Considering Gastric Band

[akindrat18]

I am seriously considering applying for weight loss surgery on the NHS after watching the news on Good Morning Britain as my parents have been thinking about weight loss surgery for me for 4 years as my weight has been creeping up slowly to 24 stone. My dad told me about one of his friends who had a gastric band and showed me photos of him before and after surgery, I was quite surprised and just seeing the photos after he had the band in place has now got me motivated to ask my doctor about it. Even my girlfriend is supporting my decision and I have been looking at some stories and would like to know if someone on here has any advice for me about how long would I have to wait? is it a horrible experience for the first few weeks after having it done?

 

[dawnmc]

What is your diet like? Have you eaten lchf? You have to lose some weight before you are able to have an op, in order to prove you are committed. Its not a quick fix - nothing is. I've not had that done but I'm a couch expert having watched TV programs where people had have it done. To be honest recovery and the eating (liquids) seems to take as long as eating a 'proper' diet.

 

[jack412]

Or you could do the Newcastle university diet that duplicates barometric surgery

Or you could do lchf diet

Cutting carbs the first week is the hardest
lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm

 

[Beshlie]

I would definitely try LCHF diet and exercise before deciding on surgery. They would probably want you to lose some weight before surgery anyway, from what I have seen they do.

I have had lots of stomach surgery (not bariatric) so maybe I am biased. But please think about it carefully.x

 

[gfmoore]

You sort of have to do the Newcastle diet anyway before the surgery - e.g. two weeks of milk, in order to get the liver size down so they can have room to work with the keyhole surgery stuff.

There was a series of tv programmes showing actual doctors doing actual operations on actual people here in Britain (Coventry?) about a year ago - on Channel 4 or 5 I think. I can't remember the name of the series, but You Tube may help. Some of those people were very very large.

I thought about it. The gastric band doesn't really work as well as you might hope, the "proper one is where they move your tubes around a bit e.g. roux en y. This is the one that makes your blood sugar miraculously normal.

I personally decided in the end that it was too much re-plumbing and moved on.

The other issue you need to consider is that if/when the weight does come off you will have large folds of skin where the fat has gone - the skin doesn't shrink as fast as the weight loss. The NHS does no fund cosmetic surgery as far as I know for this. The folds can cause their own major body image issues and can cause skin infections and rashes etc.

Trythe low carb high fat approach first, you may well be astonished if you do it properly and there are loads of people here who will help you and encourage you. The main thing is that you have taken control. All the best.

edit: I think it was called Fat Surgeons?

 

[phoenix]

Gastric banding may force weight loss but one thing that Dr Taylor pointed out on television this morning was that it is a gastric bypass and not gastric banding which has been found in many cases (not all) to put T2 diabetes into remission. ( http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=12477)
and http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733691 )
He suggested that it should be a last resort and as Jack pointed out his ' Newcastle diet' may also 'reverse ' type 2 (though we don't yet know long term outcomes)
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm

 

[elaineadams]

I think in some circumstances gastric band surgery is the only option. However, the few people I know who have paid for this, lost weight initially, then regained what they had lost. Personally, whilst I am overweight, and constantly struggling to lose weight, I would not consider such surgery. I would consider a weightloss management programme that includes a weekly meeting with a person who is qualified in this area, and who is prepared to discuss each meal, and how to follow a good diet on an extremely low budget that means each meal must be filling enough to avoid having to have extra little treats inbetween meals. For me weight loss and reduction in blood glucose levels go hand in hand.

 

[Enclave]

I think it's wrong to ask diabetes people to have a gastric band .. If they are following the NICE eat well plate and like myself still piling on the pounds. They would do better to look at their guidelines for eating .. Since Jan 2014 I have been LCHF against my DBN and Drs advice .. I have now lost 5 stone and all my bloods are normal ... How loud do we need to shout to get this way of eating accepted ! It's better and invasive surgery with all the risks that involves

 

[Europa]

Totally agree with you Enclave, it's only been 5 weeks for me on LCHF and already 7,5 kilos lost (over a stone by UK standards, yeah ). My French GP wanted me to go for a sleeve, but I got cold feet when reading up about it on internet. All she could propose was Metformim and a sleeve, no mention of diet and low carb, weird, no?

I still have about 50 kilos to lose, but I'm on my way now... No cravings, will do a round of blood tests soon so we'll see...

 

[Enclave]

Totally agree with you Enclave, it's only been 5 weeks for me on LCHF and already 7,5 kilos lost (over a stone by UK standards, yeah ). My French GP wanted me to go for a sleeve, but I got cold feet when reading up about it on internet. All she could propose was Metformim and a sleeve, no mention of diet and low carb, weird, no?

