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Happy Friday All!!!!
Well I have unfortunately continued to gain weight in a slow and steady fashion since Covid started and being placed on a medication for my RA and it caused a significant weight gain over a 6 month period.
My BMI is over 40 and due to my RA I really don't do well with any exercise right now. Like if I do much of anything I can't move for 5 days, and the last time we had significant snow I shoveled and ended up needing steroids because it sent me into a flare.

I have cut back on the food, focus on high protein, low fat, low carb diet, and since Jan lost a whopping 5 lbs, yup 5.

So the point of my post is this.... Has anyone had the endoscopy balloon, or endoscopic gastroplasty (not surgical but done through an upper endoscopy procedure and totally reversible. IF so what was the outcome, what was good, what was bad?

I'm heading out shortly for an evaluation and would love some thoughts on real life experience with this as well.

Tush, my cousin had the endoscopic gastroplasty. Very successful. I do know why but she went to Mexico to have it done. She had ballooned up to over 200 lbs. and she has a small frame. She looks like a model now and eats very healthy.

My friend has been very heavy for her entire adult life - type 2 diabetes and other health problems. She found a good endocrinologist about 1-1 1/2 years ago. She's lost a bunch of weight. Very slowly! At first, nothing for months. It just keeps coming off slowly now. She has an exercise routine. I think she said one drug, topomirate, helps with cravings. I think getting all the blood sugar and what not leveled out has helped.

Look into some of the new/newish medications like Saxenda and/or Ozempic that are helping people lose weight. It’s my understanding that they give similar results as non-permanent gastro whatchamaycallits but with a lot less intrusion.

I did talk with my cousin and asked why she went to Mexico for the procedure. She said the cost was a fraction of what cost would have been in the states. She said it was very safe and she had excellent treatment in Mexico. She looks amazing and says she feels so much better.

Bigger-I am aware of the meds and if I dont pull the trigger on this I may go that route.

Jeanie-yes insurance does not pay for these procedures, even though they have low risk of complications and not permanent like gastric sleeve or bypass. Which makes zero sense because we all know a lower weight means less chance of developing heart disease diabetes and other problems.

Tush, I certainly agree that insurance SHOULD pay! But that is why my cousin went to Mexico to have the procedure -- she's a teacher and state insurance didn't cover it.

Amazing how sometimes INSURANCE companies actually 'practice medicine' by refusing to pay for certain procedures that could/should be considered wellness and prevention

My user-name is based on my wish to become a better man – bigger. But it has become just as apt to describe my physique. I have always been "big"; muscular and fit big but never slim. Haven’t seen my abs since I-don’t-know-when and the only way I could claim to have a swimmers physique is if the swimmer is a sea-mammal. I can still bench more than my sons and squat like a pro. Never been a fast runner, but I can still do 10 miles at my steady-slightly-faster-than-walking pace. Physically and health-wise I have been very fortunate. In a recent check-up my doctor looked at the bloodwork and commented "you are just like cream: really good, but too fat."
Unfortunately over the last years I have been experiencing issues that I think are weight related: Sore ankles, pulled muscles, more often pulling out of my 10 mile after a few, and my bloodwork has numbers approaching Type 2 diabetes. Not there yet, but a steady curve towards that…
I looked into both sleeve and bypass. Not covered by my insurance but no biggie. I was leaning towards the bypass when my doctor recommended I start by taking Saxenda to see if that could be a less intrusive way to get the bloodwork on the right path. In 4 months, I have got rid of nearly 28 pounds. The big issue for me though is that the numbers indicating I was headed for T2D took a drastic turn for the better.

For the first time in decades I feel full after eating a normal portion meal.

As is I’m losing just under a pound per week. If I make a more concentrated effort I can do closer to 2, but if I eat beyond being full I might stand in place. I don’t plan on being on this stuff more than 1-2 years and if I can’t change my habits in that time then I might look into a sleeve.

And my insurance covers this drug.

Bigger thanks for sharing your experience. If I don't move forward with this procedure, I will absolutely be moving forward with medical weight loss management.

I have 100 lbs to lose. 100 Lbs. That's a significant amount of weight. Not usually achieved with long term results. I am done with this yo yo up and down, constant battle of weight loss it's been my an issue my ENTIRE Adult Life. My RA is progressing to the point that I have lost mobility, and function. 100 lbs off my frame will definitely help slow it down. It will also allow me to tolerate getting back on the exercise band wagon.

I am so freaking out of shape that over the weekend I was on my feet working with my H to prep our boat for Crappie season, we got a new (to us) boat this winter, that he can use for duck hunting and for fishing. So we are getting it set up. Lots of up and down, and standing and holding things. I also made a big dinner for son, his GF, my MIL. When I came in to start cooking, I was in so much discomfort I could barely walk, and my leg was numb from pressure from my herniated discs. So I had to stop and do my stretches, and relax for 15 minutes before I could continue. How messed up is that. I'm so frustrated, and unhappy with myself it is just stupid.

