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Very cool and we're almost exact height and weight too! Happy to share my journey and meet you

Hello everyone, I am getting a revision from a sleeve in 2017 to a bypass next month due to GERD. I've also gained some weight back (covid messed with my routine so much! and I got married in a small outdoor service so planning that during a pandemic was very stressful). I've been told not to expect as much weight loss after my revision, which is fine as I lost 100 lbs the first time around and have only gained about half that. Acid reflux relief is the goal this time but I wouldn't mind getting back to my goal number. I was also told to expect more dumping symptoms and food sensitivities. Did other people experience those as well?

Same issue here. I had the sleeve in 2017 and the acid reflux is so bad I can't lose weight. The only things that temporarily help the symptoms (even while on meds) are bread and milk...so not great for weight loss. Hard to tell if some of the weight I've put on (i lost 100 lbs with the sleeve and have gained half of it back, mostly during covid with being so sedentary) are making the symptoms worse. Were your GERD issues resolved after the surgery? Did you have any symptoms with your revision? Any changes to what you can tolerate food wise? Mine is scheduled in July and hoping I can move past this pain/discomfort I've had for over a year and get to a place of healthy weight maintenance.

I’m scheduled for July 6th! I can’t believe it. I’m not focusing on losing weight per se but I am focusing on increasing my activity level so it won’t be a shocker for my body post op. I am eating whole foods and incorporating more protein but I am still allowing myself a few indulgences here and there, because, need I state the obvious? So far I have lost a few pounds but I’m mostly maintaining. I have worked my way up to an hour = 19 miles on my exercise bike every other day, I know that’s going to help me IMMENSELY post surgery.

Sleeve December 22, 2022 today, June 8, 2023 I am 35 pounds from goal weight - I have released 52 pounds to date

Oh yeah. Same place here. Surgery on the 24th. Actually gained half a pound right at the beginning of week 3. Not worried, supposed to be normal water gain as the body restores glycogen that it burnt through when we started very-low-calorie living. I started pureed yesterday. Lunch was tuna salad. It set well. Dinner, I pureed the taco meat, cheese, salsa and sour cream from the family's dinner. That didn't do so well. Didn't like the texture and it felt like a rock in my gut. All we can do is one day at a time. Keep on.

lol. I definitely felt like I ate the whole house yesterday 🤦‍♀️ One good thing I didn't gain any weight over night. 😀yay

I feel you. I've had both of my thyroids removed. Instead of losing weight I was gaining. So my last straw was the gastric sleeve. I just had surgery Tuesday June 7 yesterday morning. I pray everything goes well [emoji120]. Sent from my SM-A037U using BariatricPal mobile app

These are my thoughts, coming from a patient going through a revision from Lap Band to Bypass... If you ultimately go with Sleeve, you may encounter complications like GERD years down the road. This is due to the Sleeve being a high pressure system. The high pressure created in the pouch puts pressure on the esophageal sphincter and causes it to fail, which results in GERD. It often takes years to manifest, and when it happens, it ultimately forces your hand to revise to Bypass. That's my current situation. When I got Lap Band, I was scared of Bypass. But as I've investigated more about Bypass, I understand now why it is the Gold Standard of weight loss surgeries. It's been around longer than other weight loss surgeries, so it has been perfected over the years. I wish I would've chosen Bypass from the beginning and saved myself a lot of unnecessary complications and I never made it to goal weight either. As for being self pay, and Bypass costing more... imagine a few years down the road having untreatable GERD and having to have a second surgery. So think of the increased expense of Bypass now as an investment if you choose to go that route. If you're having doubts about your PCOS causing cravings, Bypass might help to keep your eating on track, if you're a patient that gets dumping. I'd say you should trust your instincts. Best wishes on your journey!

If your last paragraph there was reworded as follows, does it ring true to you? "This is a very long post to ask myself; I’m doing the right thing, right? I am being rational and making sense. I know I can lose the weight, but keeping it off is constantly clawing and if I slip now just a little, the lose/gain cycle could catch up, and I'm so tired of it." If it does ring true, you pretty much answered yourself. If there's any doubt, you absolutely need to deal with that.

How is the weight loss going so far?

