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recovery from both surgeries is about the same. I've never seen any anecdotes about recovery from sleeve being easier than recovery from bypass. bypass: statistically, bypassers lose more weight, but we're talking a few lbs, and besides, those are just averages. Some sleevers lose a lot more than bypassers, and vice versa. It comes down to the individual and how committed they are to their plan. There are people on here who've been wildly successfully with both surgeries, and people who have failed both surgeries. It comes down to commitment. If you stick to the rules, you'll lose the weight. weight loss is faster with bypass, but not by that much. And they equal out after a few months. If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you're going to have loose skin no matter how fast or slow the weight comes off and no matter which surgery you have. I don't think it makes a difference at all which surgery you have when it comes to loose skin. there is malabsorption of vitamins with the bypass, but deficiencies are rare as long as you keep on top of your vitamins (you'll have to take vitamins with the sleeve as well) (p.s. the malabsorption that Mikey mentioned - the malabsorption of calories with the bypass - that is temporary. Lasts maybe two years tops. Your system gets smart and at some point is able to suck every calorie out of whatever food you eat again. I'm talking here about malabsorption of vitamins. That is permanent, but if you keep on top of your vitamins, you're very unlikely to have problems with this) only about 30% of bypassers dump, so don't count on that happening. I, unfortunately, have no trouble at all eating sugar. I wish I did, but...no. sleeve - I'm not sure why people think this surgery is less "drastic", although many do think this. Cutting out 80% of your stomach and throwing it on the garbage doesn't seem much less radical to me than sectioning off your stomach with staples and moving your small intestine up. They're both pretty radical... stomach stretching - this actually isn't very common, from what I've read. If it happens, it's due to chronic overeating - day after day of overstuffing your stomach. Which hopefully you would not do after going through something as drastic as surgery. We all have our days, but you'd have to really work at stretching your stomach. the only things that really should be strongly considered when making a decision is if you have health issues that would make one surgery more appropriate than the other. If you have GERD, go with bypass. If you have diabetes - well, either surgery can help with that, but the bypass tends to be more effective with putting it into remission. Otherwise....??? It really comes down to personal choice. as far as your past eating disorders go, if you're still dealing with those, or are worried about those coming back, therapy is the best way to deal with that. Surgery doesn't really help with that. There are many bariatric patients who work with therapists, and there's nothing wrong with that!!

Newbie here! I am in menopause and have been for at least 5 years. I have a BMI of 42 with approximately 100 lbs to lose, which is about 78% of my excess weight. The reason why I gained this much weight is because I was in perimenopause since the age of 32 and my weight kept creeping up year after year. No diet or exercise regimen has worked and I see surgery as the only way I can lose without gaining it back and then some. I am working with a bariatric surgeon in a bariatric center of excellence in my area. She is very good at what she does, and has done 300 surgeries a year for the last 4 years, and does bariatric surgeries exclusively. After examining me and hearing my concerns she has given me the choices of Gastric bypass "Roux en Y" or Gastric sleeve and said it is up to me which I would rather do, and I'm researching this now. I do not have any GERD/acid reflux. Before I even walked into her office, I wanted the gastric sleeve because of the lower risks and not losing any nutrient absorption in my small intestine. BUT... the more research I do seems to point to menopausal women losing a much more statistically significant amount of weight with Roux en Y Gastric Bypass. I am also nervous about gaining back the weight after the initial 1 year of weight loss after surgery... surgery doesn't affect "those" hormones and I don't want to lose my 100 lbs just to have it keep creeping up and up again. Given your experiences, which surgery would you go with in my shoes? If you ruled out all of the health risks and only took into account the ability to get down to a good goal weight and stay there, is one procedure much better than the other or are they about even? Thanks in advance for your insight.

Your lack of water intake seems based more on fear than anything else. So think about this... it take 2 - 4 grams of water to mobilize 1 gram of fat (this is the real reason it is drummed into every bariatric patient to GET YOUR FLUIDS). If you DONT get enough fluid, you will severely hamper your ability to mobilize/lose adipose tissue - with the added bonus of ending up in hospital from dehydration. CHANGE your habits, that's the only thing keeping you from getting enough fluids.

Dr. Chad Carlton at Lonestar Bariatrics has to be one of if not the best bariatric surgeons in the DFW area of Texas! He is so friendly and hands-on, he truly cares about his patients. He doesn't just abandon them to figure things out after surgery, he makes sure they have everything they need every step of the way. His staff is equally as awesome, always making sure the patients are well informed and comfortable every step of the way. His dietician, Allison, is more than willing to answer and every question a patient may have. She is happy to give patients her email so they can get answers ASAP. I am so glad I went with Lonestar Bariatrics for my surgery!

