Gastric Balloon

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Shazer - you should know that it can take several weeks for you to feel ok again and it is normal to feel absolutely horrible for the first week and then gradually get better. I advise taking your medications (all of them at the times recommended by your doctor) and following the diet plan - ie fluids, then mushies etc. Don't push the food too quickly or you will pay the consequences. I have recently had my balloon removed and during the period that I had it I lost 30kgs - but I worked hard at relearning about how I eat and exercising. I also joined weight watchers and have become a dedicated member attending my meetings every week. I now manage my portion sizes and continue to track my food and have lost another 3kgs in the 2 weeks post op. I am pleased to say that my appetite is very much reduced to what it was pre-balloon and I am sooooo pleased that I decided to go ahead and get one. Now it is up to me to continue the path I am on and try and achieve my goal weight. Am I scared that I will go off the wagon - YES. But I know so many "banders" that have regained their weight I just wasn't comfortable putting something permanent in my body and I felt that the balloon was a better temporary option. However, it is only a tool and you need to work to address issues about what you eat and how much you move your body. Apparently most ballooners will only lose weight for the first three months. I am proud to say that I lost the whole way through and I put this down to exercise and joining WW at 3 months in.

I suggest you give it at least a week to 10 days before rushing in to have it removed. For the vast majority of people it gets acceptable after this time. I know however for some people it never gets better so stay in touch with your doctor.

Best of luck
 
thanks

hi Gonggirl - thanks for your story. i know i will kick myself if i rush to get it removed but the thought of enduring this for another 1 week is killing me. i can only take in water- its the 4th day now. i dont know how my body is surviving on water but it is. i am taking meds but im so alarmed by the way im feeling psychologically - totally depressed and out of it.
my dietician has given me a list of liquids to take - soups, juice et but it's not working. at least the cramping has stopped. how long were you on water? how long did it take for you to move to soft foods? thanks for your help
 
Shazer, it was a while. I can't remember exactly, but I know I went away 2 weeks later and tried some solid foods and it was too soon and I paid the consequences. If the cramping has stopped then I would say that is a good sign. You can survive for ages without food as long as you are getting fluids. It took ages for me to be able to drink more than sips at a time. Good luck
 
Hi

Update time.
I got mine removed after almost 6.5 mnths this saturday.

Few notes:
this thing works for some, doesnt work for some.
Before getting the balloon inserted, i was very confident that my apetite would shrink and trigger my weight loss. It did happen for initial couple of weeks, mainly because i was vomiting and survivng on liquid diets. I lost 6kgs in 3weeks.

But after that, my apetite became normal and instead of feelnig less hungry, i started gettng hungrier. This is because, my stoamch was releasing more digestive enzymes to digest teh balloon in my stomach and thus, shot up my metabolism. Nothing bad about it, but its totally opposite of what the ball is supposed to od (i.e. reduce apetite).

All in all, i lost 14kgs in 6months, but that i could have done even without the balloon because i was doing my heavy exercise and health, regular eating. dont realyy think that the pain and money was worth it. 14kgs in 6months is quite easy, if you excercise and eat well.

If you still insist on getting iths done, go to an experienced doctor, who has got a good case history.

But honeslty, even after losing 14kgs, i will call this thing a waste, because at the end, i had to do all the efforts and balloon did nothing to help me.

also, the heavier you are, the more weight you lose.
so, if you weigh around 80kgs, u might just lose 7-8 kgs and this is so not worth that.
 
hi guys.. (waves to shazer am guessing same shazer from tpf?)

Anyway im here im here havent done an update.. we im exactly 2 weeks in!! ive only lost 5 kg ( 4 of them were the first 1 week) i think i need to reeducate my self on food as the problem im facing is that im still eating, yes im eating less but im still eating/

im hoping that my body has gone into starvation omode so its holdong on to everything i eat and then when it evenutally realises its not going to be getting more food i will suddenly drop the weight! this is what im hoping, whether it happens or not though is another story

any other tips advice etc
 
Give yourself a chance Babyboo. 5kg in two weeks is still awesome! Remember that it is not just about eating less but also about eating the right foods as well. If you fill up on chocolate you will still be eating too much chocolate!

