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Does anyone regret getting the sleeve?



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Two weeks after surgery I thought oh my goodness what did I just do. 4 weeks later now BEST THING I EVER DID

I wont lie, its hard work and each day isn't always sunshine and roses, BUT stay with it, do exactly what they tell you and before you know it you will feel so much better and its in a way you never felt before. Not feeling constantly hungry , not craving carbs or sweets and coming off 90% of my medication only 1 month after was my biggest victory.

Best of Health to you, no pun intended but if you gut is telling you go for it..........then listen to your gut :D

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I am 3 weeks and 2 days post op and I do not have a single regret and like many others wished I would have done this sooner. The last 2 years of my life have the worst in terms of feeling like crap, wheezing and shortness of breath and severe lower back pain. Not going to sugar coat it, the first 3 days after surgery were tough but if you do exactly what you are told things get better quickly.

I now feel great!! Off ALL of my asthma medications (2 daily inhaled meds and 1 pill as well as a rescue inhaler), no back pain whatsoever, able to walk a brisk mile every morning and feeling so good It is honestly hard for me to believe.

I am very lucky to have a wonderful husband and great friends cheering me on. I am enjoying my pureed food (3 more weeks) and am already planning my diet once solid foods are allowed.

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25 months post op and NO Regrets at all. I work hard with my Registered Dietitian and I still see her every month or two to fine tune my diet. I am constantly reading and learning about nutrition. I love to eat and I spend more $ on food because I can eat more and I buy higher quality foods when I can find them, like pastured organic dairy and meat as well as some specialty items for smoothies, like chia seeds, Probiotics, liquid b-complex and organic fruits. I also love fresh seafood. I have learned that a healthy diet is not necessarily the same thing as a weight loss diet. My diet is great, but haven't lost more since 10 months post op. I have gained 5/6 and stay there. My blood work numbers are very good and I consciously try to make my meals very nutrient rich with an emphasis on plant based and healthy fats with a good quality Protein. No longer being addicted to sugar is a very freeing experience that makes me happy every time I see processed sugar and don't have the physical reaction I used to have. I can take it or leave it now. So 95% of the time I leave it. I love to cook including experimental dishes.

Make no mistake, it takes work. Once the magic wears off, you will have to fall back on what you have learned about nutrition to keep the weight off or loose more, which is extremely difficult. But, better health, better quality of life, more choices in life. So, so, worth it.

Edited by IveGotThePower

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I am almost 4 months postop and have lost 45lbs. I was 265,and now 220, height 5'9. Goal weight is 160. My health is improving all the time. I had to cut my blood pressure meds in half because I was getting dizzy, and my cardiologist thinks that I will be off them altogether in another few months. I love being able to bend down to pick up things from the floor, wrap a regular bath towel around me, going down in clothes sizes and even a shoe size every month. I love that people are definitely noticing.

Funnily enough, my diet was reasonably ok preop. Always loved vegetables, salad and fruit. It was my portion sizes and my carbs that were the problem. So the sleeve works well for me because I am forced to eat WAY less, and the only thing I have trained my self to do, is to avoid sugar and only eat really low carbs. So no bread, no rice and no potato. Eat your Protein first, and by the time you eat your vegetables, you won't want carbs or sugar! I don't care about fat content and I don't count calories. I love fish and chicken. I also don't exercise.. Shock, horror! But I have no signs of loose skin anywhere which is probably more to do with luck and genes. I am a very keen golfer, so I suppose doing 18 holes a couple of times a week, walking, no buggy is exercise. Driving a couple hundred balls off the range can really tire you out and build muscle. I just hate exercising in a gym... Repetitive and boring to me.

What I do miss after my sleeve is eating something and having to stop after 3 mouthfuls because I am completely full. But it tastes so good, I want more of it and can't. I do eat out quite a bit (business and social) and yesterday had the most delicious eye fillet with a red wine jus. 3 bites and my husband got the rest! Not a restaurant where you have children, so no kids menu. But I find those kids menus can be carb heavy anyway.

I miss carbonated drinks. Had a glass of prosecco with lunch yesterday, nearly couldn't eat at all until that bubble of air came back up. Discretely of course!

I do suffer dumping quite often, which is unpleasant and so I do dislike that. We are going away tomorrow to a somewhat exclusive resort for a week and every evening is a 5 course degustation. We have been there before, so we know how delicious the food is. And now I am sad because I know that I will only be able to eat maybe one bite of each course!

But overall, I am very happy because I don't think I could have restricted my portions without feeling hungry. The sleeve takes care of that.. You simply aren't hungry! If you are an emotional eater, love bread or are addicted to chocolate, then that might be a problem. You really just have to work out what your weak points are, and decide whether the sleeve is right for you.

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I am now 6 weeks post op and feel 100% back to normal. The first few weeks suck, there is no way around it. I did not enjoy the liquid phase and the puréed was only slightly better. Now that I am eating real food, it is amazing. I’ve also realized that I was eating a decent diet before surgery because I am basically eating the same way, just fine tuned a bit. My portions are obviously much smaller,but I’ve always known that Portion Control was my big issue.

