Should people barely over 200 lbs or below 200 get Lapband or any WLS...?

[Jachut 487]

Prof O'Brien has found in Australia there's considerable success with lower BMI patients. Of course you cant equate that with pounds lost, but with percentage of total body weight, low BMI patients tend to do very well.

In layman's terms I look at myself. I simply didnt have the "issues" to overcome that many heavier people had. As a lower BMI you are likely to have been fat for less time, not to have been so fat in the first place, not to have developed as dysfunctional eating habits and issues. The stories people tell about what they used to eat, including entire bottles of soda in a day, well I never DID that in the first place, so I didnt have to overcome it. I'd never eaten two big macs in one sitting or entire cakes, or six ice creams, I didnt eat three plates full of dinner. I may well have gotten to that point. Now I'm not saying by a long shot that all people with a bmi of 50 indulge in those behaviours but its a fair call to say they probably eat a lot more than I did at a BMI of 35. So it was way easier for me to change, I probably had a much milder form of the disorde4r.

I also hadnt got so fat that I couldnt exercise or hadnt exercised in years. I was still able to be active and if there's one thing I could say is the secret of weight loss its hard exercise. If youre so big you can barely more, its much much more of a challenge.

All those are reasons why that study found the results it did and they're all compelling reasons why you should be able to tackle a weight problem seriously before it becomes really difficult.

And of course that's just generalising because there are indeed people on this board and out there in the world who HAVE gone from BMI's of 50 down to 20 through sheer guts and determination.

[melaniematters 0]

This link is to the latest study results in the Journal of the Amercian Medical Association - JAMA -- Adjustable Gastric Banding and Conventional Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial, January 23, 2008, Dixon et al. 299 (3): 316 it's suggesting early lapband surgery in newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics could be the way to go.

[naomi.j 1]

hello i am 206lbs and i am booked in for my lap band 24 sept in brussels i have struggled with my weight since i was a child yo yo ing up and down all the time which is not healthy and at 5ft 4 that makes my bmi 34.8 which is classed as obese being over weight has made me so misrable and i have already worked hard to loose 28lb but im really struggling to get the rest of so if i can do something that is goin to make me happy slimmer and fitter than im going to do it i have two very small children and im sure they will b happy to see a happy mommy you come to sites lik this for support because you feel like people will undrstand you here not judge you like people in life do that i have to deal with so the few percent who have voted no way just eat a little less thanks for your support being obese is being obese.

[lisafitz 18]

I never did any of that either....I couldn't tell you the last time I had a soda or the last time I had fast food....eww i just can't eat that stuff. I really don't even eat bread and if I do it's 12 grain bread. I like healthy food and I love veggies and fruit more then anything. My BMI is 35.4 I believe...high blood pressure, lower lumbar, my knee, acid reflux, ulcers....all stuff that got me here. Went from a 120 lb person to 224 lbs after my hysterectomy and menopause. Though the years I just gained and no matter how much I ate right or went to the gym or walked...I lose and I gain. Of course I didn't eat right all the time, most of the time. I love to bake and I love to cook. I love seeing my family eat and enjoy. I did cut back on how I cooked and changed allot though the years. I wasn't sure I would be approved for the lapband...but it took a week for when the doctor sent my paper in, they approved me right away. I can not wait until a week from now. I am nervous.

[MacMadame 81]

I can not wait until a week from now. I am nervous.

Good luck!

[Carrie_C 9]

I don't see anything wrong with them having it. Just because someone doesn't have any health problems now weighing 200 pounds doesn't mean they won't in the future. Lap band could help prevent that. And we all know how easy it is to gain, I mean didn't we all weigh 200 pounds at one time? The weight just kept coming on for me. The Lab band could prevent that as well. I am 5'6 and weighed 254 on my surgery date. If I had waited any longer, I would have been at 300 pounds in no time. It doesn't matter if you weigh 400 or 200, it is still very hard to lose weight, as we all know all too well.

[Phoenix 2]

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Edited August 2, 2008 by Phoenix

[Desdemona 48]

It sounds like this post originally asked the question -- should people around 200lbs get the band? What does this mean? First of all – the question doesn’t seem to take into consideration that 200lbs can be 40-50BMI for many people. People who are over 34 BMI are at a significantly higher risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. They are more likely to be under-performing in their job----more likely to be passed over for promotions (less financial security)---less likely to be happy. Should we expect the non-symptomatic overweight person to wait for a diagnosis of cancer or heart disease before we decide it’s alright with us if they get a band?

There is also the opposite side of the coin to this question. The VAST majority of the published research on WLS clearly demonstrates that samples with higher BMIs do better with bypass than banding. That is why many insurance companies refuse to pay for banding but will pay for bypass for higher BMIs. That’s also why many WLS surgeons strongly recommend bypass for higher BMI patients. So now-- should we say that people with higher BMIs should NOT get the band?

