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Hi @ indianlight, I had Gastric sleeve in a private hospital two and a half years ago and it cost £11600 with all the pre appointments. Gastric bypass was £2000 more at the time. I really wished I had gone the bypass route because I have wicked reflux but that boat has sailed and I have to deal with it. I have never heard of people getting a second operation on the NHS but why not try and keep on trying different doctors. Sometimes persistence does work. I have Fibromyalgia too and the surgeon told me that the surgery would not change this, it didn't. Have you tried Aquafit, it really helps. Its low impact and you can go at your own speed. I hope you get your help

I had a bypass over 15 years ago and at first it was successful over 10 stone loss and I felt amazing. My mobility has decreased dramatically nd I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I've gained all my weight back and more. My pouch im sure is huge, I get terrible reflux and I'm thinking a revision. Has anyone successfully had a NHS revision? What was criteria? What did the op entail? Also, anyone gone private for this in uk? What was the cost? Im so confused but I know to help my mobility I need to lose weight 😩 Any help is appreciated

Mine is scheduled for October 7th! It seems like ages away, but too soon, but not soon enough! I know what you mean about being excited and anxious at the same time! There's a million emotions. Since I'm getting my surgery done on the National Health Service, I didn't really get a choice in surgeries or times. I was given the choice of bypass of sleeve and then an assessment that told me the doctor was going to do a sleeve.

Hi! I got approved for the surgery in May of 2024. Doctor first told me that I would most likely have to wait until 2025 because of how the long the hospital waiting list is. Suddenly, I got called last week saying they were able to do it in October of 2024. So this is the first day of a 12 week liquid diet to lose 10% of my body weight before the surgery. My birthday is coming up and I have wedding that I'm going to next week! I'm happy that this is happening this year, but I also feel bummed because I feel like this is bad timing. I'm really happy that this journey is starting. I've always been overweight and so was my mother. We were the only one's in the family who were. We moved to the UK when I was 14 and my stepfather was also overweight and he passed away in 2022 due to pneumonia and other weight related complications. My mother had gastric bypass in 2008 and due to surgical complication, they couldn't fix a bowel perforation and she passed in 2023. She and my stepdad were the only people in my life who were really supportive of anything I did. I fell a little bit alone going through this now, but I'm feeling optimistic at the same time. Just looking for other people to share my story with.

I had revision to traditional duodenal switch on the 11th. I also had hiatal her I repair that was unexpected….. In a lot of pain still but making it.

Good for you. I hope things continue to go as planned. I have seen quite a bit of research about it as a virgin surgery and it seems extremely promising. Not as much about it as a revision. My surgeon seems to think it’s my best outlook for losing what I want to lose, though, with the added bonus of being able to still take the occasional NSAID. I am second guessing my decision a little but I think it’s just the typical pre surgery jitters. A month ago when he was ordering tests to verify whether it was appropriate I was afraid that the results would say I couldn’t get the SADI so I know it is really what I want. I’m just getting nervous.

Sleevetobypass, thank you! I am relearning what I previously knew about bypass.

I fully agree, I chose the sleeve initially because of what I read from YEARS and YEARS ago, with the complications and all that with the bypass. Had I just listened to everyone who tried to talk to me about the bypass TODAY and the bypass of 15, 20, 25 years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of complications and problems and additional surgeries. The bypass today is nothing like it used to be. In the end, you have to do what you feel is best for you, but please do your own research, have an open mind, and have an open and honest conversation with your primary care doctor and your bariatric surgeon about how you feel and why. Revisions are tough, and I can tell you from experience, the regret of not listening to anyone else because I let my fear take over, my lack of actual research on the bypass because I had made my mind up about the sleeve, and the subsequent complications, work and time lost, additional surgeries, and ending up with a bypass in the end anyway made it all not worth it. Just try to keep an open mind and do research and talk openly and honestly with your team about everything before you make a hard and final decision.