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I was sleeved on 5/15. Although it is too soon for me to say whether or not I regret it, I am certainly disillusioned. Let me tell you what I've learned so far; maybe it will help you. First, you will be strongly discouraged from taking aspirin or any other NSAIDS for the rest of your life. If you have any kind of chronic pain issue, this could be a problem. Second, not everybody has the complete lack of hunger that you hear about. I have been very hungry. Third, if you have any kind of digestive issues (lactose intolerance, irritable bowel, no gallbladder, etc.), the post-op diet can be extremely challenging.

I went into it thinking the weight loss would be effortless for the first 12-18 months: so little hunger that you have to work to get in the necessary calories and Protein, and the weight just falls off. This has NOT been my experience at all. Although I have lost 20 pounds between my pre-op fast week and my 10 post-op days, I have a lot of hunger, and I also have been overwhelmed by the amount of thinking, planning, preparing, and trial-and-error has gone into this so far. I definitely have not experienced that "magic" that many people describe. I hope it comes for me eventually, and I hope it happens for you.

All the best to you on your journey!

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6 hours ago, josephsmom said:

I was sleeved on 5/15. Although it is too soon for me to say whether or not I regret it, I am certainly disillusioned. Let me tell you what I've learned so far; maybe it will help you. First, you will be strongly discouraged from taking aspirin or any other NSAIDS for the rest of your life. If you have any kind of chronic pain issue, this could be a problem. Second, not everybody has the complete lack of hunger that you hear about. I have been very hungry. Third, if you have any kind of digestive issues (lactose intolerance, irritable bowel, no gallbladder, etc.), the post-op diet can be extremely challenging.

I went into it thinking the weight loss would be effortless for the first 12-18 months: so little hunger that you have to work to get in the necessary calories and Protein, and the weight just falls off. This has NOT been my experience at all. Although I have lost 20 pounds between my pre-op fast week and my 10 post-op days, I have a lot of hunger, and I also have been overwhelmed by the amount of thinking, planning, preparing, and trial-and-error has gone into this so far. I definitely have not experienced that "magic" that many people describe. I hope it comes for me eventually, and I hope it happens for you.

All the best to you on your journey!

Actually, at your early stage, I was thinking all of that. I was really quite miserable for the first 2 months. Bloating, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting when I ate foods that didn't agree with me... It's a huge change, not only for your stomach, but also for your head. Then, at some point, it's like you turn the corner. Trust me, it will get better. May not be magic, but it will feel more like "the new normal".

Best wishes to you.

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Best decision I have ever made! Yes it was difficult the first couple of months but it gets better. Almost 18 months post op and have lost half my body weight. Feel great, no more meds and energy thru the roof. Hang in and keep up the good work!

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I am 3 years 1 month post op and up to now have pretty much regretted my sleeve. I did not lose weight, in fact in destroyed my metabolism and left me with other health issues. This year, I began to lose weight again. It’s like my body finally recovered. I had been dieting and exercising all along. I have no restriction any more, I could eat a large pizza if I wanted to, lol, but I am doing Atkins and am finally down 114 pounds. The only effect of the surgery I feel is liquid with food still nauseates me. It has been a motivator. I wasn’t going to stop trying. I had lost from 262 to 205 prior to surgery. Now I am 148. My goal weight is between 120-130.

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I regret getting the sleeve. I lost almost as much pre-op as I have in 8 months since the surgery. Only 65 lbs total. I had to unfollow all the Facebook groups because I got so depressed reading about people losing 100 lbs in 3 months. I feel very little restriction, and absolutely zero restriction with sweets. I was never much of a sweets person, but I crave sugar like crazy now. My diabetes, which I was hoping to resolve, is just as bad as it was pre-op. It doesn't fix your head. If you eat for emotional reasons, you will still want to do that after the surgery.

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I don’t regret. Sleeved 5/22/18. I know all the pain will he worth it. So ready to feel better. Good luck on your surgery.

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3 hours ago, DeirdreKM said:

I regret getting the sleeve. I lost almost as much pre-op as I have in 8 months since the surgery. Only 65 lbs total. I had to unfollow all the Facebook groups because I got so depressed reading about people losing 100 lbs in 3 months. I feel very little restriction, and absolutely zero restriction with sweets. I was never much of a sweets person, but I crave sugar like crazy now. My diabetes, which I was hoping to resolve, is just as bad as it was pre-op. It doesn't fix your head. If you eat for emotional reasons, you will still want to do that after the surgery.

Hi Deirdre,

That's heartbreaking that you haven't achieved your weight loss goal. Have you reached out to NUT or surgeon. Sometimes I get slightly green with envy when I hear people talk about their weight. I had a craving for Cheetos yesterday. I ate 3 and stopped...it was just enough to curb the craving. My doctor took me off one of blood pressure and heart meds. A week later I was back on a blood pressure pill with a beta-blocker. For some reason I thought after the surgery everything would be perfect. I found out quickly it doesn't work like that. Do you have any ideas why stopped losing weight? What are you eating? Are you working out? Protein?

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Yes and no

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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