I saw my surgeon's nurse this week for a 5 month follow up. She told me the effects of the sleeve lasts only 9 months. WTH??

Would my insurance really pay thousands for such a short term solution??

I get that a lot depends on my new, healthier habits, but does the help from the sleeve really go away that quickly?

Hope I can get some clarification from all of you...

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For most people the sleeve does stretch/relax some and you do get some return of hunger. There is no exact date for it though, and it's not like everything completely vanishes! I can eat what I consider "small normal" meals -- 3 ounces of dense protein and a couple ounces of veggies. That's twice as much as I could eat at, say 6 months out (I am 3+ years out now). I do get a lot hungrier than I did at 6 months, but again, nothing like pre-op, where I often felt out of control with respect to food.

It really does matter a lot that you adopt good habits and commit to them to life. A year out, most people can eat large quantities of slider foods such as chips and cookies. And the more you eat, the more you want, and the hungrier you get. So yes, it does get to the point where it takes work. Real work! But continued healthy eating is possible, where before the operation it was not possible (on a long term basis) for me. Good luck!

Early on I could only eat max 1/4 cup of food. Around 10 months post-op I could suddenly eat 1/2 cup. Whoa! I doubled my intake. It was scary at first but I realized the importance of eating Protein first always. As @@Bufflehead said, it is easy to eat massive quantities of empty carbs. I have no restriction with chips/crackers so I stay far away from them.

HW 290+/SW 261/GW 160/CW 159

I don't think a sleeve ever "expires". But, it does change over time, and that's variable from one person to the next. I'm 4 years post op this month. I have to work really hard to maintain my weight. And if I don't watch every bite, and go even slightly off track, I gain. I can eat quite a bit at one time, even dense Protein. I didn't cause my sleeve to stretch, that's just the way it is. I think it was a bigger from the beginning.

Anyway, even with all that, I still have restriction. I do get hungry now, but still nothing like before surgery. Obesity is a chronic disease that I have to manage with diet and exercise. No magic pill or surgery fixes it. WLS did give me a huge boost and helped me get my weight to a healthy range, and the immediate post op year taught me how to lose weight, but now it's all up to me.

I'm WAY better off now than I was 4 years ago.

I had my sleeve 2 yrs ago and my weight been same for over a year lost 93 pnds in 1 yr since then my weight its 116...so I think depends how much food you eat cuz my husband cousin git sleeve a yr ago and she keeps same habits and her weight still overweight ...

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@@judy vsg

I'm two and a half years out. My sleeve has not gone away. I still use it as a tool. I put in the work of choosing healthy habits.

The further out from surgery, you will be able to eat more. I can eat 4oz of chicken. Less dense foods like salad I can eat a cup. I still have restriction. Its not the same as the first stages of surgery. But its still working.

I'm more than six years out. My sleeve is the same size it was a year out.

I've had a child (got pregnant two years post op) and I lost weight past my goal in my fifth year post op. The sleeve does not expire. I still have a huge amount of restriction.

For example, we had our rare junk food dinner last night and all I could eat was one taco. I'm still not hungry and I'm easily maintaining between 114-118 pounds when I started at 242 on surgery day.

The sleeve works. Don't panic, or listen to people that don't have one.

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Thank you for those encouraging comments..I was starting to get a little worried and i am only 5 weeks out. I hear a lot of stories..good and bad..so this question and answers was one I hadn't run across but good for the soul ... Great job on your success stories ladies...LOVE to hear it!!!!!!

3 1/2 years out here. My sleeve is just as restrictive as it was at nine months out. Slider foods don't slide with me, dense Protein overfills me, and it's rare that I can eat more than a half a cup at a sitting.

I'm no longer desperately hungry like I used to be all the time. For me, that's the best benefit.

@@judy vsg

I am 9 months post op, and for Myself, I noticed that my hunger returned after 6-7 months.

It was a shock, however I still have the restriction and can have 1/2 cup dense Proteins with more non-starchy vegetables.

My stomach completely healed after 6 months (most do), and this was a sign that my stomach was healed from a "baby" stomach to an "adult" stomach.

I can now eat food that I couldn't before, and some slider foods/junk don't have a violent reaction for me.

I can also eat chocolate now, which in the past made me very ill.

So, as mentioned above, the restriction is still there, just need to watch what I eat, and if I indulge in a slider, I then step up my proteins, Water and exercise, and don't touch the sliders.

I also went back to my PPI (I was supposed to be on it for 12 months post op, had terrible reflux) that I weaned myself off it after 6 months.

I was told re: Silent Reflux, and I had the symptoms of it, such as unusual large hunger and some acid burning.

I take my Nexium every 2nd day these days, and it is helping me.

I still have to pay attention to my thyroid issues, as some of my Thyroxine dosage changes affected my hunger levels.

