Saxons

Firstly, you are NOT a failure! I am 6 years post vsg, and it's a marathon, not a sprint. You are still 20kg under your start weight, which is fantastic! I regained 5kg two years ago, and felt I was on a slippery slope again. I went back to the basics, started on my shakes again, really counted all my food and managed to lose it again. But I am still 10 kg from my target weight! Has your nutritionist got you keeping a food diary? We often underestimate our portion sizes, or we are drinking calories we don't realise (milky lattes, a cocktail, thickshaks or sodas). But please, don't beat yourself up. A sleeve is just a tool to help you, it's not a win or fail. Best wishes.

I had my gastric sleeve done in 2018, so have a few years experience. I couldn't eat anything for at least 4 weeks post op, and then it was a tiny teaspoon of mush at each meal. It took me hours to get through a protein shake of 300ml. By the time I finished the breakfast one, it was time to start the lunchtime one! And so on to dinner... 1200 calories seems huge to me at 3 weeks. I was struggling to drink enough water at that point. My tummy was so tiny. Even if I drank too much water, I would vomit, because my stomach was too small to cope. I still suffer that vomiting if I am too ambitious with my portions. I wouldn't be able to even get through 1200 cal now, unless maybe I went on a strict no carb, high protein plan. Even then it would be a struggle. High protein foods are SO filling. I love fish and seafood, but I can hardly eat 2 tbs of grilled salmon at a meal even 6 years out. I lost 90 pounds in 6 months, luckily no skin looseness... very fortunate. I have slowed my weight loss and then plateaued at 120 lbs loss. If I was you, I would go back to your protein drinks, and go from there.

Maybe its too late, but I told no-one except my husband and 2 sons. And swore them to secrecy. I was concerned about the lectures I might get from friends and family, and answering millions of questions, and people question my serving sizes and side effects etc. You shouldn't have to explain your health decisions, and listen to opinions that criticise you. The only thing I think you can do is state that your weight was causing health issues for you, and that although you have tried other methods, you think this surgery is the best for you. And leave it at that.

A perspective on what it is like YEARS after gastric sleeve. I was sleeved in January 2018. Start weight was 265 lb, and I am now 174lb. I wanted to get to 160, but haven't got there. I am 5ft 9. Am I glad I did it? I'm conflicted on this. It's SO permanent. I get very tired of not being able to eat a normal size meal. Going out to eat is expensive and frustrating, cause I can only eat about 1/4 of what is on my plate. Cooking seems to take away any appetite I might have (it's like the smell kills my appetite), so by the time I am ready to serve a meal to my family, I cannot eat a bite. I still suffer nausea and vomiting, yes even 6 years down the track. Even if its just dry retching and there is nothing in my stomach. I suffer from reflux which I never had prior to surgery, so I take a PPI every day. I also take vitamins, because my food intake is so tiny. But a lot of the time, I throw them back up. I am chronically anaemic due to lack of red meat or substantial leafy greens. The only thing that seems to help is to take tiny sips of iced water to try and settle the retching. Eating a small meal can take an hour, because I have to wait for my stomach to empty before I can take another bite. Eating sugary or carbohydrate foods makes me sweaty and shaky, and I still battle bouts of dumping syndrome (I am not diabetic). I suffer from irritable bowel syndrome due to the surgery, and I burp lots! Hardly ever prior to surgery. This is all awkward in company for lunch or dinner, and I don't feel I want to announce to all dinner companions (who may just be friends of friends) about my surgical history! I have lost 90 lbs, dropped 3 dress sizes, but if I had my time over, I wish I could have lost the weight through diet and exercise. I really do. So just know... there is no going back from this surgery. It's totally permanent.

Well after 6 years, nothing has changed much since the end of the first year. So I think I am stuck with the result I have. It's just a heads up to those potential patients considering gastric sleeve surgery to go in with your eyes wide open as to the both positive and negative outcomes.

To stay at 265lbs wouldn't be my preference, with or without surgery. I think what I am trying to say, that if I had a crystal ball prior to surgery, then I might have decided to really worked very hard with a dietician and personal trainer, rather than altering my body anatomy and physiology so dramatically and permanently. I have 2 friends who have also been sleeved who have had disastrous outcomes. One is down to 100lb and is quite sick, she has been admitted to hospital numerous times. The other has had gastric leaks, and has had 4 repeat surgeries to oversew the gastric suture line. Another has developed pancreatic cancer (unrelated to gastric sleeve), but she is battling to get enough nutrients into her to fight the debilitating effects of chemo. I just think we all need to recognise this is a huge anatomical and physiological change to our bodies, structure, digestion, vitamin intake which lasts for the whole of our lives.

