your thoughts on lap-band..

I would like to hear every ones thoughts on the lapband sugery for super over weight people. let me know what you think good or bad.. thanks

I saw it on TV and I think it's ridiculous!! You don't need a surgical band around your stomach to shrink it. It didn't expand that easy...it won't decrease that easy. Anything to do surgical I would strongly disagree with. You ate your way to being over weight...you'll fix yourself if you really want it. There is no easy fix!

I would say that unless it is life and death don't do it. Take the time and put the effort into helping yourself to a healthy lifestyle. losing weight to fast can cause many other serious health problems. I statred out here at 220 and I have nash disease I am now 190 and all my doctors have said do not lose weight to fast because it will cause gall bladder problems more liver problems and many more. It is going to take me time to lose the weight but I will completly reverse the disease and be healthy. CC has been so much help and support it is making it easy for me to lose. there is always some one to help through the frustrations and confussion. you can do this with out surgery.

I am generally against weight loss surgery of any kind.  I know four persons who had bypass and all but one of them has gained back a significant amount of weight.  All of them had complications after surgery.  I girl who works for me had lap band surgery about 7 months ago.  She too has had complications and has had to have the band "redone" twice because it doesn't stay where it is supposed to.  She has also only lost 30 pounds in the 7 months, which she could have done through traditional dieting.  It is a diet surgery myth that these procedures will fix the problem.  Unless you are experiencing a life threatening health issue and your doctor is suggesting lap band, I would try to lose weight without it.  For the record, I started here at 280 pounds and am currently at 260.  I am considered morbidly obese and a prime candidate for these procedures.  Personally, I would rather be fat than to go through the hassles the folks I know have gone through after their surgery. 

i think i personally would rather be fat than go get some band inside me.


the one hospital near me covered the stomach staple thing for people who were obese and on welfare...THAT is wrong.

Let me say this.  I met a woman who had the proceedure.  They gave her a diet to follow.  Her exact words were "If I had followed the diet to begin with, I wouldn't have needed the surgery."

Good point, beachwalker!  A lot of folks think that weight loss surgery is somehow easier than diet and exercise.  It's not!  The diet that one has to follow both before and after any type of weight loss surgery is far more restrictive than anything anyone here does.  If one's problem with dieting is ability to stick with a food plan, then weight loss surgery is definitely not for them!  However, if it is a matter of live or death, if one is horribly overweight, then I can see the possible need for drastic measures.  Me, I had 80 lbs to lose when I started, so I was never a candidate for weight loss surgery.  As a rule of thumb, you have to have more than 100 lbs to lose before you qualify.  But I would not consider it unless I had over 200 to lose.  At that point, your health is in such a bad state that the risks involved of weight loss surgery are outweighed by the risks associated with being that overweight.

Unless you are at deaths door any weight loss surgery is not a good idea. Thats my thought on the subject. I have watched many tv programs and read a fair amount of information on these surgeries. As most of you already know, there are cases where the person has lost the weight and is as happy as can be. Others where they have lost the weight and now need a whole series of surgeries to remove skin. Some have replaced their food addiction with alcohol, drug or gambling addictions. Thats just too many risks for me. Besides that, Im a chicken and wouldnt opt for any surgery unless it were absolutely necessary. As beachwalkers friend said, if you can stick to the diet after the surgery then why not stick to it before the surgery. I think so many people in todays society want everything yesterday and they want it easy. Fast lifestyle, fast cars, fast food, fast fix. The faster we go the more we miss, the more we miss the less we learn, the less we learn the less likely we are to make good life decissions.

