Search the Community

Oh you're quite right. I didn't realize that I forgot to note that it's my personal experience Moreover, I think it's so unfortunate that the only experience this community accepts is a manic happy one. You are aware that the human emotions come in great spectrum right? Lastly, this is really meant for folks who are revisions! That hear "ohhh the sleeve is sooooooooooo different" It's not an indictment on your decision! Duh of course you or anyone else must consider the risks vs benefits. Thanks for commenting! I added my Personal Experience Disclaimer!

Oh you're quite right. I didn't realize that I forgot to note that it's my personal experience Moreover, I think it's so unfortunate that the only experience this community accepts is a manic happy one. You are aware that the human emotions come in great spectrum right? Lastly, this is really meant for folks who are revisions! That hear "ohhh the sleeve is sooooooooooo different" It's not an indictment on your decision! Duh of course you or anyone else must consider the risks vs benefits. Thanks for commenting! I added my Personal Experience Disclaimer!

Pasta, red meat, or rice. Some ppl can and others cant. There's no guarantees which one you will fall into. I will lose weight. But I won't be able to eat like a normal person ever again even in moderation. 2) Acid reflux is a serious issue with the sleeve. I never ever had an issue with the band. I am dealing with rather bad GERD even though I am taking prescription meds. I have chatted with folks that it got so bad over the yrs that they had to revise to gastric bypass. 3) Vitamins! You can't live without them. Daily intake or I will develop issues. Are committed to do that? 4) NSAIDS! Even if your surgeon tells you that you can take them. There's significant debate on whether sleeved folks should take them or not. These meds are very hard on a normal stomach let alone a thin sleeve! Continous use will most likely lead ulcers which are very dangerous with little or no stomach left.Think about aging and the lack of NSAIDS. 5) You can still get stuck! I just had to vomit food yesterday. You still experience that nasty slime....eww! I cried the first time it happened cause I lived with that for 8 yrs. Please feel free to message me. Think about life beyond weight loss cause there's no turning back with the sleeve

Pasta, red meat, or rice. Some ppl can and others cant. There's no guarantees which one you will fall into. I will lose weight. But I won't be able to eat like a normal person ever again even in moderation. 2) Acid reflux is a serious issue with the sleeve. I never ever had an issue with the band. I am dealing with rather bad GERD even though I am taking prescription meds. I have chatted with folks that it got so bad over the yrs that they had to revise to gastric bypass. 3) Vitamins! You can't live without them. Daily intake or I will develop issues. Are committed to do that? 4) NSAIDS! Even if your surgeon tells you that you can take them. There's significant debate on whether sleeved folks should take them or not. These meds are very hard on a normal stomach let alone a thin sleeve! Continous use will most likely lead ulcers which are very dangerous with little or no stomach left.Think about aging and the lack of NSAIDS. 5) You can still get stuck! I just had to vomit food yesterday. You still experience that nasty slime....eww! I cried the first time it happened cause I lived with that for 8 yrs. Please feel free to message me. Think about life beyond weight loss cause there's no turning back with the sleeve

Ladies as you consider removing your band and going into the sleeve. I strongly recommend taking your time to research the sleeve. It does not compare to the band. 1) You will have significant restriction. I am two months out and I cant eat bread, Pasta, red meat, or rice. Some ppl can and others cant. There's no guarantees which one you will fall into. I will lose weight. But I won't be able to eat like a normal person ever again even in moderation. 2) Acid reflux is a serious issue with the sleeve. I never ever had an issue with the band. I am dealing with rather bad GERD even though I am taking prescription meds. I have chatted with folks that it got so bad over the yrs that they had to revise to gastric bypass. 3) Vitamins! You can't live without them. Daily intake or I will develop issues. 4) NSAIDS! Even if your surgeon tells you that you can take them. There's significant debate on whether sleeved folks should take them or not. These meds are very hard on a normal stomach let alone a thin sleeve! Continous use will most likely lead ulcers which are very dangerous with little or no stomach left.Think about aging and the lack of NSAIDS. 5) You can still get stuck! I just had to vomit food yesterday. You still experience that nasty slime....eww! I cried the first time it happened cause I lived with that for 8 yrs. Please feel free to message me. Think about life beyond weight loss cause there's no turning back with the sleeve.

I am sorry that it's gotten worse! Yes you may need yo up your meds. Or switch to new meds like Protonix or Dexliant. Ultimately you need to advise your surgeon and they can do further tests. I understand if nothing works. The Final solution Is a revision to gastric bypass. All the best

I'm having a revision from VBG to RNY on 3/28. If anyone has a close date and would like to buddy up please private message me or text me at (405) 626-8884 and we can follow each other's progress!

