I'm posting this because I wish I'd read something like this when I was thinking about getting the band. First I want to say this isn't a horror story or a medical procedure gone wrong, this is just me not really understanding how the band worked (and a few teething problems)
I had a band fitted in 2012, I was over 17stone and at 5ft 2 that was very obese. I was having back problems I couldn't stand or walk for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time before my back would give up on me. It turns out I have arthritis in the spine and the weight was aggravating it. I'd tried every diet going and though the band was my last hope.
The surgery went well and I started the fills but I couldn't seem to find the "sweet spot" everyone talked about, I'd have a restriction for a day or two then nothing. After about 9 months they sent me for a x-Ray to check for a leak but nothing was found so they then spent about another 9 month monitoring the level of fill in my band each time I went back in. After almost 2 years it was clear the level of fill was not matching the records of what was being put in so although they didn't know where the leak was they decided to change my port and see if that fixed it. So new port I started again but two things had now changed, 1. I'd lost the motivation (I'd lost a stone and a half and the bad back had gone) 2. I'd lost belief in the band. It did work this time but I ended up having too much fill out in because I didn't trust that it wouldn't ease off again and I didn't trust myself.
It was so tight that even milk would cuddle before it had passed through the band. So I found myself living of chocolate, biscuits and crisps and guess what the weight went back on!!
Knowing I had to do something I went and had the band loosened, not completely but about half way probably just under the sweet spot. I still have some restriction and I can't eat dry chicken for example or sausages or bacon, but a good piece of fillet steak will be ok (small portion). Then knowing my head wasn't in the right place I decided I needed to follow a formal diet. I tried weightwatchers first which was ok for about a month but found the same issues coming in and am now on the Cambridge diet which is a strict VLCD. I have lost more weight in 2 months on the Cambridge Diet than I did in 4 years with the band alone.
The band is not useless, It does still Force me to eat slow when I do eat (occasional small protein meal) and it does make bingeing difficult, I certainly can't grab a burger from macca's and I hope it will help me with portion control when I start to reintroduce eating properly but as a diet tool it didn't work for me. I put too much faith in it being the answer and it is not. it just one more tool in the arsenal and unless you have the commitment to follow through with the changed eating habits it can't do anything. I know it has helped lots of people and that is great I just wanted to put my story here to give anyone thinking about it the full picture so that they can make informed decision. Now I have it I'll try and use it to support me but if I'd known what I do now I wouldn't have put myself through it because my eating issues where not portion size related but emotional eating and chocolate.
I had a band fitted in 2012, I was over 17stone and at 5ft 2 that was very obese. I was having back problems I couldn't stand or walk for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time before my back would give up on me. It turns out I have arthritis in the spine and the weight was aggravating it. I'd tried every diet going and though the band was my last hope.
The surgery went well and I started the fills but I couldn't seem to find the "sweet spot" everyone talked about, I'd have a restriction for a day or two then nothing. After about 9 months they sent me for a x-Ray to check for a leak but nothing was found so they then spent about another 9 month monitoring the level of fill in my band each time I went back in. After almost 2 years it was clear the level of fill was not matching the records of what was being put in so although they didn't know where the leak was they decided to change my port and see if that fixed it. So new port I started again but two things had now changed, 1. I'd lost the motivation (I'd lost a stone and a half and the bad back had gone) 2. I'd lost belief in the band. It did work this time but I ended up having too much fill out in because I didn't trust that it wouldn't ease off again and I didn't trust myself.
It was so tight that even milk would cuddle before it had passed through the band. So I found myself living of chocolate, biscuits and crisps and guess what the weight went back on!!
Knowing I had to do something I went and had the band loosened, not completely but about half way probably just under the sweet spot. I still have some restriction and I can't eat dry chicken for example or sausages or bacon, but a good piece of fillet steak will be ok (small portion). Then knowing my head wasn't in the right place I decided I needed to follow a formal diet. I tried weightwatchers first which was ok for about a month but found the same issues coming in and am now on the Cambridge diet which is a strict VLCD. I have lost more weight in 2 months on the Cambridge Diet than I did in 4 years with the band alone.
The band is not useless, It does still Force me to eat slow when I do eat (occasional small protein meal) and it does make bingeing difficult, I certainly can't grab a burger from macca's and I hope it will help me with portion control when I start to reintroduce eating properly but as a diet tool it didn't work for me. I put too much faith in it being the answer and it is not. it just one more tool in the arsenal and unless you have the commitment to follow through with the changed eating habits it can't do anything. I know it has helped lots of people and that is great I just wanted to put my story here to give anyone thinking about it the full picture so that they can make informed decision. Now I have it I'll try and use it to support me but if I'd known what I do now I wouldn't have put myself through it because my eating issues where not portion size related but emotional eating and chocolate.