I had weight loss surgery on the NHS. 5 months ago. AMA

[smallereveryday]

I had a Sleeve gastrectomy in October after 8 yrs of obesity and god knows how many attempts at Conventional diet and exercise including ww /sw/ Atkins/low carb/ 5:2 /Cambridge /blood diets. I have gone from a size 24 to 14 in just under 4 months and feel amazing and healthy at last.

Wow that’s some going OP, well done for getting through all that.

I’m thinking of getting a gastric balloon, ideally need to lose 5 stone. Did you ever look into that and is it possible to get it on the nhs?

It is available but it is temporary and I doubt a NHS surgeon would agree to it. At 5 stone overweight the surgeon would want a procedure that is going to be value for money for the NHS.
For someone with type 2 diabetes the cost of surgery is paid for in lack of diabetic medicine and care in 30 months. And the sleeve and Bypass are long term solutions to obesity.

If you have a balloon you will lose 3 stone but once it's removed after 6 months your stomach returns to its previous size and you will put it back on again. It's used mostly to get very large people to a safe enough weight for surgery.

Sleeve or Bypass will be the procedure offered.

I would love to get to a place where sugar wouldn’t interest me.

needthisthread once you have had surgery and understand the mechanics of the bypass or Sleeve, you will also understand why sugar won't interest you.
It's a sort of aversion therapy!

I am not and never have been a big sweet eater. I became fat through eating way too much. I started taking steroids in 2009 and by 2011 I had put on three stone. I put on an additional 4 stone between 2011 and 2016 when I went to the GP for help with chronic insomnia. I was prescribed an anti anxiety drug called Mirtazipine. This drug is used used now as an appetite stimulant .
Prior to this I was under 10 stone . I ran the marathon in London in 2008. I wasn't always fat. It didn't start until age 46. I am fairly well educated and have a good understanding of health and nutrition. My children are all young adults with Bmi smack in the middle of the healthy range. My husband has a Bmi of 23. We are not a 'fat family '. Yet I ended up obese.
My route to obesity is not the norm. The huge majority of friends on the Bariatric pathway be it pre op or post op , have always been overweight. They were fat kids, fat teens and fat adults. Their eating is all wrapped up in their self esteem bought on by society's attitude towards being fat . An ever increasing spiral of despair. They are miserable because they are obese and comfort eat to ease the emotional pain.
Weight loss surgery works equally well for these circumstances. It gives an opportunity to reverse that spiral. The operation causes immediate effective weight loss, which encourages patients and keeps them on track. But ultimately they have no choice to do anything but stay on track. If you do decide to do something idiotic like 'treat yourself to a chocolate bar '- you will only do it once and realise that it is no 'treat'
The pain, shakes, sweating and explosive diarrhoea are sufficient to put you off doing it again. !

I really enjoying watching 'my 600lb life' and other obesity programmes.
It's clear that it's a real addiction,and sometimes after surgery a new addiction takes it place.
The people in that show are 50 stone to start with,which is huge compared to the OP.

OP.... what happens when you get to your goal,how do you stop losing weight??

When I get to my goal (for the nhs this is 11 st 4. ) I will start to slow down my weight loss.

Weight loss is caused y a calorie deficit. The bigger your size the more calories you need to maintain it.
At the beginning post op, you are eating 3-400 calories a day and struggle to eat that much.
A 25 stone body needs about 3000 calories to maintain that weight. So you can see where the calorie deficit comes from and why weight loss happens so rapidly.
That continues , with the deficit decreasing until your intake matches your new bodies requirement. Somewhere between 9/11.5 stone for me.

Interesting thread.

Why does sugar cause all those horrendous effects?

How did you adjust the social aspects of eating?

I mean, even eating with family means you will have a different plate. Socialising with friends - how do you manage it? Do you just say "I have a tiny tummy now, I can't, thanks?"

