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For me it has been a life changer. I had the sleeve and lost weight but not as much as I had hoped and then I gained it right back plus some. Never did have the metabolic changes or the changes that made it a little easier to eat healthy so when I got done with my SADI revision I know right away that it was going to be different this time. I mean I still want pizza and burgers but I don’t hate chicken and fish now either so it makes it a little easier to make the healthy choice most of the time. I also exercise a lot and I think that has made all the difference in my commitment to my new lifestyle as well as My mood and overall health. Obviously I can’t say I know if it would have been better or worse with the Bypass but statistically as a revision the SADi does provide more loss and a more durable loss. Of course it is never so not as much long term research has been done and bypass is the tried and true gold standard but as a revision the loss is statistically less than as a virgin surgery. I think for me it was a perfect fit but you will want to keep in mind that you need to understand your surgery well enough to explain it or call your surgeon and ask them to when it is appropriate. Most of my doctors have never heard of it and when I was about to get an endoscopy/ colonoscopy done and the dr hadn’t heard of it I called my surgeon to see if that was okay and he called to explain my anatomy to them. Another thing to consider is whether you surgeon is resleeving your stomach. Mine did not. He said the difference in weight loss was not significant amount to take the risks that come with reducing the pouch. Something to do a bit of research on to decide if it’s worth it to you. If you have any specific questions about my experience let me know.

I've been at a complete standstill weight loss wise too..for about a month. The same 3 lbs up and down and I haven't reached my goal either at 18 months PO. So I feel your regret even though I had the bypass. They say you can possibly continue to lose for a few years... But I get the feeling my body likes this weight despite what I want! 😆

I haven't been in here in a Hot Minute! I would love to know how everyone is doing. I stopped losing weight at about month 8 or 9 and have maintained, just didn't get to where I had hoped I would. I kind of regret not doing the bypass to be honest. Otherwise it's been pretty easy.

I never ever dreamed I would become a morning person. Not really sure why that is after Gastric Bypass surgery. I've been a night owl my entire life. Stay up late and sleep late was preferable when not having to get up for a job. Always woke up tired even when I was at a healthy weight and sleeping normal hours. My entire family is the same way. I just attributed it to a circadian rhythm DNA kind of thing. Now I wake up at 5/6 AM without an alarm clock. I feel totally rested and really enjoy my mornings. Go figure.🤔

YESS!! Been there with codeine..exactly as you described..also in hidden stuff like certain cough mixtures,so read the label. I also (in the past 16yrs since my bypass) have had the same reaction to Zydol, pai killer and Macrodantin,an antibiotic. What will sort it within about 5mins,is a 40gm tablet of Losec...also,my Surgeon maintains that you can take NSAIDS short term if you take a 40gm losec with it.As I suffer from a crippling back, I do this so I can get some sleep. Hope this helps☆

I had my bypass on 27th January 2025

10/10 would do again. I only wish I'd done it sooner. While no surgery is risk free, the mortality rate for bariatric surgery is pretty similar to other major elective surgeries, with the overall mortality rate at this point being right around ~1 in 1000, The factors that increase risk the most are higher BMI, older age, being male, as well as having pulmonary hypertension, heart disease, or liver disease. Obviously the more of those you have, the higher the risk. If you are younger, female, only moderately obese, and don't have any major illnesses, the risks should be much lower. It's also pretty well documented that the mortality rate from being obese is higher than the surgery, meaning the riskier thing to do is NOT have the surgery. I honestly feel like my bypass surgery probably saved my life. I felt at the time like I had one foot in the grave, but now feel so much better and healthier.

Hello, I just had my gastric bypass surgery on February 12. Is it normal to come home with a 16 lb gain? Is it from all the Iv’s ?

I started at 316 and lost 60 pounds before surgery WHICH I count. So I started losing in June of 2023 and had surgery gastric bypass March 5 2014. I am down to 197. I have a goal of 150, but I havent been that low since I was in my 20s. I'm 69 now. Well, there is a wedding coming up at the end of April and I love the clothes I can wear now. If I were to lose 20 pounds now I feel like I'd be entering the twilight zone. What would I wear? I modified my favorite clothes from 250 to 316( they must have really been tight then) for the wedding. I no longer drive. I'm afraid i guess of weighing what i did 40 years ago. Help.