Now that I'm 2 years out from my sleeve and 1 year out from my revision to bypass, I can tell you that I eat around 1200 calories per day when I'm not working out and 1400 - 1500 per day when I'm working out (depending on the type of work out I'm doing). I'm on my feet all day at work, so I increased my daily calories from what they were before. Same with my work outs. I can't work out as often now, so I go harder than I used to on the days I can actually work out (now that I have full medical clearance with no restrictions). I noticed pretty early on that if I didn't eat enough calories during the day, but was still working out, my body thought it was starving and it would hold on to every single thing. As hard as it was to wrap my brain around, I took the advice I saw on here and increased my calories on work out days by a couple of hundred each day and I actually started losing again!!! I was floored!!! So as I increased intensity of my work outs, or increased the weight I was lifting, I increased my calories a bit. I didn't go crazy, but enough to let my body know it's still healthy and not starving. BUT....I had to initially give myself grace and time to be able to increase calories. Work outs or not, I had to do it on my body's timeline, not a doctor or nutritionist's. No way could I have been at 900 or 1000 calories at 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 months. There just was no way. And honestly, mine didn't expect that. They didn't want to see us above 700 calories before 5 months post op. I had JUST hit 900 calories at 7 months post op. I'm actually thinking about increasing my calories a little again, because I'm still losing, and I'm nearly 10 pounds under my goal weight, and I really would like to start maintaining lol If I drop to 179, I will definitely increase my calories by 100 everyday and see what happens.

Is yours a virgin surgery or a revision??

I'm so excited to see activity on this thread! I made the choice to postpone my surgery for a month in order to change from the gastric bypass to the SIPS/SADI-s . (And I agree, there REALLY needs to be a better name for this surgery!) I'm scheduled to have mine on August 5th, so I could definitely go for having folks to talk to who are on the such a similar journey.

I had the bypass July 1st

If you're basing your bypass opinions on 20 years ago, it's come a long way! I chose bypass and have been very happy with the choice. Having said that, I am an avid listener of Dr. Weiner's Pound of Cure podcast and videos, and I found these videos so valuable when making my choice. Ultimately, I went with bypass for the more durable weight loss and avoiding GERD. But there are good reasons to make either choice, and these kind of walk you through some of that.

August 7th isn't too far away! You're close to the preop diet. I started mine a few days ago and it's testing me, but I knew it would. If I were a smaller person, I don't think it would be such an issue. If I weren't having appetite issues even before the diet, things would be easier, too. What's helped has been sipping on broth or slurping on sugar free Jell-O all day. I go slow with those so it feels like I'm eating/taking in more than I am. I'm only nervous about one thing: the gas pains immediately after surgery. I've never had surgery before, so I am not sure what to expect. I want to have a realistic expectation of pain before experiencing it. I know I will handle it better that way. Luckily, I have a few family members who have had laparoscopic procedures before and we willing to be honest about the experience. I've been avoiding stories online of others' experiences of that moment, because we all have different pain thresholds and it's too easy to go down the rabbit hole of scary stories. Especially with AI/algorithms thinking we want to see the worst of the worst. I want to share why I made my decision to have the SADI-S vs a sleeve or bypass. While I cannot speak to what things will be like after surgery, I am confident I'm making the correct decision for myself. I'm in my 30s with no kids, but would like some. I have been struggling with my weight ballooning up and down for the last 20 years. At my heaviest, I was over 320 pounds. I hit that as I made the decision for surgery. I didn't know what surgery I wanted, so I started doing research into the best bariatric surgeons in my state. I read through their websites and looked at reviews for the surgeons through my insurance provider, google, yelp, and other such websites. Then I asked a few friends in the medical field which doctors they would want doing surgery on them. All of that narrowed my list down significantly. I ultimately went on gut instinct and don't regret it at all. My surgeon is amazing. Her teams is extremely supportive. Here's some information she gave me on my options: -- Gastric Bypass: She does not recommend the procedure to any patient. It has more points for potential surgery complications and, in her medical opinion, the highest chance for weight regain. -- Sleeve: potential to lose 70% of excess weight. Less than 1% chance for complications. -- SIPS/SADI-S: potential to lose 80% of excess weight. Less than 1% chance of surgical complications. I want to have children, and she advised that the SIPS/SADI-S (there really needs to be a better name for this) is the best choice to allow me to get pregnant a year or so post-op (depending on how I'm doing) and reenter weight loss when appropriate post-birth. I will have to work very closely with my weight loss team throughout the entire pregnancy, but it really feels like a bonus to have more support. My surgeon's office also recommends patients to very talented specialists for all surgery clearances. They all treated me like they were part of a huge team dedicated to helping me get through surgery clearance. It was amazing. I was given a packet with all the possible issues I might encounter post-op, what can be done if they happen, and how to avoid them in the first place. When I read through it spelled out in black and white, it's easy to see what my life would need to be to avoid a horrible experience. The most embarrassing ones are noted as being most common with gastric bypass than sleeve or DS. Most of these complications can be avoided by chewing well, not drinking during meals, and not overeating. One of my doctors said I am going back to being a baby again, digestively. I will need to reteach my body how to process what I eat and not be afraid to push back milestones if I'm not ready to start the next leg of the journey. I'm definitely anxious. The unknown is always scary. I'm confident at the same time because of the team I'm working with. And because of the support I have at home. I know I'm extremely lucky to have the surgeon and support I do. It's definitely a burden to afford this surgery right now, but I don't believe I will feel that way in 5 or 10 years.

