Hi there. Wondering if anyone has removed their band after goal weight because they wanted to, not due to medical reasons. And also how easy was it to maintain your weight after the removal? How hungry were you? Did you feel like you were starving in order to maintain?

Linda

I can just about guarantee I'd regain if I were to do that.

I can't imagine why anyone would do that, to be honest. It's almost a guarantee that you will re-gain the weight

Wanting to remove your band is also a desire to hang on to your old ways. That's a diet mentality - do the diet, lost the weight, go off the diet. You have to eventually get your head around the fact that this is FOREVER. I struggled with that in deciding to be banded. It was an eye opener to me how much I wanted to change on the one hand but how much I really DIDNT want to change. I think its the first time in my life that I was able to admit that I really did get "something" out of my lifetstyle, even if I wasnt able to pinpoint what it was. The thought of giving up that type of eating was scary.

Now the way I eat is "normal" to me, its normal in pretty much everyone else's eyes too. I dont have a super restrictive diet or super low calories, food has its rightful place in my life and there is no need to remove the band to change that.

But I know something is broken in me, if the band were to come out, the appetite would return and I'd be fat again in no time.

I don't know anyone personally that has done it, but I heard Sharon Osbourne did it. There's probably some good press coverage of that.

The thought of having my band removed after I got to goal never occurred to me. If I *lost* my band, I would be re banded (if that was a choice, otherwise, I would look hard at the VSG)

lindata: Why are you thinking in those terms? Are you considering having it removed for a particular reason? Or are you just wondering about what would happen?

What I'm thinking is-- if you were to have your band removed you have to 100 percent know!! that you will do the right eating thing and definitely make the life long commitment to healthy eating and exercise. So any doubt that you will be unable to commit will take you back to where you started if not more. I think it helps if you have been exercising along with making the right food choices now and the length of time you've been doing it, how comfortable you have become and having a serious plan in place for when you fall off the band wagon. We all know those times will come because we're human. Good luck

Are you currently filled at all? Maybe you could unfill completely and see how it goes for awhile.

Bjean, I was just thinking this hasn't been around THAT long and it's a little scary having something 'foreign' in your body, so I was thinking along the lines of losing the weight and having it taken out. Just thinking long-term risks. I'm seesawing back and forth. On the one hand people get surgeries all the time, get pacemakers and all kinds of things put inside their body and they're fine. Then on the other hand ... oh, just putting thoughts out there, I guess

Linda

I see where you are coming from, but I know that, for me, I would balloon right back up, and I've had my band for 3 years (long enough that I should have better habits by now).

I would say that after you get to goal, if you are still thinking about this, have all of the Fluid removed from your band, for like a year, and see how you do. If you don't have any trouble, you could probably do okay with it removed.

lindata: I had those thoughts too before I got the band. It is an option, of course. However I think that most doctors would suggest that you not touch it as long as you are having no problems. There is always risk with any surgical procedure. The LB hasn't been used in the US that long, but it has been used in other countries much longer. It would be intresting to know how many elective band removals have been performed and to know the reason for those removals.

Most of us here at LBT are (I think) relatively new bandsters, so we're all still in the weight loss process and still using the band for all we're worth. I read a post by someone who's been banded since 2005 and has achieved great success - in her pictures she looks tiny. Recently she had a problem and was afraid she would have to have the band removed. She was going to be very upset if she had to have it taken out. Fortunately she didn't, but I'm thinking that even after most of us lose all the weight, we will still feel that we need the band to maintain our loss. I reckon only time will tell.

One of the ladies at my doc's office said that studies have shown that the weight almost always comes back when the band is removed.

tulips: Do we know if Sharon Osborn actually went ahead and had hers removed? Now that she's on TV regularly, we can probably track her maintenance.

Sarah, that's an excellent idea! I never thought of that. Thank you

Linda

Bjean, I was just thinking this hasn't been around THAT long and it's a little scary having something 'foreign' in your body, so I was thinking along the lines of losing the weight and having it taken out. Just thinking long-term risks. I'm seesawing back and forth. On the one hand people get surgeries all the time, get pacemakers and all kinds of things put inside their body and they're fine. Then on the other hand ... oh, just putting thoughts out there, I guess<br /> Linda

<br /> <br /> right before surgery, i was actually afraid of having something "foreign" too... but then i remembered that since my early 20s, I've had a steel plate and nine screws in my arm- and my body doesn't seem to mind!