I'm really hoping that long term, the sleeve is a better option than the old bypass. I have several acquaintances who lost tons of weight with bypass, and then a few years later, all of them weighed more than presurgery. Most said that the pouch stretched to the point that they no longer had any restriction. I'm hoping I won't see that sort of stretch with the sleeve.

Do any of you veterans out there still have restriction years after the sleeve?

I'm not a veteran but the problem with the bypass isn't that the actual pouch stretches as much as it is with the connection from the pouch to the intestine.. that connection stretches out and then the intestine becomes like a large holding tank sometimes as large as the original stomach! With VSG, the connection with the stomach and intestine is not changed so it still acts as a "traffic light" keeping food in the stomach for the appropriate amount of time.

Here's a great video that talks about sleeve stretching and how it compares a bit with bypass. Hope it's helpful

Thanks!