For everyone that answered, would you have the surgery again knowing everything you know now? I’ve officially scared the living crap out of myself by browsing Reddit threads and coming across some that are pretty much all about friends and loved ones dying from bypass complications or extremely malnourished people with a poor quality of life post-surgery. 😭

I first came to this board in March of 2022. I had my 1st surgery (sleeve) in May 2022. I had my revision to bypass (due to A LOT of complications with the sleeve) in June of 2023. Since then I have been complication free. But I was struggling to maintain my weight. I was put on a diet and exercise regimen to gain and then maintain my weight. Well, my metabolism finally sorted itself out, but I wasn't paying attention. I was supposed to weigh myself once a week to see how things are going. I went 4 weeks without weighing myself. And I was just eating whatever I wanted in hopes I would gain. And boy oh boy, I did gain. I went from 176 to 190 in 5 weeks. That shocked me, because I wanted to get to 180 - 183. Now I have to stop eating willy nilly, get my diet back on track, and focus more on my workouts. I became lax with what I needed to do and I found myself going back to old eating habits. Examples include eating whatever I wanted, even when it went against my diet. Not working out as much as I was supposed to because I was tired or didn't feel like it. Eating when I was bored. Eating something because it's there, not because I was hungry. Grazing all day and night, which was ALWAYS my issue. I'm telling you all this because I've seen so many posts where some of you guys really beat yourself up for messing up. You're afraid you'll undo all your progress. I admit, that has creeped into my mind a bit, but I remind myself that I know what to do and what not to do. I know how to get back on track. And I know how to give myself grace while still holding myself accountable. It's just a matter of doing it. So I'm going to course correct, get back to the proper diet and exercise routine, and really work on my eating habits. Just know that EVERYONE can slip up. It's not the end of the world....even if it feels like it is. Just own up to your mistakes, correct your actions, eat and exercise properly, and it'll all be ok. And with that, I need to go work out. Have a good one, and wish me luck that I get this sorted.

Hi guys I’m having my surgery tomorrow and wondered if anyone had any tips for pain control and liquid control after. I’m concerned about my lack of water intake.

Cheering on all of our post-op posters! I'm only 12 days out from my bypass but already seeing great results. Keep up the good work, everyone! Hi, Poppy Velvet! Thanks for the update. Sounds like you've had some challenges but that you're working through them. My gastric bypass was Jan. 30 so I'm in the earlier stages of adjustment too. Like you, I have a wonderfully supportive husband who cooks and prepares stuff for me. For broth, instead of doing the packaged kind, he made pots of chicken and vegetable beef soup, strained out some broth for me, and would then eat the remaining soup for his meals. The other day he made homemade applesauce (so much better than anything you can get in the store) and then pulverized in the blender so that I could have it. What would we do without these guys? Please keep us posted on your journey!

I’ve done a lot of bypass research and found out so much that I didn’t have a clue about prior to research. Things like the foamies, the constipation, medication absorption, etc. I’m curious to hear about things that surprised you after surgery that your clinical team didn’t tell you and that you might not have come across in your own research beforehand. I want to be as prepared as possible for what’s to come. Give me the good, bad, ugly… all of it.

Okay, so I had reached a BMI of 40 when I got the referral to the surgical team. But with 6 months of nutrition counseling and the 2 week liquid diet, the day of surgery I had a BMI of 36.3. I chose the bypass and I am very happy with it. My weight loss has not been the dramatic numbers you see with larger patients, but it's been stunning to me. I am almost a year out and am currently within 9 pounds of a normal BMI. I have not been this weight in 30 years and I firmly believe no amount of diet and exercise alone would have gotten me here. I would do it again in a heartbeat and wish I had done it earlier. With regards to the bypass itself, I am very pleased with it. I chose it over the sleeve because of GERD concerns and because my brother, who had the sleeve 15 years ago, has had a lot of regain that I think the bypass will help me avoid to some degree. I had some issues with vomiting for the first several months when I didn't eat very slowly or had something that was not the "right" texture for my picky insides. But other than that, I've been great. At this point, I can eat about a third to a half of a typical portion of most meals so I don't feel like I get funny looks or anything from people who don't know my situation. I do not experience dumping, which is sad because it means I can eat sweets if I want them without getting sick. And yes, I do want them, so managing cravings is my biggest challenge. I no longer care much for bread or pasta and I also don't eat rice. I do like a few roasted potatoes sometimes and I will steal a couple fries from someone else's plate but I won't order them for myself. I mostly prefer protein, veg, and fruit. And, yeah, sweets... My labs have all looked good so far (have to go get blood drawn next week ahead of my 1-year follow up). I feel fantastic. My one concern had been not being able to take ibuprofen because I was taking it a few times a week for pain. Well, within weeks of the surgery, even when my weight was still fairly high, my pain went away. I have had one time in the past year when I had a headache and wished I could take ibuprofen (and actually, I could have if I had really needed to because a single ibuprofen, or even one a week, is not a high enough risk to worry about).