This is true. That’s why therapy & understanding why you eat is a vital component of this process for many people. In the US a psychological assessment is part of the insurance approval process. In Australia, your surgeon recommends pre &/or post surgery therapy sessions. The surgery affords many benefits that dieting &/or exercising alone does. It resets your body set point (the weight your body naturally gravitates to), boosts your metabolism, removes part of the area that produces the hunger hormone (ghrelin) & can affect the glp1 hormone that regulates hunger & the metabolism of glucose. There are also of course physical changes that restricts how much food you can eat. You will have to change how & what you eat. (Many change when they eat too.) The surgery affords you the time to establish new habits, discover new foods & to work out what way of eating works best for you. I’ve tried many diets & I’m pig headed enough to stick to them for months without wavering but I’d always eventually go back to how & what I usually ate. I’ve never been able to maintain my weight like I can now. I made a decision to cut out a lot of sugar (real, artificial, substitutes) out of my diet. I don’t eat highly processed foods, avoid a lot of carbs & never have fast food. This has been what works for me. It may not work for you or complement your lifestyle. I didn’t record my food intake & still don’t. I do random checks of my calories & regularly check nutrients & ingredients. The only thing I watch carefully is my protein. Some people find tracking very helpful but it isn’t for everyone all the time. Though you may be required to do it for a while to ensure you’re getting in the nutrients you need. But you have to be ready to do this. As I said it’s not easy. It was harder than any other diet I’ve done.

I know this is a common one but im particularly excited about it because I distinctly remember being 340 lbs and watching these "progress" videos of other women with towels wrapped around their body, showing how they gradually start fitting into bath towels as they lose weight and I remember feeling so sad and discouraged...like I didn't have it in me to get there too. I'm traveling and in a hotel right now and to my surprise this is the first time a regular "hotel" towel has wrapped all the way around my body without a humongous gap exposing my side and stomach. I am so happy about this I can't even explain it. It just confirms it for me that I can have the things I want, that I deserve them too and am just as strong to fight for them. Photo: the first picture is from just a week preop, the second is from today. Yes...I had to censor my booty cheek lol that whole blue part is the towel that didn't close and that towel is bigger than this one I have here. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had sleeve surgery on May 23. I have had little complications. Still in the liquid phase of the diet. I honestly can’t believe how much weight I have lost already. I try and walk every 2-3 hours. That has helped my pain.

I am 3 weeks out and have lost 40 pounds so far. I can’t even believe how fast the weight is coming off.

"They think if you just diet harder & be more committed to exercising you’ll lose weight." I guess that's right, and what's more I kind of think that too, even though I know it's not necessarily true. It kind of feels like failure. Like I'm giving up and I should just try harder. Never mind that I've basically been on a diet since I was 15 or so. I was never overweight until I was thirty after an injury, when I couldn't exercise, so for the first 15 years I dieted without actually being overweight. I did mention the possibility of bariatric surgery to my mom today, and she was pretty negative too. An old classmate of from primary school mine shared the interview with the food addiction lady on social media, and wrote that "you couldn't cut the food addiction out of the addicted person, any more than you could cut alcoholitsm out of someone by cutting their liver in half." She went on to say that she weighed her three meals per day and abstained from xugar, dairy products and refined carbs. She has done this for 13 years and has lost 100 pounds and kept them off. I briefly thought about contacting the food addiction clinic, or Noom, since one of my friends lost 50 pounds least year with Noom. , But then I remember that I did try OA once, which I didn't like that much, and also I didn't lose any weight in spite of adhering to their program. I also tried Noom last year, but I didn't use it. Writing everything down and weighing is so annoying. Still, I feel like I'm failing and thinking of using a crutch when I should be doing this on my own.

I have heard that you can go hyper after. Your endo will need to check your levels during weight loss because meds often need adjustments.

Hi. Revisions on gastric bypass are usually successful and more effective than original surgery. 60 to 80% excess weight loss, but you would have to follow your surgeon and team advice. https://anmedhealth.org/services/surgery/weight-loss-surgery/revisional-bariatric-surgery#:~:text=Gastric%20bypass%20revision%20surgeries%20tend,their%20medical%20team's%20advice%20closely.n Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

I really like this idea. I already eat when I'm hungry regardless of how many calories I have "left". But sometimes I feel like I'm eating "too many calories" even though I don't know how many calories I can eat and still lose weight, plus my calorie counting is always an estimate because I eat out most meals.

That makes perfect sense! The way you put it lose gain drop !!

I have read a lot of stalls between weeks 2 and 4. I watched a video that talked about the three week stall. The doctor explained at first we are losing a lot of water weight. Then as we get fluids we gain fluid but is losing pounds. So it does not show we really are losing. If you do measurements you can see that you lost inches during this time. If you will google the 3 week stall with weight loss surgery or sleeve .... you can fine a lot of videos from different doctors. I am in a stall going on 10 days. I have heard people talking about long stalls but started losing faster. If your exercising you might gain muscle but losing fat. I belong to several gastic sleeve support groups ob face book and learned alot.

