Sleeve to Bypass revision

[Victorooni 1]

What has your experience been with having the sleeve to bypass revision? How was the recovery? Do you have many more food aversions? More dumping? More severe Hair loss? I'm considering the revision due to GERD and I want to hear all the stories before I commit.

[Tomo 1,137]

For me, it was an easier recovery. No new food aversions. I didn't have any before with the sleeve either. My gerd is gone an that in itself made being able to stay on program much easier due to better sleep, no fake gnawing hunger signals due to excess acid... Etc. It was the best thing I've ever done. I've said this before on quite a few posts but I feel so normal now, like pre-WLS of any kind, and I still have restriction. At first, you will feel that your restriction is gone but it isn't, it's different than the sleeve. Also, like the sleeve, wait until you begin solids because the fluids will just go right through your system. I had a learning curve to determine when I was approaching fullness. With the sleeve it was a runny nose. With the revision, I can feel it more in my stomach. I still get the runny nose but that is far too late for me so I stop before that now. The signals are different. I have not dumped, and the only symptom I have is slight Constipation so I take 1 tsp of Miralax in my coffee every morning. Some need more, some don't need it. My Vitamins are the same, a Multi-Vitamin patch, and depending upon my blood tests (I take every 6 months), I may take an additional chewable ADEK Vitamin.

[GreenTealael 24,864]

I had an easier recovery with RNY vs VSG as well but did experience stricture (easily resolved) early on. GERD was resolved almost immediately. Not much Hair loss but that’s really individual based. Constipation is always a concern but that’s what stool softeners are for and fully expect to need assistance with that long term. It’s been 4 yrs since revision (6 since VSG) and once you get into a routine life feels really normal.

Edited August 3, 2023 by GreenTealael

[AmandaElder 4]

I’m on day 3 post op conversion to bypass from sleeve. Best decision of my life. I was living off tums and I have not had a single bit of heartburn. It does seem different some how, maybe because I’ve been through this before and know that the first few stages is a bit the bullet until my insides are healed. If anyone asked me, I would simply say, I wish I hadn’t waited so long to get the revision.

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,819]

So I had this revision in June, and I can tell you that the weight loss will not be like it was with the sleeve. I had it because I developed GERD, esophagitis, gastritis, and a TON of pre-cancerous polyps all through my stomach. So I also didn't have a choice. I was on 80mg daily of Nexium, Pepcid for breakthrough, Tums, and still had break through GERD anyway.

With the sleeve, I lost 30 pounds in the first 2 weeks. With the revision, I lost 14. I also wasn't interested in doing it for weight loss, since I was chugging along and doing well until it all went stupid. My goal was to get back to living my life, get back to my beast mode work outs, get back to feeling good and not having pain. And that's what the surgery is doing for me.

I was finally having hair regrowth when I had to have the revision, so I'm fully expecting to see more Hair loss. It's started shedding more again, so I'm mentally preparing for it.

I can also say, the recovery from the bypass has been SO SO much better than with the sleeve. I honestly wish I had just done the bypass to begin with. So much less pain, I was up and around faster, able to do things better, could handle my pills and supplements (had to crush or completely eliminate them with the sleeve for the first 4-5 weeks), able to handle cold liquids (couldn't with the sleeve), able to get my fluids in so much easier (I drank a 20oz of Water in the hospital the day I had my surgery and could barely handle 3-4oz with the sleeve). So all in all, I'm exceptionally happy I did the revision.

No more GERD, no more PPI, no more pain, much easier recovery, and while the weight is still coming off, it's doing so at a slower and more manageable pace. I wish you all the luck, and I promise you'll feel so much better after the revision.

[Cyncha21 6]

Hello there! I want to preface that this is about to be a long message, but it's my journey. Thanks for reading.