Hi, Poppy Velvet! Thanks for the update. Sounds like you've had some challenges but that you're working through them. My gastric bypass was Jan. 30 so I'm in the earlier stages of adjustment too. Like you, I have a wonderfully supportive husband who cooks and prepares stuff for me. For broth, instead of doing the packaged kind, he made pots of chicken and vegetable beef soup, strained out some broth for me, and would then eat the remaining soup for his meals. The other day he made homemade applesauce (so much better than anything you can get in the store) and then pulverized in the blender so that I could have it. What would we do without these guys? Please keep us posted on your journey!

Welcome, BariJoy, and congratulations on a successful surgery! My gastric bypass was Jan. 30, and like yours, mine went well and I'm working hard on my recovery. Best wishes to you, and keep us posted on your progress!

I’m in the UK and having a gastric bypass so not sure if that’s the reason for the different diet.

I had a BMI of 35 but I had a sleeve. I also didn’t have any co morbidities - I knew they were likely ahead of me though. So I’m going to respond more generally using am I glad I had weight loss surgery not a specific surgery. Simply yes, I am. The bulk of must weight came on with menopause and nothing I did shifted it. Or if it did it would be back in a very short period of time. I reached a point where I couldn’t stand it any longer and made an appointment with my doctor for a referral. I was in surgery less than 6 weeks later (benefits of living in Australia with private health). Do I have any issues post surgery? Yes but they’re minor really and I had a quirky tummy before so no real change. I struggle a bit with the foamies but no dumping. I had reflux before but it was managed with dietary choices. Still have it though I take a PPI every day now vs a handful of times a year before & the symptoms are different now. (Best is I don’t get the hideous hiccups I used to get just the regular ones now.) One of the benefits of having surgery is you simply cannot eat the same volume of food. Of course if you are determined you can eat around some of your changed digestive system. But take the time in the initial months after surgery where its benefits are strongest, to learn about things like portion size, nutritional values, etc. and start adopting new behaviours. Reflect on your relationship with food and why you ate and start making changes there too. Seek the help & support of your dietician and a therapist as needed. Many seem to be concerned they won’t lose all the weight they’d like to starting at a lower BMI. I lost all of mine and more. It is important to remember that not everyone loses all the weight they’d like. The surgery (regardless of which you have), changes your body set point that is the weight your body is happy at which often is not the weight you think you’ll be happy at. With bypass it is always best to have a conversation with the doctor who prescribes your meds as bypass does interfere with the absorption of these. It may mean you need to swap some of your meds as @SleeveToBypass2023 mentioned. All the best.

I also take prescription NSAIDS due to significant back issues, so I initially thought I could not go with bypass. However due to the risk of GERD (symptomatic and verified by endoscopy), my doctor did not recommend sleeve. The resolution was to go ahead with the bypass. With my doctor's blessing, I have continued to take the NSAIDS and have been successful because she also prescribed a Proton Pump Inhibitor for me. If you have any history of GERD, it would be best to at the very least have an endoscopy done to make sure you are still a good candidate for the sleeve. I don't know what the overall revision statistics are, but there sure are a lot of folks on here that initially had sleeve and had to get a revision to bypass. Some of those were due to poor results, but a lot seem to have been due to GERD.

