Any Endoscopic Sleevers out there - looking for a buddy and/or mentor :)

[ma08 7]

Good morning all,

I will be having the Endoscopic Sleeve late September and would love to have a buddy and/or mentor for this procedure and next step in my life. This is a relatively newer procedure therefore fewer comments/experiences on the forum. It would be amazing to be able to share it with someone who is going through this as well or who has already gone through it.

Thank you!

[EW11211 42]

Hi, how did it go? I am having this procedure this week.

[ma08 7]

Hi there,

I ended up having it at the end of March so i'm only a few months out now. It was different than i expected. The procedure itself was quite easy and I had a quick recovery. I was more affected by the lack of energy the first week or so because of so little food than the procedure itself so a positive reaction.

I've lost about 8kg in total - much less than i was expecting as i'm sure you can imagine. I was expecting it to similar to the gastric sleeve in terms of restriction etc but i have found i am able to eat much larger quantities than i expected - not so much as to be super full but not as small as the gastric sleeve by any means.

I have also found the hunger pains are more like stomach cramping - which i can deal with - but it is a different sensation for sure.

For me, i think my expectations were about that of the sleeve which it is not. I also didn't feel as though i had much support from my doctor as he was new at doing this procedure. I would have liked to speak with other people who had had the procedure for example or hear from their experiences.

That being said, i do have some restriction in quantity compared to before. When i eat with other people, there is no way they can tell - i just get fuller a bit quicker - i eat about 75% of what i did before. In other words it's less but not a lot less.

I have also felt more cramping when i eat meat or chicken so i am opting for more vegetarian choices - not a big deal but perhaps worth mentioning. I also don't get cramping with things like bread which is of course more carbohydrate than meat or Proteins which is not ideal - it is just softer on my stomach to digest.

If asked i would do it again and i heard that it is only supposed to last 2 years so i would do it again in 2 years (with another doctor and hopefully at a lower price).

If you have any other questions, i would be happy to answer! Best of luck to you!

[EW11211 42]

Hi, thanks for the info, studies show that in Enddscopic sleeve the weight loss is much lower than the sleeve, but 8Kg is quite low. Did you follow up with the doctor? Are you still loosing weight? Where was it done? Is there a possibility that it stretched or it wasn't tight to begin with?

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

@ma08

Thanks for sharing. I haven't read too much about your procedure but nothing I read said it only lasted 2 years. Also most of the things I saw said the restriction was similiar to the sleeve. I am surprised yours is so low.

Again thanks for sharing, you will help other people.

[ma08 7]

On 7/6/2017 at 6:41 PM, EW11211 said:

Hi, thanks for the info, studies show that in Enddscopic sleeve the weight loss is much lower than the sleeve, but 8Kg is quite low. Did you follow up with the doctor? Are you still loosing weight? Where was it done? Is there a possibility that it stretched or it wasn't tight to begin with?

Hi there,

Yes i tried to follow up with the doctor but he didn't listen to my concerns as i was hoping. He basically said "you need to see a psychologist" in a condescending tone (as an aside I have been seeing one as well as a nutritionist and i have a personal trainer - the feelings i felt were more physical than anything). I was not impressed. I ended up having a barium swallow initiated by myself because of my concerns which showed a lot less restriction than should be. I have tried to communicate with him but to no avail. I will try one more time and after that leave it be.

I may have stretched it a bit as i was/am still learning the size however never to excess - i have been following instructions. I have a hard time believing i could have stretched it that much in such little time while following the guidelines. I think it may not have been as tight as it could have been initially.

No i haven't lost weight in quite some time. I am eating well and exercising and working on me. I will be moving long distance for work shortly so this is my current consideration. If more comes off, great. If not, I will reconsider in a couple of years with a different doctor.

[ma08 7]

On 7/7/2017 at 1:26 AM, OutsideMatchInside said:

@ma08

Thanks for sharing. I haven't read too much about your procedure but nothing I read said it only lasted 2 years. Also most of the things I saw said the restriction was similiar to the sleeve. I am surprised yours is so low.

Again thanks for sharing, you will help other people.

Thank you - your post means a lot