Hi all. I am 35, female, and have had a binge eating problem for years. I must say, I feel lucky that it has never gotten me heavier than 190, but I currently weigh 170 and am completely miserable with my utter lack of ability to control the sheer volume of food I gorge myself on. I fit all the criteria for a binge eating disorder, and I am just tipping the body mass index at "obese", but am I "obese" enough for a surgeon to perform this procedure on me? Do they even DO lap band surgery to help binge eating disorder sufferers? I truly have tried everything, but it seems to me the only thing that would work to keep me from bingeing is the simple inability to fit that much food in my stomach. Heck, I've even researched jaw wiring, and there is a dentist not too far from me who does it, but I can't go through life with my jaws wired shut, you know?

I realize most people who go through with this are much heavier than I am, and to be honest, I am a size 12/14 - just slightly bigger than the American "average", but I really am looking more for something to control my eating, and any weight loss would just be a pleasant side effect. Don't get me wrong, I want to lose weight too, but I just feel that a physiological inability to binge would benefit me physically as well as emotionally.

So... anyone have any input?

Thanks,

Christina

I think when it comes to lap band, it's usually easier, faster and just as safe to go out of country.

I still want my insurance to cover the procedure though. And so does MacBoy's college fund. :tongue_smilie:

If you have coverage for it I'd fight to get it under insurance. It's hard jumping through their hoops but for that kind of money, it's worth it.

It will still cost me $3000 out-of-pocket to do it under insurance and then I'll have the insurance that cost me more every year than the one I've got now. I really like the insurance I have now and I'm really annoyed that I have to switch to get the surgery.

It will still cost me $3000 out-of-pocket to do it under insurance and then I'll have the insurance that cost me more every year than the one I've got now. I really like the insurance I have now and I'm really annoyed that I have to switch to get the surgery.

Can you switch back to your current insurance after banding and at the next enrollment?

Aetna says if I have a band that I'd have to pay for any complications. I think they may balk at fills too. I'm working on some spreadsheets now to figure out which insurance will have me more out of pocket on average. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think. It's hard to say ... what I have now is so easy -- just little co-pays for office visits and prescriptions and this "Affinity" plan I'd have to switch to is so frigging complicated!!

The other thing is, if I want complications and fills and such covered, I have to switch even if I self-pay. Which means I might as well go through UHC to start with. Maybe it would be better if my company didn't have so many choices! (And I haven't even dragged Kaiser into this -- they are a 3rd choice for insurance that my company offers.)

Yeah, I know I'm being a big, whinny cry-baby and that some people have to get second mortgages to pay for their surgery and it takes them 2 years to jump through all the hoops, and some people never get it because of money, and that if I really wanted to, I could take off from work during an inconvenient time.

What I'd really like to do is: start working on lifestyle changes and emotional eating now, insurance be damned, and re-evaluate in the Fall like I originally planned. I could have a BMI of under 35 by then and maybe I could try to get into the low BMI study. Or I might still be above 35 BMI and UHC might count my hypertension as a co-morbidity after all and it will all be good. The worst that can happen is that I decide, yes, I really want this surgery, and I'll have to self-pay.

The reality is that I could afford to self-pay in Mexico if I really wanted to (and was willing to wait a few more years for some other stuff I want like new car and remodeled bathrooms) and I'm not one of those people who thinks all the doctors in Mexico are a bunch of hacks, either. So it's really, really tempting.

Mostly the distance and dh's skepticism are what are holding me back. Plus my practical streak that says I'm crazy to consider self-pay before I've exhausted all my insurance options.

I know that starting now will dramatically increase my chances of having to self-pay, but I do think that's the best option for me. I really need to deal with my eating problems NOW and not wait until Aug. It's been heck these past two months watching the scales go down (just from logging food and drinking more water) and not being happy because I'm afraid it will screw up my chances for surgery ... which I know I need in the long run. I'm putting off starting up my exercise plan because I'm afraid I'll lose even more weight, which is not good. I've even done stuff like eat a bowl of ice cream at the end of the day to get my calories up so I won't lose more weight until I can weigh in at the surgeon's office only to have my appointment get cancelled because of insurance!

So I feel for the OP and may find myself in the same situation in the not too distant future.

I didn't mean to offend anyone when I made the statement that the OP was a healthy size - I said size. When I was 170 lbs I was healthy, I looked good, and felt good. Yes, according to all the medical charts, I was not in the healthy weight range, but but if I lost the 15 more pounds to get into my range, my bones start to stick out. I think a size 12-14 is beautiful. So, I apologize.

Edited April 21, 200818 yr by myturn0421

I didn't mean to offend anyone when I made the statement that the OP was a healthy size - I said size. When I was 170 lbs I was healthy, I looked good, and felt good. Yes, according to all the medical charts, I was not in the healthy weight range, but but if I lost the 15 more pounds to get into my range, my bones start to stick out. I think a size 12-14 is beautiful. So, I apologize.

Well, you did kinda say "healthy size" for a 30BMI.

I think that when others of us are a larger BMI 30 doesn't seem all that bad anymore! ;o) But it is still considered obese and obese isn't healthy.