Will bariatric surgery come down in price.

[RebelliousHoping]

Hi,

I’m thinking ahead in the future when more recovered from my current injury, there is a slightly longer term procedure I’d like to try maybe instead of weight loss injections and that is the balloon which is far less invasive then the main much more surgical options. Trying to get a price for this seems a right old challenge here in the UK with sites not displaying it or making you fill in a form before they’ll let you know.

Just wonder why costs for surgery aren’t coming down if the injections are doing really well and diverting everyone (who is eligible) to them?
If the WLI ever got out of stock hand again say, least these surgeons might know people are serious about weight loss having tried the injections and I was hoping make surgery more affordable.

I’d requested a free consultation to speak to a surgeon in another county here in the south east which I’d come across online (no private hospitals immediately local to me seem to do the bariatric surgery) but got an email back saying the telephone open event is no longer running, here is some information on all procedures offered sleeve, band etc and by the way did you know we also offer weight loss injections ourselves. (which I guess is actually pretty good to know)

Just find it interesting.

Interesting. Funnily enough I was just thinking about this as two people I vaguely know have had bariatric surgery recently, and I was wondering why anyone would do that these days when Mounjaro et al seem so much easier and less invasive. And it got me to thinking if surgeons will just switch to offering other cosmetic stuff - skin reduction seems an obvious choice.

I can't imagine this is an area where supply and demand plays a big part. Surgery is an expensive thing regardless. The costs of the staff and clinic time etc will be high whatever. I think if demand falls then the clinics and surgeons will just switch to other types of procedures rather than lower the price.

So many people I know, who have used weightloss injections can't sustain it when the injections are stopped, and have put the weight back on and more.I had a gastric bypass and have lost 7 Stone, and feel it gives better long term results.

At a baseline, surgery (or the surgery performed by the sort of people you want to have it performed by, at least) has costs, and the majority of the costs don’t decrease drastically with slightly smaller demand because they’re driven by overheads. Additionally, most of the surgeons who do private bariatric work will be doing other private work within their specialism and will still have demand for that, rather than be sitting around twiddling their thumbs, likewise operating space, clinics, support staff etc.

Agree also with previous poster about sustained weight loss with injections: all the data indicates that the majority of people put the weight back on once they stop the injections, because they largely work to suppress appetite rather than address why you became obese in the first place, so unless the injections are in tandem with broader lifestyle changes / therapy / insight etc for many people they will only be a temporary fix.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience, I greatly appreciate it. I have thought if I now have no need or desire to consider having a hysterectomy there is something I want to do about my weight once and for all and if the test in August confirms diabetes back.

Many people are using mj after weight loss surgery. The weight loss surgeon (Simon Monkhouse) on Instagram has been looking into this approach. Quite a number of people still struggle with weight after surgery then use injections too.

I think the market will rapidly contract. If I was a surgical trainee in bariatrics I'd be rethinking my specialty.

As the costs of providing the surgery have not reduced it is unlikely the prices will reduce

The balloon is not proven to yield results long term. Neither is the gastric band. For that you'd need a gastric bypass or sleeve.

No it won't because as others have said providing any type of surgery is expensive regardless of how much the WL injections are.

And to those of you sneering about people who put on weight again after injections/surgery - sometimes it takes more than one attempt. You wouldn't sneer if a drug or alcohol addict failed - you'd encourage them to try again. Yet more fattism.

Cos the equipment/hospital bed stay/psychiatrist/nutritionalist/surgeon/anaesthetist/scrub team prices don't magically reduce in price cos a random jab is released. We don't do the surgery for personal gain, if the demand isn't there we will just use the theatre for whatever ops are needed

They will do other forms of surgery rather than reduce the costs.

Theres no such thing as a bariatric trainee, they're upper gi surgeons that do many different ops

Sorry but you're wrong here. People absolutely sneer when alcoholics slip up. They also make things harder for alcoholics in recovery by saying stuff like - oh you were never THAT bad. Why don't you just have a couple
Id say it's pretty much the same really.

I had a gastric sleeve and lost 10 stone, have now put 5 back on and started Mounjaro. I eat no where near what I did before but pre disposed to be fat.

the balloon is awful imo it fills your stomach, but makes you feel very sick, usually it’s used to get the super obese to a weight where surgery (sleeve/bypass) is safe to do.

Im of the opinion that injections will be for life like diabetes and I’m hopeful the prices will come down but for the moment I will cut my cloth.

good luck with which ever route you choose - none of them are easy

I wasn't aware of that, sorry. I guess some people just like to wallow in other peoples failures be it alcohol, gambling or food or drug addiction.

It will eventually. There is countries where the procedure is as safe as it is in the UK.
I know 3 women who had surgery in Lithuania.

I don't think it is an easy fix either.
It takes a lot of work mentally and physically.
One lady had to strip naked , her body was on fire for months whenever she needed to poo.

Another, chewed her Christmas Dinner 9 weeks after the operation and spat it in a bucket, mind fuck. She still can't have liquids and solids together, she misses food a lot.

All lost a lot of weight in the beginning, 2 out of 3 have put back on more weight than they'd like, where do they go from here.

I worked with a man who had the band, he started using a liquidiser and put most of his loss back on.

Do you have only half a stomach?

Yes I meant an upper GI trainee planning a large private practice in bariatrics as many of them have once they are consultants!

Any of these are just tools and not everyone can manage the injections. I tried but even though I wouldnt say I was phobic of needles, I did avoid doing the injection. So they sat for longer and longer in the fridge as I would just ignore them and avoid them!! They worked very well when used and if I had been able to grab the confidence to do it regularly and sustain it I would have continued, and been happy to be on them for life as I believe thats what I need

I had a sleeve in the end and am over the moon. Again its just a tool, there is no perfect thing, its hard work and as long as the general populace is getting slimmer I think all techniques should be celebrated.

My sisters partner had a balloon and it worked well at the start but it comes out after a year. Hes now on injections and has done amazingly well, as she has also.

You lose 80-85% of your stomach.

Also regarding WLI, some people cant take them due to gall bladder issues. More common in fat women.

How many people
do you know who are struggling to maintain? The drugs have not been in common usage amongst the general public for that long so I’m struggling to see how “so many” people in your acquaintance have sourced them, completed their journey and now be putting it all on again.

About 30% was left behind but it’s now stretched back out again. I still can’t eat mammoth portions but carbs are a killer for weight gain for me but I can’t just eat meat - I like it but in small doses

I'm delighted it worked for you. It is a big effort after the surgery.
My friend lost 7 St, regained 2.
She feels great not having to plan an outfit thar covers her, months in advance
I agree the injection isn't a lifesaver for everyone, my DH hasn't lost much on them, he is still very hungry, they take a lot work too, if anything they're causing him more stress.

It's been evidenced through years of clinical trials that weight gain reoccurs to the same level or more on stopping

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.13929#:~:text=After%20discontinuing%20GLP%2D1RA%20therapy,13.60%2C%20P%20%3C%200.00001).

I’ve lost 25kg on WLIs - have 5kg left to lose then will go on a maintaince dose long term.

i was never going to have bariatric surgery but I did explore it recently to understand more about it, as I couldn’t understand why it would still be popular.

i was fascinated to find that the surgery does also cause the GLP-1 hormone and physiological changes in the same way WLIs do. I had thought before that you just have a smaller stomach therefore can’t eat as much, but it’s far more sophisticated than that.

to the PP who said about weight gain when stopping - that makes perfect sense because the WLIs are correcting an insulin function that is broken or faulty in the majority of chronically obese people. Therefore some form of long term medication will still be needed.