gastric band

[sheepish]

any one tried this procedure? i am thinking of having it done

sorry new to this . a gastric band i mean

my friend has one but she is from Chile and it is more common there.

She went from 17stone to 10stone. She can only eat small meals and still has to control what she eats - she has one friend would has it but only eats M&M's and has not lost weight despite the small stomach.

From what I understand there are lots of possible complications and it is a lifelong thing. I think you can only have it done here as a last resort - dieting not worked and considerably over weight.

At my heaviest I weighed 16.5stone. I am now 11stone without a band - but did consider it at one point. Glad I didn't though.

Hi, i had this done on the 27th Nov and have lost 17lb up to now. What you need to understand most about the band is that it doesnt make you lose weight just cos its there. You still crave everything you craved before, and chocolate, ice cream and biscuits slip through the band like magic. However, if you are willing to work with the band, eat the right things etc, it works like a dream. You can eat very little so its important to eat the right things.
Also when you first have it done you have very little restriction and have to wait 6 weeks between fils to get more restriction. I am lucky in that i didnt eat much in the week before the op to make sure that my stomace was as small as could be so that the band could be fitted nice and tight. so people i know ate and ate and ate some more in the week before so when there band was placed it went around a very big full stomache, therefore when the food passed through it and the stomache shrank the band was loose.

For more info have a look at www.gastricband.org (thats who i had my surgery with) and www.wlsinfo.co.uk

by the way i had mine done in belguim, fantastic surgeon, hospital and nursing staff first rate and all for #2800 pounds.