Milton Keynes woman loses three stone after swallowing a pill containing a balloon

A young woman from Milton Keynes has told how she lost almost three stone after swallowing a capsule containing a deflated balloon.

Charley Payne, 26, had a BMI of 36 and weighed 13 stone 12lbs when she paid £4,300 for the procedure at a private clinic after unsuccessfully trying numerous different diets over the years.

"It was a lot of money – I had to raid all my savings, but I had given up on the idea of anything else working,” she told the Mail Online.

The balloon sits inside a 3cm long capsule, which is inserted into a thin tube and fed down the patient’s throat. It’s guided into the stomach and, when in position, a saline solution is pumped down the tube to fill the balloon.

The tube is removed but the balloon remains, leaving the patient feeling constantly full – making it impossible for them to eat too much.

It remains in place for four months before its tiny self-sealing valve dissolves and the balloon empties and passes naturally through the body.

Charley, who was classed as obese, told the Mail Online: “I'd been trying to lose weight for as long as I can remember – I felt as if I was at a dead end.

“I'd lost all my confidence, my joints hurt, I didn't want to go to the gym, I was stuck in a vicious circle. I would feel bad about myself and comfort eat and gain more weight...Seeing the advert for the balloon was like a Eureka moment.”

She added: “The capsule containing the balloon is about the size of a piece of food you might put in your mouth...I didn't have any problems swallowing it and within a minute it was there. “

There were no side effects from it, apart from the odd “eggy burp”, said Charley

She now weighs in 11st (70kg) . The balloon is dissolved, but now she is accustomed to eating smaller quantities, she’s planning to continue losing weight.

The balloon is available in private clinics to people with a BMI over 27.

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