In thinking about bariatric surgery?

[cheekymonk]

I am 37. Weigh 28 stone with a BMI of 58. My Mum describes me as greedy as a baby. I was noticeably overweight from age 7. I was bullied for my size in secondary school. I was size 20 at 12. I was an 18 in year 11 then got bigger, at Uni being a 26. I have tried most diets and been most successful with WEight watchers when I lost 8 stone and was my lowest weight for years at 17 stone. However we moved house, found out both DS and DD had Autism and I lost it from there so am now 28 stone. I have been going to the priory for weekly cbt sessions and whilst me eating is better I am not losing weight. I struggle to walk and am forever scared of breaking furniture. I am scared for my health. DD is 5 and DS is 11. AIBU in considering surgery? I do have a lovely DH btw.

Do investigate thoroughly. An American friend had gastric sleeve surgery about 10 years ago. She lost weight well and had a great life for about 5 years but then kept losing weight and had serious dietary insufficiencies and malabsorption. She was repeatedly hospitalised for rehydrating over her final year and died in July 2015 weighing about 7 stone on a 5 ft 9 frame from a burst aneurism whilst in hospital being rehydrated, they think her malabsorption and dehydration had a direct impact on the aneurism. She was 44 and left 2 children. From what I hear this is not a unique case. I heard a radio programme on it around the same time on radio 4 but couldn't find it when I tried to listen again. My friend died on 15 July and it was within a week or so if anyone can find the programme; I think it was part of women's hour.

Found the programme! Starting at 25 mins ish.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063dcgj

I know some people who have tried the "shake diets" no solid food several times and have lost lots of weight
However when they stop the shakes and go back to solid food the weight goes back on again, plus more
A couple of people have been very ill due to lack of vitamins

I would like to suggest
swimming (low impact on body)
or
I saw a video on Youtube recently where a man offered a home to a dog from a rescue centre and it seemed that the dog rescued the man. The dog completely changed this mans life and his health, because they enjoyed exercise together

I guess that you need to find something that works for you and investigate
Short term goals
Long term goals
Reasons for eating

Have a read of this book first before you have any surgery?

Also Google 'why can't I stop eating' to look at food addiction.

This is interesting.

Good luck. I watched a TV show called Fat Doctor with Shaw Somers, who is a famous UK based bariatric surgeon. He actually said that when you are in the super-morbidly obese category (BMI over 50), it's not possible to lose weight the conventional way. He didn't really explain why that was the case and I suppose that there are exceptions to the rule, but he reckoned that the only way to get back to a healthy weight from that size was surgical.

I know someone who has had the procedure done (although she won't really go into details about the type of surgery) and she has lost around 11 stone or so and looks great. Do prepare yourself for loose skin though, which the NHS will not cover.

A gastric sleeve has a very low chance of causing any malabsorption problems as the intestines are left intact (where absorption takes place). This is more likely with a bypass or a duodenal switch

The sleeve is not a malabsorpative operation, you will have deficiencies if you eat crap but then no worse deficiencies than if you were obese and eating crap (usually Vitamin D) only known thing in B12 often needs replacing as not enough stomach to make intrinsic factor. Just make sure you do plenty of research and speak to as many people as poss. Before my op I joined WLSinfo and went a local post op group to talk to lots of people who had had it done.

My BMI was 53.1 when I started losing weight. I was over 24 stone. I'm losing weight just fine, without surgery, and my BMI is currently under 45 and dropping. I think for a doctor to make such sweeping statements is ridiculous. Some people may have difficulties, but a lot of folks can do it. Itnjustbtaies massive amounts of willpower and determination.

sorry... don't shout at me. You have to eat a lot to maintain a large body weight. It's just physics. Put supersize people (400+ lb) on a 1800 kcal/day diet & they drop weight very fast, even those who can barely get out bed. It's not the same as much less overweight people, that part is true.

I'm currently dieting to loose about 10 pounds so I am in no way claiming to know what I am talking about , but I've been amazed at how much MyFitnessPal has helped. I've been raving about it. It's so simple but effective. I don't need advice about what food to eat as I think I, like most people, already know but having that list of EXACTLY what I have eaten really concentrates my mind. Absolutely nothing goes in my mouth unless I log it. Being able to scan barcodes so that the nutrients information is automatically logged is brilliant. It's also fascinating being able to look at the different amount of fiber, fat, protein, carbs and nutrients that you are eating.

I think if I was struggling with self discipline then having friends do it with me would help.

Surely, something like that is worth a try rather than going for surgery. The effects of surgery last a lifetime.

There was a BBC radio 4 You and Yours programmer the other week where that talked about weight loss surgery. LINK HERE

Hi. I had a sleeve gastrectomy in 2011, to say it has saved my life is an understatement. I was much bigger than you OP, i weighed 231kg which is 509lbs or (in old money) 36 and a half stone. My bmi was 79. I was registered disabled and i needed two sticks just to stand. I had to lose six stone before the surgeon would perform the op, frankly this was the hardest part, it took five months of living on an entirely liquid diet, clear soups, milk , yogurt and sugar free jelly.

But i did it, i had the operation an a saturday and was back home, pain free, on the monday.

In the following two years i lost a further fourteen and a half stone, so total weight loss of 20 and a half stone. I still weight 16 stone, so still obese, but fit enough to work 4 x twelve hour night shifts a week !

I have no doubt in my mind that had i not had this surgery then i would be dead by now, as it is i have a totally new life and have achieved many 'firsts' in the last couple of years. Feel free to PM me if you would like any more details.