Yea. I checked and I don’t have any coverage for them either so to get the real deal I would be looking at a considerable amount out of pocket like you. I didn’t mind the suggestion though, some insurance companies are actually covering them for weight loss now and when they do they are much more affordable. I have a friend who just got on Wegovy for weight loss and her copay is only $25 a month!!! If I had that coverage I would for sure be asking more questions. A lot of companies are also making compounded ones that are like $2-300 but it’s not really clear if they are as effective and/or safe quite yet. . My primary provider said they were working on getting the compounded ones in their office so I assume those would be safe but still I question the effectiveness and they are only beginning to work on it now so who knows when it will actually happen. My primary said if it was her she wouldn’t wait for that option to become affordable since my numbers are creeping up. Anyways, your surgery is getting really close. Are you excited? Nervous? I am already a little of both. Mine is Aug 7. I keep on questioning if I am crazy to go with the newest option just because there isn’t as much help out there for me post op. At least I haven’t found it yet. I already spoke with two nutritionists and both of them claimed to know beforehand about the procedure then both of them pushed the same information on me as they would for a bypass. Total waste of money. I have an appt soon with the NP at my office, though. I’m hoping to get some answers about the regular diet and the supplements that are specific to the SADI. Have you started your pre op diet yet??

Oh wow! That sucks! Guess I'll start researching bypass again. I first learned a lot about it probably 15- 20 years ago. Then when the sleeve came out I was all excited. Hopefully the bypass has improved since I first read about it.

I'm so sorry you went thru all that! Wow! That's a lot to think about. Did you have gerd due to a hiatal hernia? I thought that some surgeons repaired that while they are in there and that would take care of the GERD. Glad to hear you are so much better after the revision.

Hi Klare, I know of two people who went to Turkey for the surgery. First one was ok but second person had a shocking experience. The surgeon made her oesophagus too short and she cant keep any food down. She is seriously ill. She has had a bad time with doctors over here [ she says ] because she had the op outside the UK. I know in my heart all doctors can't be like this, they take an oath after all. Some who go get next to no pre or aftercare. They come on here asking for advice which is ok, its what we do but this is huge life and mind changing surgery. We all needed tons of help especially in the first months. Private hospitals over here offer a surgery package. I got two years aftercare. Monthly visits with a dietician and surgeon if I needed it, I did. They offer interest free loans. I wanted the surgery very badly, it cost me every penny I had. I don't know if I could have gone the overseas route if I didn't have the cash. There was so much I didn't know about what this surgery does. There are people who have posted on here that going from a Lap band to Gastric bypass was two surgeries. Surgeons wouldn't do both surgeries at once. You have a lot to think about. Good luck with your chosen journey.