They don't make anyone sign you out. But the hospital and my bariatric center stated, I would not be able to leave in a Lyft or Uber.

mine requires it and he's on the med school faculty of a major research university - so he teaches other surgeons how to do bariatric surgery. So definitely not a "bad surgeon". It's just a difference in opinion.

The BariatricPal Store carries a huge selection of Bariatric friendly Calcium at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/calcium

Hi Gang. 200-pound Meow here. STILL. Honestly it's becoming a joke. I step on the scale and it jumps above and then below and then stops on exactly 200. I think this is day 6. ((eyeroll). So I'm holding at a solid 17 pound loss on post day 30. Ah well. Waiting for that swoosh people talk about. Hope it's several at once. I'm only eating 600 calories a day and getting at least 200 calories exercise a day according to my tracker so it can't stay here much longer. EAT THAT FAT. THERE'S PLENTY ON THE THIGHS, BABY. BURN IT! Oh yay! Bariatric nightmares!! Dream Dumping! Lol. So good to hear you're eating and feeling pretty good, Groovy. Nice to hear about the fruit. I've been stealing that banana since week 2 and have had no trouble. I think it's clear sugar isn't going to make me dump and frankly I'm relieved. I am also taking the vitamin without iron and plan to continue that until the bloodwork says I'm in need. It's hard enough to poop regularly. My daughter had a dance competition this week and today I chased her around for a few hours in a big convention center carrying a big bag. It's the first "outing" I've had besides a quick trip to the grocery store or errand and I was surprised how weak I felt. Gonna need to try and push myself more, I think. And figure out what I'm missing if I can't because I'm 47 years old and 200 pounds and I should be able to do what was asked of me today without issue. Time to start kicking the exercise up, maybe. What's everyone else doing? ONWARD BYPASSERS!

Hi all, Not sure if this is in the right place, but I had questions about how you all paid/are paying for surgery? I've been looking at self-pay options, financing, and CareCredit. After waffling back and forth for the last year, I have decided I do want to pursue surgery. My insurance will not cover it. So, I am looking at all my options. I'm still a little wary, only because I also am set to being graduate school in the next year and I am afraid of blowing up my finances. I'm just looking for stories of how you all made it work when it was not covered by insurance. Covid is also making it difficult. I had considered traveling to Mexico, but it doesn't look like that is going to work. I don't know that I feel good about traveling like that. Then, someone mentioned Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas for a lower priced, good, self-pay option. Anyway, any input would be appreciated. I want this. I just am not quite sure how I'll make it happen. Thanks in advance!

Hopefully, Monday's test will come back negative. I'm also an introvert, rarely going out, if I can help it. Visiting the Bariatric Clinic feels like socializing.

Is there a specific reason why you suspect HWA? For example, have you recently had lab tests that indicate low ferritin levels? Iron deficiency, including HWA, is common after bariatric surgery. Any doctor or surgeon can order lab tests for you: a standard bariatric post-op iron panel would typically include serum ferritin levels, serum iron, transferrin saturation, total iron binding capacity, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and hemoglobin level. There is also a specific test for HWA that you can request called HFE (hyperferritinemia panel). Since you’re possibly symptomatic, perhaps some of these tests would be covered by your health insurance, if you have it? It's best to have blood work done prior to starting any new oral iron supplementation, in order to get an accurate base reading. The symptoms you've described aren't limited to iron deficiency anemia, and there can be many other causes of these symptoms (as well as a number of other conditions aside from bariatric surgery that can cause HWA), so please insist on having this investigated. Would it be possible to discuss your symptoms and be tested by your regular physician, your old WLS clinic, or a local bariatric clinic in your area? I hope you're able to get this resolved quickly, and that you feel much better soon.

I know every surgeon has different stages for you to progress through post surgery but at one month out I was only just commencing soft foods (think mushy, flaky foods without a bite). Prawns would have been too hard a food to eat & difficult for my sleeve to tolerate. Remember you are still healing. Give yourself time to heal & learn your sleeve’s likes & dislikes. Listen carefully to your body. It will tell you what it can tolerate, when & how much. There may be foods you will never be able to eat again without suffering discomfort or unpleasant side effects. I don’t have cheese often - fat content - is too high - but I do have the odd small cube to up my protein intake if I’m low as recommended by my dietician when I was close to my goal. Also it’s not uncommon for bariatric patients to develop a lactose intolerance. So tread carefully introducing any dairy back into your diet. My sleeve becomes very noisy when I have certain dairy foods as it struggles to digest it. Good luck with your journey. Best decision I made.

