Contemplating bariatric surgery.... advice?

[Seriouslyconfused3]

Hi as the title states I am contemplating a gastric sleeve. I am a serial yo yo dieter and my metabolism is fucked. I have pcos and have tried Xenical, saxenda etc- successful until I stop using and the weight piles back on.

I’ve seen an endocrinologist and he said that, in his opinion, sometimes surgery is the only viable option. I’d be paying for it myself as I don’t quite meet the nhs criteria yet.

I’m miserable- I don’t lose weight unless I starve myself ie 600 calories a day and then I’m even more unhappy. I’m worried about my health in the long term, but then the prospect of surgery scares me too.

Any advice from those who have been there before?

I’ve lost 4lbs during lockdown, I’d usually lose that in a month or less. It’s because I’m not exercising at all and I’m eating whilst I work, so I look forward to lockdown being over! It just shows that when you get towards your goal weight you have to work for it but the benefit is you’ve had a head start! Do it phone them, :)

I had gastric sleeve in February this year and my Bmi was 51 itis now 38 ! Best thing I've ever done for myself after years of being overweight. I was told I couldn't get it on the NHS as I didn't have any co-morbidities so looked at private. Very expensive in this country (UK) and did lots of research and only one company had really good reviews on trust pilot (Phoenix Health) I then started to look at going abroad and joined a few Facebook forums of clinics that had excellent reviews to get an idea of peoples experiences as I didn't know anyone who had had the surgery. I then contacted a few clinics through What Clinic and then decided I was going to Istanbul to have my surgery. It was first class service and the experience was really positive and my care was 2nd to none and I am still on my journey as still got about 4 stones to loose but I am very happy I choose this route. I have kept it pretty much secret from most people except my immediate family and a handful of trusted friends and this has been easier due to lockdown to adjust to new way of eating. Anyone thinking of it don't be scared it's not actually half as bad as I expected it to be !

That’s amazing @luckylady22 I hope mine is so successful. Were you scared before going in? Now my date is closer I feel terrified- I’m so scared to leave my dc

@needtoloselots I’ve been the same. I’m normally really busy and active but I can’t seem to get my head together during lockdown. I weighed myself and I’ve put on a stone since it began I’m praying my surgery doesn’t get cancelled

I was really scared especially as going abroad and was in tears when they took me into the operating theatre but they reassured me I was gonna be fine and I absolutely was and my recovery was amazing had the op on 22 Feb and back to work the following Monday !

@Seriouslyconfused3 when is your op scheduled for? I think mine is likely to be end July/start of August as long as the virus situation continues to improve.

I’ve also put on a stone during lockdown. 😔

I am inspired by all those who are sharing their story on this thread, thank you for your openness and honesty.

Start of July (Covid permitted). I start my pre op diet next week but I do feel mentally ready just quite scared too

This thread has inspired me to start my own journey towards surgery. I have private health insurance and I think so long as my GP agrees to refer me for medical reasons it will be covered. Just not sure how to kick start the process during lockdown.

Hi @peachgreen welcome to the group! Could you maybe start by ringing your insurer to see if they have a preferred hospital group?

I will, thank you @seriouslyconfused3. It's been a really scary decision to come to but the longer I live with it the more I feel it's the right decision. I have genuinely been on some kind of diet or weight loss programme for the vast majority of the last 25 years - Weight Watchers, Slimming World, low carb, VLC, intermittent fasting, 5:2, keto, orlistat - and the only times I have EVER lost a significant amount of weight were a) after I had a nervous breakdown and stopped eating altogether and b) when I was pregnant and throwing up 5 times a day. Neither very sustainable! Up until now it hasn't impacted my health but since having PND and gaining 2 stone I have experienced low energy, back pain, excess sweating,disturbed sleep, snoring, dizzy spells etc. And my mum and grandma are both Type 2 diabetics so I suspect it's only a matter of time. I feel if I don't do something significant I'm going to end up dead.

