Search the Community

@summerset how are you doing with your revision ? You are almost 3 months out and had the by pass if I remember correctly ? How is your strength at this point ? Are you able to eat solids well and how much are you eating at one time ? Do you feel like you have restriction if you are eating Beef, chicken, seafood, pork ect ?

@Tracyringo Eating seems to be a bit more problematic atm. The MGB seems to be "more forgiving", so to say. But then again maybe I can't remember some issues I had during the first months after MGB. When I eat too fast or too much or too heavy foods I get a stomach ache. Can be from mild to wanting-to-crawling-up-the-walls. I never had that with MGB. However, my stomach is quite a primadonna since years so please take this answer with a grain of salt. The worst are dense high-protein/fat combinations. It's almost a guarantee for at least mild issues and a brick like feeling in the stomach. These things are very individual though. It makes me remember what one of the dietitians said to a fellow patient: "I can't tell you what to eat or not to eat. You have to find out what foods you tolerate or not. I can recommend eating dairy and chicken but when dairy makes you feel queasy and chicken makes you vomit the advice is worth nothing in the end." Regarding restriction: for me it's stronger than with the MGB right now but I guess in some months it will be about equal. Mind you, the revision was less than 3 months ago. Hunger signals are the same, they're very mild. I was supposed to start on solids three weeks after surgery in stead of four weeks. I was quite glad I could progress to solids a week earlier but have to say progression was less easy this time. While I struggled through the liquid/puree phase this time I also don't think it would have been possible to start solids earlier than this. I had awful cravings this time for "normal" foods like tofu with rice, cucumbers, whatever... Some people suggested this was because I was already at a normal weight when I got revision so maybe you're going to experience something similar, no idea. How much I can eat varies from meal to meal and that feels kind of frustrating. What's too much and causing issues one meal might be the right amount or even not enough the next time. In general foods with a high water content (e. g. fruit, raw vegetables) I tolerate best and usually don't cause issues so cherry tomatoes berries and grapes are favorite snack foods right now. I don't eat meat so I can't answer only part of your question. Strength and the like I'm hesitant to reply because I had not only the revision but also another little surgery regarding trocar hernia. The upper abdominal wall still feels strange when I exercise but in the end it was the fifth laparoscopy plus trocar hernia surgery, so I guess I simply have to be patient. I also feel quite stressed and exhausted these days because of work, lots of rather sh*tty 24 h shifts and on-call duties. I'm glad I'm going on vacation on Saturday for two weeks. After that I'm going to re-evaluate what might be surgery related and what might be stress related.

I'm not a revision patient, but just wanted to say that as long as you keep on top of taking your vitamins, deficiencies are pretty rare. There are some people whose bodies don't absorb oral iron well who have to get occasional iron infusions, but most of us absorb it just fine. Otherwise, I really don't hear about deficiencies except for people who don't keep on top of their vitamins. I don't think that lack-of-restriction thing is universal. It probably depends on the person.

'' It took me somewhere between 20-25 minutes, no liquids. I'm quite good about no liquids. Now, at dinner, I had 4 small grilled shrimp, about an ounce of pork and less than an ounce of thin cut grilled beef (we went out for vietnamese) and I was STUFFED. That was about 4-5 oz total, that seems more like it. I guess cottage cheese and the soft brie were just a bit more sliderish than I would have guessed. Dorrie -- I would kill to feel restriction after 4-5 bites. Wow!! I am seriously wondering if I am going to have to be one of those people that revise to RNY in a couple of years.

Ditto here -- multivitamin daily and calcium with D (1,000 daily) -- taken at separate times of the day. My instructions say that B12 must be taken by gastric bypass patients, but is not prescribed for VSG patients. Likewise, Iron will be prescribed only if my iron levels go low.

So sorry you are still dealing with this. Maybe check airfare for Houston and come see my doctor. He is awesome and does revisions and special cases. Have you looked into the family leave act at work?

If you do the Sleeve you are going to run the risk of having to have a revision. I was approved for my surgery despite having acid issues because I DON'T have GERD, but rather something called EOS. I was going to have issues with acid whether I had Bypass or DS (which involves a sleeved stomach). My disorder is an allergy disorder and the acid is worse 1. when I either eat or am around what I'm allergic to, 2. at night, or 3. if I eat something acidic. I only take my acid reducers at night. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Sleeve to someone who has GERD. Trust me, weight loss surgery is no joke and it's a bumpy recovery in the beginning. The gas, the liquid diet, the puree stage, etc. Having to go through the 2 week pre-diet all over again if it doesn't stick the first time... You have to look at everything and then ask yourself if you are willing to take the risk of having to do it all over again if your GERD gets WORSE. In the end, the choice is yours, whatever that choice may be because it's your life and YOU are the one living it, not someone else... I wish you the best of luck on whatever choice you make!