I am still shrinking even though my scales have not moved much lately, my rings, my clothes show me that I am still losing inches.

Good eating habits are very important, and it is a life-long commitment after the sleeve.

I have to watch sugary carbs and stay away from them.

So, the sleeve still works, just the stomach fully heals, the nerve endings and other trauma to the stomach heals, and with it hunger can return, as well as bad food choices may not elicit a violent reaction anymore.

Hence, another stage begins, the hard work of sticking to the correct food choices and sizes.

I can now also drink a half 1.5L bottle of water in one go, can easily guzzle it these days.

I didn't think the sleeve "expires" but in some cases the persons commitment to their partnership with it does.

To keep my weight at 280 I was eating over 3,000 calories a day. I am uncomfortably overfill if I eat 4oz. Even if my sleeve ends up being twice the same size it is now it that about 6-8 oz. I know I will have to monitor what I eat and never have liquids with my meals forever but I really believe that the sleeve PLUS the other skills I acquired pre op will serve me for as long as I do my part.

A word about bariatric surgeons. At my pre surgery visit my surgeon used a formula to calculate my expected weight loss.

She told me at the AVERAGE weight loss of someone of my weight at my age was 40 pounds in the first six months and 40 pounds in the next 12 months. Initially I was upset because if I lost 80 pounds I would still be considered obese.

But she also explained that it's an average. If I wanted to do better I had to be willing to work.

My current "goal weight" is 180 lbs. Realistic, but far lower that "average" My timeline is 10months.

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That's inspiring... I started at 242 and I would love to get to 150 so you give me hope.

I'm more than six years out. My sleeve is the same size it was a year out.

I've had a child (got pregnant two years post op) and I lost weight past my goal in my fifth year post op. The sleeve does not expire. I still have a huge amount of restriction.

For example, we had our rare junk food dinner last night and all I could eat was one taco. I'm still not hungry and I'm easily maintaining between 114-118 pounds when I started at 242 on surgery day.

The sleeve works. Don't panic, or listen to people that don't have one.

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it does not expire or stretch. I am 10 months out - and while you can get bored and stray from the diet - and those are long term issues for anyone - the effect of the sleeve keeps me in line. I just can not eat a lot of food, especially if I am good about keeping up with my dense Proteins. the struggle for me long term is to not eat when I am not supposed to - but I am not hungry a lot of the time, and need to find other ways to keep my mind and hands busy.

@@judy vsg

It is true and false. The first 6-9 months, your sleeve is going to do most of the work for your weight loss. After you are fully healed and get to know your sleeve, as far as what you can and can't eat and how you can eat around it if you want to. The rest is on you.

I know that pizza toppings are a slider for me. A lot of people post here that they eat the toppings off 2 slices of pizza and are full. I could probably eat the toppings off a large pizza and not feel restriction once. So I don't eat the toppings off of pizza. It is pointless.

I eat dense, Protein. Dense protein works with my sleeve, not against it.

If all I ate were things that are sliders, I would be working against my sleeve.

The key to having your sleeve work for you and keep working for you long term is to FOLLOW YOUR DOCTOR ORDERED POST OP DIET. DO NOT ADVANCE YOUR STAGES. DO NOT INTRODUCE CARBS EARLY ON. LEARN TO LOVE DENSE PROTEIN AND GREEN VEGETABLES.

If people really follow their plan, in 6-9 months you totally change your attitude towards food, and your tastes. You make a real change that lasts, You have the restrictive support of your sleeve and the weight loss to motivate you. The sleeve is just a way to jump start a healthy lifestyle. The problem is most people don't embrace that and treat their weight loss surgery like a new diet, not a new life.

If you treat it like a new life, there is no limit to the success and how long you can be successful. Treat it like a diet and it will fail like every other diet.

Also unless I go 16 or 24 hours without eating AND drinking, I am never hungry. I have to remind myself to eat and I eat on a schedule and track my food to make sure I get enough calories in. So the grehlin removal has worked very well for me.

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by OutsideMatchInside

I am seven months post op and my restriction is still there. Just as other people have said here, I could eat carbs that turn to liquid and things like chocolate though. I can also drink most things now. So I could easily take in too many calories and gain weight.

I get a strange hungry type feeling but it's not like before surgery. I usually drink Water then take whatever antacid, PPI etc that I am due to check if it is true hunger.

My head still wants things that my body just won't tolerate like pizza, burgers, fries and other old favourites. I also don't drink alcohol.

But I won't ever eat any of that. Protein first for me, my water, meds and supplements then veg. I try to eat fruit occasionally too.

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Thank you all for your responses! You gave me so much real information... I appreciate it. What I'm hearing is that the restriction does stay on some level, but it's easy to eat around it. Therefore, my new eating and exercise habits are super important.

I worked out at the gym 5 days this week... Applause, anyone?

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