Can this really happen?

[lsubabe33 23]

Can u re- stretch your stomach out?? Or can you sleeve slip? Would u feel normal again?

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

It's possible if you are chronically overstuffing it. That's what happened to our original stomachs. I don't know what you mean by "slip." That is generally a lap band term referring to when the band slips down the stomach, thereby reducing restriction. If you just overeat once or twice, the sleeve will stretch temporarily, making it easier to consume more for a short duration after that meal, but will contract back while you sleep, as though it were a spring. It is a very durable tool, and pretty hard to stretch it into a permanently larger volume, but it has been done and you want to try and avoid it. Unfortunately, even tests like the barium swallow are not too effective in determining whether or not this has occurred.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

Technically no. The surgery permanently shrinks the stomach. However, what happens is that over time if you constantly stuff more food than you should into your sleeve that your body will adapt to it and that will become your new "set point" for when you feel full. Thus you will be training yourself to eat more. Also, food will spend less time in your sleeve which means you will not feel full for long and will quickly want to eat again. So eat slowly and stop as soon as you feel the first signs of feeling full.

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

I neglected to answer your third question. The answer is that it is absolutely impossible to stretch the sleeve back to the size of the pre-operative stomach. 85% of the tissue has been removed, and it is mathematically impossible to get back to that volume with only 15% of the former tissue present (the tissue would be ineffective at its biological functions if stretched this thin). That said, you may feel like you are back to where you were before surgery, but two realities still hold...first, once you are a certain distance out from surgery, you may have a vague idea of what your hunger was like, but most of us will grossly underestimate how hungry we were, because without the ghrelin, we have no ability to replicate those states...second, you may feel like you can eat a ton, but your question of what a "ton" is has been changed by the surgery and your new habits. That is a very good thing.

[stacyg1 136]

From the language you use, it seems like this is something you want to happen. If that's true, can I ask why? After you heal, you should feel completely normal, except for the fact that you won't be able to consume large amounts of food at one time. That's not to say you can't eat around your sleeve's capacity by grazing all day long. If you really aren't hoping to stretch out your sleeve, I apologize for reading too much into your post. If you did mean it the way I read it, I hope you can get to a place, either through your own reflection and experience or with the help of a therapist, where you can accept your new normal and work your sleeve for all it's worth. Once you accept the lifestyle change, the sleeved life is amazing!!! Good luck to you!

[lsubabe33 23]

Ohh by no means do I want to stretch my stomach. I went thru 3 weeks of living hell. I don't want that to be wasted. It was just a question I was thinking about.

Edited November 20, 2015 by lsubabe33

[stacyg1 136]

Oh I'm glad!!

[slvarltx 332]

My surgeon explained to me that it is impossible to permanently stretch my sleeve as the flexible portion of the stomach was removed. There is a general "relaxing" of the stomach as it heals over the course of a year or so, but that is it. "sleeve slip"? There is nothing to slip.