wow, you guys really dont aprove of it.. But you all are all skinny too, well to me you are. to Every one that just posted your weight IF i weighed that then I would be way under weight. A couple years ago i got down to 285 and was mesured at 11% body fat and what i would give to be there agian.
 Here is my take on the weight loss surgerys. I know sevrel people who has had the sugerys, With the bypass one looses weight rapidly My cousin lost 225 lbs in 8 months BUT he is gaining now. With the bypass you can strech the stomec back out and the number of complacations are very high, Now with the band the weight loss is a lot slower about 4 or 5 lbs a week at first then slows down to 2 or 3 after you have lost half of your excess weight. complacations with this sugery are rare with only 1/2 of 1% of people have something major go wrong I dont think i have ever heard of any one dieing  from the band, But the bypass sugery has taken many lives. Some one said ((I saw it on TV and I think it's ridiculous!! You don't need a surgical band around your stomach to shrink it. It didn't expand that easy...it won't decrease that easy. Anything to do surgical I would strongly disagree with. You ate your way to being over weight...you'll fix yourself if you really want it. There is no easy fix!))....... That i find offencive My mother Has saver asthma, It was So bad that she would have to take a breathing treatment after showering because it was all she could to to get it done. The doctors put her on meds out the yeing yaing including steroroids and that caused her to gain and gain.  She couldent excersize because she couldent breath and the meds sent her appitate through the roof. On 1997 she took a bad attack and died on the way to the hospital, She was clinacly dead for about 10 mins befor they got her revived then she spent a week on life suport. She finly got the band done and it has saved her. she has lost the weight that she gaind from the meds and she can still take them so she can breath and not worrie about weighing 300 lbs any more. the band has given her life back to her. So I ask the person who made that statement earlyer to rethink what you said..... Sorry for the long post, I was just wondering what some of you thought about the band.. As for my I am convensed that it is a god send for some people and for others it is wrong for. I my self am planing on getting it as soon as i get some insurance. If any of you sre interested in it then check out www.lapbandtalk.com there is a welth of info there and you can talk to people that have it...

The good thing about the surgeries, and I definitely would prefer lapband over gastric bypass, because it has a lot less complications and can be adjusted whereas gastric bypass is pretty much for life; is that they are done under a doctor's care. These surgeries are for the very obese, and usually the obese that have health problems as a result of their obesity.

Right now I am losing weight at a nice clip using a fairly restrictive diet (1200 calories a day flat) under a doctor's care. Should I hit a plateau that I can't get through while I am still obese (>30 bmi) then I will probably try drugs (like Meridian) and if I'm still stuck, then I may have to go with lapband. But fortunately, traditional diet & exercise is working for me.

Thanks plaidpooka.

I have a question for everyone out there. ...

 The folks that have gastric bypass (I don't know about lapband), don't they go into starvation mode?  I watched a special on discovery channel and about a woman that had gastric bypass.  I remember the narrator stating that her body is actually straving itself. 

Many topics on CC are about stravation mode, so what do you think?  Is this just a quick fix?  Will the body begin to gain back wieght due to starvation mode's affect on the body?

I really don't agree with it at all, unless someone were in a situation like Tommy1984's mother. I don't know why anyone would put their body through that if it weren't 100% necessary for medical reasons. Simply eating yourself to morbid obesity doesn't cut it for me.

My grandmother had gastric bypass about 10 years ago. She nearly died from complications, and she started overeating as soon as she recovered. She's now larger than ever.

I guess my problem is that I can't understand why anyone would choose surgery over getting healthy in a more natural way(and one that isn't starving your body.) I see it as pure laziness, lack of willpower, and just the desire to *look* good, not actually be healthy.

I'm sorry if this offends anyone.

Also, Tommy1984, how tall/muscular are you that you were lucky enough to have 11% body fat at 285lbs? My fiance is 6'4" and about 245 right now, and I think he's somewhere around 20%.

I am only about 6'2 But I have a super large fram and have always packed around alot of muscle. as a teen I always wonderd why I was always so much stronger than my father and uncles. Now i realize I was blessed with something not alot of people have and i feel like im wasteing it by keeping in trapet in 150lbs of excess fat..

I think again that this is one of those personal decisions that other people can't really make for you.  I wouldn't get the band-- but I'm not so dangerously unhealthy that I would need it in the first place.  It's true that often times it's lifestyle choices that lead to being in a dangerousy unhealthy state.  And I also understand the argument that "your lifestyle choices got you here-- now you need to change them to get you back to normal again, because that's what all us dieters have to do."  But to be a candidate for that kind of surgery, you must have a lot of weight to lose, enough that it is causing major, life-threatening health problems.  On that forum, though, there do seem to be a lot of people getting the band that aren't morbidly obese, which I find intersting...  But I guess that's between them and their doctors.

The thing about the band, though, it that it can be similar to a crash diet-- you can't eat, so you lose weight fast, and get quick results.  But when the band comes off (or when you end a crash diet), you are vulnerable to falling into the habits you had before-- inactivity, poor diet, high caloric intake, etc.  With crash dieting, at least you are relying on your own willpower-- with the band, I can't imagine you would learn much self-discipline, since it's literally out of your hands.

I guess if you are planning to get the band, I would still recommend psychological counseling, plenty of exercise, healthy foods, and learning how to keep and maintain a healthy body.  I can see this plan as being much more of a long-term solution, just with faster results than lifestyle changes alone. But if one still decides to just eat fewer cheetos and watch tv like before, I'm not sure how much good it will do.  But it's ultimately up to you and your doctor.

