You Had Your Lap Band Removed. Can You Still Lose Weight?

If you had lap band surgery to lose weight but now need to have it removed, you might wonder what that means for your weight-loss journey.

You have options for continuing to drop pounds, including converting to a different type of bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass or duodenal switch.

Why Remove Your Lap Band?

For 20 years starting in 2001, overweight patients often chose adjustable gastric bands over other bariatric options available at the time. Lap band surgery is the least invasive procedure, and lap bands can be removed — whereas options that involve rerouting internal organs are permanent. Lap bands therefore seemed like the simplest option for many people.

Doctors rarely use lap bands anymore, as studies have shown other methods to have fewer complications and last longer. Luckily, you can move on to a more effective solution if you’re experiencing challenges.

You’ll likely look into having your lap band removed if you experience any of three common problems:

• Acid reflux. People with lap bands often have problems with acid reflux and, as a result, severe heartburn.
• Dysphagia. Over time it might become hard to swallow if you have a lap band. The body no longer pushes food and drink down to the stomach easily.
• Weight gain. As a lap band patient, it’s easier to eat eating high-calorie foods and drinking sugary beverages, and the weight might return.

If you have a lap band, you can absorb more calories than those who have undergone other bariatric procedures. Lap bands have no effect on hunger or on hormones. And while lap bands restrict how much food you can eat comfortably, it doesn’t make consuming, say, a bowl of ice cream impossible. The ice cream will slide right through. Those who’ve had alternative procedures, by contrast, might feel sick after eating sugary or high-carb foods, and so they avoid those items.

There are two more differences: Hormonal changes decrease appetite following certain bariatric procedures. And, after some surgeries, the body only absorbs a percentage of the calories eaten. That is not the case with a lap band.

Should I Try Another Bariatric Method?

Only you and your doctor can make this decision, but generally, if you feel fine and your weight is steady, you might want to leave well enough alone. You already had one operation and may not need another.

Discuss your symptoms, and the pros and cons of converting, with your physician. You’ll need to explore medical limitations, your body mass index, and what foods you want to keep eating. Some bariatric options limit the intake of sugar, carbs, meat or fried foods, for instance.

Thanks to new technology, switching out the lap band for another option is frequently completed during one surgical session. A single surgery involves fewer risks, as patients receive anesthesia only once. State-of-the-art robotics enable doctors to make fewer incisions. Special cameras, lights and dyes allow clear views of blood vessels and tissue, so surgeons can work quickly, safely and efficiently.

What To Know Before Making a Change

• Expect less. You might not lose as much weight after a second bariatric surgery as you did following the first.
• Choose wisely. Most patients converting from lap bands tend to do better with one of these two options: roux-en-Y gastric bypass, which ultimately moves most food through a small surgeon-made stomach pouch, bypassing the lower stomach; or the duodenal switch, which stops most of what you consume from being digested.
• Sleepover. You’ll stay in the hospital overnight so medical professionals can oversee your early recovery.
• Requirements will change. With a new weight-loss procedure, you’ll need to take special vitamins for the rest of your life to compensate for nutrients that won’t be absorbed, and you’ll need to change your lifestyle — for good — to avoid weight gain.

Like the lap band, the bariatric technique you convert to will not be an easy way out. Surgery is only the first step. The bigger challenges follow: psychological and dietary. Have nutrition and mental health professionals as part of your modality team.

If you’re having issues because of your lap band, and you’re ready to convert to a new bariatric method, you might reap big benefits. Your weight loss will be back on track. You can start living the life you want again.