My doctor put me on a very low calorie shake diet for the two weeks before having it in and I lost 6kg in those first two weeks. Then it was 1 to 2 kgs a week until about 18gs (3 months in) and then slowed again and I lost 12 more in the next 4 months.

If I had not been careful about what I was eating I never would have lost all of that. I highly recommend getting onto something like weight watchers once your tummy has settled down and get into a good eating routine while you have the balloon in place. This will be your saving grace - I swear! I joined about 3 to 4 months in and wish I had done it about 2 months in and I never would have plateaued at 3 months for a month - it was a wasted 4 weeks!!!!!!
 
week 1 update

hi baby boo - yeah its me. have been haunting this forum for a week now and its been great moral support!

my problem is now similar to yours- after the horrendous first week ( and i lost only 2 kgs!!) GONGGIRL sensibly advised me to hang with it i am now in a problem free zone and yes.. eating alarmingly well!!

We have to take GONGGIRLS advice and seriously put ourselves on a diet instead of thinking the ballon is going to do it all for us.

keep updating this space so we can track each others progress :)
 
Hi Guys,

I'm thinking about getting a balloon and have read all your stories with interest, so many of you have done so well it's inspiring but some stories have scared me too :D.
I sometimes think I must be mad to even be considering this, to think that I would consider potentially making myself feel so unwell simply because I can't seem to control my eating. But I just don't know what else to do anymore and I really hope that this is something that will work for me and that I'll be one of the lucky ones who isn't ill for too long.

Anyway, just wondered if anyone has used the BMI healthcare hospitals and if they are any good? Or if anyone could recommend a hospital in the Surrey area?
 
Good on you Shazer! The balloon will really help you stick to a healthy eating program as you will not be as hungry. Remember to really listen to your body and not overeat or you will suffer.
 
I'm back! Am goin to look into weight watchers - don't think we have it here so will have to do it online am thinking of doing the dukan diet

All in all ok however I've been having reallllly bad burps all day I think I ate the wrong this am thinking of having a diet coke to stop the pain as I'm reallllly in pain and the burps are disgusting
 
update

baby boo & anyone else with a fresh balloon
just wanted to know if you've kinda stagnated with the weight loss? i've been really good on food not more than 1000 calories a day and yet not much movement.
and yeah while the first few days last week were absolutely problem free the burps have gone mad in the last 2 days - i think its related to acid - if you get more acid more burps and also a reflux in the mornings.
 
Hi Shazer, yes after the second week my weight stopped for about a week which was dis-heartening. But don't worry you will start to loose again, its probably just your body fighting the loss. You will start to loose again especially if you introduce a little exercise.
As for the burps I didn't really suffer with them. I kept to a low carb diet which helped to keep the hunger/cravings at bay and the food I was eating was all unprocessed which seem to agree with me. Coffee and salad did not agree with me especially lettuce which I think stuck to my balloon and would repeat all day on me.

I'm getting my balloon out on Sat and am currently on a liquid diet for the whole week! I can only have soup, yougard and drinks and its no fun I can tell you.

Good luck with your balloon and enjoy your new body as the weight drops.

Grace xxx
 
Hi Maemur, I used BMI Healthcare Hospital in Basingstoke because of the promised support, monthly check ins etc for a whole year, but it just didn't happen, they only managed to make 2 appointments, (the first 2) others were either cancelled or they were running so late that I couldn't wait around for over an hour as I had to get back to work, I had my balloon out in October and even though I tried to get an appointment for diet advise and monthly weigh-ins they just weren't interested. I found the whole experience expensive with all the promises they made broken. Think very carefully who you use, in my 6 months I lost 10kg, would have been more but with no support which was what I so badly needed and paid for I slipped back into bad habits very quickly.
 
Thanks Gracer

gracez said:
Hi Shazer, yes after the second week my weight stopped for about a week which was dis-heartening. But don't worry you will start to loose again, its probably just your body fighting the loss. You will start to loose again especially if you introduce a little exercise.
As for the burps I didn't really suffer with them. I kept to a low carb diet which helped to keep the hunger/cravings at bay and the food I was eating was all unprocessed which seem to agree with me. Coffee and salad did not agree with me especially lettuce which I think stuck to my balloon and would repeat all day on me.

