ok i watched Rosanne Barr on tv today- and she had the ryun- y bypass surgery a few years back- as did Carnie Phillips, and both look like they have gained lots of weight back---anyone had one of these bands, say at least 5 years, and how is it still performing for you -have you maintained your weight loss or leveled off and some point? Anyone GAINED lots of weight back--

come on cough it up there can not only be sucess stories out here (tho they are the best) enquiring minds want tho know----I understand that this is a tool and I have to maintain control but well just wondering if it ever really gets easier ----------

I can't answer the question based on my experience because I'm only a year and a month out...

The only person I know that you might know who has been banded for a long time (4-5 years?) is Sharon Osborne. She looks fantastic. I believe she started at 250lbs or so.

The great thing about the band is that it is always adjustable. If a person changes their lifestyle to work with the band, the weight should not come back on. But that means that if you start eating a bucket of ice cream and a bag of chips a day the weight will come back on. So, it's really a choice for us...where the RNY folks don't really get one- their bodies sometimes learn to compensate.

Megan

ok i watched Rosanne Barr on tv today- and she had the ryun- y bypass surgery a few years back- as did Carnie Phillips, and both look like they have gained lots of weight back---anyone had one of these bands, say at least 5 years, and how is it still performing for you -have you maintained your weight loss or leveled off and some point? Anyone GAINED lots of weight back--

come on cough it up there can not only be sucess stories out here (tho they are the best) enquiring minds want tho know----I understand that this is a tool and I have to maintain control but well just wondering if it ever really gets easier ----------

I have only been banded since May, 2003. I can definitely tell you that if you do not maintain the required eating habits, you can definitely regain your weight. That being said, that is the beauty of the band. It doesn't just go away when you're done. You maintain your fills so that you can maintain your eating habits and your weight loss OR if you realize that your weight is beginning to creep back up, you can go in for a tweak of the fill.

Yes. I have heard of some folks who have regained some weight. I have even heard of some who 'ate around' their bands to the point of not losing at all or regaining their initial loss.

I do know that on Yahoo Groups Smartbandsters and www.spotlighthealth.com there are some of the initial bandsters who were in on the trials and who were banded in Mexico and France before the trials who have lost to their goals and who now, (some 6 yrs out) are still maintaining their losses.

I hope that helps to answer your question.

Queen Michelle,

Yes, you can gain weight back with the lapband. But it is harder to do than it is with the bypass. This is mostly becausewith the band and slower weight loss, you have more time to deal with developing good eating habits. ONce the bypass patients pass their window of opportunity which is about 18 months, if they havent learned good eating habits some of them regain. Also with the bypass once the stomach stretches a little and the newly created pouch increases in size, it is possible to eat more. With the lapband, you can get adjustments and change your level of restriction for perpetuity. At least to me, the lapband is a much more effective tool

Babs in TX

334/192/170

-142

6/23/03

I went to a seminar on Band vs Bypass. There are certain foods bypass patients must avoid for ever or else they'll "dump." For example, most can't eat chocolate or they "dump." Dumping is to bypass patients what PB-ing is to us. They eat something that their body rejects because it's unable to process it, so they dump (get really sick and spend a lot of time in the bathroom losing the food either by mouth or bottom.) Dumping sounds extremely horrible. Bypass patients lose weight really fast for three reasons: 1. They have a tiny capacity new stomach. 2. The intestines are re-wired so food goes straight through; 3. They get physically ill from foods their body rejects. They physically can't eat certain foods without dumping, while banded people can eat just about anything within reason. However, bypass patients can slowly train their bodies to accept foods that were once forbidden. My friend had a bypass 10 years ago and gained nearly all her weight back by training herself to eat. She ate all day long, little nibbles, of all goodies that used to make her dump. She introduced them slowly. The same is true for the band though. If we allow ourselves small amounts of goodies all day long, we'll eventually gain weight back without damaging the band.

Did that make any sense at all?

The window of opportunity for RNY is 18 months to 2 years. They lose weight both from reduced intake, and malabsorption. The length of intestine that is bypassed causes them to lose the ability to absorb not only fat and calories but also vitamins and minerals. After the 2 year mark the body learns to adapt, and regains the ability to absorb fat and calories. It never regains the ability to absorb vitamins and minerals. That means if they haven't learned a better eating behavior they will regain, sometimes all the weight, and sometimes even more.

This is a sad subject esp. for the bypass patients that have died of malnutrition.

Went to a yard sale this weekend and the woman was a bypass patient, she looked great to say the least! She has a new lease on life and we can relate, right? She told me of her dumping problem. (keep in mind she has 3 small children as I share this) She said she ate 1/2 of a donut, got nautious feeling so she went to the BR to "dump" She woke up an hour later on the floor! You talk about scary!

Bypass patients have a window of opportunity to lose their weight , it is like 1-2 yrs out. After that their pouch is the same size if not stretched, their body adjusts to that size pouch which is why so many of them gain some weight back. Unlike us band patients we can forever adjust our bands so if we get to goal and then feel we are gaining weight we can just go have a fill and start to lose again. DId Roseanne have the bypass or the Fobi pouch? I thought she had the FObi pouch..also Randy Jackson and Al Roker both have put some of their weight back on since their bypass surgeries. Carnie Wilson has, but I believe she is also pregnant however she had put some weight on before her pregnancy. My uncle has had the bypass and has lost 170 in 2 years. He started to put a few pounds back on, but got back on track. He eats 5-6 times a day just a little bit so his pouch does not stretch and he keeps his metabolism moving by little meals all day long..he is still losing

There's a woman that works for a client of my company's who had the RNY done. She's lost about half of her former self, but my boss/mom says she's not losing anymore (I don't see her, she's on the opposite coast). My mom is MAYBE 20 lbs over weight and trying to lose that, and she says that this RNY patient eats more than she does. She told me about one meal that they had and I couldn't even believe that she ate that much. It was something like 8 hot wings, half an order of onion rings, and a bunch of popcorn shrimp. Mom didn't know what dumping was until I explained it to her, but says that this woman does it all the time, which means that she hasn't trained her body to deal with the foods that cause it, she just eats them anyway. She had it done in July of last year, so she's just coming up on the 18 month mark.

I think I have started down a good path of developing new eating habits. I think if you took my band out tomorrow I would inch toward my old eating habits, so I know my brain isn't where I want it to be, but fortunately, nobody wants to take my band out .