Lapband didnt work Should I get a sleeve?

Hi All

I had a lap band inserted about 5 years ago and found that it really did not help me.  I realize it works for some, but for me, it did not help with my problem which is emotional eating.  I am considering a sleeve because I have heard that it can really help reduce cravings due to hormone changes.....does anyone have any experience with this. 

No surgery will fix your head, sadly they only fix our stomachs.  So you might want to address the emotional eating problem with a therapist.  

I don't have a sleeve, I am one of the banded people for whom it worked.  But I agree with Gwen, no surgery helps with emotional eating. You might do better with a makabsorptive  surgery like RNY or DS but even with those, you can eat round them. 

My hand is raised here - I'm an emotional eater.  I had RNY 13 years ago and had a couple of regains.  It took the regain to do something to address my emotional eating.  Surgery is a wonderful tool but it doesn't help with emotional eating.  I didn't eat because I was physically hungry.  I ate from head hunger and emotions. 

For me, I had to work on the issues as to why I emotionally ate before I could really use my WLS tool and change my lifestyle.  If I didn't get to the causes of my emotional eating, no WLS procedure would have worked.  I worked with someone to get to the root of my eating and it has made a gigantic difference in my life. 

Before getting another WLS procedure with the hope that will do it, I encourage you to work with someone to get to the cause of your emotional eating.  Emotional eating is a miserable way to cope.  You, your health and happiness is worth it. 

No form of WLS will 'fix' emotional eating. Sorry. That's something that happens in your head, not in your digestive system.

I strongly urge you to see a counselor who has experience in working with folks with eating disorders. There are therapists who specialize in this, and I really think that's where you need to start.

That said, I do believe that a different form of WLS might work much better for you. The Band, while it works very well for some people, doesn't have a very good track record overall.

The major reason I think you need to start with therapy is to be certain your problem IS emotional. For some it is, for some it isn't. Some of us have biological  factors that make us hungry ALL THE TIME, and for some of us, only physical changes will fix that.

No one here can tell you which is the answer for YOU. That's where both a therapist and an endocrinologist can help you far more than we can.

Before you make ANY decision about revising to a different form of WLS, please, PLEASE research ALL your options. The VSG/Sleeve is a restriction-only procedure, in some ways similar to your Band. (But it usually works MUCH better!) The RNY/gastric bypass combines restriction with a mild, temporary malabsorption of calories (and a permanent malabsorption of certain vital vitamins and minerals!). And finally, the DS/duodenal switch combines the same sort of restriction the VSG/Sleeve gives with a permanent malabsorption of a significant per centage of both vitamins and minerals AND calories. Overall, the DS gives the very best long-term, maintained weight-loss stats coupled with the best long-term stats for remission or prevention of things like diabetes and high cholesterol.

You need to research ALL your options before you decide.

You are rightfully concerned in thinking that one restriction-only procedure didn't help, so you would suspect that a different restriction-only procedure won't be any better, and you're right.  Some people just need more than eating less.

It could be emotional eating causing part the problem - but it could also be that your metabolism needs a kick in the pants.  WLS is not one-size-fits-all, and we are not obese for all the same reason (contrary to what the general public believes).  I was a champion dieter as a pre-op, but never saw results.  I knew that enough about myself to know that I needed much more than simply eating less, which is what led me to the Duoenal Switch - and wow did THAT make a difference. 

The two procedures that combine restriction with malabsorption (which yields that metabolic change) are the RNY and the DS.  With that comes a need for extra vitamins, but it's not hard to work with, just something to keep aware of.  Learn all you can about them.  I'll tell you that the RNY surgeons are easier to find than the DS surgeons, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

No surgery will work FOR you.  YOU must WORK with your weight loss surgery.  Your cravings will not be reduced.  If you love food, you will love food until the day you stop breathing.  Your physical hunger may lessen as mine has but it will not keep you from craving all the foods you love.  I am 3.5 yrs in and I still do not physically feel hungry . . .  still I want food.  I love food.  I use food.

For me, the Lap Band made me afraid to eat way before bedtime.  I was afraid of choking and so I did not eat.  In turn I lost weight because I was more of a night eater - I can "eat perfect" by day.

You must work on your emotional eating.  You don't get to skip that part AND you never even get to skip making healthier portioned food choices and exercising for life.  No matter the surgery, you get no free pass!  If you attempt a free pass, you wind up fat again after the "honeymoon phase" of your WLS.  Like not eating because you can't due to great restriction or relying on malabsorption then it decreases with time and you can't account for all of the calories you consumed then you wind up fat again.

You can do anything if you really want to.  Take the time now to heal yourself of emotional/binge/compulsive/mindless eating.  It is a continuous job like brushing your teeth day & night.  It never ends but once we develop a routine of doing we stay on top of ourselves.

If you have no issues with your Band, why don't you use it properly?  If no issues, try joining OA or some support group.

All best,

Leila