Hi, I was banded in 2013, had it removed in 2017 due to a twist; gained most of my weight back so I just under went VSG and I'm wondering if any one has a similar experience? How fast did you lose? Any complications? Thanks Sent from my SM-A526W using BariatricPal mobile app

I’d look into surgery in a neighbouring country. There are a few Europeans on the forum who may be able to make some recommendations. There are always negative stories & a friend of a friend stories. You can find them about anything. I recently read a story about the prevalence of fungal infections in people who to go to the large nail salons so … People who have good experiences don’t always shout it from the roof tops. We do here though. 🙂 Sure, there can be hiccups & things may not go perfectly to begin but generally everything settles & works out in the end or can be remedied rather easily. Some issues arise because of complications from pre existing conditions too. Talk to people who actually had the surgery (like on here) if you can. You also get negativity from people who think the surgery is an easy way out. It is so NOT easy. They think if you just diet harder & be more committed to exercising you’ll lose weight. If it was as easy as just dieting & exercising you’d be thin now. We all would have been. The negative comments from family &/or friends are why some of us don’t tell people we’ve had the surgery. The potential for developing a drinking addiction arises in response to people not being able to satisfy their food addiction anymore so they turn to alcohol (or sex apparently). I’ve seen stats of 16% after bypass in the first year of which 6% had existing issues with alcohol. Stating a 60% statistic would only benefit the woman in the article’s business by scaring people. If you deal with the issues behind your food addiction your chance for any addiction transfer is negated. It is important to do the ‘head work’ to understand, manage & deal with the issues behind your eating habits, behaviours, cravings, etc. Many people seek the support of a therapist after surgery which benefits their weight loss success & maintenance. The hair loss lasts about three months. Your natural hair loss cycle accelerates in response to the shock of the surgery & your change & reduced diet. So the hair you shed is hair you would be losing anyway - just not as quickly. Your new hair is still growing but just at its usual rate. How many wrinkles you have is much like how much loose skin you will have. It will depend on your age, gender, skin elasticity, genetics, how long you carried your weight, etc. Yes, you likely will look more drawn & have a few additional wrinkles at first but a lot of this reduces in maintenance as your body resettles & you’re eating more & a more nutritious & balanced diet. My uncle told my mother I looked like death when I was near my lowest weight. Now, he tells me I look fabulous. I had a lot of fine lines that developed under my chin while I was losing but they almost totally disappeared in my second year. Sure my marionette lines are deeper & that’s from the skin that stretched from having a fat face. I have the face that is mine now. I have a jawline, a longer neck, cheek bones, & my eyes aren’t as hooded. A few wrinkles are nothing. I’d rather have a few wrinkles or loose skin than be obese & be compromising my health. Besides a little Botox or filler can always help with the wrinkles 😉. Ultimately it is your decision. Keep asking questions so you’re as well informed as you can be. All the best whatever path you choose.

Hi all! I just hit my one year post-op at the end of May. I’ve made it to my goal weight and then some which feels great. However, over the past few weeks I have begun feeling extremely bloated in the afternoons and evenings. The bloating is causing some pain above my belly button and gas (sorry tmi). Has anyone else experienced this? I have a meeting with my dietitian tomorrow and am planning on asking about it too. I haven’t changed my diet in any way for several months now and am feeling full/satisfied after eating so I know it’s not hunger pangs. Thoughts? Thanks everyone and keep up the amazing work!

I did tell another friend today, and she was a bit negative. She mentioned that someone she worked with had gone under the knife at the local private clinic that's still operating, and that she had complications and had to have surgery two more times. She didn't know if this person had a gastric bypass or sleeve, but it was a few years ago. She also mentioned another friend of hers who had weight loss surgery in Poland, everything went well but my friend said that this person had never looked worse in her life and that the surgery had aged her terribly. She mentioned wrinkles and hair loss, and that her friend still had very thin hair although it's been two years since her surgery. I have a neighbor who had a gastric sleeve in Eastern Europe a year ago. She does have more wrinkles than before, but her hair is just as thick as ever, so I guess it varies. This neighbor of mine had more wrinkles than average before surgery, since she was both a smoker (recently quit) and an avid sun worshipper. I have almost no wrinkles although I'm middle aged. None on my forehead or in my face in general, except for little bags under the eyes and crinkly lines in the corners of my eyes. I've used prescription retinoids since I was in my twenties, and I'm sure that helped. How likely am I to become super wrinkly if I lose 40 - 80 pounds? I understand that on the average people lose 70% of their excess weight with the gastric sleeve, so for me that would be around 56 pounds. I weighed 46 pounds less than I do now nine years ago, and I looked a lot better at that weight with no noticeable extra lines. Is it likely to be that much worse if the weight loss is through surgery? What is your experience, those of you who have already had the surgery?