Hello,

I got my lap band about 9 years ago. I lost some weight at first but after 2 kids, it doesn't seem to work anymore. I am thinking about getting the sleeve and I know a few years ago many people were switching from band to sleeve, so I was curious if anyone had done that and had some insight. Do they remove the band when you switch to sleeve? How different is it? Any info you have will help.

Thanks!

I converted from the band to the sleeve about 4 weeks ago. I am still too new to give much insight but I can say it already does feel different. I always had a constant pressure and tightness feeling in my chest and that is completely gone. For me, they were able to remove my band (I was 10 years out) and convert in the same surgery. So far, so good!

3 minutes ago, NewBeginnings2018 said:

I converted from the band to the sleeve about 4 weeks ago. I am still too new to give much insight but I can say it already does feel different. I always had a constant pressure and tightness feeling in my chest and that is completely gone. For me, they were able to remove my band (I was 10 years out) and convert in the same surgery. So far, so good!

That is great to hear. How is eating different? I see that you still can't drink water while eating (bummer) but is the eating similar? Bigger/smaller portions, etc? Do you end up throwing up at all? I always had issues getting stuck if I was at my proper restriction.

I am scheduled to have my band removed and a sleeve done on Feb. 19. I had the band for 8 years and it malfunctioned.

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I 'll let you know in a few weeks.

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15 hours ago, janellody said:

That is great to hear. How is eating different? I see that you still can't drink Water while eating (bummer) but is the eating similar? Bigger/smaller portions, etc? Do you end up throwing up at all? I always had issues getting stuck if I was at my proper restriction.

I'm still on pureed foods (transition to adding in foods tomorrow - whohoo!) so I can't really comment yet. I have not thrown up, but have not pushed any boundaries and have followed the rules. I haven't gotten "stuck" at all but again, not much to get stuck on with purees. I am definitely less hungry but I still do feel hunger.

I got the band in 2008 and lost 101 lbs. I started getting the slippage in 2015/2016. Late 2016 my surgeon told me the band needed to come out and it really wasn't being used anymore and recommended the sleeve. Worst mistake i ever made. During the healing process, i lost about 20 lbs but once that was done, i started gaining and i have now gained back about half of what i lost with the band. It's all fine and well to say "follow the diet" but the sleeve gave me no restriction and i can eat only slightly less that i could with a whole stomach. If all there was to it was dieting, you wouldn't need the help of surgery. I'm going to see a new surgeon at the end of the month to see if a band can be put back on.

19 minutes ago, krash11 said:

I got the band in 2008 and lost 101 lbs. I started getting the slippage in 2015/2016. Late 2016 my surgeon told me the band needed to come out and it really wasn't being used anymore and recommended the sleeve. Worst mistake i ever made. During the healing process, i lost about 20 lbs but once that was done, i started gaining and i have now gained back about half of what i lost with the band. It's all fine and well to say "follow the diet" but the sleeve gave me no restriction and i can eat only slightly less that i could with a whole stomach. If all there was to it was dieting, you wouldn't need the help of surgery. I'm going to see a new surgeon at the end of the month to see if a band can be put back on.

Have you checked to see if the sleeve was done correctly or if there is somethig wrong? From what I can tell you should have way more restriction than that. I am so sorry it hasn't worked out for you!

I didn't even think of having it looked at, i just figured it wasn't right for me. Hopefully the new surgeon will look at that. Thanks