Hello All,

I am looking for insight about gastric sleeve after having a lapband. I had my lapband surgery in March 2008 and lost 95 pounds over a two year period of time.

My lapband began to fail in 2012, meaning fills did make me feel full and there were side effects of having fill that was too tight that impacted the digestion of food. After gaining 85 pounds back and after years of after struggling with weight maintenance, fills and “unfills”, I chose to have the band removed in Dec. 2015 thinking that I would be able to maintain on my own. WRONG ANSWER! Simply stated, I thought that if my BP, cholesterol, and glucose level were in a normal range, then maybe God intended for me to be a “health obese” person. WRONG ANSWER AGAIN!!! Since having my lapband removed in Dec. 2015, I have gained 25 pounds with with moderate exercise three times per week and my BP is now in a pre-hypertensive state (128-133/88). I have an appointment with my surgeon scheduled on next Wednesday and an appointment with the psychologist for psychiatric evaluation scheduled on Monday, April 18 and I would greatly appreciate any insight from anyone who has gone through a band-to-sleeve conversion and would care to offer me insight and guidance. I am fearful for having a gastric by-pass, due to the risk involved, the horror stories I have heard about the dumping syndrome, and the need to take several Vitamins each day. Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide about your experience, complications, recovery, and successes.

#WantToBeFit

Just a heads-up. You will need to take several Vitamins every day with sleeve as well. You won't be able to physically eat enough food to get in all of the nutrients you need. Sleeve doesn't have the issues with malabsorption that bypass has, but the restriction and emphasis on Protein first means you won't be eating as many fruits and vegetables as are required for proper nutrition. You will likely be on a multi-Vitamin, B12, and Calcium for life. Also, possibly Iron. And my nutritionist also recommended a probiotic every day.

Can't help you with info on revision, since I was never banded, but there are a lot of others on these forums that have been revised from band to sleeve, so hopefully they can help!

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. This was very helpful. I am not excited about not being able to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but I understand the concept behind this.

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. This was very helpful. I am not excited about not being able to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but I understand the concept behind this.

You will eventually get to eat some fruits and veggies, but likely only a few bites at a time. Not the 5 full servings per day that are recommended for most adults.

FYI, I do aim for five fruits / veggies a day. Don't always make it. But some days I do.

Also FYI ... I'm nearly 20 months post-op.

(I have a sleeve, have lost 100 pounds, and am maintaining at 135 pounds.)

FYI, I do aim for five fruits / veggies a day. Don't always make it. But some days I do.

Also FYI ... I'm nearly 20 months post-op.

(I have a sleeve, have lost 100 pounds, and am maintaining at 135 pounds.)

How do you manage it? A serving is half a cup or one small fruit. If I ate that much, I'd have no room for Protein. For me it would be a half cup of veggies OR 3-4 ounce of meat, not both. Unless I ate 10 times a day so I was eating veggies/fruit at half my meals and meat/protein for the other half, I don't think I could manage. At best I think I could do maybe 2 full servings of fruits or veggies a day and still get my protein in.