I'm getting my balloon out on Sat and am currently on a liquid diet for the whole week! I can only have soup, yougard and drinks and its no fun I can tell you.

Good luck with your balloon and enjoy your new body as the weight drops.

Grace xxx
Click to expand...

Thanks Grace. It gives me some relief to know that this shall pass else was beginning to wonder about why i did this. About the food... the balloon seems to give me more trouble if i eat fried food. is it true or am i imagining it? were you on a diet during your stint or did you just eat what you felt like?

congrats on completing your stint in balloon prison.:hurray: i have a long long way to go with just having shed 3 odd kgs in nearly 2 weeks. what's your weight loss like?
 
Hi Shazer, hope it gets easier for you. I was one of the lucky ones really didn't have any problems. Fried food did repeat on me sometimes, like deep fried food chips etc. One of my tricks was that I drank a lot of water before a meal and that helped to fill me up so that I didn't eat much.

I stuck to a low carb plan called the CAD CALP plan by the Hellers. You can Google it and there is a forum on it. Basically it was two low carb meals and a reward meal which kept me satisfied all day and the weight loss was great. I was 14 and a half stone when I got the balloon and now I am 9 stone 10 pounds.
My usual daily menu would be 1 boiled egg for breakfast, ham/chicken/tuna salad with mayo (little lettuce as it repeated on me) and for dinner lots of veg, meat and a treat.
I had a blood count done last week and doc says all in normal range and am healthy which is amazing considering such weight loss over 6 months.

My concern now will be to keep the weight off when the balloon comes out.

Hope you can start to enjoy the balloon experience because for me the weight loss was a bonus but the fact that I wasn't getting bigger and my binging had almost vanished was the greatest aspect for me.

Keep going and make the best out of these 6 months it flies by.

Grace xxx
 
shazer said:
Thanks Grace. It gives me some relief to know that this shall pass else was beginning to wonder about why i did this. About the food... the balloon seems to give me more trouble if i eat fried food. is it true or am i imagining it? were you on a diet during your stint or did you just eat what you felt like?

congrats on completing your stint in balloon prison.:hurray: i have a long long way to go with just having shed 3 odd kgs in nearly 2 weeks. what's your weight loss like?
Click to expand...

I totally agree with Hopeful999, these clinics do not deliver the services they promise, it looks and sounds good initially, but these services are very limited and spread out over a year, with only a few visits in a year!!!
If you read about Grace and others, they are sticking to diets, weight watchers for some, etc. The balloon only does a small portion, the success is dependant on the stuff we Do!!!!! somehow we give the balloon the credit, FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING THE BALLOON... really know what services you will be getting and how often, its alot of money. I think you really need to be real about the balloon, it is not a magical answer, you need some plan for your eating habits, exercise and support...so ask your self this question, is it really the balloon??? do i need to spend thousands of dollars, In Canada over 8 thousand dollars.
:smash: the balloon only helps most initially and the rest is up to us...
Drul
 
I agree with you Drul - however, what the balloon did do was keep me focused for a seven month period. I have learnt new habits which are holding me in good stead post balloon. My biggest struggle pre-balloon was staying focused for long enough to see real results. My weight loss is now at 34kg with a further 1.9 drop at weight in at ww today. I have also started running, something I thought would never be possible.

I have a goal of 45kgs lost by the 10th of June which is when I head off on holidays. I know that I can do it!
 
anyone still feeling sick?

anyone still feeling sick 15 days in? i dont know if im going wrong with my eating but im still throwing up a a little everyday and feel like there's this sea inside me thats rollicking. like right now. and im only sitting down.
i think the balloon is protesting coz i havent changed my relatiionship with food... im still eating food that i like but i think the balloon is asking me to eat light -salads and stuff which i cant do .. could never do which is why i got the balloon in the first place.
anyone with any advice on this?
 
Hi All I am getting my balloon out in 2 hours time. I've had it in since august and lost 4 and a half stone, went from a size 18/16 to a size 10 and am very happy with the whole experience. I am starving now I have been on a liquid diet all week, mainly soup and hot drinks and nil by mouth since last night.
Hope the removal is easier than the insertion. Will let you know how the eating goes once the balloon comes out.

Grace xxx
 
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