Hi Tush,

Well, I'm 60, overweight since I was eight. I've lost 70 pounds, kept it off for over a year - first time ever. All I did was calorie count, and walk (to start with). I use Fitbit to track my calories to produce a small daily 500 cal daily deficit, and eat fairly healthy - but I don't deny myself anything, and I regard no food as bad or naughty. Sometimes that means I can eat 1700 cals a day. Huge change for me - I've always binged or starved. Having a small daily deficit means it's sustainable. It was a lightbulb moment for me. Oh and I'm not fixated on scales and weekly loss - if I'm putting in the work, it will happen. As for exercise, I started off with just two half hour walks a day, due to two dodgy knees. Mostly still walking, low impact cardio, great YouTube seated cardio options out there! Finally, I started bodyweight strength training - all adapted for my knees/shoulder. Regularly walk 25,000 steps a day now.

It requires persistence, patience, consistency - but then that's the same for surgical options too - weight loss is half the battle. Keeping it off is a whole other thing - and that's where a small daily deficit, and changing your thinking about food, is vital.

Some SI transferable thinking here - figure out your Whys - the only shift I have made this time round really is my thinking. Do you yoyo because you see dieting as a restrictive short term phase?

I'm starting another phase - I've got a final 30 pounds to lose - and I bloody well will lose it!!!!

PS I started by getting inspired by a guy on insta, dusty_lost_300lb. It's not a paid account. Genuine, very helpful guy, who had a gastric sleeve btw.

Tush
A key line-of-thinking that I have applied to weight-loss and money (amongst other things) is that it’s taken me a lifetime to get where I was/am, and I can take a lifetime to get to where I want to be.
I still remember my weight when I signed up as a cop (188) and I know my weight when I started to look into having some gastric work done (a-lot-more-than-188!!!). In-between were +35 years. That’s how long it took me to get from A to Z.
I call the end-point Z because I have no intention of going further that way. If I allowed myself to say from A to Y that allows me space to fail.

I also realize the journey wasn’t linear. I might have gotten to M before going on some diet or whatever and worked myself back to J. Only to start off again.

I can now spend time going from Z towards A.
Towards, and not to.
I don’t think I will ever get back to the A of 188 simply due to aging and all that. But I’m already after 4 months from Z to maybe W… or even V… Maybe my goal will be a healthy J… and if I’m approaching M or N by the end of this year then great! I have time, and as long as I’m making progress to the goal… fine. Pace isn’t the issue – momentum is.

If I can consistently/regularly lose close to a pound per week and keep that pound off… I’m OK with my journey requiring several years. I’m also OK with the pound not going for a week or two. I’m OK with a pound reappearing. I’m OK with the average loss dropping to a quarter of a pound per week… As long as it’s a long-term drop.

This line of thought has been greatly liberating. I have a long-term goal and the patience to chip away at it. This in turn removes all short-term plans and replaces them with constant adjustments of long-term behaviors.

The benefits come right away. Lose 5 pounds and you already have an easier time scratching your back, or the car-seat no longer groans when you sit in it. Lose 10 pounds and those jeans that cut into your waist feel OK. Lose 3 more pounds and the buttons on your shirt aren’t arguing with you all day. You no longer have this belief that after 2 weeks of eating berries you can count your ribs or find your abs. It’s the small things…

I mentioned using this with money. Applies there too. I chipped away at my $$$$$$$$$$ debts one $ at a time. Next month you might only see a dollar lowering of your payment, but chip away at it month after month and eventually you see results.

I second what Pizzatheaction (what an inappropriate name on this thread! ) says about calorie counting.
I didn’t and still don’t do… But I weigh myself every Friday morning right after the morning pee. What the drug does for me is that it makes me feel full a lot quicker and removes the physical symptoms of hunger.
What that means is that I had to break my eating pattern. Instead of 2 pieces of toast every morning I only make one at a time and stop to evaluate if I’m eating for hunger or habit. If habit I just stop. If I feel hungry I no longer make a beeline to the fridge but stop and think WHY am I hungry? If it’s because I haven’t eaten all day, I allow myself food. If it’s because normally at three I have a snack and that used to be a cookie and milk… I realize it’s a psychological call rather than a physical one. Repeat often enough and you break habits. In many ways that’s the unscientific way of counting calories – it’s being conscious of what you eat and why and by weighing you confirm if you are eating more than you should or not.

The friend that I mentioned had 100+ lbs to lose. I don't know her weight and don't judge well, but she was excited when she crossed into the 200s. Maybe she's lost 100 lbs. It's at least 70. She is definitely able to do much more physically and generally feels better. I don't know all her meds. I only remembered the topiramate because it was once recommended to me for migraines.

Also, I know RA and osteoarthritis are not the same, but I've found OA to be a common complaint in women my age. At a couples weekend recently, all three of us women (ages ~54-59) were complaining especially of morning pain in feet, ankles, hands, elbow, shoulder. None of the husband of the same age range had any symptoms.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses.
Pizza. I have done it all time and again.
I have also done the mental work on my whys and often it comes back to compulsive behaviors just like the alcohol my and sister couldn't control. Just like the speaking when I shouldn't. Probably all goes back to a mix of the ADHD and genetically engineered to have addictive behaviors.

I talked to my sister the other day too. She is doing medical weight loss and she has been sober for about a decade she still wants to drink but really stays dry. The dr said since she had addictive tendency they put her on a combo of antidepressant used for OCD and a med used for addiction and she says it has been life changing. Like she forgets to eat. Something we both laughed and agreed is not possible in our normal frame of mind.
So even if I don't go forward with the procedure I will do the medical mgmt and no matter what am going to ask about the meds because I too tend to like my booze too much.