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<HR style="COLOR: #e9e9e9" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --><!-- google_ad_section_start -->Hello. I'm a new member. Don't mean to offend anybody here, that's the last thing I want to do, because I'm thinking of getting banded and I need answers from you, but isn't this lap band gimmick a big con?

I mean if you want to lose weight why not diet?

If you get banded you still have to eat less and diet so why bother getting banded?

Surely when your banded 'pouch' is full of food you may feel full but you must still feel ravenous because the rest of your cavernous stomach is completely empty?

I want to believe that banding works but I can't see how it reduces your hunger pangs and you can't eat what you like - I mean indian curries and savoury foods.

How much will power do you bandsters need to succeed?

And if you have will power why don't you just diet and avoid surgery?

This banding idea doesn't make any sense to me, it's just a big con.

Sorry if I've offended anybody but my doctor said that I couldn't get banded unless I could show that I could lose weight, so I tried and failed. But hang on a minute! If I could lose weight by dieting I wouldn't need to get banded would I ? It's all a big con. The fact is that you could all lose weight without the band, banding is a big con.

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Unless my doctor didn't put the lap-band in, and I'm some sort of test study on tricking the brain into thinking it had surgery by leaving all these nasty scars... I don't think the band is a con

I was just conned into losing 43 lbs in 3 months!!! I feel great but......I can't believe I was duped!!!

Just kidding....you really need to re-evaluate because if you get the band with that negative thinking.....it will not work nor will anything else.

Good Luck to you!

Being conned into lasting weight loss is the best scam I have ever had the pleasure to participate in. I am happy I dont waste my money on scam diet pills or special freeze dried foods or any of that.

Hey gArfield! I'm now off all my diabetic meds, and I could only get my blood sugar up to 100 by eating ice cream! My osteoporosis also completely reversed. Whadda con!

To put it simply, if you were told you had to stand on your head and knit a sweater, that would be a daunting task. However, if you were told that you didn't have to stand on your head...just knit the sweater...it's still work, but it sure looks easier to accomplish!

Great comparison! Can I steal that one someday? <!-- google_ad_section_end -->

it gets old reading a what a few of these nattering naybobs of negativity have to say about the band - c'mon people educate yourselves before you come on here and bitch and moan about the lap-band - for most of us it's been a very positive rewarding experience -

That's not fair. People come here TO educate themselves about the band. Most docs don't really go into the kind of detail we need to make these decisions. THIS IS the place for people to ask the very questions this person is asking.

I think the real negativity is the person that comes here, fully admits they are not chewing well, they are taking bites too big, they are eating too much... they know it and they admit it and then they claim the band is a piece of silicone horror. ORRRRR, the person that eats 6 bowls of ice cream before each meal of Twinkies and claims the band is a failure and doesn't work.

oh oh oh ... i wanna be one ... do i have to change my name to include RN (even though i'm clearly NOT)...

OMG, I'm LOL in real time!

yeah in this case I was a bit reactionary - his doctor sounds like he doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground - I've just had such a good experience with it and know others who have too that it just kinda ticks me off a little

Crap! I've been conned too! 25 lbs in a month! What am I gonna do with all those clothes that don't fit?

__________________

Dr. George Kerlakian

Cinci OH

8/23/07 surgery date

LOL! That's the con for sure! My lap band doctor NEVER told me I'd be spending money on new clothes! How dare he!

Banding saved my life. I did diet so many times and failed. I was able to lose 30 lbs on my own pre banding. Then the weight loss just stopped. I was banded at 282 and I'm down to 220 now. What a relief. Banding is the best thing I ever did.

I think the reason I responded to this thread at all is that the OP says over and over that the band is a big con. Under the guise of wanting information, the person isn't asking but it telling us that the FACT is that it's a con. To that, I'd say, go do your homework and come back when you are more educated.

Thanks so much for all those honest and considerate replies, there is a lot for me to think about. I don't actually think that banding is a big con, I just wanted to cut to the chase and elicit a response from all of you. This is a great forum and you all seem very positive.

Another question - what if you are on lots of medication and need to take lots of pills, like 20 a day, how do you do that when banded?

I think the reason I responded to this thread at all is that the OP says over and over that the band is a big con. Under the guise of wanting information, the person isn't asking but it telling us that the FACT is that it's a con. To that, I'd say, go do your homework and come back when you are more educated.

I'd have to disagree. This is from the OP:

but isn't this lap band gimmick a big con? ...

I mean if you want to lose weight why not diet? ...

If you get banded you still have to eat less and diet so why bother getting banded? ...Surely when your banded 'pouch' is full of food you may feel full but you must still feel ravenous because the rest of your cavernous stomach is completely empty? ...How much will power do you bandsters need to succeed? ...

And if you have will power why don't you just diet and avoid surgery? ...

Sounds like exactly what I was thinking when I first heard of the band. Also, the above sounds like typical newbie questions to me.

Didn't you ever once wonder if the band was just another weight loss gimmick? I sure did.

This person sounds like they are just starting their work on learning about all this and maybe it sounds too good to be true. That's how it sounded to me in the beginning. Still does! LOL

Get your pills in liquid form..

I didn't take pills for the first month as per doctor's order.. so I couldn't take my birth control or prilosec. Instead, condoms and Tums chewables.

After 1 month, I've had no problems taking pills.. And if you have good enough restriction, either get liquid form of your meds, or check if they are breakable, and break them in half, etc.