Can you stretch out/damage your sleeve?

[breezy25 69]

I just wondered. I said something to my surgeon about worrying that my stomach would stretch over time and he said it doesn't stretch that something happens to the nerves and you no longer feel restriction. The day I met with him I was anxious and I can't remember exactly what he said.

Let's say one day down the road after I'm sleeved I eat too much - will my sleeve stretch and the staple line become thinner or compromised? Does anyone know? I get worried I won't know when I'm full (like longer term) and I'll overeat and hurt it.

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

If it is done properly in the first place no. A sleeve that isn't formed right and too much of the stretchy part is left can stretch more than others but it will never get close to normal size. The staple line they make is 3 rows of titanium staples. Some people do have leaks and develop complications but that is rare.

You can however eat around your sleeve. There are food that break down very easily and are high calorie, called slider foods. You can eat a lot of these items. You will find on forums a lot of people eat these kinds of foods and complain about not having restriction but some things will never trigger your restriction, thus they are called slider foods.

[breezy25 69]

Oh that's interesting. What would a slider food be? Something like potato chips?

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[Babbs 14,680]

Here. Watch this:

[Christinamo7 4,041]

what *can* happen is you can learn to eat around it, if food issues remain unresolved.

but the good news is that if you fall off the wagon, you can always come back to following the rules and back on track.

[Careysgirl 20]

Great video very informative!

[breezy25 69]

Thank you for that video @@Babbs

I do wonder if my surgeons office is setting me up for failure. They want you to eat 500 calories and 15g or less of carbs until you meet your weight loss goal.

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

That doesn't seem like a good nutritional goal. You can't even get enough Protein from 500 calories

[wwboy 141]

Thank you for that video @@Babbs

I do wonder if my surgeons office is setting me up for failure. They want you to eat 500 calories and 15g or less of carbs until you meet your weight loss goal.

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All offices are different. But that would feel impossible for me honestly. I'm supposed to stay under 1200 calories, eat Proteins first in my meals, and try to get ~100g of Protein per day plus Water. I have a hard time with the calories as it is - many days I'm pushing 1600. I'm only about 3 months out right now. I definitely can only eat so much. But by eating little bits all day long, it's easy to over eat even by prior standards.

[breezy25 69]

I also was shocked. I will prob do what feels best for me. I will focus on getting my required 60g of Protein and 64 oz of Water and keep my carbs under 50g a day. I'm not too awfully concerned about the calories at this point. I will track my food in myfitnesspal so I'm aware. But 500 calories is nothing.

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[JupiterinVirgo 846]

The short answer is no. Your sleeve should never become any bigger than two thirds the size of a normal stomach. That is not based on your individual habits.

Dr. Weiner has some great videos for bariatric patients. He discusses many of the myths perpetuated by other surgeons. Not only is he a bariatric surgeon, but he is the first sane voice I have heard post surgery about long-term weight loss and Maintenence.