I have read so many wonderful success stories on this and other web sights and I definitely hope I will be successful myself! But I was wondering if there are people out there who have been sleeved longer than six months that are disappointed with their outcomes so far? Are there people out there that feel as if the sleeve has not helped them in the way they thought it should?

If it isn't working' date=' then you aren't even trying.[/quote']

Isn't this just the honest TRUTH!!!!

No, it is not at all the truth. With our bodies being different and weight loss being different, it is not a matter of not working but a matter of the rate it is working.

Almost two years post op here....and I have not been the best on eating or exercise. I do some exercise when I feel up to it...and for the most part I eat way healthier then I used to. As fas as restriction...I still have very little room and fill up really quickly. I have lost more weight then I could have imagined. I am not the weight that I originally wanted to get down to, but I am in a size 10 now, and after I have my tummy tuck ( coming in September) I am sure that I will be in single digits. I feel wonderful, and everyone tells me I look really healthy. I really couldn't be happier with my results! Good luck to everyone out there!

No' date=' it is not at all the truth. With our bodies being different and weight loss being different, it is not a matter of not working but a matter of the rate it is working.[/quote']

I completely agree!!

Well said Cheri!!!

I keep seeing those same words repeated in different ways, "You're not trying," or "You're deliberately failing," or "You're just not sticking to the right diet."

Do you know what this surgery does? ONE guaranteed thing - that's all: It removes 85% of your stomach. That means that temporarily, you can hardly eat. It means that in the long term, your capacity for dense protein is roughly a cup.

Here is the long list of what this surgery does NOT do, and what it will not help you address:

You will not feel better about yourself due to surgery

You will not stop loving food (not forever, perhaps temporarily)

You will not lose whatever food addiction made you fat

You will not instantaneously love exercise

You will not always make the right food choices

Whoever you are - whoever the real you is, under years of obesity, whatever issues you have - all of that? It's going to be there post op. It's going to be your job to shed as much of that as you can while shedding weight at the same time. And this surgery may not even remove your hunger. So you might have a tiny stomach, but still feel hungry all the time.

It's gotten to the point where these very flippant posts are starting to offend me. If you're less than six months out from surgery, let me tell you that you will eat your words about how easy this all is.

We do not have to support or validate poor choices here and I'm the first to jump in line and tell a person the lay of the land. But at the same time, making sweeping judgments of the success of other individuals is not only unfair, it discourages and disheartens people who need help the most. Because guess what?

This surgery is NOT going to be your magic cure all, and I say that as a woman in maintenance, staying near goal and more than a hundred pounds lighter than I was three years ago. I promise that I know what I'm talking about.

~Cheri

I keep seeing those same words repeated in different ways, "You're not trying," or "You're deliberately failing," or "You're just not sticking to the right diet."

Do you know what this surgery does? ONE guaranteed thing - that's all: It removes 85% of your stomach. That means that temporarily, you can hardly eat. It means that in the long term, your capacity for dense protein is roughly a cup.

Here is the long list of what this surgery does NOT do, and what it will not help you address:

You will not feel better about yourself due to surgery

You will not stop loving food (not forever, perhaps temporarily)

You will not lose whatever food addiction made you fat

You will not instantaneously love exercise

You will not always make the right food choices

Whoever you are - whoever the real you is, under years of obesity, whatever issues you have all of that? It's going to be there post op. It's going to be your job to shed as much of that as you can while shedding weight at the same time. And this surgery may not even remove your hunger. So you might have a tiny stomach, but still feel hungry all the time.

It's gotten to the point where these very flippant posts are starting to offend me. If you're less than six months out from surgery, let me tell you that you will eat your words about how easy this all is.

We do not have to support or validate poor choices here and I'm the first to jump in line and tell a person the lay of the land. But at the same time, making sweeping judgments of the success of other individuals is not only unfair, it discourages and disheartens people who need help the most. Because guess what?

This surgery is NOT going to be your magic cure all, and I say that as a woman in maintenance, staying near goal and more than a hundred pounds lighter than I was three years ago. I promise that I know what I'm talking about.

~Cheri

Very well-said, Cheri. People can only speak to their own experiences, not others'. I truly believe that all else being equal (starting weight, exercise, calories, water, protein), people will experience dramatically different weight losses--even early on. Everyone is different. Just because weight loss is easier for one person and more difficult for another does not mean that the person who is losing more easily is working harder or that the person who is struggling isn't trying. Yes, if there are things to be tweaked, we should all tweak--but don't judge unless you've walked in someone else's shoes.

I disagree, I am almost 6 months out and haven't lost in 2 months. I eat everything I should, watch everything I eat. Sometimes it takes other factors to figure out how to lose the weight. I am learning what isn't working and hope to find what will. I am trying my hardest and have not had the success others have had.

Every body has a way of losing weight, while I love my sleeve, I'm never hungry and I've lost some weight, it isn't a quick fix and automatically works for everyone.

Trying does not automatically = success. It's important to not give up which I refuse to do!

If you're not hungry, the sleeve is working. The sleeve is a tool of restriction - that's it. It's not a cure for obesity.

It's easy to say the sleeve 100% works and if it doesn't you're not trying the first 6 months. Like Cheri said, the surgery only removes most of your stomach and only one area that produces ghrelin. Other organs produce ghrelin and other hormones cause hunger. Leptin for example,is stored in your fat cells, as your fat cells shrink, the scream, "Hey! I'm starving here!" Leptin is released and tells your brain to eat!

