Any Lap Banded Members?

I've had mine for five years.

I throw up everything. Everything.

I'm lucky if I usually get 600 calories a day. I lost oodles of weight, over 130lbs and promptly gained it back. I had a nurse tell me, yes, a nurse that works in the doctors office that that's how it works. How they keep getting money. You get the band have to get fills, lose a bunch of weight, get some fill taken out, gain it back and then you have to get a fill again. It's rare that I get over 1,000.

Yeah, it's not so fun. I can work out and work out and then throw up everything I eat but the next day if I keep something down I gain like 3lbs. It's insane. It's really hard emotionally too.

But yeah. My mom talked me into getting one when I was 17. I weighed 335 at the time and I'm down to the 250's now.

I just thought it was crazy that the nurse would tell me that.

Oh! Also after having my son, mine has moved. Especially the port. So sometimes it hurts. Meh. I'm whiney tonight, sorry.

I had my LapBand procedure in June of 2009. So far, I have lost 116 pounds. It was a process to find the "right fit" for the band tightness, sometimes too loose, other times too tight. Luckily, my physician does all band fills under fluoroscopy, so you can see right then and there how the liquids will go through. He also included 2 years of band fills in the price of the surgery, which was nice. I still have about 35-40 lbs I'd like to lose. Good luck to you!!

Yes since 2-2008. It is a challenge staying within calorie range. I can eat pretty much what I want.

When I got sick alot it was due to a slippage. You should really get yourself checked. For me, they took the fluid out, waited 2 weeks to have the stomach go back down. Then start the process of getting the fills again. It is no fun to be getting sick all the time. Since my last slippage, I got to a comfortable fill. I can now eat bread, I so miss bread, but I tell myself now I am trying to lose weight the correct way and be more accountable with some help from the lapband to make sure I can't overeat.

I am new to my fitness pal. I have had my lap band for 4 years this january. I have kept the weight off until here lately and have gained 12-15 pounds.
I decided to start tracking my intake because i tend to be a junk food eater. I try to eat protein that is baked or roasted and lots of fiber.

I have the band! I LOVE MY BAND! It is the greatest decision I ever made

I got banded 5 years ago and lost 80 lbs the first year. My band sprung a leak, which is unusual, and my weight loss stalled for a few years. I lost another 20 on my own (it was as if I didn't have the band) but then I put back on 40. I dropped 20, had plastic surgery for the tons of loose skin I had, fixed the leaking port, and dropped another 20. So I'm at a 100 lb loss right now I've maintained for two years. I'd like to finish this and get down to 150.

I have a moderate fill. I can have it tighter to where I'm unable to eat more than 1/2 cup at a time, but I want to exercise and really learn how to do this. For me, the band did two INCREDIBLY important things:

1. Removed hunger. I cannot tell you how critical this was, because I was in a nearly unbreakable habit of choosing bad food when hungry. I needed practice making sane choices while not in DEFCON 5 hunger. I can't tell you how crazy it feels being that out of control with hunger.

2. Restricted speed of eating. I could power chow. The only times I threw up (and I still get things stuck to this day if I'm getting careless) is when I don't chew. If I stuff too much down, and revert back to that unconscious eating, food gets painfully stuck and I have to eject it.

I've known many people on the band. I sat with a newly banded woman who ate a full size breakfast and made herself feel very ill and overfull. There are wrong ways to have the band....it is WAY more your own willpower than I thought in the beginning.

Any banders, please friend me!

I thought about getting a lap band but changed my mind after reading about the issues many of you are having. That said, I had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy instead (known as a VSG or a "sleeve" it's not a gastric bypass) in January of 2010. I lost 122 pounds last year in about 9 months and now I'm maintaining fairly easily.

That said, I'm glad to see that there are folks on here that have had other forms or weight loss procedures beyond just counting calories. It's good to have a wide variety of folks and procedures so that everyone can relate in one way or another and share info. I still count calories now that I'm on maintenance, however, it's so I'll get enough in a day...like many of you have described.

Good Luck to All!

Hi!

First of all, congratulations on your decision and your current weight loss! It was the best decision I ever made relative to my health..And, I don't mind you asking about my weight at all! I weighed 248 on the day of surgery. The first two weeks I lost 15 pounds. After that it was about 10-15 a month. By this last October I weighed in the mid 140s and by early November I weighed what I weigh now, 133-134.5.

