Placebo effect with band?

Well I don't know if placebo is the right word but I have been wondering this for sometime now.   I am still pre-op and don't have any experience!  This is a confusing question to ask - I hope it makes some sense. Let's pretend someone just got a band - no fills or anything - no physical restriction.  Do you think the mind might tell your body that you feel restriction even if physically there is not?   or even better yet Let's pretend that someone thinks they are going into surgery to get banded - they don't really install a band - and the person goes in for "fills" or basically gets shots of saline.  But they just don't have a clue and think that they have a band.  Do you think this person would lose a significant amount of weight just because their mind thinks they have a band? Just curious about this - hope it makes sense.

Let me tell you - you can FEEL the restriction!!

I got my band 7/22 and had some restriction at the very beginning, due to swelling. It went down and my hunger is coming back.

... but you can FEEL it. "Full" is in a completely different place now. It's higher up and not too comfortable. No placebo can to this.

That is interesting!  I can't wait to see how it feels different!  You just never know - mind over matter sometimes.  A physical feeling is a good thing for me because my mind always goes straight to the gallon of ice cream!!

I often wonder the same thing. There is one lady at my surgeon's office who is losing very quickly post-op. She is 8 weeks out and no fill but swears it is working for her. She is down over 25lbs. She is not hungry between meals and only eats 2-4 ounces of food 3 times a day.

I do have to say that she was not up on her research, probably does not know that there is no restriction without adjustments and has no clue that it is all in her head. (She is not the sharpest tool.)

Sometimes I wish I was that clueless!!!

Why would you think there is no restriction with no fills at 8 weeks? She may be still swollen (like I am) and might only need the slightest bit to give her restriction. Remember there IS something in there, wrapped around the top part of our tummy. Most surgeons leave a little bit if saline in the band during surgery, but not much. Everyone is different

 

I respectfully disagree with you when you say there is no restriction without adjustment. There are folks who the band itself is all they need, not that many but a few and they lose all the weight without fills.  This is what make it so individual.

Gosh - I hope I'm one of those people.  But from what I understand - it is pretty rare to have restriction w/o a fill. 

I agree.  I'm one of those people.  I didn't get my first fill until January - about 3 months after surgery - and at that point I had already lost 40 pounds.  I'm still on that first fill, and here I am 9 months out.  I don't want to be too tight - I have plenty of restriction and get full pretty easy. 

That is awesome!  So you are one of the lucky ones?  It looks like you are doing really good with your weight loss.

You know what they say - ignorance is bliss!