Yes unfortunately the antipsychotics cause metabolic issues, such as lot of weight gain and increased cholesterol levels. Quetiapine, risperidone, mirtazapine all come to mind as some of the worst offenders, but all psych meds have this unfortunate side effect. Whether your surgeon wants to proceed, I can't say. Your weight loss may not be as effective as you expect.

Promethazine (also known as Phergan), is an antihistamine with sedating properties. It's used for allergys. Do you mean pantoprazole? I find esomeprazole more effective, but they are the same class of drug. They belong to the proton pump inhibitor group or PPIs. They are of benefit when stomach acid escapes back up into the esophagus. Bariatric practices will routinely prescribed a short course of a PPI, say for 3 months. However if you have a liver disease, this could be a problem, but your surgeon would have thought about this before prescribing a PPI. Were you not supplied with these?

I am 5 years out. I would say that your 200 lb weight loss is not just fat, but that you have lost a lot of muscle bulk. That's why you are feeling exhausted on exertion. Did you take to regular exercise during your postop phase to maintain your muscle bulk? If not, then slow but steady muscle building exercise is the solution. Not more endless cardiovascular, but lifting weights, resistance training and strength building. You should start to see results in about 6 weeks if you do 30 mins a day.

I am nearly 5 years out, and I still can't drink a protein shake in less than a half hour. 🙃 I remember the day after my surgery, I had a barium swallow to test for leaks, assess the size of my stomach etc etc. Did your surgeon do that test?

Agreed, the preop diet was horrible and I also felt like giving up before I had even started! But rest assured, you will have such a small appetite afterwards, broth is probably the only thing you want. Because they remove 80% of your stomach doing a sleeve, all those grehlin cells that lived inside your tummy are gone too. So your hunger pangs disappear as well. I am nearly 5 years out, and still can't get halfway through a regular meal. I am just so full! It's a physical thing (tiny tummy) and a hormone thing (grehlin). After nearly 5 years...I have had my ups (amazing weight loss) and downs (miserable because I can't eat very much, and definitely not my once favourite foods). If food is your "thing", then you need to be prepared that this will change forever.

I am nearly 5 years out from my sleeve, and I still feel nauseous, sweaty, and dizzy from about my second tablespoon. I do vomit and dry retch regularly. It's absolutely depressing. And trying to cook meals for my husband and myself is difficult. For some reason, even the smell of cooking can bring the symptoms on... so he often ends up eating my share as well! And I still find going out to eat at restaurants or cafes really hard...I tend to only order a small starter. Everything sounds and looks delicious, but I just physically cannot eat. I am 175cm and 85kg. I was 125kg 5 years ago.

This is so distressing for you. I have no good answers, but I do know of the same problem. I had my VSG in 2018, so am over 4 years post surgery. I have lost 85 pounds, about 10 pounds from my goal. But I am happy enough with my progress. Yet a colleague of mine had the same procedure, same surgeon, and yet has not only lost nothing, but gained 29 pounds! We compared our pre diets. Mine was healthy, lots of fruit, vegetables, protein, carbs etc. I didn't eat desserts, not a fan of chocolate or sugar... my problem was portion size. It was way too big. I think I got used to serving a husband and 2 hungry sons! So the VSG was perfect for me because it limited my portion sizes of my pretty healthy diet. In addition, I did, and still do, suffer from dumping syndrome (unusual in VSG) so it discourages me from eating excess sugar or carbs. On the other hand, my colleague was addicted to everything sweet and chocolate plus carbs. She snacked constantly, nibbled on chocolate all day long, and although her stomach size was small like mine, she was dripfeeding it all day long. Have a really good look at your diet and what you are eating. Stick to the protein and veg. Honestly, I can't eat more than a palm size portion of beef or chicken. It can take me an hour to eat that plus a palm size portion of veggies. I can only eat half a banana or half an apple. I am just so full!

It's irritation of the phrenic nerve because of the carbon dioxide gas we pump in to expand the abdomen so as to visualise the stomach while operating. The gas gets trapped against the diaphragm and causes pain in the shoulder tip. Most cases resolve within a couple of days, but I suffered with it for 3 weeks. But it does get better as the gas is gradually absorbed, simple analgesia is best.