I am...now. I had a sleeve in 2022 and had SO many complications and I was miserable. I had a revision to bypass in 2023 and honestly, it's been amazing. I 100% love that I had the revision. I recommend the bypass to everyone. It literally solved all my issues. And I'm so thankful that I got my life back. I take meds for severe anxiety, for MS, and for lupus. The only real issue with meds are extended release with the bypass. But if you can find a way around that then you'll be fine.

This is my first time posting here, but I’ve scoured forums for so many of my questions. I’ve read lots of your stories and have found encouragement and new fears. One demographic of people I haven’t seen much from are those that are at the lower end of the BMI for bariatric surgery. I am 5’6” and at 35 BMI. I juuuust barely qualified for surgery. I will get my surgery date this Wednesday and my fears are at an all time high. I am relatively healthy and qualified based on one comorbidity which is mild sleep apnea. My question is to those who had similar situations as my own. Do you regret getting the bypass, or are you happy you did it? Did you form more problems after the surgery than you had before? Please give me your insight! I know I want the bypass rather than the sleeve due to GERD issues. Like many of you, I’ve struggled with my weight and portion control my entire life. But I am so scared that I’m going to have regrets and it’ll be too late to turn back. Another question I have is for those on antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds. For the first time in my life, my anxiety is well controlled on Prozac and I’m worried that the surgery will completely mess that up. Can I hear your experiences with meds post-op?

I appreciate all the advice and kind words of encouragement. I bounce between the scary feelings I have about eating and being excited to lose weight and be a healthier me to enjoy life with my family as much and as long as I can. I was and am just a little overwhelmed because I initially went to my surgeon about the hernia repair. He informed me of this sleeve-to-bypass revision that would be in my best interest which I was not expecting. Hence, this isn't so much of a weight loss journey for me as it is a quality of life journey, With that being said it brought me back to confronting my unhealthy relationship with food and took me back to a time after my sleeve in 2009 where the smell of food would take me into an anxiety-riddled panic attack. All the byproduct of not taking the appropriate steps in getting my mind right before the procedure since I went to another country for my initial procedure. The hernia repair to me has now taken a back seat to the lifestyle changes needed to move forward with the bypass and everything that entails. This time I hope to do it a little better and taking the appropriate steps to making my lifestyle change more healthily. It's still very early in my journey. I don't have a date yet. Tomorrow is my initial consultation with the registered dietician and nutritional counselor and hopefully I will feel comfortable discussing my fears of failure. Again thank you for the advice I am truly humbled.