I don't think the surgeon meant that it was impossible to lose weight per se. In fact, he asked his patients to lose some weight before the surgery. I think what he was saying was that it was almost impossible for them to lose the amount of weight necessary to bring them down to a healthy BMI on their own. So, someone who is 28 stone may well lose 5 stone on their own, but is unlikely to lose 16 stone without surgical intervention. Of course there may well be exceptions (I am sure there are) and I am just repeating what this surgeon said. I'm definitely no expert on the subject...

Also, thinking about it, I think part of it is that to get to a BMI that high, there are likely to be underlying issues involved. People don't just gain that amount of weight because they like a few extra chips on their plate. They are likely to have serious food addiction issues. It's fantastic if they can do it on their own, but I think the surgeon was saying that most of them need some assistance. It's fantastic for those people doing it on their own, but not many people have that ability to completely change their mindset forever.

I think it's easy to say 'just eat less' if you are a normal size and don't have a destructive relationship with food. However, I always think that unless you have been there, you can't truly understand it. If I struggle to lose 10 lb, how could I possibly understand what it's like for someone who has 18 stone to lose? This is probably just me projecting my hatred for Katie Hopkins though (I re-watched her documentary and it made my blood boil).

I've lost about 30 pounds so far (taken about 7 months) using intermittent fasting and I've also done the Couch to 10K and 10K Pacer (although I only run about 7k in the hour allotted, so very slow). I'm still losing and finding it relatively easy. (I had some great advice recently from a poster on here which helped me deal with a plateau). I'm about 14.5 stone now so not as big as you admittedly, but I feel good that I'm taking care of the weight myself as opposed to handing the responsibility over to a surgeon. I would, personally, avoid surgery if at all possible. (I'm 58). Fasting and running is free. It doesn't cost you or the NHS anything other than time and some effort. So I do think that eating less and moving more is the best way forward for me.
I think all us fat people need also to sort our heads out as much as our bodies. I wish you good luck whatever you choose as your position can't be easy.

NHS program requires I think now 6 months weight management, psychological review and dietician input at every step.

OP ignore any shit about doing it yourself and saving the NHS money as it has been proven and NICE recommended in the long run you are less cost to the NHS by investing in bariatric surgery. The process within the NHS is a fairly long and involved one and I would definitely seek some psychological support. In fact it is easier and less involved privately I paid 9000, saw the surgeon, dietician and date was set.

Good luck with whatever you decide and you aren't as a previous poster said handing the responsibility to the surgeon to sort your weight out, you need to work hard at it.

I think blueberry you're referring to my post. You've obviously been there and done it I can't argue with that. But £9K is an awful lot of money for many people. Surgery has to be an absolute last resort doesn't it? I'm a fat-inclined person. The heaviest I've been was about 18.5 stone some years ago. I know it's a very uncomfortable. I can't imagine what 28 stone must feel like, I know. I think that people must feel very desperate if they're prepared to undergo surgery. I didn't advise the OP not to do it. I said it wouldn't be for me and there are other ways which might offer a better feeling of ownership and control.

I would do it. I saw something on TV recently where it said that once you pass a certain weight it's practically impossible to ever return to (and maintain) a healthy weight without the help of bariatric surgery. There's an article on it here: www.cbc.ca/news/health/obesity-research-confirms-long-term-weight-loss-almost-impossible-1.2663585

There was a woman on The Today Programme on Radio 4 recently that was explaining her research about weight loss. Her view is that if you keep the weight off for a year your body chemistry changes in a way that allows you to maintain the loss in the long term. I think it might have Saturday of last week.

I got to the 17 stone by doing couch to 5k and weight watchers but still reverted to my old habits when life got too much. I was and am so angry with myself, thinking have I learnt nothing? I eat cereal for breakfast but some times have a cooked or even McDonald's breakfast. Lunch is generally a sandwich, crisps chocolate bar and can of Pepsi max. Dinner is generally quite carb heavy. I love chocolate. I actually feel like I don't enjoy food anymore but it's such an automatic response to reach for it. I just don't want my life to revolve around food anymore. I have printed off this three and when kids are in bed go through it all in detail tonight. I will probably pm a couple of you too. All I can say is that if I could lose weight myself and keep it off then I would. Like a previous poster said, with 18 stone to lose, I've yet to hear of someone losing that kind of weight themselves and keep it off.

YANBU at all.
A year and a half ago I was a size 36, 27.5 stone. I could barely do anything, just walking upstairs or standing to try and make a cup of tea was painful and exhausting.
I decided I'd had enough and went to my gp about surgery. They were great, I had my sleeve gastrectomy at the beginning of October last year and I'm now 19 stone and still losing, a size 22. My life has improved dramatically, I can run after my child, I can move easier, no more pain, overall I'm just so fucking happy!
I say go for it, you will probably get fast tracked as I was due to your BMI. You are unlikely to ever lose and keep it off without it.
Good luck and PM me if you want more info.

Hi there, thank you so much for your post. It's just pretty scary when you look at mortality rates etc. I am finding it hard to decide on right surgery and am trying to prepare a case to take to GP.
Reading your post you sound like you have no regrets?
I find the loose skin prospect horrifying too...

That was supposed to be a pm. Oh well!

I used to work for the NHS and on the board deciding whether patients were to have this op or not.
I can't say it's the same for every area but for ours the rules were:
BMI of 50 (+), and a co morbitity such as diabetes, heart problems etc. It did go to two comorbidities for a while but I'm not sure if it stayed that way as I left.
Any joint replacements needed or emotional issues were not part of the criteria needed.

Good luck op

Thank you all so much for your responses. Have done a fair bit of research and thinking and am going to try! GP appt booked today and notes/case prepared, gulp.