Anyone wish they'd had the sleeve instead?

[PenelopePink]

Hi, I'm new. I'm due to start having consultations from this weekend, seeing 2 consultants, and will get myself booked in for private surgery towards the end of January. I'm in the process of deciding between the Gastric sleeve and the Gastric bypass. I keep veering between the two.

Can I ask if anyone wishes they had had the sleeve instead? If so why?

For those who are glad they had the bypass, why? Presumably because its working well for you and you are not suffering from any complications or side effects?

Does anyone have any links to evidence based research on Bypass vs Sleeve, like proper scholarly acticles and stats - as opposed to websites where they are trying to sell it to you? I've been doing a little research of my own but if anyone knows of anything really great I'd love to hear about it! Many thanks in advance.

Its great reading about all your successes and those of the sleeve post oppers on their topic too. I reckon both procedures are excellent by the sounds of it and really effective. I'm sure this is the way forward for me.

Obviously my consultant will help me decide which procedure is right for me, but if you have any useful tips I'd be very grateful if you share them.

Will let you know when I have my surgery date and what I decide! x

 

[Tray3004]

Carnt help has haven't had surgery yet but wanted to welcome u to site good luck on ur journey x

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

 

[Raynebubble]

Hi, I'm new. I'm due to start having consultations from this weekend, seeing 2 consultants, and will get myself booked in for private surgery towards the end of January. I'm in the process of deciding between the Gastric sleeve and the Gastric bypass. I keep veering between the two.

Can I ask if anyone wishes they had had the sleeve instead? If so why?

For those who are glad they had the bypass, why? Presumably because its working well for you and you are not suffering from any complications or side effects?

Does anyone have any links to evidence based research on Bypass vs Sleeve, like proper scholarly acticles and stats - as opposed to websites where they are trying to sell it to you? I've been doing a little research of my own but if anyone knows of anything really great I'd love to hear about it! Many thanks in advance.

Its great reading about all your successes and those of the sleeve post oppers on their topic too. I reckon both procedures are excellent by the sounds of it and really effective. I'm sure this is the way forward for me.

Obviously my consultant will help me decide which procedure is right for me, but if you have any useful tips I'd be very grateful if you share them.

Will let you know when I have my surgery date and what I decide! x

i have just had bypass surgery.. in fact it was last friday... the reason being as i had a starting weight befre pre op diet of 24stone and 2 pounds... when i went for surgery i was told they may not be able t do the bypass as i have a hernia and scar tissue... they said they would do the sleeve other wise... but when i woke up from surgery they were able to do the bypass.... when discussing the sleeve i was told that the sleeve is effective but i wouldnt lose as much weight as the bypass and that in the future ie 2 years down the line i may have to have a bypass done... so therefore i was happy i had the bypass done so i won be going through the surger again in 2 years... hope this helps... but at the end of the day you need to reseach both and decide which is best for you... as i dont know your weigh andhow much you need or want to lose. if you google gastric sleeve surgery there is various pages you can look at... also lots of stories etc on you tube.
Good Luck
Rayne xxx

 

[PenelopePink]

Thank you so much both of you. I suppose for me its a case of weighing up the risks of a bypass (which is really the gold standard most effective you can possibly get type of surgery from what I can tell) so some post operative risks, dumping syndrome, potential malabsorption etc, against the risk of having just the sleeve which should in theory sort out my appetite and ability to volume eat, but which may become less effective as the years go on.

Really what is attracting me to the bypass at this stage is that I want the maximum impact from undergoing the "pain" and expense of surgery. To be honest I'm sure my consultant will be able to clarify things for me but I will continue my research in the meantime!

This forum is a godsend - bear in mind I was considering the POSE procedure until I read to the end of the POSE thread on their topic and learned that quite a few people had forked out £7k and felt back to "normal" within 3 or 4 months and a stone or two lost :-( which sucks!

