Hello!

My name is Jennifer and I live in MS. I am so tired of yo-yo dieting and exercise that does nothing for me. I'm 26 and only rank a 37 BMI- I have read that the minimum BMI is 40 without any weight caused health problems. Has this been a problem for anyone else? I just wonder if there are doctors that make exceptions to the BMI rule. Also, I have no insurance anyway so I don't even know if this is possible, but I have been dreaming of lapband for a while now. If you guys can give me any info (especially about surgeons in Mississippi) I would be so grateful.

Thanks everyone!

Jennifer

I think the above 40 rule is mostly for insurance purposes, but I could be wrong. I'd be really surprised it at a BMI of 37 you can't find someone to do your surgery. Good luck!

The recommendation for having a BMI of 40 or above is just that...a recommendation. The insurance is pretty strict with the requiremement from what I understand, but I have not heard doctors being that strict on the requirement. I was a 38 (maybe even a 37, i cant remember). The doc encouraged me to try without the band, and we discussed my past dieting failures. I told him I really wanted to do this, and he agreed, stating that if we did not do it now, I would definitely be at a bmi of 40 within a year. It was only ten pounds away.

Good Luck to you. Keep in mind that (at least in my experience) most of the lower BMI-ers lose slower than the higher BMI-ers. I only lost 20 the first year, another 25 the second year, and about 15 in the six months after that. That first year was absolutely agonizing. I wanted to see results, but I was seeing nothing...eating very little, but not losing weight. But eventually, me and my band prevailed.