This is gonna sound nuts, but I think I want to remove my Lapband

[betrthnever 107]

...

PS, aside from the heartburn this lapband always leaves me with a nagging feeling, for example everytime I travel there's this little voice in my head wondering what I will do if it slips/gets too tight.

I wonder what the statistics are for those of us LapBanders who now suffer from GERD. Its really quite common. The first time I experienced it was a couple of years afterwards, when I was at my tightest. All of my Fluid was removed and I have never been able to experience the same level of "sweet spot" since. You can't live your life in fear, however,

Good luck to you!

[kmt1973 92]

It sounds like you got a good Dr. You don't sound nuts. I've been banded for 3 years and also have never found that sweet spot. I've been having some problems and my Dr did an egd, he found erosion. Hopefully, I'll have a conversion. You should really have an upper gi done to see how it looks on there. God Bless.

[iamshazza 41]

I'm actually now leaning more toward getting the band removed being a good idea for me as well. I've had mine since 2009 and recently started having issues. I've been reading and posting all over the board about this. The more I think about having this thing inside me...the less inclined I am to keep it in there. I'm just afraid my insurance won't cover it...and I'll still be out $300+ having to go through the program (I have to do that before insurance will decide if they will cover it or not).

My surgeon already said he could do it in one surgery. And also remove my gallbladder (which will need to come out either way).

[Dream4tc 192]

I just had my band removed 5 days ago. It was painful, but so glad I did it. I have not had any reflux, heartburn or vomiting which has been just amazing considering, I had endured that for 9 consecutive months due to complications from a prolapse and then slip where my band was sitting sideways and was up nearly on my esophagus. My insurance paid for my removal after there was imaging confirmation from an Upper GI and esophageal manometry. There was quite a bit of scar tissue removed and that in itself is painful. I am on percocets currently but pain has improved and so thankful that it's gone. I actually have relief and no more vomiting. I drank a glass of orange juice today for the first time after 4 years. I had not been able to drink any juices or eat any acidic fruits since the band due to too much acid. I will be revising to gastric bypass in a few months after I heal from this

[Teri1129 1]

I'm a lap-band failure...my lap-band has never done anything for or with me...I am now back up to my pre-surgery weight I moved to another state since my surgery so next Friday I am going to a new surgeon....maybe I'll speak with him on the lap-band to sleeve conversion. I'm so sorry to hear of others having problems; I've not experienced any problems other than slow weight loss, constant hunger when trying to eat small portions and now right back to where I started. I suspect my previous surgeon never really filled my band as much as he could have.