 

[BEXS99]

I had my sleeve 7 weeks ago and would not change a thing, can i all things but tiny amounts, have lost nearly 3 stone. x

 

[mariew]

Hi Penelope
Welcome to the site, looking forward to getting to know you.
I had a bypass and I am happy with my decision. I know there are lots of sleevers on here who have lost just as much weight as bypassers. I was warned that I may need a revision if I had a sleeve and would lose weight more slowly, but from what I have seen on here the sleeve seems to work very well on it's own. It also has the advantage of having no malabsorption, so less supplements needed, you can eat larger portions and no dumping syndrome. Good luck with whatever you decide. It will still change your life. x

 

[PenelopePink]

Thank you Marie. I suspect Malabsorption might be one of those things I wouldn't properly appreciate the seriousness or inconvenience for want of a better word, of until I experienced it. Hmmm. Such a quandry!

 

[shelbell]

I had a bypass 3.5 years ago and have serious complications, but would still have it done again tomorrow, no regrets. Just wanted to point out that complications can happen but aren't always the end of a normal life. I have chronic malabsorption and reactive hypoglycaemia as a result of the bypass.

The sleeve wasn't an option for me, I think it's a great option though. The surgeon should help you work out which is best suited to you.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[Ric]

I had a sleeve, and was umming and arring for a while even with the consultant I was unsure.

Sometimes I regret not having the bypass, purely for longevity and the worry of regain but you can get regain with any of the ops.

I went with the sleeve for money reasons as its a £1000 cheaper and gave as good results, and if it fails and I regain I can easily convert to the bypass or switch.

I'm losing lots of weight so it's all good.

Good luck and let us know what you decide

 

[JED]

im 6 months post op with bypass ive not had a single problem my bloods are spot on. for me its been a total success and have lost just short of 8.5 stone so far

 

[PenelopePink]

Thanks for all these people x

 

[PenelopePink]

Just to add, I suppose the reason I ponder a bit is that I'm in good health. No diabetes, no high blood pressure, mobility probs, etc. I am a dieting failure, really (having lost 6 stone and regained it during pregnancy, lost 4 again, gained it again during subsequent pregnancy, etc)... but if I ended up actually unwell or with health problems, I might have regrets. Perhaps not regrets but might wonder if I did the right thing. Because whilst I am of size, and am likely to battle this forever, realistically, at this point I'm not "unhealthy" in the slightest, am fit enough, bike rides at the weekend, run about with the kids etc. BMI 40. But don't necessarily want to wait till I'm not, if that makes sense? Am I mad? I don't think I am. Tell me if I am!

 

[mariew]

I wish I had my op before I developed illnesses caused by my obesity. As well as ruining my joints. x

 

[Sharonimo]

Does anyone have any links to evidence based research on Bypass vs Sleeve, like proper scholarly acticles and stats - as opposed to websites where they are trying to sell it to you? I've been doing a little research of my own but if anyone knows of anything really great I'd love to hear about it! Many thanks in advance.

Hi Penelope,

I'm currently debating the same question. (You can find my thread "Considering the sleeve" in the Sleeve forum area, where various people replied offering their advice.)

As I am going on the NHS it is very likely I will be advised to go for the full bypass BECAUSE of my weight and BMI (at start over 23 stone / 51.9) and co-morbidities (Type II Diabetes, severe high blood pressure, osteo-arthritis etc) and the bypass is likely to offer the quickest resolution to all those problems.

However, I am still tempted by the "simpler" sleeve operation, which is why I started to look into research.

I found this site: Types of Bariatric Surgery - The 16 Primary Established & Experimental Procedures

If you ignore all the adverts and scroll down it does give really good, detailed scientific info about every available bariatric surgery options including Youtube clips and diagrams of what each surgery involves.

Also, if you scroll down a few screen fulls it gives a big pink table listing statistics of risks, mortality rates and *average* percentages of excess weight lost ..... if you then click on individual surgery headings it gives an even bigger breakdown for each surgery, e.g. Gastric Sleeve Surgery - Evaluating & Comparing Its Effectiveness and Outcomes

and then scroll down *more* to the 2 or 3 x pink tables within the individual surgery page, it gives statistics and at the bottom lists "References" with letters or numbers attached -- you can then click on those items which takes you to the scientific research used to compile the data for each study.

Hope this helps shed a little light.