I had another surgery 2 weeks ago for an unrelated matter (giant lipoma removal on the upper back), which was 3.5 months after my sleeve. This surgery was shorter (1 hour), but still under general anesthesia. These were my first ever surgery experiences. Now that I've had the second one, I can tell a lot better which post-op issues were related to the bariatric aspect of the surgery and which were just general surgery things. I was exhausted for 4-5 days after both surgeries. I'm thinking that's just my response to general anesthesia. But with the WLS, some fatigue lingered for a couple months. My throat hurt like hell after both surgeries. After the WLS, I was more focused on the fact that mouth and throat were so dry because my surgeon didn't let me have any fluids by mouth for 2 days and the gross taste in my mouth from that leak test fluid they use during the surgery. After this surgery, since it hurt just as much, I realize that was probably mostly from being intubated. For both surgeries, my incisions didn't really hurt that much. With the WLS, I was thinking that was just because I was having so much pain from the gas and anytime I drank anything that it was just distracting me from any incision pain. But this time, still not all that much pain - like a 2-3 on the pain scale, even though the incision was huge this time - over a foot long. I find that really surprising - why doesn't it hurt more where they cut into you?!? One thing that was different is that for the WLS, it didn't hurt that much when they removed the drain about 2 days after surgery - just felt really funny. This time, it hurt like hell when they removed the drain at 9 days. In fact, it was the worst pain I had during the whole experience. It was a 6-7 on the pain scale and lingered for a few days. Maybe it was worse because the drain was in for longer? I'm curious how other people found their weight loss surgery vs. other types of surgery? Definitely curious to hear from people who got plastics, since these come with big incisions too. How was your pain and recovery time compared to your WLS?

This clinic reports their results for different BMI ranges on their website; results are shown all the way up to 5 years out. https://mercybariatrics.com.au/obesity-surgery-2/bariatrics-at-the-edge/low-bmi-patient/

I had gastric bypass in 2014. Has anyone experienced or know someone who has experienced a condition called "Iron deficiency WITHOUT anemia"? It is also sometimes called HWA (Hypoferritinemia without anemia). This is a condition where ferritin is low but hemoglobin, RBC and other related blood markers are normal . I am experiencing chronic worsening symptoms that are identical to iron deficiency anemia (weakness, fatigue, light-headedness, brain fog) but my Hematologist doesn't seem to believe this is a real condition. In other words, since my red blood cell count and hemoglobin are fine, he believes these symptoms are not due to low ferritin. Can anyone recommend a hematologist that has experience with bariatric patients in Maryland?

I know this question wasn't directed at me, but pain is all across the board. From what I can surmise after hanging out on bariatric boards for the last six or so years, most of us have little to no pain with this surgery, though. I had none. I was sent home with a bottle of pain pills which I never opened - I wasn't in pain and didn't need 'em. But if you're one of the unfortunate folks who has pain with this, you'll have something for it - so just take the meds as directed to keep on top of it. also, vitamin deficiencies are rare as long as you keep on top of your vitamins. There are some people (a minority) who have a hard time absorbing iron in pill form who have to get occasional iron infusions, but again, that's not common. As for other deficiencies, most people who have those are those who slack off on taking their vitamins. It's important to keep on top of those - and if you do, you're very unlikely to have any deficienies.

Hi everyone! I am 10.5 years post gastric bypass and I am finally pregnant! It's been a long journey. 2 years after WLS I found out I had thyroid cancer. Then we tried for a year and ovulation wasn't detected. We stopped trying and now 6 years later we are finally pregnant! Woo! I currently weigh 123, down from my high of 260! I also eat a fully plant-based diet and generally feel very healthy. I'm excited, BUT I am incredibly nervous. My PCP checked all my vitamin levels before we started trying and all looked great, except my B12 was high... I had some very short lasting and not heavy bleeding right around implantation, so I went last week for hcg level checks and it all looked great. I had a great meeting with a bariatric dietician, so I feel good about the nutrition part. I get my ultrasound tomorrow, and then in two weeks I'll start going to an MFM. In the meantime, I'm wondering if there is anything I should be asking or on the lookout for? Thank you so much! P.s. I also have pretty bad anxiety if you couldn't tell

He's posted some new content on there over the past year or so, but I think the bariatric basics were mostly covered in his initial set of videos. Wish he'd do more updates, though his books seem to have taken up where the Youtube videos left off. When I was looking for a nutritionist who specialised in plant-based nutrition for bariathletes, his clinic was extremely helpful and didn't even charge me. You can also attend their WLS support group without charge even if you had surgery somewhere else (in-person support group on hold right now because of covid-19).