Juniper, I’m in the exact same place. I had severe reflux and had all the fluid taken out of my band. I quickly gained 20 lb over the 40 I had gained back over the last 2 years or so. I am approved for revision to bypass and am hoping to have it near the end of Feb. I had the exact same question . I would get stuck with the band and could either tough it out or eject the stuck item. I often chose eject and am wondering if you can do the same after bypass.

Hi mommabird, I doing really well. I had a revision from the sleeve. I only stay in the hospital overnight. I was walking right after surgery and so far every if going well. I also had a hernia repaired. I've lost a few pounds already

I had the band to bypass 1 month ago. Feeling pretty good! Haven't puked once that's the weird thing. I can lay down and not have my food come back up. So considering my newness.... it's pretty darn good!

I understand how you feel. I think we go through this surgery and we want to lose the weight as fast as we see some other WLS patients lose it. Those that have the bypass etc. It's just not like that for us, and that might be a good thing given all the complications I have read and witnessed from other alternative surgeries. We chose to do this differently, and we chose the band for whatever our reasons were to choose this path here we are living it. I have been reading a lot posts where people have given up and don't make the life style changes. They go back to old eating habits, and let me tell you it is HARD to make those changes. I am only 2 months post op, and I have had those moments where I am right back to the old eating mentality. I try to catch myself and sometimes I get caught up in it. I want to give up, not be on a diet not care about what I am putting in my mouth, but you know the band doesn't let me give up! I love that about being banded. When I am at my most frustrated, and I just want to say the heck with healthy, the band steps in and says NOPE you're going to have to do it right or I am going to let you know you are doing something wrong and it does! I just had my first fill today 2 months post op. I don't have any discomfort and I am able to drink my Protein shakes just fine. Though I am noticing I am not getting beat up by the hunger demon as much, and that is a welcome relief. Right now I'm fighting with my fatigue and my conviction to do what's right for my body and forcing myself to the gym in the 90 degree heat to walk a bit on the treadmill. As my husband just said it's better than sitting in the car in traffic for an hour in the 90 degree heat. He's right about that..so I will go to the gym and muster up the energy to walk it out. It's a bit of a struggle every day, don't give up your doing great and you're going to keep on doing great! I just know it!

Yes you have a lactose issue....besides most women need to stay away from dairy...unsweetened almond milk is a great substitute for milk. Surgeons tell us that if your not lactose intolerant you may become that way after bypass. HW 250/1st Lapband 198/2nd Lapband 232/Pre conversion 2/6/13 to bypass 232. Currently 206 Bariatric GW 134, Realistic GW 150

I, too, am 5 days out. I, too, wanted the sleeve, but the Dr. told me that I would have much better results with the bypass. I went to him because I trusted him and the fact that he had performed over 6,000 procedures. Well, I hired him for his expertise, so why not follow his advice? I did and had the bypass last Wednesday. I feel great. Soreness, but no pain. I feel as if there is an area of liquid or something on my left side. Dr. says its Fluid and will go away. Hope so. He also recommended the bypass because I had diabetes. My sugar reading for the first couple days were 168, 136, 121, 111, 100, 89 and lastly 68. He says I'm on the way to no diabetes. Having difficulty taking in all the Water, but am trying. So far, I am happy and we'll see how it goes. Haven't gotten a a scale yet. Maybe Wednesday --> 1 week.

I had GERD prior to surgery as well, so my surgeon recommended bypass (he said he'd do either, but strongly recommended that I consider bypass). So I did. I know not everyone gets GERD after sleeve (or if they have it beforehand, like I did, it doesn't ALWAYS get worse), but I didn't want to take the risk.

I had my bypass surgery on 10/20/20. 5 weeks today. Looking for a buddy or more for some support too.

Hi there! I'm having my bypass surgery on 10/26 and would like to connect with people that are having bypass surgery on or around the same date so that we can follow each other's journey's. Good luck to everyone!

You sound like me, GramaLisa. I want to read up on everything I can get my hands ahold of, to make the most informed decision possible. After I finish reading here, I'm going to look into ordering the book your nutritionist recommended. I'm sorry to hear about all the difficulties your friends at work have experienced with gastric bypass. Some of those are heart breaking. I don't know how I could cope with gaining all the weight back after going through such a life altering surgery. I hope you hear back real soon from your insurance. Thanks for your kind words, froggi, but I'm not surprised, because you come from a great part of the country. My husband and I were born and raised in Parkersburg. We haven't lived there for years though. I think you were probably a little baby last time we called Parkersburg home. Where will you have your surgery?