My 1st Bariatric journey started in 2009 (I was 26 years old). My heaviest weight was 250 lbs. I did a month liquid diet as my preop diet and got down to my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I had a sleeve done in Sep 1, 2009. I got down to around 175 lbs from my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I got down to a size 12. I did regain some weight years later, but that was my doing (not eating the best, not exercising as I should). In addition to gaining some weight back, i developed a 5/6cm hiatal hernia and had really bad heartburn and reflux. I started taking Nexium for years. Finally 14 years later (now 40 years old) in April of 2023 I decided to ask a doctor about taking daily Nexium (after hearing constantly from family that it wasn't good). My surgeon gave me 3 options.

1. Continue taking Nexium daily
2. Fix my hiatal hernia (but he did warn me that hiatal hernias are known to come back)
3. Fix my hiatal hernia and do a revision from Sleeve to RNY.

Before any of that to make an informed decision I had to get an upper GI with contrast and an endoscopy with a Bravo study. I had the endoscopy done and the Bravo capsule placed on my esophagus. After the 1st endoscopy my GI doctor said she didn't even need to see the results of the Bravo study...seeing my esophagus alone was enough to see how inflamed my esophagus was and she confirmed the bigger sized hernia. Either way, the Bravo capsule was placed in and I did the 3 day study. The results came back and like my GI doc said...it was bad. The acidity in my stomach and esophagus was ridiculous. I use to take generic Nexium 20mg but my GI doc said that wasnt enough for how bad my esophagus was. I was told to bump it up to 40mg 2x a day. So I did that and it helped to heal the massive amount of inflammation I already had in my esophagus. To confirm that I had a 2nd endoscopy done. The Bravo study, the upper GI scans, the endoscopy was all completed so that I could make an informed decision on how I wanted to proceed. Which of the 3 options discussed did I want to proceed with. I decided option 3 was best (revision from Sleeve to RNY with a hiatal hernia repair). For me my insurance approved the procedure and it was fairly a quick process because I went the general surgical route vs the Bariatric route. I could have had the revision in July but I had a cruise planned in August and I wanted to be able to drink and eat and ENJOY my vacation so I opted to wait and had the revision 2 weeks after I came back from my cruise on September 11th.

I was 215 the 1st day of my preop diet. I got down to 206 but then mother nature decided to show up the week of my surgery so as women we gain Water weight during our cycle and the day of surgery i weighed in at 209. I was so pissed. I knew it was water weight because of my cycle but still nobody wants to see the number on the scale go up. Surgery went well. I had no complications. My recovery was A LOT smoother. I had BAAAAAD nausea and gas pains after my sleeve becauseof the anesthesia. With the RNY I had 0% nausea. I had a little bit of shoulder pain because of the gas and I did have another pain when I inhaled big because of the hernia repair, but it was all normal and pains of that nature were expected. I was just sooooo glad that I didn't wake up extremely nauseous after the RNY like I did after my sleeve. So now I'm 31 days post op. I've been at 195 since like September 26th. I hope that I've HOPEFULLY lost at least 1 pound now since I've been stalled at the same weight for 2 weeks. Btw I'm 5'4 for reference. My size 14 clothes button again and my 16s are getting a little loose on me now. I'm not swimming in my clothes or nothing but it's a small progress. I was wearing XL shirts and now Large shirts fit me a lot better. I feel less like a sausage in them lol! Oh and tonight I tried on this bra that I know for a fact a couple of weeks ago could not button or even come close and today it fit. So now a 38D will fit. Great non scale victory! I can tolerate all food and as long as I don't take huge bites and I chew my food well and eat slow, I'm good. Otherwise I've already had my 1st reminder of what it feels like to throw up because your food feels stuck. I had that happen after the sleeve sometimes too and it sucks, but it's a process learning how to eat again and reminding myself that I can't inhale my food. I am taking a daily Vitamin with Iron and then 3 calcium citrate chewable daily. My doctor also still wants me to take 1 Omeprozole daily for 6 months post op to give my esophagus and hernia repair time to truly heal. 1 month down....5 months to go. Then I'll be able to see if I don't have any GERD or heartburn without any medication. The weight loss is a perk and I definitely want to lose more weight and get down to 150 or at least my best sleeve weight of 175, but I always have to remind myself that my goal of this entire revision surgery was to not deal with heartburn and reflux anymore.

So yeah...thats my revision story so far. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll be happy to answer.