Anyone have experience with Lapband?

[Broken_Hero]

I'm starting to think that I cannot win this weight war without help, so does anyone have any experience with lapband?

Thanks.

eta:to clarify

[MaineDem]

1. Not personally but I know a lot about it

I also know a lot of people for whom the procedure didn't work well. There's a lot of mind-set involved. You have to be committed to changing your eating habits. You also have to have "fills" done by the doc to add saline (or remove it, if necessary) to increase the compression of the band. I also know many successful band patients.

I know several people who had the band originally have had a subsequent procedure to have a gastric bypass done. I was in on a discussion a week or so ago about this. They felt they didn't have the self-control needed for the band and felt the restrictions that the bypass offered would help them more. With gastric bypass, the stomach is surgically reduced as well as part of the intestine is bypassed so even the little bit of food eaten isn't absorbed in the same way it was before the surgery. The band just reduces the opening to the stomach; the stomach itself stays full sized.

Check out hospitals in your area. Most offer monthly seminars to discuss the various options - lap band, bypass, and gastric sleeve. They're just informational seminars; there's no obligation.

There's plenty of info out on the net. Some accurate, some not. There are a few websites that are pretty good.

http://www.lap-band-surgery-site.com/

http://bariatrictv.com/

http://bariatriceating.com/

Good luck!

[Goblinmonger]

2. I was advised by my doctor to do a lapband or gastric sleeve.

My insurance company said that it would be on my dime. So I joined weight watchers and am fighting the good fight on my own.

Both kind of worried me a little for different reasons, but I guess I'll never know. I can't imagine my insurance situation will get better in the near future being a teacher in Wisconsin.