my fitness pal vs lap band

Its most likely beneficial to do both. As both MFP and the lapband are TOOLS to get towards your end goal. Neither one is going to be the "be all and end all" to your weight loss ... they are simply stepping stones to help you put the work in for your ultimate goal. In my opinion, a persons mind and perseverance will bring them to their weight loss goals ... everything else are tools to help get you there! Goodluck with the surgery and I hope it helps bring you to your ultimate goal!

You need to make your own decision, but let me tell you a story.

My sister had Lap-Band six years ago. She had good insurance, so the procedure cost her very little out-of-pocket. She lived near NYC and had a great surgeon. She never lost any weight. She had it emptied for her first pregnancy and didn't refill until after her second baby was born (still no real weight loss). Within three months of her refill after baby #2 (5 years after surgery), she was having issues and had it emptied temporarily until she could have a little more put in later. She ended up never having it refilled and used MFP to log her food and exercise. (Note that she had to jump through a million hoops just to find a doctor to help her, since she doesn't live near NYC anymore, and most doctors won't take on bariatric patients who had surgery with another doctor.)

She realized that she used the band as a crutch and not a tool, and when she did the latter, she didn't even need the band.

A year and 90ish lbs (lost) later, she decided she wanted the band removed because it was visible and palpable on her smaller belly. Surgery where we live would have been about $20K (NYC was more), and insurance didn't cover it. Thus she decided to just live with it. A few months later she started having issues where she couldn't even keep down small amounts of water, so she went to the doctor. It turns out her band had slipped, and she had to have emergency surgery to move it (she just had it removed instead). Her surgeon told her he had another patient have this happen but refuse surgery, and that patient died. So this could have been deadly had she not gotten medical attention. Thankfully insurance covered it because it was necessary to save her life. It was good because she got it removed and paid for by insurance, but it was no fun because it was not on her terms. It was the middle of the week, she missed work, I had to go retrieve her car at the hospital, and her husband and I had to pick up the slack to care for their young kids.

It turns out that her specific band had been recalled and is no longer used in surgeries. Like lots of medical devices, they improve over time, and sometimes the ones used in you break down over time.

Point being, for her it was very problematic. She told me she wished she'd never gotten it.

For some people, it's great if used as a tool and not a crutch, but for others it can be done using MFP without surgery. I'd give MFP a fair shot before doing something (almost) irreversible - but that's just my opinion.

I probably should loose around 90lbs , I'm tall and carry my weight really well but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still in need of some intervention.. After reading all the success stories I cant help but to think maybe I can do this .. really has me thinking

I whole heartedly agree that any surgery isn't something to jump into. If you are having hesitations, why not just start really putting effort into changing your lifestyle (since with surgery you're going to have to anyway). Then if you find you are successful with that alone, no surgery needed. If you give it enough time and still feel like you need the procedure then go for it.

Lap band surgery has a much lower success rate than gastric by-pass. You are wrong, the numbers for both are going through the roof, bypass is still a very common weight loss surgery. I have had both and I'm a RN. I really regret not having the bypass first but that is me and I would never presume to tell someone else what is the right choice for them. She needs to talk to her doctor and if she is really having second thoughts delay the surgery until she is sure.

You can totally do it [without the band], it may take more time but its totally worth it!

I had the lap band in Sept 2010. I have lost 119 lbs and continue to lose weight. I know I may not be typical but it is still happening for me. I am losing weight extremely slowly, 1 pound or so a month (but it's loss not gain).

I wouldn't consider reversing the procedure, and I would have it again in a heartbeat. Here's why.

It's a tool. It does not fix the problem. You still have to work and make the good choices. I could eat ice cream all day and I wouldn't have lost a pound. The benefit for me is that it is a physical stop to my inability to change my mental outlook. I had lost lots of weight a few times only to gain it and often more back. This is the first time I have managed to maintain weight loss for more than a year (or even continue to lose for more than 1 year). Even 3 years out I still have the desire for large portions and when I eat I take more than I can manage. I rarely finish a plate anymore because the band stops me. If I didn't have the physical restriction my mental need for satisfaction would get the better of my sense.

As for complications, looking through the meta analysis, and other medical research significant complications requiring removal of the band are very small. I know people who have consulted with doctors who discourage the band who say about 75% of them need to be removed. The surgeon who did mine has been doing this surgery for over 5 years, and has only had to remove 1 band in that time. He places about 3-5 a week. There were some technical things in terms of where the band was placed and how it was secured and etc that have reduced the incidence of needing removal which has improved the surgery. Of the bariatric surgeries it is still the one with the least severe complications. The fill/unfill is to me a blessing because it is adjustable. With the others you get what you get, and if you mess up and stretch it you have no place to go. I have been very stable with my band and haven't needed an adjustment in over a year.

I have seen people who have had the band, sleeve, and bypass. Some lost their weight, a few didn't. Some stalled after a year or so and stabilized there (not necessarily at goal). Some have lost tons, and regained it. My biggest reasoning for not considering the bypass (but I did consider the sleeve) is the malnutrition component that you end up with. People complain of hair falling out, they have a greyish look to them, and other external physical signs that you don't get with the restriction only surgeries. If you look at bariatric surgery as a tool and use the support, and community it can be a good thing.

Statistics on maintaining weight loss through non-surgical means shows less than 5% maintain that weight loss for multiple years. Statistics on bariatric surgery are higher, but I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head.

Those are my thoughts and experiences. Hopefully you can use that information to make the best decision for you. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have.

Vicki

I, too, have had both lapband and gastric bypass. Wish I had by pass first. There are so many people having problems with the lapband and in some countries they are no longer doing it. I had lots of complications with my lapband and never did lose the weight with it. Gastric by-pass surgery just about killed me but once I got over the initial eleven days, I have had no more problems. I am 58 years old and my metabolism is shot. I wish I could say I lost all my weight with surgery but I didn't, haven't and won't. I also got sick, not related to surgery when I was 1.5 years out and gained all but 50 lbs of my weight back, due to medication. I am working on getting it back off now. Do I regret the surgery, not at all, do I regret lapband, very much so. I am currently reading a book by Dr. Travis Stork from the TV show The Doctors. I think the name of it is the flat belly something. Would look it up but don't have it with me at this time. This book has made more sense to me than anything I have ever read.

You may contact me with any questions you have about either surgery, but please go to obesityhelp.com and read all the lapband failures in the revision forum. If you just go to the lapband forum you will think it is the best thing since a pocket on a shirt, but it isn't.

if you decide to continue w/ the surgery you will need to continue to eat right and exercise..you cant have one and not the other...if you get the surgery and eat bad or not work out then you wont have much progress...they say the band isnt good for anyone who needs to lose more than 100 lbs...i went in for my consultation and the patient liason told me that more people were having them taken our vs putting them in...whatever your decision remeber that surgery wont work without you being mentally ready as well as continuing to eat better and work out more...here if you need me

I only know one person who had the band, but her experience was a worst-case nightmare. It was enough to scare me away from it permanently. You could always postpone your appointment and give MFP a shot. You're going to have to learn to control your eating one way or another if you want long-term success.

Bump:flowerforyou: