FDA finally approves AspireAssist

[JennyJennJen 12]

Who's excited about this?!? I can't wait until clinics in the USA announce they're performing the procedure...

http://www.aspirebariatrics.com/about-the-aspireassist/

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[gina171 626]

It terrifies me, honestly.

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[Cervidae 2,389]

To me it seems like every other weight loss fad out there, only more gross and creepier. As I understand it, this device allows you to eat whatever you want, then remove 30% of that food from your stomach via a tube? In what way is that actually helping to create a healthy lifestyle and good habits? It's like... medically assisted bulimia. I find it somewhat disturbing. D:

[JennyJennJen 12]

It's not helping with the better habits, mentally wise anyway. I hear, and understand the arguments too - but I feel like it's just about whatever works.

Like, I've always been able to lose the weight - but I can't keep it off...the restrictions I created for myself lead to binge eating.

Now, I guess with all the yo-yo dieting I've done, it's been the absolute hardest to get the scales moving in the right direction.

For now, Gastric Sleeve may be the last resort for me - but really thinking I want to try AspireAssist first.

You don't have to always pump the food out...so one may really try to live a healthier lifestyle but still not have to deprive themselves of the yummy foods during social times, etc...just pump the majority of that out before it settles in the body as fat = not being so hard on myself with the guilt, hate, and mental anguish of it all...

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[Sophie74656 1,572]

I think this is a bad idea. This does not promote healthy eating or a lifestyle change. I think this will promote worse eating habits. People will think they can eat whatever they want and just pump it out

[Guineakitty 27]

Hi, I am an Aspire Assist user. I have been using Aspire for 2 years. I decided to participate in the Aspire Assist study because I was able to lose weight on my own, but after a certain amount of weight, no matter what I did, I could not seem to lose more. I don't regret this decision, it was one of the best I have made in my life. That's why it's so disheartening to hear all the negative and hateful comments about the program.

This site is a site about people who had WLS or are considering it. Anyone who has WLS or is considering it, knows how hard it is to lose and keep weight off. I'm responding to the people who are curious about Aspire or considering Aspire. It is not assisted bulimia. If anything, it's early or controlled pooping. You are taking a 3rd of the food out of your body before digestion is complete. You will not absorb extra calories.

The reasons why I aspirate is calorie control. Sometimes I have a bad night and emotionally overeat. Sometimes I'm out with friends and overeat. By the time my brain registers that I'm full, I'm stuffed. Before my tube I would feel bad and sometimes compound the damage by eating more. Now with the tube, I get rid of some of the damage and do better the next day. I also work jobs where I can't move all the time and sometimes don't have access to healthy food choices. Again, I aspirate those calories. At the end of the day the A-tube is a tool. It doesn't work unless you use it. It is not a quick fix. I still can eat the foods I love.

What I love about the program is that it DOES teach you better food habits and choices. I have made a lifestyle change because of my A-tube. Watching what comes out of the tube has given me ideas of why, after eating certain foods, I still felt hungry. Certain foods I will never eat again because I can see what going on inside my body. When I started, still learning about the device, I would look at my food as it was coming out the tube. It was mostly watery and chunky. I still could name some veggies.

One day, I ate garlic bread and I noticed it was greasier than normal as I was watching it come out of the tube. It was disgusting because it stuck and clung to the tube. I could see actual

fat and I could not help but think the rest of the fat that is in my body and what damage it is doing. Is it sticking to me the way it sticking to my tube? I threw out the other half of that garlic bread.

I was grateful the tube was a mirror that day. Sometimes we eat bad choices and don't realize it or realize it and rationalize it. After the tube I couldn't do that anymore.

Aspire Assist has taught me to learn how to modify some food choices and explore others. I discovered veggies that I never would had tried before and love them. When eating foods that have higher fat, I eat smaller amounts. I learned to know the difference between mental hunger and physical (mental is worse for me personally). I am more active and blessed be to at a job that does allow me to move more.

I am nearing the end of my journey with Aspire. I have lost the weight I wanted to lose with it, plus more. I am in maintenance, so I use the device less. That makes me feel empowered because again it is a tool not a quick fix. I like it when I exercise and make good choices. I don't need to aspirate but I am grateful to have the device near me for slip ups because we all have bad days. When I do get my tube removed, the lessons I have learned from it will not go away.

Also, my body will still be way it was beforehand, with no shortened stomach or intestines removed. I am truly grateful to be a part of the study. I realize that this may

not be for everyone, what works for me may not work for you, but what works for you may not be for someone else. At the end we are all here because of the inability to lose weight with our own sheer will power. Don't knock down someone for using a method because you don't like it or understand it.

[Guineakitty 27]

I am sorry if my 1st post is stand offish I thought this was the original post for Aspire Assist announcement.

[Sophie74656 1,572]

I'm glad you had success with it. But my opinion stays the same. I think it's something many people will want to do as a way to allow them to continue to make bad choices

I'm sure people said horrible things about bypass and sleeve when they were new. Time will tell how this new device works out. For now in my opinion it seems like a bad idea.

[Cervidae 2,389]

Thank you for your experience, and I'm sorry to have hurt or offended you. You have to understand, though, that your good results are independent of our perception of this product. I'm genuinely happy to hear it worked for you, but it does still seem disturbing and not at all something I would try. That's just my opinion, and has no bearing on your own experience and happiness. You continue to do what works for you, and I'm going to continue to be a little weirded out by this. No one can take your success away from you.

[JennyJennJen 12]

Guineakitty - thank you, thank you so much for taking the time to type all that out. I appreciate reading about your experience, as I have been very interested in this. Well, I have forever researched many weight loss help/options...I'm very thankful for this BariatricPal app! It means so much for people to have these connections with others that have gone through pre-op and post-op WLS - or considering it.

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[Guineakitty 27]

Its okay I realize that this is a new and weird way to lose weight and I just want to clear up some of the misconceptions about Aspire. I did pick Aspire because it is a ground breaking procedure for people that can't do regular WLS because they are over weight but not enough qualify. Aspire is for people too sick to do major surgery too. JennyJenJen what ever what choice you make, make sure its the right choice for you. Great luck in your journey. :-)

[summerset 5,265]

Wow, a lot of quite angry comments about the aspire device...

Also some of these quite angry comments remind me of the comments people who are against WLS in general would make.

- can continue to make bad food choices

- easy way out

- no learning effect

- there will be evil complications with a 100% likelihood

Sounds somewhat familiar.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Time will tell.

But as a marketing pro, I gotta say that the cosmetics of the A-tube don't look great.

Yes, I can see how viewing chewed-up foods that come out of one's stomach via the A-tube might be instructive.

But it's also pretty damn gross. Just thinking about that makes me feel queasy.

I can also imagine late-night comedians taking this product apart, both verbally and physically, even fake-demonstrating it.

I think it'll be a hard sell and takes weight loss surgery in a strange direction. But that's always been the case with some obesity treatments, e.g., tapeworms, jaws wired shut, etc.

Again, time will tell.

[Cervidae 2,389]

I don't think anyone has been angry in these comments. We're allowed to have opinions about the product. that's sort of the point of a public forum. And if you think our responses are negative... just wait till you see the initial reactions of people who think wls in general is bad. It's not a personal attack on someone who has had it. It's just an initial reaction and shock to such a device and the way it works. That does actually matter in terms of selling it and whether people will be interested. Whether it has worked or not is a different story.

[summerset 5,265]

And if you think our responses are negative... just wait till you see the initial reactions of people who think wls in general is bad.

Actually I don't care much about if the responses are negative or not or what people will say who're against WLS in general. I was just a bit surprised about the reactions - they sound a lot like that what people say about WLS in general.

I'm not sure what comments I expected. Maybe more curiosity and less jumping to conclusions and outcries of "this is so wrong".

A lot of people consider getting most of your stomach removed and/or your inner plumbings rewired "just so wrong". Maybe this is something to remember when thinking about new procedures to help people getting rid of excess weight that we might consider weird/gross/wrong.

I wonder if this procedure will be available widely in the near future. BTW, can you go swimming with it? I'm curious.

Edited June 19, 2016 by summerset