Hi I haven't posted for a while, but thought I would stop in and see what you all think. I had my sleeve gastrectomy in January 2018. I was 265 lb and am now 190, so 75lb loss. I keep losing around 1lb a month. I am 5'9. My BMI is 28, so I'm still classified as overweight. I am very fortunate that I have absolutely no loose skin, stretch marks etc. That's just lucky genes...I didn't do anything special, and it was the same when I had our children. I am 54 yrs, we are married with 2 adult sons . My concerns are, that after 4 years, I still have no appetite. Even if I think something will be tasty, after 2 bites, I have had enough. Really weirdly, I can sometimes look at a dish, and my appetite just vanishes. It's hard buying groceries, because I don't have any interest in cooking. And cooking (and smelling) a dish just kills my appetite completely. 4 years out, and I still get dry retching every day just by looking at, or smelling food. It's miserable. My surgeon, although sympathetic, has no answers. My recent endoscopy was absolutely normal. It makes it SO hard for my husband and I... he is normal weight. We used to love going out to restaurants, cafe breakfasts, picnics etc. Now we still try and do that, but I usually only order an entree, but I rarely finish that anyway. It's miserable for him to enjoy being eating and see me just watching. I am so happy to be a much healthier weight, I look better, I fit into nice clothes and am way more energetic. But I still mourn eating. It's hard with guests, while they are enjoying their dinner and you are nibbling on a tomato. Forget adding the buffet breakfast to your hotel stay. Cooking up a lovely meal for your husband and boys and watching them eat, while you are completely satiated just from the smell and look of food while cooking. Any thoughts from others who are years post sleeve?

The dry retching seems to have started straight after the surgery. I can go a week and not suffer it, then I'll have it a few times a day, every day for another week or so. I worried I had a stricture, but my post endoscopies are normal. And I am the same... sometimes just looking at food crushes my appetite, and I just can't and don't want to eat anything. On those occasions, I try a couple of small spoons of yoghurt, but not milk .. that does make me throw up! It could be psychological I guess, but I have no idea why.

I know right? I thought it only happened to gastric bypass patients. My surgeon has explained that, although I still have a stomach (albeit a tiny one), I can still have rapid stomach motility. And the suspects are high level sugars (explains the muffin), and high protein without carbohydrates added. And not chewing my food thoroughly, so my stomach doesn't dump a whole chunk of protein at once. I try to follow all the directions, but after 4 years, you slip up now and then! I had blood tests done 2 weeks ago and they were perfect. Its just that the dumping, combined with the dry retching is miserable. I wish I had known...

I find a mixed salad easier to digest, hence the nibbling on a tomato 🍅. Breakfast is usually a poached egg. Maybe a 1/2 small slice of toast to mop up the egg, but 2 bites of the toast, and I am full. I sometimes will do a berry smoothie with a protein powder, but it takes me all morning to finish it, and then it's lunchtime, and I am stuffed. Lunch varies, as where I work provides free meals. They are different each day, and it's a choice of 2 soups, 3 or 4 hot dishes, vegetable sides, a salad bar, sandwiches and a selection of fruit. So, soup is good, fruit is ok, and everything else is meh. But I try to force myself to have some fish or chicken. I don't cope with high protein very well, like red meat, as I still get dumping syndrome. Large amount of sugars will do the same thing. I had a couple of bites of a muffin the other day, and nearly passed out in the bathroom. Absolutely drenched in a cold sweat, my vision went dark and the room was spinning. My heart was absolutely racing, and I had terrible diarrhoea. From experience, it usually lasts about 1/2 hour, and I just ride it out. My evening meal is often non existent. I am just not hungry. I hadn't thought of the dry retching as a symptom of an empty stomach.. that's a strong possibility. I never throw anything up, because my tummy is empty.

I am 2 years out exactly. I lost 75lbs, but still need to lose 20lbs to reach goal. I too am stuck, and have been for about 6 months. I have been very slack about counting calories, and getting exercise. I don't think your portions are excessive, but maybe what's in them? I love eating all fish and seafood, and until recently didn't realise that salmon fillet is 2 x the calories of a white fish like barramundi. I love scallops and they are very low in fat. Prawns, crab, oysters (baby octopus... Yum!) are a little higher, but compared to other protein foods such as rump, they are very rich in protein and very low in fat. My dietician told me that to get a general idea of the fat content of most fish species, look at the color of the flesh. The leanest species such as cod and flounder have a white or lighter color, and fattier fish such as salmon, herring, and mackerel usually have a much darker color.

Yes, I did following my lap gastric sleeve 2 years ago. It's the gas used to inflate your inside so they can see. Often a lot of that gas is trapped and irritates the phrenic nerve. I came out of surgery in pain and teary.. Not because they had operated on my stomach, but because that shoulder tip pain was exhausting. Things I tried: lots of walking to try and encourage the gas to dissipate, Nogas tablets.. But it took about 3 months for it to settle down completely.