Thanks for the tip about having fruit with dinner, Susanbee. That seems like it would be a very good way to "wash" down food. I'm so glad that you're having such great success. Good luck, Regang. I hope you hear back from your insurance soon. I have some good news. I went to a seminar with a different surgical group and had a completely different experience. The doctor was very positive and gave a more balanced view of the lap band procedure. I also went to the seminar equipped with a lot more information after spending hours reading this site. I'm going to call their office in the morning and schedule an evaluation and cancel the appointment I made with the other office. I do think that if the doctor that actually performs the lap band surgery, rather than the gastric bypass specialist, had presented last week's meeting it would have been much better, at least for me. I'm glad, now, that it pushed me to find another office.

I'm pretty lucky because I work for a HCA hospital and have Cigna. Everyone I know here who had had either sleeve or bypass have all been approved. Maybe they figure it's cheaper for them in the long run.

I have read that article before lol. That was actually the article that made my mind up to have the surgery in the first place. It seemed to say that the sleeve and bypass were more effective than the lap band, but to me it looked like both the sleeve and bypass were effective with the sleeve having less complications. That was why I choose the sleeve. But I am still second guessing myself like the OP. Sorry if I hijacked this thread OP. It is hard to find people who understand PCOS and weight loss and insulin resistance and I get really excited when I do because I really want to make the right choice.

I had a slipped lap band that I had to have removed and a revision done. I also thought I wanted a sleeve but my surgeon strongly recommended a bypass because I already had terrible GERD before my lap band. I took his advice and have been very happy with the decision. It's your choice, but be well informed before you decide. Good luck!

Jeremy in the exercise forum is wayyy cool! I do adore him, and he's OH staff. My subscriptions are all messed up and I was able to speak with the editor of OH today. I told him flat out that OH is for bypass and not banded folks. He agreed and admitted they are trying to change that. I explained I'd believe it when I see it. I told him that if it wasn't for Jeremy I would end my subscription and tell them to buggar off. He understands. I don't care for the forum, but Jeremy in the exercise forum is very cool.

Hey there. I am new here and not sure about posting but I feel like I am all alone. I had surgery 10 years ago, I didn’t ever lose that much weight with it and ended up getting sick and not being able to keep up with my running which I miss more than anything. Anyway, I am 20 lbs over the weight I was before my surgery. I am always so tired and I could sleep anywhere at anytime, although the test said I didn’t have sleep apnea. My BMI is a shameful 45. I wasn’t sure who to contact so I contacted my Bariatric Doctor’s office. I am unable to go to the one that originally did my surgery. I’ve been dealing with a NP (which I really adore) that told me no to a revision, but she’s put me on phentramine and they don’t even give me energy and I never had a problem with over eating I have a problem with forgetting to eat 🙄 All of my pills I have to take now makes me sick, I feel nauseous all of the time, zero energy. I have been checked for depression (of course vitamin levels) I take those even though they make me nauseous. This dr is 3 hours a way we’ve only been able to do telemed visits. I would like another opinion but I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes and get in trouble with dr shopping or have anyone mad. I wasn’t sure if people start out with their PCP or surgeon. sorry I rambled I’m nervous and so confused! Idk where in the world to go from here. Lol thanks for listening to me.

Hi: Has anyone gone from the lap band to the gastric bypast (RNY? If so, how has it worked out for you? Thanks, DebM

Sandy, You've answered your own question. You can't do it without the band because you get tired of being hungry...and that's what the band is supposed to take care of. Cleo is right. It doesn't work for some people but they don't know what percentage are failed by the band (like Cleo) and what percentage fail the band. All you can do is go into this with the hope that you will be the one the band works for. I've struggled for the better part of a year with my band but I did finally find that sweet spot. Some people have a shorter learning curve and are successful from the day of surgery. I wasn't one of them. I ended up being overfilled, then completely unfilled and was actually on the verge of a revision to a vertical sleeve. The only point I'm trying to make is that I never gave up and I actively worked at making this band work for me. Now, not only do I not have hunger for about 4 hours after a meal but I've even lost the desire to eat. I eat my 3 oz of Protein and 1/2-1 cup of vegies and I'm content until my next meal. *That* is what the band does for me. It gets rid of that all consuming, constant hunger that I've lived with for most of my life which means I have a much better chance at controlling the eating. .