Has any one had it done? I have been thinking about it for several months now...Any sug? Thanks in Advance!

Whats your current size? Can you honestly say you've exhausted all other options?

I had the lap band done. It did not work for me. I lost, oh, about 20lbs total in 2 years. The problem with the lap band is that there are certain foods that you can always eat, and those foods are bad for you. For example, chocolate, ice cream, anything soft, will go down easily. Also, I have problems eating early in the day, my band is tighter due to cortisol and morning hormones. Then I'm starving at night, and the hormone levels change allowing you to eat more. It's a recipe for bingeing. I wish I had known before I got it. As it is, I'm now exercising and dieting just like before. Let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss it further. In my opinion, get gastric bypass or nothing at all.

I heard of a woman with the Band who would melt chocolate bars and drink them. Bottom line is the Band is just a tool.
You have to want it

I had the lapband surgery I did lose a lot of weight at first but eventually because I didn't really know how to eat I was just eating chocolate bars and that doesn't work and milk shakes, I have mine un-tightened I became very sick and found out that being overweight is not just about the food it is about what is going on inside of you.

I will say the lapband saved my life when I had it because my knees hurt so bad and I could hardly go up an down the stairs but once I figured out that I could eat chocolate bars and milk shakes it all went down the drain.

I had the lap band put in in October last year. Its not a quick fix. It doesn't 'do' anything at all, you still have to do the work. You still need to eat right, you still need to exercise. You still need to stay away from chocolates, milk shakes and all the other foods.

The band is placed around the top bit of the stomach where all the nerve endings that trigger satiation are. Its tightened over time and as it gets tighter it stimulates these nerve endings to recognise when you are full. You will find you slowly can eat less and less and as you exercise, you will see weight loss.

People have talked about reaching a point where the brain flips a switch and they start to do all the right stuff because they feel they want to. They just stop wanting all the not so healthy foods. I've just reached this point myself. I would have reached it earlier, but I had a bad experience with my first fill and it scared me away for 4 months. I have only recently learnt to eat my food in small mounthfuls and slowly, because otherwise it gets stuck and that is not a nice feeling.

I did it because I have tried everything else. I've tried the gym, I've tried swimming, I've tried diets, diets, diets, diets...you get the picture. I could lose the weight but it just wasn't staying off. Now I'm at a point where its hard even getting it off. I have the band to take the edge off and help me that way. I don't expect it to do the work for me.

Only consider the band if you are doing the right eating and exercising path now and still find it isn't enough.

I had the band and lost 60 lbs in 3 months. I spent 2 1/2 of the three months in hopsital, hooked up to IVs because I couldn't keep anything down, not even water. I collapsed several times and had to have the band removed in an emergency surgery during which I nearly died.

I would suggest to stay as far away from the band as humanly possible. In the best case scenario you will lose the weight, but as soon as it comes out, you will put it back on, because you haven't learned to change your eating habits. In the worst case scenario it can kill you, there are hundreds of complications that can happen, from allergic reactions to mistakes during the surgery and so on.

And as other pointed out, the band doesn't stop you from consuming thousands of calories every day. Everything that is liquid will go down, ice cream, melted chocolate, anything you can just throw into the mixer and puree it. I have seen people who have the lap band and actually GAINED weight while having it.

Oh and the cortisol that they give you to stop your body from rejecting the band? Makes you swell up like a watermelon. You'll lose weight, but look worse than before. Not to mention that the stuff makes you feel like crap, and will cause lifelong medical problems. The same goes for the gastric bypass, only that the chances of complications are even higher with that. And it's irreversible, so it means medication for the rest of your life. I don't know about anybody else, but it soooo wouldn't be worth it for me.