Good Afternoon,

I am a 41yr old male at 165kg at the very beginning of my journey, looking for reputable clinics in Sydney NSW to get consultations. I have researched and decided I want to get Gastric Sleeve with a minimizer ring.

Does anyone have any advice for me or perhaps questions you wish you has asked your doctor before you went ahead with the surgery in the consultation phase?

Also, I am curious what happens if you happen to swallow something that won't fit through the minimizer ring?

If anyone has experiences they would like to share with us all (good or bad) please share.

Those who have had the surgery years ago, how is it going? did you keep the weight off?

Thank you

1 hour ago, Gnerdie said:

Good Afternoon,

I am a 41yr old male at 165kg at the very beginning of my journey, looking for reputable clinics in Sydney NSW to get consultations. I have researched and decided I want to get Gastric Sleeve with a minimizer ring.

Does anyone have any advice for me or perhaps questions you wish you has asked your doctor before you went ahead with the surgery in the consultation phase?

Also, I am curious what happens if you happen to swallow something that won't fit through the minimizer ring?

If anyone has experiences they would like to share with us all (good or bad) please share.

Those who have had the surgery years ago, how is it going? did you keep the weight off?

Thank you

Hiya Gnerdie,

Only have a suggestion for you. I have found the Facebook site 'Bariatric Support Australia' a very good means of information. I live near Melbourne in Vic so I cannot recommend anyone. I wish you well on your journey.

My surgeon was Dr David Joseph from the Bodyfree Clinic in Newtown NSW. I found him excellent, don't know if he does a minimiser ring though.

Be open to recommendations for different types of WL surgery from whichever surgeon you see, they will make recommendations based on your health, weight to be lost and achievable outcomes.

9 hours ago, Gnerdie said:

Also, I am curious what happens if you happen to swallow something that won't fit through the minimizer ring?

Hi! Welcome to the forums!

I'm not familiar with the sleeve with minimizer ring, so I Googled it... If it's anything like the Lap Band, (it looks to be a similar concept) I can tell you when I had my Lap Band and when I ate something that I didn't chew properly, said food would meet my Lap Band, it couldn't pass, so it would come back up. Often with some pain.

I hope someone with a minimizer ring gives you a better answer than I did.

Best wishes on your journey.

I've also never heard of a minimizer ring. Why is this something you want to add? Since I don't know anything about it, maybe it's more common in Australia? Does it offer health benefits? Better weight loss?

35 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

I've also never heard of a minimizer ring. Why is this something you want to add? Since I don't know anything about it, maybe it's more common in Australia? Does it offer health benefits? Better weight loss?

I had to google it since I'd never heard of it. Yes, sounds like it's mostly done in Australia. It sounds a little too much like the lapband concept for me.

https://sydneybariatricclinic.com/our_treatment/gastric-sleeve-with-minimiser-ring/#:~:text=An option at the time,from stretching in the future. >>> An option at the time of Gastric Sleeve surgery is to have a device called the MiniMizer Ring (MMR) placed around the top of the newly-sleeved stomach. The aim of the MMR is to prevent the Sleeve stomach from stretching in the future.

I'm wondering about the long term effects of this ring now. I'm curious what the rates for GERD are when adding this ring on top of a sleeve? Does it cause more pressure than normal?

Yeah, many surgeons now agree your new stomach size can't be stretched so why would you add a lapband type device into your body to prevent something that won't happen anyway.so many people had complications from lap bands ( my surgeon doesn't even perform lap band surgeries because of that reason) I would do .ots of research before going down that road.

I hadn’t heard of it either & it wasn’t an option with my surgeon. Is it a Sydney thing?? I wonder if stomach stretching after sleeve was either an old wives tale or to scare patients to encourage them to eat correctly (portion size, frequency, etc.) so that wouldn’t happen.

I do recall Dr Nowzaradan operating again on one of his patients saying they had stretched their tummy again but they had been eating exactly the same way as they always had: huge portions, many times a day every day for a long time. So they deliberately worked to stretch it again. No surgery would have helped them.

As others have said it sounds similar to lapband (gastric banding) which are not performed as often because of higher risk of complications. There are a lot of people here who have had to have a revision to sleeve or more commonly to bypass because of issues with their band.

On googling I noticed that some weight loss clinics don’t identify the possible side effects of the minimiser but did discover one (Perth) clinic that did:

… placing a ring around the top of the sleeve can cause obstructive symptoms much like adjustable gastric banding resulting in difficulty swallowing and food intolerance. It can cause dilatation of the top of the sleeve which we consider to be the most critical part. It may also increase the risk of reflux, volume regurgitation and possible aspiration.

But if you’ve done your research, weighed the pros & cons, and you know yourself & your challenges with eating best, & your surgeon supports you, it is ultimately your decision.

All the best.

Just saw this comment posted in the Facebook group I am in

Hi my hubby was sleeved 4yrs ago had a restricted ring as well than developed chronic reflux bad rubbery taste in his mouth other side effects so 8weeks ago he had bypass and all gone thank God all the best

Thank you for all the great responses, you have all been a great help. I will keep researching it all.