Both my regular doctor and endocrinologist are *very much* urging me to get the lap-band surgery done.  I am trying to exhaust all other options first.  I have been on a 1700-1800 calorie diet since September 3, 2006 and it has been a MAJOR struggle to just lose 33 lbs - and when I dropped to 1200 calories/day at the insistence of the endo. Dr, I gained back 12 of the 33 lbs I lost.  I said "screw that" and went back to the 1700-1800 calories/day.  I have lost about 2 of the 12 I re-gained.  I saw my regular doctor yesterday and discussed it all with him.  He (and the endo. Dr.) seem to feel that, following a regular diet and exercise plan (which I have been doing) the most I will be able to lose on my own - without surgical intervention - is 15-20% of my weight.  From my starting weight, that means 15% would be about 62 lbs, and no where NEAR what I need to lose.  (20% would be about 82 lbs and again, no where NEAR what I need to lose, total.)

I have my reservations about the surgery.  I have seen it work wonders for some, and for others, not so great.  I have heard wonderful stories about some who lost a great amount of weight and kept it off, and others who re-gained it all back over time.  Then you hear the horror stories about those who developed complications and proved to be fatal. 

I'm at an impasse.  I have seen where others have followed the traditional diet & exercise plan and have lost 100+ lbs, and have seen others (like me) struggle with it.  I have also seen others follow the traditional diet & exercise plan, lose quite a bit, and then gain it all back - and more!

Also, I think it's unfair to say that just because someone is on welfare that they should not have their insurance cover it, even if it is through the state.  If other insurance companies will cover it (and they do), why not theirs?  If the person on welfare falls under the eligibility criteria, and their doctor warrants the surgery and feels there is no other option, then I say more power to them.  Just because you are at a disadvantage financially and possibly other ways, does not mean that you should have to settle for less when it comes to medical help.  That's just an elitist attitude.  (and just my opinion, for what it's worth.)

I guess if you are planning to get the band, I would still recommend psychological counseling, plenty of exercise, healthy foods, and learning how to keep and maintain a healthy body.


Actually, when you have any of the weight loss surgeries done, that is what is recommended - and usually followed:  nutritionist, psychological counselling, proper diet & exercise and learning how to not gain the weight back, as well as other medical and weight loss aid and resources.  They don't just cut you up, stitch you up and send you on your merry way.  However, with the gastric bypass, you are pretty much connected to that doctor (or doctor specializing in gastric bypass) for the rest of your life, because you have to be consistently monitored.  My husband's aunt had it (gastric bypass) done about a year ago and in that time she has lost just a little over 40 lbs, where I have lost 33 lbs in the course of 9 months.  To me, it doesn't seem like it was worth it - she could have done it on her own and saved herself the aggravation and money from having the surgery done.  But again, it was her decision.

I know that they do lots of follow up work after surgery on making lifestyle changes, but I wonder how often the new guidelines are actually followed.  Making habits change is tough, and I've heard of people with gastric bypass surgery who snack constantly and stretch their stomach pouch back to regular size.  I wonder how many people fall into that trap as well.

I think that WLS is a last ditch kind of thing.  Either you need to be on deaths door, or have many health issues that require quick weight loss OR you need to have truly tried diet/exercise and failed at it.  So if I were you, I'd follow the guidelines here on calorie count and see where it takes you.  Really, truly follow them.  Log your food daily and weigh weekly.  Give it 6 months and see what you lose.  At that time reassess and see if WLS sounds like a good option.  I don't see wls    as a first line of attack on obesity, it's too major of a change to your body.  I have lost 81 lbs through diet and exercise and lately haven't even been able to exercise due to my knee.  I have gone from morbidly obese and a potential candidate for WLS to being moderately overweight with a BMI of 31.  Yes, I want to lose more, but honestly I'd rather stay at this weight forever then permanently alter my body's ability to take in nutrition.

Oh, and failing at fad diets doesn't count as failing at diet and exercise IMO.  The only two diets that  I think work for long term success are calorie counting and weight watchers.  Also, exercise is not essential for weight loss.  It's a good thing for sure, but you can lose without it and not being able to exercise is no excuse for not attempting to lose weight.  I've been unable to exercise for awhile and it's had little impact on my weight loss.

it's extreme.  it's major surgery with serious potential complications.  in my opinion, it should never be done except for people who are at imminent risk of death.  i mean, they don't do coronary bypass surgery for people who might have coronary disease, or kidney transplants for people who have a little kidney failure.

lap-band, gastric by-pass, etc. should never be elective procedures.  if you don't need it--and i mean need--it's too big a risk.