First post, so bear with me, this may have been posted elsewhere or just showing my ignorance. I am a male, 55, 5' 6" at 315 right now. Have bad knees so exercise is a bit difficult. I was wondering if a doctor would use the balloon for a time until a certain percentage of my weight is reduced and then remove. Or is the balloon only for patients with a certain BMI? I like the temporary nature of the balloon as well as the cost being much less.

What are your thoughts? Just beginning to research this right now but also want to plan financially for this too.

Thanks!

The balloon only stays in for 6 month. And you don’t lose as much. It’s for people that’s looking to lose about 30lbs. If you what to lose a lot of weight you need a sleeve or lap.

Personally, I would not choose either. Too many complications with both. If you have that much to lose, I would consider sleeve or bypass!

I have a lap band and was not successful with it. I'm having a revision to bypass in 10 days. At your weight I wouldn't recommended either. I'm pretty sure a surgeon will feel the same and recommend the sleeve or bypass. By the way the lap band is not temporary. From what my surgeon says they can be hard to take out.

9 hours ago, dengle said:

First post, so bear with me, this may have been posted elsewhere or just showing my ignorance. I am a male, 55, 5' 6" at 315 right now. Have bad knees so exercise is a bit difficult. I was wondering if a doctor would use the balloon for a time until a certain percentage of my weight is reduced and then remove. Or is the balloon only for patients with a certain BMI? I like the temporary nature of the balloon as well as the cost being much less.

What are your thoughts? Just beginning to research this right now but also want to plan financially for this too.

Thanks!

315lbs for a baloon? They wont even do it on someone that size or a lapband were i live. sleeve or bypass for someone your size. baloon was not even recomended for me and i was 244lbs.

The lap band was over hyped and even some of the larger manufacturers are no longer making parts for them. My doctor won't even suggest it any more. As far as the balloon, it's currently under FDA review for a bunch of deaths, google "gastric balloon death". Personally, I'd stay away from either. The Gastric Sleeve might be the best bet for you at this point. I've been banded for 6 years, lost 70 lbs, but then just stopped, and I have a very hard time losing any more. I'm currently in the process of getting my band revised to the bypass.

Good luck!

you may have trouble finding a surgeon who'll do a lapband. Many of them have been removed because of complications, so a lot of surgeons won't do them anymore. I agree with the others - at your weight, I'd do a sleeve or bypass. Most people have no complications at all, and for those who do, a vast majority are minor.

Yep, it's been said. Lapbands are out, if not on their way out. Way too many complications.

With a BMI over 50, you'd definitely be better off with a sleeve or bypass. A gastric balloon isn't going to allow you to lose enough weight, and will need to come out in 6 months. I have read tons of complaints where people lost only a few pounds with it. It sounds like you aren't ready for a major surgery, so these might not be options yet.

If you have bad knees, then you should still be able to swim, work on abs, or lift weights. You don't have to exercise to lose weight though. It is mostly all about what you are eating. My personal experience is that exercising 6-7X per week only allowed me to maintain, and never helped me to lose weight long term. It was the massive amounts of food that I could consume in a sitting that caused the issue with my weight. This is why I think that exercise can help you drop a bit, but you are going to have to get the eating under control if you are going to be successful in getting your weight under control.

I hope that everything works out for you!

Thank you everyone for the responses. Need to research this much more and figure out costs, etc. Thanks again!

23 hours ago, dengle said:

First post, so bear with me, this may have been posted elsewhere or just showing my ignorance. I am a male, 55, 5' 6" at 315 right now. Have bad knees so exercise is a bit difficult. I was wondering if a doctor would use the balloon for a time until a certain percentage of my weight is reduced and then remove. Or is the balloon only for patients with a certain BMI? I like the temporary nature of the balloon as well as the cost being much less.

What are your thoughts? Just beginning to research this right now but also want to plan financially for this too.

Thanks!

My hubby had the LapBand for 13 years if you want to hear our story let me know. But...I will say this DON"T GET THE LAPBAND!!!! Please

23 hours ago, dengle said:

First post, so bear with me, this may have been posted elsewhere or just showing my ignorance. I am a male, 55, 5' 6" at 315 right now. Have bad knees so exercise is a bit difficult. I was wondering if a doctor would use the balloon for a time until a certain percentage of my weight is reduced and then remove. Or is the balloon only for patients with a certain BMI? I like the temporary nature of the balloon as well as the cost being much less.

What are your thoughts? Just beginning to research this right now but also want to plan financially for this too.

Thanks!

DO NOT GET THE BAND!!! Do research.. research on here.. go to the sleeve forum for failed lapbands... patients are not successful long term with the band. you can NOT eat healthy, you can NOT get full.. you feel "stuck" or hungry. Unless you eat unhealthy slider foods. You cannot sustain a lapband long term and it damages your insides so bad. I had 100% zero symptoms of my band going wrong. I was only getting it out because I was unable to lose weight and I was tired of throwing up every meal. I had adjustments 27 times and just never could lose weight without starving myself. When I had my revision surgery, mine took 5 hours intead of one hour!! Because my lapband had done so much damage inside. I had scar tissue all over my stomach, liver, and spleen. I beg you to research!!!

I also had the lap-band and revised to the duodenal switch. I would never recommend the lap-band to anyone for the same reasons Sara Bronson stated. They were way over-hyped, not an effective tool, and caused damage.

I guess I should have been less specific in my heading. I am looking into the sleeve now primarily, but well I am going to find a doctor here in Denver, of which I found there to be several. Start the process, etc. My insurance covers the surgery but will be out of pocket about $3k, which isn't bad at all. Will max out my contributions to my FSA next year to help with the cost

Need to check with work about being off for two weeks plus. Curious how much more out of pocket expenses there are? I was on a weight loss program through Kaiser and had to pay for my food replacement, which I understand. Just wondering about how many doctor visits are included in that cost estimate given to me on this website.

Thanks for the advise so far. Trying to plan on this surgery next year.