Hi,
I just wanted to share my experiences of having a gastric balloon fitted. I had my balloon fitted in September last year with the National Obesity Surgery Centre after much research online, including sites like this to see what people were saying about their experiences.
My reasons for choosing the NOSC were essentially for the support they provide whilst the balloon is in place and after the balloon has been removed, with a staged programme to change your eating behaviours for the long-term. This appealed to me as I have had issues with food since childhood and the fact that the programme with NOSC would resolve both my mental issues, whilst also tackling the physical issues by restricting my intake, I thought this was the solution for me.
Once I'd had the balloon fitted, and recovered from the sickness, I was sent the information for the first weightloss stage of the programme. But two or three weeks after that, the support dropped off. Without the weekly call to support me, I found the first few weeks difficult, and found it easy to slip into old ways, whilst also feeling bigger and bloated with the balloon in me.
The balloon also made me feel quite unwell and I had a constant burning in my stomach, egg breath and cramps. By December, after making contact with NOSC to advise them I hadn't had any support calls, I felt very despondent with the programme, and whilst not losing weight and feeling unwell, I decided this was not helping my state of mind. With the intense burning I'd had in my stomach, I was actually quite anxious that I'd developed an ulcer whilst it had been in place. It seems paranoid now, but my body just wasn't best pleased with having a large foreign object shoved in there! I had the balloon removed just before Christmas. It was quite an emotional event for me because I had hoped this would help get me on the right track again with my eating and it was such a disappointment - and relief - to finally get it out. For me this was a big mistake, which I am still paying the £5k it cost. It was a traumatic experience which I want to put behind me.
I hope this helps. I certainly don't want to sway your decision but I know that I brushed aside some of the posts I read on here just before I got my balloon. I thought it would be different for me, that it would work but for me it just made me feel bloated and unwell. It made me realise that although fatter than I would like I need to take care of my body and putting it through that certainly didn't feel like that was what I was doing.
Good luck with whatever you decide. x