 

[Fuffs]

Just to add, I suppose the reason I ponder a bit is that I'm in good health. No diabetes, no high blood pressure, mobility probs, etc. I am a dieting failure, really (having lost 6 stone and regained it during pregnancy, lost 4 again, gained it again during subsequent pregnancy, etc)... but if I ended up actually unwell or with health problems, I might have regrets. Perhaps not regrets but might wonder if I did the right thing. Because whilst I am of size, and am likely to battle this forever, realistically, at this point I'm not "unhealthy" in the slightest, am fit enough, bike rides at the weekend, run about with the kids etc. BMI 40. But don't necessarily want to wait till I'm not, if that makes sense? Am I mad? I don't think I am. Tell me if I am!

I know exactly what you mean and I am exactly the same. I am in pretty good health for a fatty lol

But like Marie said, she wishes she had done it before developing problems. That is what I am doing. I am also a diet failure, so I just know illness would be next

So a stitch in time saves nine

 

[PenelopePink]

Totally agree! I think I can justify it on that basis alone!

 

[TurtleGal]

I also went back and forth for a long time between the sleeve and the bypass, I believe there is even a thread or two here where I asked the same sort of question. Unfortunately people can answer with their opinions all day, but I learned that I had to sit down and figure out what was best for me. It also took having my intake and discussing the options at the clinic and with the surgeon to get me to really settle on a decision.

I need to lose weight in order to have IVF, so it's a very time sensitive situation. I'm 36.5 years old and I live in the Netherlands, where thankfully it's fully insured, but not without conditions. Two of those conditions are that they won't do it if you have a BMI above 35 or if you are over 40 years of age.

I had a list of pros and cons for both the sleeve and the bypass. Like you, I was concerned with the malabsorption issues with the bypass, I always imagined the bypass to be a very extreme operation, I didn't like the sound of the dumping and I didn't like the idea of them messing with my bowels.

On the other hand, I liked that the bypass is considered the 'golden standard' of weight loss surgeries. It's the surgery that the surgeons have the most experience with, the longest record of success and the quickest weight loss. That is what turned me on to it most, the fact that while there is a chance of re-gain with any surgery, statistically there seems to be more success with getting the weight off and keeping it off with bypass. I also liked that while things are 'rearranged' in there, that nothing is removed. I was told by my surgeon that in extreme cases the bypass can be reversed.

When I was thinking about the sleeve, the benefits of that one were that there is no malabsorption issues, not as much chance of dumping, it's less of an extreme procedure and seemed like a happy medium. What worried me was that without the consequences (dumping, etc) that comes along with the bypass, would I end up eating more eventually? Without that fear of repercussions would I eat things I shouldn't because I CAN? I also really didn't like the idea of having part of my stomach completely removed. Even though the bypass is a more complicated op with more difficulties later, I just felt that the removal of the stomach was so FINAL.

I have two friends who have had weight loss surgery in this past year, one had bypass in May and one had the sleeve in October. They are both doing really well and are happy with their results. Obviously they are different people but like me they both struggled with food and eating. I've noticed that the friend who had bypass surgery in May still eats very healthy... a lot of protein and cooks as low fat and sugar as possible as her body has trained her to stay away from both. On the other hand, my friend who had the sleeve in October has already been eating cookies and chocolate == because she can == and while she feels she has it under control and is eating LESS of it, I'm still concerned for her because it's just over a month since the surgery and she's already testing the waters and finding that she is able to eat these things.

As I said, everyone is different and I'm sure a lot of people have success with the sleeve, and I sincerely hope that my friend does as well... but in the end I decided that the bypass is for me. As you said, if I'm going to go through the pain and trouble of having weight loss surgery, I want the biggest possible bang for my buck (well, my insurance company's buck, rather), even if it will be a steeper learning curve and take a little more work.

Again, this is all just my own personal opinions. Best of luck with your decision!

 

[luckyla]

Hi PenelopePink

I had a sleeve done on 21st May this year and I've lost 6st 7lbs to date
I would thoroughly recommend the sleeve! Good luck with whichever procedure you choose xxx

 

[MissDiet]

I had the bypass mainly because its said to help you loose more weight. And, it could stop me eating high fat/sugar (but i can with no dumping). It also cost the same as a sleeve at £9k

X

 

[Miss DeeDee]

Penelope, what did you decide to have?