Hi everyone, I had my lap band installed on May 21, 2012. Starting weight was 293, was 285 the day of surgery, got down to around 240, stayed there a while, then started phentermine which helped me lose more. For a single day in August of 2019 I crossed from obese to overweight and am now back up to 235. Recently, whatever I ate got stuck and had to be “ejected” after which I could resume eating. Along with this came an increase in reflux, to the point of having stomach acid in my mouth a few times. Saw the NP, she suggested unfilling the band, getting an upper GI and seeing where to go after that. I am reluctant to refill the band because I fear the reflux will return. I want to get a revision to sleeve or bypass; thinking bypass would have less chance of reflux returning. I wish I’d gotten bypass in the first place but thought the band was safer. I’d be grateful for any advice anyone cares to offer. Thanks!

I revised from a band I got in 2008, it slipped in 2017, I got RNY in December 2020. With my band I had several issues, pain with eating, throwing up, not losing weight.
my surgeon said she would only do RNY because it was safer due to the scaring from the band, so my choice was an easy one.

I’m a female, 5’9” and I have hormonal issues that hinder me from losing weight. But, I started at 255 in December and am 207 today, so it’s still been effective, even if slower than I expected. The best part is, no pain while eating. I actually don’t feel much when eating. So, that old feeling of band “restriction” is totally out the window. You have to relearn your body’s hunger cues, but the essentials of how, what, how much to eat is quite similar to the band.

On 5/31/2021 at 4:26 PM, Daddyof4 said:

Hi everyone, I had my lap band installed on May 21, 2012. Starting weight was 293, was 285 the day of surgery, got down to around 240, stayed there a while, then started phentermine which helped me lose more. For a single day in August of 2019 I crossed from obese to overweight and am now back up to 235. Recently, whatever I ate got stuck and had to be “ejected” after which I could resume eating. Along with this came an increase in reflux, to the point of having stomach acid in my mouth a few times. Saw the NP, she suggested unfilling the band, getting an upper GI and seeing where to go after that. I am reluctant to refill the band because I fear the reflux will return. I want to get a revision to sleeve or bypass; thinking bypass would have less chance of reflux returning. I wish I’d gotten bypass in the first place but thought the band was safer. I’d be grateful for any advice anyone cares to offer. Thanks!

I had band done 8 years ago and lost 50 pounds. Slowly went back up to starting weight of 332. Had bypass done on May 19. Lost 10 pounds during liquid pre-op and another 14 pounds since bypass. I had no complications from surgery, no pain after and feel great! I am supposed to be on puréed food until Wednesday, but the site of puréed food makes me gag. I’ve been eating mushy turkey and chicken breast and have handled it well. I had reflux from the band and major swallowing problems but that seemed to have disappeared. I do take omeprezole and something so I don’t get gallstones along with multivitamins. Keep us posted on what you decide.

I just went from lap band in 2014 with zero success and so much food getting stuck all the time, to a RNY bypass which my surgeon said was the only safe choice for me. I’m 12 days out from surgery and in the puréed foods stage and 16lbs down and very hopeful that I have success this time. Failing on the lap band was really demoralizing.