The doesn't fix metabolic issues. So many people go into this thinking it's a permanent fix without having to try. There are many factors as to why it may not work permanently. It's forced restriction,that's it. It's doesn't magically cure all ailments. Nor does it magically take your cravings for fried chicken away. Those who truly don't feel hunger after 6 months to a year are truly blessed but I don't think it's the norm.

It's easy to say the sleeve 100% works and if it doesn't you're not trying the first 6 months. Like Cheri said, the surgery only removes most of your stomach and only one area that produces ghrelin. Other organs produce ghrelin and other hormones cause hunger. Leptin for example,is stored in your fat cells, as your fat cells shrink, the scream, "Hey! I'm starving here!" Leptin is released and tells your brain to eat!

The doesn't fix metabolic issues. So many people go into this thinking it's a permanent fix without having to try. There are many factors as to why it may not work permanently. It's forced restriction,that's it. It's doesn't magically cure all ailments. Nor does it magically take your cravings for fried chicken away. Those who truly don't feel hunger after 6 months to a year are truly blessed but I don't think it's the norm.

I'm 5 months out and I have continued to feel hunger from the beginning. It's not "head hunger"--it is a physiological feeling that my body needs food. It is different than a craving for a specific food. It's not unbearable but I never had unbearable hunger cravings before surgery, either. I would sometimes forget to eat until the afternoon (which of course is a bad habit) pre surgery. I am wondering if I might have had less ghrelin than normal presurgery and that is why I haven't had a dramatic difference postsurgery. I am still losing, slowly but surely, for which I am grateful. I am hypothyroid and have never lost weight quickly or easily, so I sort of expected that the pounds wouldn't fly off. It's ok, bc I'm going in the right direction. But sometimes I see people who aren't really exercising and aren't as diligent about their diets as I am, and they are losing much more quickly. Assuming they are reporting in accurately, some of it has to have a physiological basis that varies by individual.

I believe some people just have faster metabolisms than others. Maybe they were over weight because they just simply ate to much, now that the food is greatly restricted they are losing super fast. I follow what I am supposed to eat to a T. I still get hunger pains,I still have cravings. I lost 37lbs in almost 4 months, 5 was post op. I have stalled for 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. This is not easy, yes easier because I get full faster so I cannot over eat but I still have to work at this everyday and I know I always will. Congrats to you who can lose 100lbs in 6 months, but not everyone is wired the same and are trying just as hard as you, or maybe even harder. This website is here for support to everyone and their struggles, it is not all about you, so learn to be supportive. People who say things like , if it is not working then you are not trying are no different what so ever than the people who judge that do not have a weight problem. I am however very happy that I had the sleeve! I know I would still be that 37lbs heavier and maybe even more if I had not. Good luck to all and don't give up.

Wait, I lost 2 more lbs, so 39 lost

This all comes down to what you expect from the surgery. It does not fix anything but the size of your stomach. In that regard, I think it is impossible for the sleeve to " not work". This is about reasonable expectations. The only thing for sure that will come from getting the VSG is the reduction in the size of your stomach. It does not cure your emotional eating, hormone imbalances, cravings, etc. Just because you are not losing weight as quickly as you'd like to does not mean the sleeve has failed. The sleeve is a tool I have been given to use for the rest of my life - in my mind, IT cannot fail, *I* can fail to use IT. I can also have other issues which prevent me from losing weight at quickly as I would like - but that does NOT mean that the sleeve has failed, it simply means I have other things going on besides the previous lack of restriction.

Not every sleeve is cut the same size!! My doctor admitted to cutting my sleeve large after the surgery. I am a bit disappointed by that! For me the sleeve is a bit defective . I am trying to take advantage of the lack of hunger I feel but I have very little restriction to the quantity of food I can eat! So disappointing. Everyone's Story is different. Every doctor is different. There is room for error in these surgeries so we should never judge or compare others weight-loss with our own. Just because you can only eat a little doesn't mean someone else can only eat a little. So please don't equate someone's slow weight loss to a lack of trying. Everyone' experience is different. I know mine has been like no one else's. I wouldn't want anyone to judge me and say I am not trying! I am trying probably harder than most!

I am just over a year post op. I love my sleeve and believe it is the best decision I have ever made for my health and quality of life. That being said, I am still a food addict. I love food. I think about it way more often than I should. I still feel hunger if I don't eat every 3 hours (which I try not to do). I still have cravings. When I was preparing for the surgery I thought "once I have the sleeve, my battle with food will be over, I can live my life not controlled by the constant thought of food." I was wrong. I have now come to accept that everyday I will face my battle and have to choose if I will eat for my health or eat for my pleasure.

Probably from March through June I made pretty poor food choices on a daily basis, my weightloss stalled, I fluctuated in a 5 pound range for those months. I can eat a lot of calories if I am not careful. I can easily eat 2000+ in a day if I am not following the sleeve guidelines. Unfortunately I now know that I can eat anything without discomfort or trouble-bread, rice, Pasta, cake, tortillas...you name it, my sleeve accepts it.

Getting back on track is much easier with the sleeve, at least from my experience. If I can exercise three days of discipline, my eating shapes up pretty well and the sleeve guidelines become easier to follow. I think I would still like to lose about 20lbs, and I know that I will have to work for each and every one of those. I will also have to work to maintain my loss. But with the sleeve I know I have a tool that makes that work possible, that it is not a hopeless battle I face.