Band to Sleeve Revisioners - How are you able to lose weight?

I guess every Sleever has a different sized bougie and restriction will vary for each individual which IS quit scary. What if the surgeon makes it too tight or too loose? That is the thing that scares me about the Sleeve.

Very well written and fair reply too Jean

I wish I had the way with words that you and Sue have.

Thanks!

Thanks for the compliments!

I suspect you have plenty of talents that Sue and I don't have.

Jean, you will always be my hero on OH. Thanks for posting the good and bad about your experiences in going from band to sleeve.

Thanks for the kind words!

I should have been clearer on the food issue. I can eat less now than I could with my band. I eat about like Jean does in amounts. I sometimes experience hunger sometimes. It varies some, like am I out and about? No hunger. Am I at home? Hunger. Boy that makes me reevaluate whether it is real hunger or head hunger when home! But, I was the same way with my band. Sometimes I have to remind myself to eat, other times not. I do plan snacks because there is no way I could get all my protein in without them. Plus they keep the head hunger under control if I cooperate and not graze. We are instructed to under eat our sleeves, just as I was told with the band, eat until you are no longer hungry, not until you feel "full". Individuals wildly vary in respect to how they really do it. Band or sleeve.

I read a interesting post on the vsg board recently. Many talk about what bougie size their surgeon used and how they think it makes a vast difference. Another long timer posted that if you actually looked at the different bougie sizes there isn't much difference between them. I don't know who is right.

I am just trying to do my best to use my new tool. BTW, in additio to taking a multi vitamin I am required to take D3  The  D3 is to help the absorption of the calcium we are also required to take. Besides those they often find deficiencies in sleevers of B6 so I take a sublingual one of those. The rest are gummies since there is no way I could take anything like a regular multi or calcium tab. With my band I could take any size. I even have to have liquid vicodin for my back pain since those tabs are too big for me. I suppose when I am further out I will be able to take normal vitamins. 

And then there are people like me, that had the Sleeve as part of their surgery and have no dumping, no hypoglycemic attacks after surgery (but did have it before). My stomach ended up under 4 oz capacity because of lapband damage.  But I was able to eat small amounts of normal food within days of surgery. As time went by the amount increased to about 1 cup or so, average, whi*****ludes usually protein and complexe carbs.

I lost my excess weight within 11 month-13 month and have kept it off in the last 2 1/2 - 3 years. I eat like a normal person. 

No matter the surgery there will always be the extreme to one side or the other, But most fall in between, so the important lesson  should be:

YMMV

 at all times.

Herman,

I get that DS'rs don't dump at all because they have the larger stomach due to the malabsorptive component. Honestly, if I was not scared and there was not so many vits to take forever, the DS would be my choice of surgery, I don't care about the poop aspect , it's just the vitamin regimen I know that I could not follow.

I've seen a few DS'rs in REAL life and they looked real good and healthy -- at least the two that I've met, look normal like they've never had weight loss surgery.

Dumping has nothing to do with the intestinal configuration. It has all to do what is done to your stomach and pylorus. And the range of sizes in stomach are also all over the place. The bougie is only one of the things that make your stomach hold a certain amount of food. Depending on how long your stomach is naturally, has a lot to do also, 3-4 oz capacity in volume, not weight, is actually not a whole lot of space. My stomach is/was considered average for a sleeve,  it has nothing to do with the intestinal configuration, every surgeon seems to have a different theory on that.

The bottom line will aways be YMMV