I never had reflux or gerd so I was a fantastic candidate for the sleeve. And after the sleeve, the gerd was so bad I was on 80mg of Nexium TWICE per day PLUS pepcid for break through and TUMS if really needed (and I was always doing all of it, sometimes still with no real relief). I developed so many polyps from the incredibly high amounts of PPI over a long period of time that I needed 4 endoscopies to remove them. I also developed gastritis and esophagitis. I was told I had no choice but to have the revision to bypass. So 13 months after my sleeve, I was back in the hospital having the bypass. The recovery was SO much faster and easier, the gerd was cured almost immediately, getting my fluids down was so much easier, my only real regret is that I had the sleeve at all. I just wish I had gone straight to the bypass to begin with. If you already have gerd, I STRONGLY advise at least thinking about the bypass instead of the sleeve. The bariatric surgeon may not even give you the sleeve as an option, so maybe start considering the bypass as a viable choice.

I am scheduled for a revision. I am having my sleeve revised to the SADI on 8/7/24. I am incredibly nervous. Second guessing whether i should just go with the bypass since it’s more common. I have an appointment with the NP on the 19th. Hopefully she will help calm my nerves a little.

I had severe acid reflux with the sleeve, and had to get a revision to bypass. Before that I had a few instances of GERD but nothing serious. So please seriously think about this because if you have the slightest history of GERD, You're risking having serious acid reflux in the future, and then having to go through a bypass revision just to stop it. Having been through both, it is a very similar recovery period. No side effects, for me at all after revision.

Bypass on 7/10

They may still consider you for the sleeve even with GERD. It’s gets super complicated and I don’t understand how he knew exactly what was causing what but I have MILD GERD post sleeve and I take only 20mg Omeprazole which controls it. The surgeon said if I wanted to revise to bypass I was good to go but if I wanted to revise to SADI that he had to do some tests first. He did a Endoscopy which found a hiatal hernia but because of my sleeved stomach he wasn’t able to turn the camera to get a good angle to determine the exact size of it. He then ordered an upper GI (I think that’s what he called it, but some call it a barium swallow test) and also a gastric emptying study). Then when he had all the results he said that the hernia is very small and he wouldn’t even repair it. Anyways, i will still have to be on PPI’S but he thinks they should control the GERD after the SADI. Many people choose the bypass so they don’t have to take the PPI’s again or if it’s so bad that PPI’s don’t always work but being able to take the occasional NSAID and the better weight loss statistics made me choose the SADI over the bypass anyways. That being said, just be aware going in that there is a percentage of people who need a revision post sleeve because they have inadequate weight loss or regain by like 3 years out. Your surgeon should go over all that with you. I have seen a few people on here say their insurance does not cover revision surgery so that’s something to consider when you make your decision. I hope I didn’t add to your confusion but it is a big decision and the more info you have the better to know what to ask at that appointment with the surgeon. My surgeon did not make me decide at the first visit either. I got to ask the NP questions every month at my weigh in and then decide which surgery I wanted (for my sleeve, the process for the revision was a little different).

I have not talked to a surgeon yet. I have one picked out, but figured I would see my PCP first on 07/19. I'm hoping they will just repair the hiatal hernia. I'd much prefer the sleeve over the bypass.

by the way, since you have acid reflux, did your surgeon suggest gastric bypass (RNY) instead? That's often recommended for patients who have reflux issues (I was one of them...). RNY usually improves if not outright cures reflux. With sleeve there's about a 30% chance of it getting worse. Some people are comfortable with those odds and have gone ahead with sleeve and lucked out. I wasn't comfortable with the odds.