So...my hints/advice are:

1. Get used to throwing up when you overeat and know that that will stop after you get used to eating teeny tiny portions. Your eyes will be bigger than your stomach for a while! You'll take a few months to heal so things that you can't eat now, because they upset your stomach, you may be able to tolerate later down the road. Some things, not at all. For instance, anything heavy with cream, butter, fats, etc. makes me ill so I'm careful to stick with nonfat dairy items, or, if I indulge, I do so very moderately.

2. Speaking of indulging....I don't eat "diet" foods at all. I eat healthy foods, in small/tiny portions and stay away from junk 95% of the time. On those days that I do indulge, I don't overdo it and I see it as eating normally, not as cheating. For instance, over Christmas, I'd occasionally have a cookie or some See's candy but only a "normal" amount...one cookie, two pieces of candy, etc. It was easy because my stomach is small, I don't ever want to be obese again and I see sweets and things differently now. They aren't comfort food. Also, I made sure it was the best of the best if I had it so that the calories were "worth it".

3. Food wise, on a daily basis, I have stuck with high protein foods (LOTS of yogurt [try Chobini from Costco--yummy!], cheese, chicken, shrimp, meat, eggs, skim milk, etc) and veggies. I eat alot of soup! Calories don't matter for you right now because you can't eat enough to make a difference. You need the protein. For the first 5-6 months, I was eating 600-800 calories a day but they were dense and I was satisfied. I occasionally hit plateaus and at those times it was my body telling me to eat more. So I increased to 1200 and lost the rest of my weight. I just recently reincorporated bread and fruit into my diet but it's because I needed more calories for maintenance and the fiber. I know you'll find this impossible to believe but you could end up losing too much weight otherwise!

4. What you don't want to do: eat a bunch of sugary foods; milkshakes, fried foods, candy etc. See this as an opportunity to make a habit of eating right--and believe me, we all know how--and pretty soon you'll make those good choices without thinking about it. As the weight melts off, you'll crave junk less and less.

5. Don't listen to people who are being unintentionally negative. Your experience is different from another persons. It doesn't matter if they know someone who had a VSG who gained all the weight back. For one thing, the odds are the person they know didn't have a VSG (everyone thinks it's another bypass procedure) and two, even if they did, it's not YOU. YOU are in control of your weight and that won't happen to YOU as long as you follow the doctors orders, eat right and exercise.

6. Speaking of exercise...I hate to do organized, going to the gym stuff. I can't stand it and it's a set up for failure for me. So instead, I've found things I like to do that are exercise. I do yoga regularly and in the fall, spring and summer, I go on bike rides for an hour or two. My point is, do what you like not what you hear from others you need to do. This is YOUR experience and you're changing your life permanently so whatever you choose has to be what you like. You're going for an active lifestyle, not the award for most tight six pack!

7. Stay in touch! I'm always a good ear to bend and will be happy to answer any and all questions. I'm sure I missed stuff here! you can reach me through this forum. I'll keep an eye out and I'm thinking about starting a blog! In the meantime, get used to moving quickly through sizes on your way to a single digit wardrobe size! LOL!

Best Regards,

Jessica

Contrary to what Jaspersmom says, the lapband does not work by making you throw up. If you are vomiting, you are too tight. Talk to your dr. If he doesn't do an adjustment to stop your vomiting, find another Bariatric dr immediately. Also I suggest you meet with a nutritionist specializing with Bariatric patients. 600 cals of soup a day is not healthy and it's not how your lapband was intended to work. My lapband surgeon fills by flouro only and if the scale shows you losing 1-2lb weekly you won't even get a fill. You either have a bad dr or you have not been honest with the dr about your situation.

I totally agree!

I have the lap band also I was banded in 2009 and I've had a hard time. I could eat very little healthy food its hard to keep down but the junk is much more easier. I noticed I was eating more slider foods than regular meals, so I decided to eat as healthy as possible if I can't keep it down than that's too bad I just skip it.

Hey!!!!!!!! banded since 9/1/09!! add me yall I still eat like a pig oink....glad to see new bandsters here

Hey!!!!!!!! banded since 9/1/09!! add me yall I still eat like a pig oink....glad to see new bandsters here

NO SHE DOESNT! Shes crazy girls! lol LOVE YOU KATTTTT!!!!