I'm curious about those of you who've had Lap Band surgery or the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty. From what I've read, the band surgeries have a lower excess weight loss than something like gastric bypass.

I hesitate to cause my body to avoid absorbing nutrients, which is what gastric bypass does, and the sleeve is bad for people with GERD, so I've been thinking about the band.

Do you have any regrets?

Any side effects like GERD?

Problems with eating certain foods?

How much weight have you lost?

You're viewpoint is appreciated!

My surgeon will not do bands and neither of my hospitals will do them now. There were just too many complications and the results were not that great. Many resulted in follow up revision surgery. How much weight do you need to lose?

I weight 260 and want to get down to 150 or 170.

I'm curious about those of you who've had Lap Band surgery or the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty. From what I've read, the band surgeries have a lower excess weight loss than something like gastric bypass.
I hesitate to cause my body to avoid absorbing nutrients, which is what gastric bypass does, and the sleeve is bad for people with GERD, so I've been thinking about the band.
Do you have any regrets?
Any side effects like GERD?
Problems with eating certain foods?
How much weight have you lost?
You're viewpoint is appreciated!

I had the band placed in 2008. Had to have a slip fixed in 2010. Band removed in 2019, bypass done in 2020.
Other than the slip in 2010 i didn't really have any problems with my band. I lost about 60-65 in the first 6 months, then maintained that loss +/- 5 lbs until 2019.
Wasn't really having any issues, but decided I should do a check in with my band doctor, in April 2019 I had an upper gi done, they found that the band was causing problems with my esophagus and recommended removal.
Removal and bypass done as 2 separate surgeries. I am 6 weeks post op from bypass and feeling great.
I would not do the band again and go straight to bypass, bands fail after about 10 years, or sooner for some. Save time and $$$ do the bypass!!

1 hour ago, imaginegirl said:

I weight 260 and want to get down to 150 or 170.

I started at 254 and reached goal of 149 in 7 months. Maintaining at 144-145 and feel great! Bypass surgery was the best decision I ever made.

I'm so glad to hear that!

good luck finding a surgeon who'll do it. Most refuse to place lapbands any more. Way too many complications, and many people who had them have since revised to sleeve or bypass.

Imaginegirl, like people have already said, you might have trouble finding a surgeon who still do bands.

Also, long term about 50% of people who got the band 10 years ago are having difficulty and getting them removed. There are LOTS of us here who have had to get revisions done.

I went with the band those 11 years ago with the same reason you did, I just wish I knew then what I know now, and I'd have gone straight to the bypass and not wasted 10 years fighting with my band.

Of course it's your body, but do your homework and be sure the band is really what you want. Either way, good luck!

I got a band in 2009 for much the same reasons as you are contemplating it. It was reversible, I wasn’t fat enough for serious surgery etc.

It helped me achieve my goal weight and maintain it for about 6 years and then I started regaining .

There are a lot of things they don’t tell you preband , the reality of living with it is very different to the marketing.

You get told if you overeat it will make you sick, you don’t get told that you may get sick on your first mouthful of healthy food because for some reason it didn’t go down right today. You may have taken a small bite, chewed it well and it could be something you have eaten multiple times before but for some reason today it’s not going to work.

You wish that being sick actually meant vomiting because that would be over quickly and a lot less painful than being stuck. Being stuck causes pain in the chest, you think you are having a heart attack, you can’t swallow anything, not water and not your own saliva. In extreme cases you end up going to emergency to get an unfill and put on a drip to rehydrate you.

They don’t tell you that healthy food is really hard to eat yet high calorie unhealthy food will go down really easily. Be prepared to say goodbye to steak, chops, chicken, corn, lettuce, raw carrot etc all whilst cursing candy, cookies ,ice cream etc.

You will never feel full or satisfied like a “ normal” person again. Instead you will feel a horrible pressure in your throat and or chest.

You hear about this magical sweet spot. Well that can be as elusive as the holy grail. Not enough fill and you are still really hungry, too much and you can’t swallow your spit. The difference between the 2 can be O.01 ml and for some reason you still can’t get that sweet spot.

Be prepared to spend lots of time in restaurant loos instead of chatting with your friends ( see my comment above about getting stuck)

Then there is the reflux. Waking up in the middle of the night choking on acid is no fun.

In spite of all this I loved my band as it helped me keep the weight off ( until it didn’t). I was horrified when my surgeon told me they have a limited lifespan and that it was unlikely to do what it was designed to do any longer. He suggested a revision to RNY and I was horrified. That seemed way too extreme.

I went home and did lots of research. Came back into these boards and other facebook groups and asked lots of questions. I decided to go ahead and my revision to RNY in Jan 2019.

What can I say, the difference is like day and night. My RNY does what the band was supposed to do. I can eat small portions of healthy food and feel satisfied. Hello steak, chops, salad etc. When I’m full I feel it like a normal person would, no more horrible pressure in my chest. I can still eat cake, cookies etc but in much smaller quantities as too much sugar makes me feel gross( which is a good thing). I can go out to eat and spend the time chatting to my friends, food doesn’t get stuck and I haven’t vomited since my revision.

So with the benefit of hindsight if I had my time over I I would not have a band I would go straight to bypass.

If you still feel the band is for you, good luck, do lots of research, be very aware of what you are signing up for. Also start saving so you can fund your revision surgery at some point within the next 15 years.

elcee, Your experience with the band is very similar to mine. You said it way better than I ever could! Great advice for anyone still looking at the band!

Elcee. I really appreciate your detailed description. That, plus everyone else's stories tell me that the band is probably not for me.

elcee, I could have written that post myself, because it mirrors my lap band story perfectly! Are you sure you're not my Aussie evil twin separated at birth? Or wait, maybe I'M the evil one.....?

Elsee, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with the lapband. I was planning on the lap band but have changed my mind this past week for the sleeve. Your post confirms my decision. I am 71 and hope the surgery will give me at least 20 more years of life. I am looking forward to no more type 2 diabetes.

I had a lap band placed 3 years ago. At the time of surgery I weighed 407 pounds I am currently 295 pounds. Yes the band did work it wasn’t magic. I did have a lot of complications. After the first year all my complications started to happen. I threw up every day for the past 3 years. I was constantly sick and some days couldn’t even hold down water. I am currently 5 days post op from my revision. I had the band removed and had the bypass. During the operation my surgeon said my stomach had begun to grown around the band and was very difficult to remove. Yes the band does work to a certain point but in my opinion if you are going to go threw all the pain of having wls go for something more effective!