I still have about 50 kilos to lose, but I'm on my way now... No cravings, will do a round of blood tests soon so we'll see...

Congratulations on seeing the light .. Keep at it, as time goes on I now don't even miss the high carb food. For some reasion the powers to be .. totally refuse to see that LCHF works !

 

[zand]

I wouldn't know about the first few weeks, whatever you have to go through it's only a few weeks. What would concern me would be having to live with the extremely strict diet they give you afterwards for the rest of your life. Anyone would lose weight on this diet with or without a band, so I really don't see the point of surgery. I know someone who broke the rules and ate the wrong things and was seriously ill, so if you haven't got the willpower to lose weight without a band I don't see how you would have the willpower to stick to a special diet with the band. Just my own opinion.

 

[SHESCOOBY]

Hi guys
Just thought i would let you know my story!

I have been a Type1 Diabetic for over 30 yrs however in my later years I have had 2 children as always the weight piled on! After having my children I struggled for years to loose the baby weight or children weight lol anyway I moved to the West Country with my family and was put onto a great diabetic team, my control was very good as 2 weeks after I had my son I had a bleed in the back of the eye and then detached retina in many places. However my weight was my big issue, feeling down and grumpy and feeling fat I went to my diabetic consultant explaining why I was feeling depressed about myself, he put me forward onto a Bariatric Team, here I had group sessions with people in the same boat that had tried number of diets including the likes of Slimming World, Weight Watchers etc etc but not being success in any of them yes I would loose the usual 3lb then a 1lb back on I was yoyoing thru my weight. The programme was about 2 yrs in seeing all sorts of professional people then I got a letter with a date for my surgery, I was going for this and in a funny sort of way was looking forward at the results, yes I knew about the complications but I wanted to do this.
Pre op weight was 15 stone 9lb yes I know I wasn't severely over weight but I had high blood pressure, start of kidney failure and many more issues, I had a Gastric Sleeve, where they take 80% of your stomach away, so my stomach is a size of a small banana! it was hard going the first few months after surgery! I started to wonder if I had done the right thing! I was on a very sloppy diet! then a mashed diet then a lumpy diet then normal food,
It's been hard but I am now 5 stone and 3lb lighter, no medication for blood pressure as it's normal, no statins as cholesterol normal, reduced pain killers as I did have a very bad back issue too but now only taking one lot of painkillers instead of 4 different types! Plus a whole new wardrobe!!!
I feel so much better and wouldn't hesitate in encouraging people to have this surgery, my HBA1c has come down nicely, I have a lot more energy to do a lot more exercise! I eat quarter of what I use to eat, I don't pig out as I can't cos I feel full
So whether you are a type1 or 2 and you are offered this my advice is go for it, if you are dedicated in the hard work 2 weeks before and 5 months after the surgery then go for it
That's my story

 

[Enclave]

Hi guys
Just thought i would let you know my story!

I have been a Type1 Diabetic for over 30 yrs however in my later years I have had 2 children as always the weight piled on! After having my children I struggled for years to loose the baby weight or children weight lol anyway I moved to the West Country with my family and was put onto a great diabetic team, my control was very good as 2 weeks after I had my son I had a bleed in the back of the eye and then detached retina in many places. However my weight was my big issue, feeling down and grumpy and feeling fat I went to my diabetic consultant explaining why I was feeling depressed about myself, he put me forward onto a Bariatric Team, here I had group sessions with people in the same boat that had tried number of diets including the likes of Slimming World, Weight Watchers etc etc but not being success in any of them yes I would loose the usual 3lb then a 1lb back on I was yoyoing thru my weight. The programme was about 2 yrs in seeing all sorts of professional people then I got a letter with a date for my surgery, I was going for this and in a funny sort of way was looking forward at the results, yes I knew about the complications but I wanted to do this.
Pre op weight was 15 stone 9lb yes I know I wasn't severely over weight but I had high blood pressure, start of kidney failure and many more issues, I had a Gastric Sleeve, where they take 80% of your stomach away, so my stomach is a size of a small banana! it was hard going the first few months after surgery! I started to wonder if I had done the right thing! I was on a very sloppy diet! then a mashed diet then a lumpy diet then normal food,
It's been hard but I am now 5 stone and 3lb lighter, no medication for blood pressure as it's normal, no statins as cholesterol normal, reduced pain killers as I did have a very bad back issue too but now only taking one lot of painkillers instead of 4 different types! Plus a whole new wardrobe!!!
I feel so much better and wouldn't hesitate in encouraging people to have this surgery, my HBA1c has come down nicely, I have a lot more energy to do a lot more exercise! I eat quarter of what I use to eat, I don't pig out as I can't cos I feel full
So whether you are a type1 or 2 and you are offered this my advice is go for it, if you are dedicated in the hard work 2 weeks before and 5 months after the surgery then go for it
That's my story

Congratulations on the weight loss ..
Did you try the LCHF diet before your band ?

