dont know what to do. I dont want to gain all my wight back either. But I sware, i feel like if I can ear normal again, I will do a better job in choosing my foods!!

What do you guys think I should do??

Thanks, Tina

My theory is, "A FILL IS A FILL" what difference is the "SIZE" of a band going to make? I mean tightness is tightness, I have no fill at all, and feel like I need to burp constantly. I dont know what to do. I dont want to gain all my wight back either. But I sware, i feel like if I can ear normal again, I will do a better job in choosing my foods!!

What do you guys think I should do??

Thanks, Tina

Hi Tina,

A fill is a fill, but the size of the band that's being adjusted DOES have a lot to do with it. If it's too small to begin with, adding Fluid to make it tighter will just make problems worse. Back in 2002 doctors had only one choice of band size, but people are not all the same size and so some inevitably got bands that just didn't fit right from the start. I think I was one of those people, too; I could only tolerate a fill of less than 1.5ccs at any time and toward the end couldn't tolerate any fill at all.

Now I have the new AP band (my old one was removed due to slippage) and I am hopeful that this one will be for life. There's a lot more room to maneuver and adjust to fit my particular anatomy. If you have no fill and are STILL too tight, then doesn't it stand to reason that a larger band might work better for you?