I feel the same @peachgreen I’m sick of feeling tired all of the time and I want to be around for my kids for a long time

Yup. I hate the tiredness. And it's a vicious cycle because you're too tired to do anything which leads to you putting more weight on because you're not exercising enough. Also my sleep quality has got worse and worse so no matter how early I go to bed I'm shattered by mid afternoon.

I actually eat pretty well most of the time, no snacking, balanced meals, but portion control is my big problem. I want to be healthier and more energetic for my daughter. That's my main drive.

Ok, I phoned up. I have a consultation this afternoon!!!

I have two colleagues who have had gastric sleeve surgery.

Both of them lost weight initially but they are now both back to pre surgery weight....I don't know how they are back up in weight as I would never ask.

However, as an overweight person myself, I don't eat because I am hungry......I eat because I am happy,sad,depressed, bored and many other reasons none of which an operation can sort .

Yey @needtoloselots let us know how it goes

Thanks @Seriouslyconfused3 . I spoke to the surgeon. He's happy to do it. He recommends a sleeve (not big enough for bypass, so I suppose that's positive). I'm low risk as my weight is my only issue, no heart problems or diabetes etc. He also said that as I've had 2 caesareans, I'll find this a walk in the park!! Hope so. I'm looking at mid August. It's very real now.

Lucky thanks for posting. I'm going abroad too and totally terrified. I can barely sleep wondering if I'm going to make a big mistake and praying nothing goes wrong afterwards which will make me rely on the nhs.

Good to hear others here are having consultations and getting the ball rolling.

This is something that's been bouncing around in my head on and off for a few years now. I'd really like to hear how it goes for you lot that have already started the ball rolling... I'm too scared to make a decision yet.

@Maverick66

I have two colleagues who have had gastric sleeve surgery.

Both of them lost weight initially but they are now both back to pre surgery weight....I don't know how they are back up in weight as I would never ask.

However, as an overweight person myself, I don't eat because I am hungry......I eat because I am happy,sad,depressed, bored and many other reasons none of which an operation can sort .

What they probably did is get to a point where they realised they can eat bad food. We call it slider food, it slides down into your stomach and out again. If you maintain a fairly healthy diet you’re fine. Basically, If I eat a bit of curry, I’ll be hungry again quickly. If I eat broccoli and salmon, I won’t be. It’s because the good food takes longer to process and you stay fuller for longer. Also once you get back on the slippery slope of lots of sugar, we’ll you know it’s an addiction.

@needtoloselots that’s what my surgeon said too! It’s so exciting I start my preop diet next week and am more nervous about that . I’m happy to update step by step how it all goes if it will help anyone?

@Seriouslyconfused3, that would be so helpful if you're sure you wouldn't mind.

This thread has prompted me to actually have a discussion with DH about it rather than just rolling it around in my head, and he was surprisingly supportive of it. I thought he'd be quite anti, and be all "why don't you try this/do that, it worked before..." about it.

I found the pre op diet quite tough especially first few days but was terrified of not doing it right and them saying my liver was too fatty and I couldn't have it done so it made me stick to it ! Well done all of you have started the ball rolling and you'll be a right mixture of terrified and excited 😘 @cuddlecouch where are you going too to have your op and when do you go ? I know a lot of the clinics abroad are just starting to take patients agajn and some people having been waiting a while to get there ?

@DoorbellsSleighbellsSchnitzel I love your user name!!

Yeah I’m happy to update. My Dh wasn’t thrilled at first but he came around as he knows how unhappy I am right now. Best thing to do is speak to some clinics- I put that part off for too long as I was scared

@luckylady22 what was your preop diet like? Mine is vlcd- low carb low fat so not as bad as just shakes thankfully

@Seriouslyconfused3 how many days do you have to do your pre op diet for? Mine seems to only be 5 days. But I have to stop the HRT 4 weeks before because of the higher clot risk.