Thanks for this, OP

Like you, I'm a mirtazapine casualty, though lithium and anti-psychotics didn't help either: and I was overweight to start with. I need to lose ten stone - but surgery has never been suggested to me.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, either - I have developed BED during this time, and think that, if I can fix my head, I can fix my weight better. NHS help so far has consisted of "try not to do it"

On the other side, though, I don't yet have any other problems caused by my weight - I have a physical disability, but I had that before I was fat.

Anyway, thank you for sharing your story - it's giving me a lot of food for thought

Good on you OP but I'm afraid I don't see how you can lose 48lbs and go from a 24 to a 14. I've lost that amount (actually slightly more) and went from a 16-18 to a 12-14. And lot of my clothes fit both before and after.

i had a gastric band this year, I was desperate.

Also really interested to hear why sugar does that to you

Well done OP. Congratulations on getting you life back. You sounds so happy and pleased with the procedure.

It’s been interesting reading this, and I have learnt a lot.

My question is your height - how tall are you?

And your age? You mentioned you didn’t start to put on weight until 46?

Will be back to answer at 12:30 in work at the moment on a course . So can't text except now under the table !

Sugar causes the effect because the stomach is very small and does not have sufficient acids to breakdown short chain molecules such as simple sugars (choc, sweets, cakes processed foods) so the sugar in its almost complete state leaves the stomach and hits the pancreas with a bang causing a similar reaction to a diabetic hypo with blood sugar overload.

Social eating isn't really and issue. I eat out - just smaller amounts and as I have to chew chew chew - my starter - if delivered at the same time as others mains - will take the same time.
Drinking is harder as alcohol is ill advised in the first 1-1.5 yrs. this is your optimum weight loss period so alcohol is empty wasted calories. Alcohol also makes you pissed. Very quickly so has to be carefully handled.

So drinking no sugar (or bubbles as gas expands in the stomach and stretches it so a definite no no ) is hard. You are left with squash, water, watered down fruit juice or sugar free tomato juice. I won't deny that part is hard. But to me it's a small price to pay to be released from the horror that is obesity and it's side effects.

I've been trying to lose weight for 30 years, I think it's safe to say that I'm not very good at it.

I'm due to start the NHS weight management service, got psych appointments - which I'm very grateful for. I've waited a year, during which time I've gained yet another stone.

The idea of drawing a line under food is HUGELY appealing. It genuinely hadn't occurred to me just to give up trying - instead do something to actually solve the problem.

15k for a sleeve privately? I probably spend more than that on crisps.

I'm 56 felt more like 86 5 months ago. Now feel 36 !

Well done OP! Your thread is really interesting.

VivariumVivariums That is exactly it ! Just wanted to stop all the pointless 'diets' that work for a few months but inevitably end in yet more regain.

I would seriously look at some research in to what to expect and the reality of life post op from elsewhere . Sites on FB like "Bariatric and WLS UK" are good. As they are a resource from people who have actually gone through surgery, rather than the anecdotes often heard on here and other sensationalist media that will tell you constantly that it's "the easy way out". Or that they know 'someone' who has it done who died or was left with some horrendous complications.

Don't get me wrong, things do sometimes go wrong. Just as they do in many routine operations. However just because someone dies having a heart bypass - this doesn't stop hundreds of people having a heart bypass every year. It's always a judgement call.
Is your obesity having a significant impact on your life , health and well being ? Do you want a TOOL to help you change it ? If yes , then this is that tool.

I'm 5ft 6 and a half.

First thing, well done on the weight loss.

Question : you must have noticed that people now treat you very differently? In what way? When I lost weight I found people more polite, listened to what I say more etc.

Have you found this too?

Congratulations!

I’m obese and it’s a living hell. You’ve given me something to think about, thank you.

Yes I have. Sometimes it's lovely and sometimes it makes me angry.
It's As though what I have to say now only has worth because I look better ! It reinforced to me just how prejudiced society is towards fat people.
I was fat. I wasn't stupid. Now I'm thinner it appears to have increased my IQ ! (In the way people interact with me ..)