I'm not in favor of offering opinions to low or high BMIs because each and every single person is different. We have different bodies, minds and spirits. We have different stories ---different needs. Personally -- I had a very hard time deciding what to do about my weight. I have spent over 20 years battling my weight problems. All I had to show for all that effort was a slowly dying body – constant pain from head to toe – difficulty doing my job---and increasing shame. 100lbs may not seem like a lot of weight to someone who needs to lose 200 or 300 hundred lbs but-- believe me---it’s enough to quickly kill anyone regardless of known diseases or not. Most people in my life have been supportive of getting the band. There are some of my friends who are so moralistic that they just think I should have gotten my act together and lost the weight on my own. I assume those same people think that anyone who dies of obesity deserve exactly what they get. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t allow the opinions of other people to shame me out of getting the band.

[shadowland 0]

Carrie,

I am thinking about lap band surgery. I don't weigh 200 lbs. But my BMI is almost 35. You see I am only 4' 11 and I weigh 170. My back and legs hurt all the time and so do my feet. I have high blood pressure and shortness of breath sometimes. It's because I'm so short. If I was much taller then my weight wouldn't be a problem. I do need the procedure. And I don't think it should be determined by weight alone. My insurance won't pay. Not fat enough, So I will be a self pay. I'm so tired of the yo yo dieting that doesn't work for me.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Carrie,

I am thinking about lap band surgery. I don't weigh 200 lbs. But my BMI is almost 35. You see I am only 4' 11 and I weigh 170. My back and legs hurt all the time and so do my feet. I have high blood pressure and shortness of breath sometimes. It's because I'm so short. If I was much taller then my weight wouldn't be a problem. I do need the procedure. And I don't think it should be determined by weight alone. My insurance won't pay. Not fat enough, So I will be a self pay. I'm so tired of the yo yo dieting that doesn't work for me.

I say go for it! A BMI of 30 is obese, a BMI of 35 is seriously obese. 40 is morbidly obese. Don't make the same mistake many of us did and wait until it is more out of hand than it already is.

[Carrie_C 9]

Carrie,

I am thinking about lap band surgery. I don't weigh 200 lbs. But my BMI is almost 35. You see I am only 4' 11 and I weigh 170. My back and legs hurt all the time and so do my feet. I have high blood pressure and shortness of breath sometimes. It's because I'm so short. If I was much taller then my weight wouldn't be a problem. I do need the procedure. And I don't think it should be determined by weight alone. My insurance won't pay. Not fat enough, So I will be a self pay. I'm so tired of the yo yo dieting that doesn't work for me.

Then I agree with the above, and I say go for it! I am tall, but I think shorter people have a harder time with weight. My Mother is only about 5'0 and she weighs about the same as you do. I think she would benefit greatly from the band. Her insurance won't pay either. I think anyone who is overweight should be able to get it, like others have said, it's not fair to make someone wait until they do have a health problem before anything is done. Me being tall, I don't look like I weigh as much as I do. And I had a lot of people telling me I wasn't "fat" enough to get it! That makes me so mad!

[lisafitz 18]

It dif should be health issues and on how long you have been trying to lose weight. Thin my whole life, bounced back after kids (not al the way)

Then had a hysterctomy and that was like 12 years ago I gained allot of weight. I was 224 lbs and went to weight watchers....diet pills etc for back and forth with the weight, would lose and gain also I go to the gym. So two years I changed my eating habits, my whole family supported me and changed to. I would lose some weight and still gain it back. Found out my estrogen levels are extremely low and my metabolism .... well there is none. So a few months ago my docotr said something about the lapband and here I am a week after being banded and so very happy I did it. My lower back will thank me, my knees, my ulcers, my acid reflux, my high blood pressure etc. I am 50 (with menopause) years old 5'5 and now 208 lbs. Besides my hysterectomy this has been the best thing I have ever done. I do think that no doctor would touch someone who is my size and height but has no health issues. My friend is over 300 lbs and has no health issues and has been turned down. But it's not for everyone. Eveyone is different too....everyone sees themselves different from everyone else. We are all on this site because we all did the samething.

This was a good poll. lol

Lisa :wink2::biggrin:

[Shoeaddict 0]

i was in that range when I had my surgery, but I was tired of living with the yo yo dieting. I am so glad I had my surgery.

[sandee 0]

yes, its not the weight number, its the BMI!!!!!!

[pmcfarm 0]

I agree that obese people with co-morbidities and morbidly obese people with or without co-morbidities need the availability of WLS. However, when a tool such as WLS becomes approved & available for use...there are unethical doctors who advertise for patients outside the defined perimeters (Outpatient Band Surgery in US 30 Pounds Or More Overweight,,,Gastric Band Research for BMI of 30-35...ad from the top of LapBand.com) . This is why insurance co. set perimeters for coverage, the potential for abuse is high.