 

[SHESCOOBY]

You sort of have to do the Newcastle diet anyway before the surgery - e.g. two weeks of milk, in order to get the liver size down so they can have room to work with the keyhole surgery stuff.

There was a series of tv programmes showing actual doctors doing actual operations on actual people here in Britain (Coventry?) about a year ago - on Channel 4 or 5 I think. I can't remember the name of the series, but You Tube may help. Some of those people were very very large.

I thought about it. The gastric band doesn't really work as well as you might hope, the "proper one is where they move your tubes around a bit e.g. roux en y. This is the one that makes your blood sugar miraculously normal.

I personally decided in the end that it was too much re-plumbing and moved on.

The other issue you need to consider is that if/when the weight does come off you will have large folds of skin where the fat has gone - the skin doesn't shrink as fast as the weight loss. The NHS does no fund cosmetic surgery as far as I know for this. The folds can cause their own major body image issues and can cause skin infections and rashes etc.

Trythe low carb high fat approach first, you may well be astonished if you do it properly and there are loads of people here who will help you and encourage you. The main thing is that you have taken control. All the best.

edit: I think it was called Fat Surgeons?

Hi
I have now been told that if you loose 70% of your weight loss you will be entitled to cosmetic surgery reasons being that obese people loose this weight and feel great as the scales are looking good however their bodies aren't! And these people were getting very depressed and piling on weight and making themselves ill so the barriers have been widen with regards to cosmetic surgery! Now I'm not 100% sure that this is only in my area or country wide!

 

[SHESCOOBY]

Congratulations on the weight loss ..
Did you try the LCHF diet before your band ?

Thank you

I did try this but didn't succeed and it wasn't the band I had it was the gastric sleeve, I was offered a band but I had my worries with regards to a foreign body inside me and the injections into the band to either reduce or tighten the band. So the consultant offered the sleeve which I was happy about as it's permanent and I don't have to worry about piling the weight back on!

 

[Enclave]

Thank you

I did try this but didn't succeed and it wasn't the band I had it was the gastric sleeve, I was offered a band but I had my worries with regards to a foreign body inside me and the injections into the band to either reduce or tighten the band. So the consultant offered the sleeve which I was happy about as it's permanent and I don't have to worry about piling the weight back on!

Sorry .. Sleeve not band ... I admire you for I couldent go through that .. I did the LCHF .. It works for me

 

[SHESCOOBY]

As say everyone's different and diets are good for some people and not for others! Well done to you on your weightloss

 

[princess4d4]

Hi I had a gastric bypass in April though this was already funded before I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes it has helped considerably with the diabetes my Hba1c dropped from 84 to 25 and I was taken off metformin it is however not an easy choice and it does require life long changes I would therefore consider trying a normal diet and lifestyle change first

 

[douglas99]

I tried LCHF, it wasn't for me.

As to the NHS route, I didn't need surgery, but worked with the NHS dietician, and developed a personalised low GI/GL diet, (portion control being key here, as obviously an unlimited 'eatwell plate' is never going to reduce BG or weight), then went down the Newcastle diet route for even more weight loss. It also created a major change in my eating habits, and gives me choice as to when I decide to stop eating, I can eat carbs, but don't suffer the 'carb cravings' others refer to, as to me, they're simply an amount of calories in my day, and my calories are self limited to my own set level.

The other thing to consider, if you do need to convince the NHS you are committed to a weight loss program to be considered for surgery, it's doubtful LCHF would convince them, as it doesn't seem to be their diet of choice, as many on here with confirm from experience.

 

[VinnyJames]

I tried LCHF, it wasn't for me.

As to the NHS route, I didn't need surgery, but worked with the NHS dietician, and developed a personalised low GI/GL diet, (portion control being key here, as obviously an unlimited 'eatwell plate' is never going to reduce BG or weight), then went down the Newcastle diet route for even more weight loss. It also created a major change in my eating habits, and gives me choice as to when I decide to stop eating, I can eat carbs, but don't suffer the 'carb cravings' others refer to, as to me, they're simply an amount of calories in my day, and my calories are self limited to my own set level.

The other thing to consider, if you do need to convince the NHS you are committed to a weight loss program to be considered for surgery, it's doubtful LCHF would convince them, as it doesn't seem to be their diet of choice, as many on here with confirm from experience.

Why wasn't LCHF for you?