LOL @Berry78. I may have been a bit too frank. Its hard to see folks with pre-existing GERD are recommended the sleve as its truly a gamble. You may be one of thhe few where the GERD is "cured" or among the many where it is worsened significantly, requiring long term meds (woth their own host of potential issues) or revisions to Gastric Bypass. I chatted with a woman on a facebook group who was suffering from GERD, Barrets Esophagus and Esophageal erosion!!! And yet her surgeon said the sleeve was the best choice for her vs a Nissen fundoplication! Well guess what her GERD got worse much worse. It broke my heart for her. I don't know why he recommended it or the whole story. But I can't imagine how the benefits outweigh the risks. So, that's that All the best.

Thank you I'm extremely motivated as I'm having a revision and hated the VGB 17years ago to an RNY.

If your not sure don't do it. Your surgeon is on crack, if he suggested you get the sleeve with pre-existing GERD. There are ppl on here that did that and had to revise to bypass. You can ask him and he will rationalize his stupidit. Research on your own and talk to ppl who had to revise to bypass due to GERD.

I revised and I think you need to think hard about this decision. I still throw up with the sleeve, I never had acid reflux with the band and now deal with it. Your restriction are greater and there's no relief via defill. As a twice banded patient, your at much higher risk for complications. Although it's harder to lose weight, that's because your metobalism was shut down with the band. You may lose very little with the sleeve. It's very very difficult with the sleeve and doesn't feel natural. Its odd living without 85% of my stomach.

Am I wrong for being upset and worried? I am in the process of getting a revision from band to sleeve. I did 4 months of nutrition class. I have documentation from all previous doctors and even my former surgeon. My info was submitted Feb. 8th. They have 15 days to make a decision. On the 16th I found out that one of the files did not open so Aetna asked that the file be refaxed. It was. I called today its the 24th still pending. I called 4 times and they said that they still have not received the fax. My dr office said that they did. I am pissed. Next Wednesday is the 15th day. I have all of the requirements. BMI, co mortified hell I just got diagnosed with Pulmonary Artery Pressure and my Pulmonolgist recommends he surgery to get to a healthy weight so that I won't have severe complications. I am so upset. It should not take this long. My band was approved within days. My husband is getting the sleeve in 3 weeks his was approved in a couple of days. Has anyone gone through something like this? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I have Aetna and my nerves are a mess. My file was submitted in the beginning of February. Last week they one of the files did not open so my dr's office had to resubmit. This made me so irritated. I am getting a revision to the sleeve. I am nervous because I heard that Aetna is so picky. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Congratulations! As for your mom, could you just tell her you're having surgery because the band slipped and leave out other details? It's an honest reply just maybe not all the details. I'm doing a revision as well and haven't told but a couple people and others just that my band slipped (true) and I have to have surgery. This time around, I don't feel it needs to be everyone's business for me. Happy thoughts and well wishes! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

From a strictly weight loss perspective, there is a lot of overlap between the two, with the DS being better for those starting in the higher BMI ranges. The sleeve works well in the moderate BMI ranges (35-50) and also works well above that with somewhat more intensive dieting and greater discipline needed in the long term. The DS is stronger in regain resistance than any of the other mainstream procedures, so is particularly good for those with long term yo yo dieting patterns. From a diabetes perspective, the sleeve is similar to the bypass, with remission/resolution rates of around 85%, while the DS typically sees 98-99% rates. This should not be overly surprising as the DS started as a procedure specifically targeting diabetes, to which the VSG was added to make it a WLS procedure. Longer term, the sleeve is still relatively new with only some five year data available for any kind of significant patient populations. There are some indications of somewhat significant recurrance after five years, though it is not clear how well correlated that may be with whatever regain problems some may be having. The DS does seem to show more significant staying power in the face of regain, which in itself is less of a problem due to the long term malabsorption, compared to the VSG or RNY Note that this only applies to the "classic" DS and not the newer SIPS/SADI/"loop DS" which is a different procedure for which there is little long term data. There is a fair bit of experience that indicates that the longer one has been diabetic, the longer it takes to knock it out even with the DS. My wife had been under treatment for it for some twenty years when she had her DS and it took the better part of a year for her to be off of all meds for it. Others, even long termers, will walk out of the hospital free of meds with either the sleeve or the DS - YMMV. She is still off of all diabetes meds after twelve years. My feeling is that for a younger patient, particularly one whose obesity problem is only "moderate" in WLS terms can do very well with just the sleeve, particularly if they concentrate on learning long term weight control. If necessary in the future, a move to completing the DS (which is based upon the VSG so one is half way there already,) if the diabetes comes back again can be done. Last year at one of our support group meetings i was chatting with a gal who was some 25 years out on a RNY and by all measures has been successful in her weight maintenance until some of life's stresses hit a few years ago and brought on some regain (not the total regain we sometimes read about,) - enough to bring her diabetes out of remission, so she was lining up to get that revised to a DS to knock it out again (she would have done the DS originally had it been available then.) All of these procedures can give you something of a "do over" and let you start relatively fresh, but one has to take that opportunity to learn how to manage oneself in the long term and not go back to whatever got us here in the first place. Good luck on whatever path you choose.