Required fuel (yes, I'm referring to the bariatric "c" word: carbs! 😂) for distance cycling and running: raw vegan superfood squares, loosely inspired by these two recipes.

well, yes. About 30% of RNY'ers dump, very few VSG'ers do. But you were saying RNYers have more eating restrictions that VSGers. We don't. Granted, there are always going to be some people who are intolerant of certain foods, for example, some people become lactose intolerant after surgery (and this could be with either surgery), but in general, we can eat the same things. I do a lot of volunteer work at my bariatric clinic. The recommended diets are the same regardless of surgery.

While I cannot speak to Dr. Wizman or CSC - I can endorse whole heartedly Dr. Shillingford (and NW medical center) as one of the finest facilities, and surgeons in Florida for WLS. There is a complete recovery wing dedicated to bariatrics with a specialized team - A knowledgable, respectful and caring staff under the direction of Dr. Shillingford. My experience 1 year and 7 months out has been a positive and excellent one! I know five other individuals who would refer him without hesitation in their WLS journey. So sorry for your delay and these current precarious circumstances. How disappointing. That being said, Dr. Shillingford is worth the wait. Best wishes and much success. Keep me posted on what transpires.

I am a 40 yr old female, starting BMI 35, and I had the sleeve 4 months ago. I didn't have diabetes yet. But I was clearly on the fast track to get there in a few years. (I also had really bad fatty liver and high triglycerides since my early 20s.) My dad got diabetes at about the age I am now, and he's absolutely miserable now in his mid 60's. I was on metformin, I was hungry all the time even after eating, and my fasting blood sugar had been in the pre-diabetic range for 4 years and was continuing to inch up. Preventing diabetes was the MAIN reason I went ahead with the surgery. Looking better is nice and all, but I take surgery pretty darn seriously and would have never done it just to lose weight. Back in January, I read some articles about how bariatric surgery cures diabetes about 80% of the time. (It also causes similar significant reductions in long term mortality from other conditions like cancer.) 2 months later I went under the knife. I did self-pay in Mexico - you may also have to do self-pay since your BMI is low. Surgery certainly comes with risks, so don't let anyone make your decision for you (surgeons always think people should have surgery. 😂) But if I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the surgery about 5 years ago if I had known these facts sooner. Diabetes is a chronic, progressive disease. Even if it's relatively controlled (or even if you're not actually diabetic yet), the fact that your blood sugar and insulin is elevated compared to a normal person is causing damage to your body every single day. The sooner you treat it, the longer you're likely live and the healthier you're going to be while you're alive. My mom was pretty worried when I told her this plan, especially since I did it in Mexico. But after she talked to my sister-in-law, who is an endocrinologist, my mom felt a lot better. My sister-in-law tends to be the cautious type, but even she told my mom that I was the perfect patient for bariatric surgery, and that earlier was better than later for my long-term health. I googled around, but couldn't find any specific information about OCD and bariatric surgery. In general, obese people tend to have more psychiatric conditions than the average population, and on average, psychiatric conditions tend to improve a bit after surgery. However, surgery does about double the suicide rate. People also can struggle with their self image changing and things like that. I'd be sure to talk to your psychiatrist/therapist before and often about this, but I wouldn't necessarily let that hold you back. As far as the eating with clients issues, I think those are manageable long term. Especially if you go with the sleeve over a bypass type surgery, what you can eat won't change too much long term - you'll just eat less. At 4 months out, I'm having steak for dinner and enjoying the heck out of them - just 4 oz instead of 12. Men are less likely to get intrusive comments about their diet and body than women, so hopefully it won't matter much in the long term. You'll want to figure out how you'll deal with it in the first few months though, while your diet is still pretty restricted, and you might be dealing with pain or nausea when you eat. You could certainly tell people you recently had some other type of gastric surgery during this time. In fact, they often repair a hiatial hernia at the same time they do a sleeve, so it wouldn't even be a lie. Gallblader removal is also a common procedure that comes with dietary changes.

check out the blog "The World According to Eggface". She's a bariatric patient (had hers several years ago) and loves to cook. She has recipes for all stages. In fact, I think that ricotta bake recipe originally came from her site

I’m so late sorry! So I waited until my appointment so I knew what to get. I got the Bariatric advantage calcium chews, chewable procare health multivitamin & some chewable biotin pills from amazon.