Well there is never a 100% guarantee because we are all different but I would say that your response so far makes it very likely that you will be a success story based on my personal experience and the knowledge that I have of others experience who have lost and kept it off vs those who have regained a significant amount. I had my sleeve surgery 3/9/2021 so I have been on these boards since then and I have been going to in person support groups since a couple of months prior to my revision and my personal experience and learned experience is that one of two four things happen to cause regain. 1: the person never really does change what they eat. This is a problem when the anatomical changes control portion of less nutritious foods for a while so they lose some but then as the stomach stretches they can eat more and they regain or they are able to have just a taste of things in the beginning but when appetite comes back that changes (note that some people can have just one bite of a brownie forever but that didn’t work for me so we just have to be mindful of how our body reacts and stop doing it if we can’t stop ourselves at a small portion). 2: the surgery was never a good fit. I know that this was part of problem with the sleeve for me because I never did feel ANY metabolic changes. I still absolutely hated healthy foods that I didn’t like before and I did not have any additional energy or motivation after the surgery. Basically I think for me the surgery was probably like Wegovy would be. The hunger hormones went away for a while and I was able to eat less until that came back. But nothing else changed for me. I never felt a change in energy and I was never about to get start r with exercise and healthy food options did not appeal to me in the slightest. I ate alot of chicken breast and a few veggies that I don’t mind in the beginning but there was no variety so like most diets I couldn’t sustain it when the hunger came back and I wasn’t moving my body to help my physical and mental health to keep it going. 3: This would be a combo of the two which would be where i would actually say that I fell with my sleeve. Because I didn’t like enough of the healthy food even a little bit I started having less ideal foods far more often. I mean i wasn’t eating McDonald’s ever and I wasn’t having poor choices all the time but I would have like a quarter of a frozen pizza or a lean cheeseburger with a roll several nights a week thinking it was okay because calorie wise it wasn’t much worse if that was all ate. The problem was the other macros and the fact that for me they were slippery slope foods and they made me crave more. I wasn’t gaining on that but carbs make me crave carbs so that little devil voice took over and I tested the waters a bit more by having just a few fries or a bit of cake with that but it was way too often and far too early out for me to know my limits. Then, to make matters worse, my mental health issues kicked in where I had not only stopped losing but gained 20 pounds and when I couldn’t reverse it even when I tried my hardest to rein it in (because I was now craving the carbs again bad) i just considered that I was a complete failure and they didn’t say it but i could see it that my friends and family felt that way too and I just slowly just quit trying. This is when the support of people who get it would’ve been sooooooooooo very important. Never been obese people are never going to be able to get it or be able to help. Reach out to your bariatric support if you struggle. Even if your disgusted. They get it and never judge. 4: Some people even though the surgery is a success and they make all the lifestyle changes and everything is working lose sight of their lifelong goal for one reason or another and let bad habits slowly slip back in and they gain. I think this is probate going to be the hardest one for me. To not take my eye off the prize 5 years down the road. But we can do it. I think that staying active in these support groups and checking in with my team is going to be key for me. I am going to ask to have my follow ups a couple times a year even when I’m a ways out just to keep me in check. I know that I am able to gain a lot of weight in a year!! I never did the In person support groups at all after my sleeve and I stopped posting here for a while and didn’t go to my follow up appointments when things were out of control and I needed the help the most. Basically for me the sleeve was just one of my longer and more successful diets that started with the curved appetite and a lot of hope that it would work this time but slowly ended when the hunger came back, bad habits slipped back in, the cravings got unbearable and my all or nothing thinking finally got the best of me. I think I probably would have leveled out somewhere between my starting and my low weight if I had not given up but since I started at a relatively low BMI to begin with that did not seem like a success to me at the time. 89 pounds later I only wished I had been back to that weight though. I learned a lot from the sleeve experience though and I think that knowledge is helping me now. Hopefully, it helps others too. I try to let my experience be a cautionary tale without scaring anyone too much. Anyways, based on your nutrition changes, steady loss and your activity I do not think you are like me with the sleeve or others who I’ve seen who never even tried to eat differently or exercise so I don’t think your surgery was a bad fit at all or that your just expecting the surgery to do all the work. I think that your surgery is doing what it was designed to do for you and so as long as you keep doing your part you should get your where your body needs to be. Just don’t get caught up in a certain number and let your brain get the best of you like I did. That last 10 or 15 pounds may feel like a lot but your already so much healthier and happier that you were before. Keep striving for that goal but don’t let it be the only thing that matters. To me it will be icing on the cake to what is already a success story Your body will have its own idea of what is an ideal size for you and you may have to just accept that it may not be exactly what you have in mind (it could be lower but it could also be a bit higher. It may be a sorry to accept where your body is happy and healthy if you don’t want to be really working hard at this forever. Honestly, I imagine we will have to work at it for the rest of our lives to some degree. By that I mean that we will probably never have it as easy as someone who has never been obese. You are doing so incredibly well, though, making actual lifestyle changes and I have listened to anyone who is willing to share whether they were successful or not and that seems to be the biggest piece of advice. This is not a diet it is a lifestyle. Your surgery is working for you and you are working hard for you as well. Those two things are key to this journey long term. Just keep it up and I really believe you will reach all of your goals. ❤️

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! I really appreciate it. 💕 I completely agree that what we fuel our bodies with makes a huge difference in how we feel. And I know I’ll always feel better when I’m making balanced choices. I also get that we’re still early out, and I definitely don’t want to get too relaxed either—I still have more to lose! But my main question isn’t really about regain—it’s more about will I 100% lose ALL the weight I need to? Like, I WILL do my part, I AM doing my part, but of course, there are ups and downs. My friend’s point was that bypass guarantees weight loss as long as you follow the process. I just want to know if that’s true—that no matter what, I will definitely lose the weight and reach my goal as long as I stay on track. Because while I understand regain is a separate issue, my panic is more about knowing that I will actually get to where I want to be. Do you think that’s the case? That as long as I keep working at it, it will 100% happen? That’s what I really need reassurance on. 😭