Keep researching. Heres what my surgeon said when i went to my first consult and?wanted the sleeve. I told him I had gerd for years. He said, "what I have been seei g with the sleeve, about 1/3 of sleeve patients will have gerd following the sleeve peocedure. But what Im seeing is?the 4 to 5 months out patients have severe gerd and end up having a revision to RNY". I myself refuse to chance it. At 58 im not having 2 surgeries. Best of luck to you.

That's not true. My surgeon only has that rule for bypass patients. I asked him my last appointment when I could start taking NSAIDS post op and he said either the next day or the day after. If you're happy where you are I don't think you should undergo another surgery. I never found my green zone either and after being sick of vomiting everything up I had my band unfilled and gained 45 lb in a year before I realized I was at the same weight I was banded at. I'm having my revision to sleeve on March 6th.

I also think the revision is a good idea for you. Even if you want to take more time considering, I highly recommend you get the band removed. It isn't helping, and it will likely cause complications down the road (like slippage, etc).

@alli.wakefield my story is almost the exact same as yours. I got my bad in the same year and everything. I had the revision to the sleeve done on December 27,2016. I feel like it was the best decision I could have made. I had severe reflux with the band, but not with the sleeve. I can eat healthier foods, that got stuck with the band. My weight at surgery was 332 and I am at 297 as of today. I have lost 35lbs in a little under 2 months. I truly couldn't be happier with my decision. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My experience has been great. Significantly better than when I had my band. The gas wasn't anywhere near as painful, I was off of pain meds on day 3 and back to work in a week. Getting used to the sleeve is really different because I'm used to the full feeling that I would get with the band. The feeling is nowhere near the same. It is really crazy how I have to make myself eat because food is just not appealing to me. It is easy to eat healthy because I don't have the crazy cravings and food is fuel instead of enjoyment. I know that not everyone has this kind of experience, but my sisters and I have had the same experience. It is just a phenomenally better experience, in my opinion. Congrats on your date! Just don't compare yourself to first time VSGrs. We typically lose more slowly as revisions. I am finding that my speed of loss is about the same as with my band. I can't wait to hear about your journey! March is your removal or are you having both at the same time? I asked to keep my band. It is my little trophy! Banded 2010 weight:327 Sleeved 12/28/16 weight:253 Currently 222.9lbs 104 lbs down!! Heather in Texas

I revised to the sleeve and the restriction is insane It's hard to live this way! ! Strongly recommend you have have it removed and live normally

Looking for others experience w band revision to a sleeve or better off mini GBP? I have the band and scheduled for sleeve. However I have read about Sleeve revisions to the mini gastric bypass. Don't want to be a double fall! the mini GBP scare me w the malabsorption issue though.

I am that warped person that kept my band after removal! So far, so good with everything. This was the best decision that I could have made. I can now eat healthier food without that stuck feeling and I don't have the acid and back pain issues that I used to have! It took removing 60-70% of my stomach for me to feel normal again. BEST. DECISION.EVER. Banded 2010 weight:327 Sleeved 12/28/16 weight:253 Currently 222.9lbs 104 lbs down!! Heather in Texas

I had a revision to sleeve in Dec. I could never get to the "green" zone either. If you are having to have your port replaced anyway, I recommend getting sleeved. The fills, stuck feeling, extreme acid erosion on my teeth (mainly during my TOM when band was too tight) all went away. I was happy with my band, but hated the "stuck" feeling anytime I would eat something healthy. There are lots of successful band to sleeve revisions out there. I really wish I would have started out with the sleeve, but hindsight is always 20/20. Banded 2010 weight:327 Sleeved 12/28/16 weight:253 Currently 222.9lbs 104 lbs down!! Heather in Texas

I would not immediately. Try practicing your healthy eating habits without the band if you want it out. I revised and its much more harder with the sleeve. Don't make this decision lightly if your happy with the band. Keep your stomach .