Gastric band or ww? Last chance salloon....

After dieting from being 17 til now (43), Ive tried them all, ww, sw, vlcd, xenical, and Im still the heaviest Ive ever been. My weight is getting me down, and now, as Ive hit my 40's, its finally beginning to affect my health and what I can and can't do, as it's aggravating my bad back, meaning I have sciatic pain most days, and can't walk very far before I'm in pain. So Ive seriously been considering having a gastric band fitted. Ive looked on the nhs sites, and I'm not heavy enough to get it on the nhs, so it would mean saving the 5k to have it done, which would take me a couple of years.

I was willing to do this, after all, Ill still be struggling with my weight in 2 years time, however, I have read a few peoples posts on the surgery part of this site, saying, they wished they hadn't bothered having a band done, as they have regained the weight, or not even lost as much as they'd hoped in the first place! Also, Ive spoken to my husband about it, who, says he doesn't like the thought of me having surgery to lose weight, however, he's never been overweight, so he doesn't fully understand what it's like.

I need to lose about 6-7 stone might I add. So, Ive decided to give ww a last ditch attempt before I resort to the drastic (and expensive) resort of banding. WW has been the diet that I have had most success with out of all the diets ive tried in the past, so Im gonna give it another go.

I was wondering if anyone else has been thinking of surgery, and if anyone has considered it, but then had success on a regular diet such as ww? I just think that, if I had double this weight to lose, then maybe a gastric band would be worth serously thinking about, but surely, I could lose 6 stone (which would make me about 12 stone, at 5ft 7 and a large frame, this would be ok).

Any suggestions/thoughts on this would be welcome as I have no one to talk to about it that is overweight and therefore, fully understands where Im coming from.

OMG!!! Ive just read your story with my mouth agape! You look amazing, esp the pic in the pink t.shirt! You have done SOOO well, and have inspired me to carry on with WW. I know it's the sensible way to go, and you have made me realise that it can be done without the help of surgery, if you just stick with it(thats the hard thing for me anyway).
Thanks for replying, it means a lot.
Im just ending day 2 back on ww, and I'm not finding it too bad, probably cos I'm not feeling that hungry as I'm full of cold!
The first few days are usually the worst though, so I'm hoping I can stick to it this time.
All the best
Karen

Fredcat said:

OMG!!! Ive just read your story with my mouth agape! You look amazing, esp the pic in the pink t.shirt! You have done SOOO well, and have inspired me to carry on with WW. I know it's the sensible way to go, and you have made me realise that it can be done without the help of surgery, if you just stick with it(thats the hard thing for me anyway).
Thanks for replying, it means a lot.
Im just ending day 2 back on ww, and I'm not finding it too bad, probably cos I'm not feeling that hungry as I'm full of cold!
The first few days are usually the worst though, so I'm hoping I can stick to it this time.
All the best
Karen

Click to expand...

How are you going on hun?x

Hi Karen, hope you are keeping with WW. Its so difficult to keep on track especially when you don't have anyone who truly gets where you are coming from but.........you have us now! All the best Hon and just think of all the new clothes and a nice hol that 5k could buy, which is exactly what you'll need to show off your weight loss.:character00100:

Hi, I was 21 stone and I lost the first 6 stone with ww (then lost some on dukan) I'm now 12 stone and have joined up with weight watchers again to lose the last 2 stone. I have a friend who had the band and she's had probs ever since, in and out of hospital.

Ww works and you have the motivation and pleasure of saying you lost the weight through shear determination! Stick with ww, let us know how you are getting on xxx

My friend had a gastric band and lost 4 stone with it and kept it off and looks amazing. I know 4 stone doesn't sound a lot or drastic enough for surgery but she is tiny and the weight was really affecting her health. I on the other hand have been doing ww on and off for the past 4 years and have managed to lose just over 3 stone. I still have a stone and a half to go but have always found ww a really easy diet to follow and although the gastric band did work for my friend it is pretty drastic.