To think a gastric band is the best option

[Tiredboymum22]

DH has gained around 6 or 7 stone since we’ve been together. He’s around 26.5 st and a 5XL. No nasty comments please because he’s depressed enough about it. I’m on the chubby side myself for my height but I’m not obese (size 12 but I’m v short). We’re not really intimate anymore and he’s hurt his knees trying to do sports, etc, which he always loved.

Every time he tries dieting, he goes for extreme options like Keto or juice cleanses which are expensive and unsustainable. He’ll cut out food like bread or pasta but end up caving and eating a pack of biscuits by the end of the week/month thus the cycle continues.

I’ve been told I shouldn’t buy processed junk food but we have an autistic son who’s underweight and only eats stuff like pasta, chips, chicken nuggets, etc. So the temptation is always there.

I know two people who struggled to lose weight for years until they sought professional help and got a gastric band via the NHS. DH thinks it’s cheating.

AIBU to think it’s gone too far now and medical intervention is needed.

I’d encourage him to try Wegovy first. Although it’s not cheap, the lower dose starters are around £200 per month. I’ve been on it for 8 weeks and lost a stone. You could put crisps, sweets, whatever in front of me and I’d eat a couple, compared to demolishing everything before.

Maybe. Most autistic people struggle with proprioception and alexithymia so it might be that we are interpreting some other internal signal as hunger.

Sorry to be negative on the weight loss pens - please do not put all your faith in them.

I've just been told the second brand I have been on is going out of stock. I won't have achieved two years on any of the weight loss pens, left alone a lifetime due to incredible stock issues. They just do not manufacture enough pens to last everybody.

To say I'm gutted is an understatement. The pens just simply cannot be relied upon.

I'm temped by the 6 month dissolvable balloon (still not an easy procedure to have but I think it now just passes out no fuss when you get to the 4 or 6 months) I always thought that was quite BMI restricted but I'm sure I read something other day which blow my soaks off as it said if your BMI is nearer 60 you could stand a chance to get it on the nhs.

Non-surgical gastric balloon available on NHS for first time | NHS | The Guardian

Please involve your GP/surgery. As a diabetic taking Trulicity private at it's maximum dose, I will now have to explain myself to my surgery if my diabetic review bloods come back so good it reverses the diabetes with a now out of stock brand. 😰

Hi OP, I'm a bariatric surgery success story.

I was 19st in lockdown, I had an NHS referral for weight management with a view to surgery, but the waiting list in my area was >3 years. I paid privately for a gastric sleeve, I'm not 11st, stable weight and healthy. I cannot stress how much it's changed my life for the better. However, I had to have a serious look at my eating habits and decide if I was ready to commit to not eating shit.

There's an incredible book written by an NHS consultant which I'd highly recommend. @HipHop63 said the success rate is 5%, to my knowledge, the failure rate of surgery is only 15-20% of people significantly regain in 10 years.

Gastric bands are no longer offered by the NHS, as they're a huge source of secondary issues, such as slipping, infection and over restriction.

A gastric sleeve removes 70-75% of the stomach, so literally reduces the portion size one can eat from a dinner plate to a ramekin.

A gastric bypass re-plumbs the lower digestive tract as well as removing a lot of the stomach, so malnutrition is more common in bypass patients.

Do some research but I'd recommend a sleeve to anyone!

@amusedbush interesting you mention autism because DH and MIL always said he has undiagnosed Asperger’s (his words, not mine). I believe there’s a sensory aspect to it because he’ll literally eat a block of marzipan for that dopamine boost.

I was raised on a healthy diet. There were no snacks at home and we never ate large portions. I remember being physically unable to finish a meal at friends’ houses. I was excited about eating a mars bar but I couldn’t finish it and felt sick. I was always a size 8 until I was prescribed antidepressants. After a month on them I was ravenous and never felt properly full. I’ve been a size 12 for years but I’m only 5ft1 so I’m technically overweight, though not obese. I struggle to stop eating sometimes but nowhere near to the extent DH does. That’s why I think ozempic or gastric surgery might be the only option. But it’s hard for people who can regulate their appetite to understand.

I'm currently going through the hooos for treatment in the nhs.

I'm a 45 yo woman. Survivor of childhood sexual abuse, bipolar, ptsd and several auto immune diseases. I gained weight from age 28-30 ish when I was put on mood stabilisers. They are scientifically proven to care weight gain as they interfere with your boss sugar and trick you into thinking you are hungry. I managed to lose 15 kg at 32 and then got diagnosed with auto immune stuff and spent a year on steroids. Gained 20kg. I've never truly recovered from it, waiting for a knee replacement and the nhs keep putting me off. I was told it would happen at 45 yo and then last year they said 55! So I got my Gp to refer me for help.

I spent 12 months of the bariatric waiting list for a nw hospital then had an apppoi to take my history. Signed up for an online nutrition course and a sleep study. Turns out I had awful sleep apnea and stopped breathing for a total of ten minutes every hour that I was asleep. Got a cpap, it's been revolutionary. I sleep deeper and so much better. As a result, I'm not craving carb based foods anywhere near as much as I was. So as a result of that , I'm losing 1- 2 lb a month without any real effort. I've done the nurturing course and it was just awful. Telling us to make smart substitutions over week. Instead of instant mash, use fresh mash potatoes 🤷🏼‍♀️. Try stay away from UPF but to consider quorn nuggets instead of chicken. Very contradictory and weird. The next step is to see a dietician and physical for 1-1 appointments.

After that I go back to the weight loss clinic and apparently they have funding now for weight loss injections, starting this spring. I can try those with dietician and physio input and then elect to have surgery or continue them if they are tolerated. Tbh I'm probably going to have the surgery. My eldest step sister has had a gastric sleeve i( revised from a gastric band) and said it's been great. She's gone from 28st at her largest to 9 st . Sure also went to turkey for a cosmetic body lift due to recurrent infections from all of her folds.

On the nhs they now only do a gastric sleeve which is for petite with no history of GERD or heartburn as it almost strays makes these worse. They staple your stomach into a sieve and remove the largest part of it and the party that produces the hunger hormone so turning off your hunger. This is irreversible. Side effects can be candy cane starting and restrictins that need dilation to be able to eat. Portion size for your stomach is an egg cup type of size.

The bypass divides your stomach and reroutes your internal plumbing and means that you absorb less nutrients. The downside of this is that people often say they have terrible toileting smells afterwards and smelly wind. These can be revised/reversed but often have better long term success than the sleeve. These still restrict the food.

There is also a mini bypass and a duodenal switch but these aren't widely available in the nhs but are privately.

Before having surgery you are required to sign a waiver that says you can't get future skin removal on the nhs.

I'm going to go for a bypass. I'm bipolar. While I'm stable I do great. I eat very healthily despite being obese but I go manic or depressive and it all goes to shit. Add in the frequent steps etc and I know I need help.

Where are you getting this statistic from?

I don't know one person who was obese who has lost weight and kept it off through diet alone. Everyone I know that was that big has needed bariatric surgery to lose the weight and keep it off, and everyone I know who has had surgery has said it's been the best thing they've ever done. I wish I was brave enough myself to go to the GP and ask for it.

Definitely don't go for a band though. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who come into our emergency theatres to have them removed because they've slipped and caused an obstruction or got infected. Our surgeon who does bariatric surgery tends to do sleeves.

Would he join slimming world? My dad did and did so well. Suited his large appetite as could bulk everything with veg but needed the discipline of someone weighing him each week. He went to mens only group to start then with my mum