Hi Gloria, i am from St helens. Colette

i am 13 stone 5 and i weigh 5' 6 was anyone around my weight when they had their balloon fitted. Thanx Colette.

I had the gastric balloon in for eight months and will tell you the good and the bad. The first few days were pretty bad, nausea and some vomitting. It does take some getting used to. I would suggest having four or five days to recover before getting back to work. I lost 21 pounds during the time I had the balloon. It may not seem like a lot but it meant a lot to me. If you eat too much, it physically hurts so you learn to cut back on your portions. I found the smelly burps were worse when I ate a lot of vegetables, especially salads. I drank water with some lemon juice to help. But they were still there. I had to take an acid reducer, omeprazole, twice a day for the entire time I had the balloon. It was meant to only be taken once a day. The stomach acid production was intense. The balloon is not a magic cure, after a couple of months, you can pretty much eat what you like and the quantities gradually increase. The best part is that now it is out, I never want to feel the desperation I felt before having the balloon so I am committed to maintaining my reduced portions and excercise. I thought after having the balloon out I would feel very hungry but, for now, I'm not. It is not a magic cure but can reinforce reduced portions so your brain can get used to being satisfied with smaller amounts. For right now, I know I don't want to go through it again but can't say it was all bad. Good luck to all that try it. It again becomes a personal choice. I was lucky, nothing really bad happened. I am now on to a reduced portion and excercise program to maintain and reinforce what I was able to accomplish during the last eight months.

After lying awake for a few nights i have made my mind up i am going to have the balloon fitted. I am going on Holiday to Egypt tho for 2 weeks in December i am thinking is it better to have it fitted after my holiday. Egypt is bad enough for sickness bugs so dont really want to be in a place where if i am ill i am stuck. I gutted tho in a way i want to crack on with this rather than waiting 2 months. Spoke to a guy at the new you clinic in Prague helpfull enough so i going to trust my instinct and travel alone to Prague. Also i am telling nobody i am doing this and in a way mad at myself for not being able to stick at a diet. Also my fears are i constantly crave the wrong foods like cakes, pastry pizza you name it i eat it. The question i want to ask how do you all cope with the days when your body wants the bad food? I admire everybodys honesty on this site for telling it how it is. I am afraid tho and really want to lose at least 3 stone. Just dont want to be putting the pounds back on when it is removed.

I had the balloon placed about 5 months ago and it has been a total waste of time. I lost 2 kg in the first week and that has been it. I am going tomorrow to have it removed early because I think that it is silly to continue taking medication twice a day for no reason. A waste of money, a waste of time and a waste of the suffering in the first weeks. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose but I have been struggling for some time and was hoping that this was a useful tool to push me along. I am told that since I am tall the balloon should have been filled much more to be effective. Oh well, live and learn. I have been going to the gym for the past 2 months and planning my meals and I think that I will be better off (or at least the same) when I get rid of this annoying thing. My friend who had it done and inspired me to get it done lost 18 kg. She had it out 3 months ago and she has gained back 5 kg!! And she really suffered to lose the 18 kg but didn't learn enough skills to keep it off. It is a lot of money and a lot of suffering.
For those of you with terrible gas and burping...drink a coca-cola on an empty stomach to clean the balloon. That is what I was told and that is what I have to do tonight to clean the balloon before it comes out...although I never drink fizzy drinks, I will do it. Good luck to everyone on their journey.

Hi Kenz, would diet coke do? Or does it have to be the full sugar stuff?

I had my balloon out three months ago and have only gained 2 lb after having lost 3 and half stone so three stone is achievable. You will still fancy the occasional bad food but when you have it - you will only be able to manage a small amount and if it is very high in fat you will regret it the next day! I always felt bloated, billious and generally crap the next day so I guess I had to decide whether that taste of heaven was worth it or not! I wouldnt do it before egypt either - i have suffered the delhi belly on a trip over there and thought I was going to die!!
xxx Tina

Thanks Tina i decided to have it after my Holiday in case i am ill with a bug hopefully not. Anyway i am booked in 19th January going to Prague i am trying a bit of a cut down now last few days going really well. I would love to lose 3 stone that will take me to a size 10 -12. It shows that everyone is different in their experience i hope i am going to give it 110% and change my body for life. I cant wait roll on January. x c

i had my balloon inserted on the 29th november at the sloane in beckenham,kent it cost £3950 and that included drugs to come home with,support meetings and 6 months support package.they were fantastic there and i would recommend this place.i paid for this procedure with a bmi card.

how are you feeling? Id love to hear more about your experience

Hi Sharon, keep us all posted with your experiences. Do you have a target you want to reach. I'm having my balloon fitted in January so i will be reading eveyones posts until then. Hope you feeling ok? col x

im was feeling abit sick for 2 days but was only actually sick twice.but now im fine i had porridge and rice krispies yesturday and that went down fine.went out christmas shopping today but have noticed that i feel tired quicker but have lost 6lbs so far which for me is great.

my target is to lose about 2 stone so i can have ivf treatment.i dont feel as bad as i thought i would.

Sharon 2stone seems really achivable i hope it all goes to plan with you keep posting. I want to lose 3 to be at my target weight today i was on the phone to the clinic and he told me basically not to go wild with food before January before i have it done i am trying and failing thats why i want this because my appetite is massive and i want to control this once and for all. Good luck and look forward to reading your next posting i think it is good to share experiences and tips. x c

The balloon is not going to control your appetite....just for the record. You'll just end up sick very, very often, and once the balloon is out, you'll pile the pounds back on.

Try learning about nutrition and change your eating habits instead...you are looking for a quick fix, and the balloon just isn't one.