Aww thank you. My husband and I are medical (doctors), so are well familiar with the symptoms of dumping. He says he can see it happening after I eat only about 2 mouthfuls of steak. I go very pale, extremely sweaty, dizzy, and feel like I am going to faint. I get nauseous and I feel like I could lay down under the table and sleep. I agree it is usually sugar and carbs that cause dumping, but protein dense foods are terrible for me. Going back to my surgeon is not an option.. He is under investigation for a number of complaints by the Medical Board! Practice is closed and he has been suspended. You know, if I hadn't seen the barium swallow 24 hrs after surgery, I would have almost been suspicious that he had done a bypass instead of sleeve, because of the dumping.

I am also 2 years out, started at 266, now 190. I am 5'8 female. My goal is 170. I am stuck. Not gaining, but also not losing. I have been stuck for about 8 months. My food intake is still tiny, and my sleeve has never stretched. To be honest, I get fed up with my sleeve, and I hate eating out. I can barely fit in a side salad as a main. I get terrible symptoms of dumping eating steak, chicken or fish. That's exhausting and not very social! I am wondering if I am actually not eating enough, and I am in starvation mode. I am going to go back on to my Optifast shakes to up my protein. Maybe you should do the same? Get your metabolism fired up again?

I am 18 months out and 80lbs down. I don't remember weighing my food at eight weeks. I am pretty sure that I could still only manage 1-2 bites of food, and they were small bites!

Hi all, I am still struggling with dumping syndrome side effects. I was sleeved Feb 2018, and have lost 78lbs which I am happy with. I have 20lbs until target weight. So all going well with the weight loss. Once I started back on the diet, following high protein, low carb, low sugar.. My new stomach has struggled. I have daily episodes of diarrhoea (maybe up to 7 or 8 times), heaps of gas and flatulence. I can still only eat maybe 4 or 5 tablespoons of food. But what I'm just exhausted with is 14 months of dumping syndrome. Now everything I read and researched says it doesn't happen to sleeve patients, but can be an issue for gastric bypass patients. At least once a day, about 10 to 15 minutes after eating (protein seems to trigger it), I become hot, sweaty, nauseous and suffer incredible fatigue. I could lay right under the dining table and sleep. I get light-headed,and my heart races. To be honest, I feel awful. And I cannot swallow another thing. I chew my food very slowly, I don't drink with meals, and I am so sick of it. My husband has termed it the bariatric "ice-cream headache". You know, when you think your head is going to blow off because of freezing ice cream.. And then it goes away within 10 minutes or so? After suffering with an episode for about 20-30 minutes, it then resolves back to completely normal. The diarrhoea is frequent and sporadic and is exhausting. Especially trying to keep up the water intake. I would go back and see my surgeon except he retired. (Kind of... There are multiple charges of medical negligence and complaints about him, so he had had to cease working. I dodged a bullet right there!) Is it even a tiny bit possible that he did a bypass rather than a sleeve on me? Are the symptoms I am suffering not associated with a sleeve with anyone else? I just don't really know what to do. I keep thinking it will resolve but 14 months later it is as bad as it was in the first month.

You are absolutely correct in how bariatric surgery not only changes your eating, digestive habits forever, but there is also a huge mental impact as well. I do think we all suffer some form of regret and remorse. Everyones experience is different. I am 18 months out from gastric sleeve. I have lost 75lb, but goal is another twenty pounds and I have been stalled now for 3 months. Frustrating. Everyone tells me that I shouldn't get dumping syndrome, as "people who have sleeves don't suffer dumping". Well I definitely do and it's miserable. My husband and I are medical, so we know the condition. Seems to happen mostly when I eat protein (red meat, chicken, less so with eggs and fish). I become extremely sweaty, pale, dizzy and nauseous. I feel like I could lay down on the floor and pass out. It lasts about 30-45 minutes which feels like forever. One of the strategies my husband proposed was to view these episodes as similar to a "ice cream headache".. Only longer. If I stick it out, I will feel better soon. I am not dying, and this too will pass. We loved eating out at restaurants, having brunch, eating with friends. I am quite scared of food because I don't know how my stomach is going to react. So, now we don't do as much of that. And because we chose not to tell anyone (my decision), I do worry about whether people will notice that I have hardly eaten anything.. Especially if we are guests of friends. I hate thinking "what if they think I funny like their food?!" I wish some days I could be reconnected as well, but as I have dropped 5 dress sizes, have no loose skin (amazing but probably genetic elastic skin.. but I am thankful for that) my knees don't hurt anymore, I can wrap a standard size bath towel around me, climb stairs without huffing, cross my legs very comfortably etc etc.. It has been worth it. Just keep reminding yourself. Enjoy all the benefits, and try not to focus on the bad. Best wishes.