How many of you have revised your sleeve to another surgery?

I need to lose around 150lbs and was debating between the sleeve or DS and I'm just curious if you have revised your sleeve and why you have chosen to do so. I have seen quite a few folks getting revisions because of difficulty maintaining their weight loss or sleeve getting larger. Would love to hear about your experience of the sleeve.

I don't have personal experience but from reading here for several years it seems if you have over 100 lbs to lose the DS is the way to go. With that you get the sleeve and malabsorbtion so you get the best of the surgeries combined into one. 

If you check out the sleeve boards you will find many 100+ people over there.  We even have 200+ but much less comon.

I'm down 115 and 10 pounds from goal and that is with a revision.  They say revision lose slower and less than a virgin but I haven't found that to be true!  My DD lost 135 with her virgin sleeve and my sister lost her whole 100+ and is under goal.

My other sister had the DS but she had 200+ to lose.  She actually lost too much and they stretched her sleeve to stop the lose.

Also keep in mind you have to stay on top of your supplementations and labs with the DS.  You MUST be committed to this, for life.

The sleeve boards on OH or another site?

Here on the sleeve/VSG boards.

this is always a difficult thing to choose, i know i struggled with this, but due to complications my decision was essentially made for me...I will tell you my story... any surgery will provide success, depends on how much you do, are willing to do, what you are willing to give up, quality of life etc...

I had a lap band and lost 200+ lbs down to 127 lbs.  due to irreversible complications i revised to the ds, since I had nerve damage and could not feel fullness (one reason why the vsg alone would not help me to maintain my weight loss)  to a certain extent ALL wls will have difficulty maintaining weight loss, statistically the ds offers the best insurance policy over this, but be very clear you can gain most of your weight back with the ds also, you can eat around any wls.

by the second year all sleeves double in capacity.  the question is what are you will to do and continue to do the rest of your life?  do you think you need malabsorption?  how diligent are you?  good luck to you

Hi all:

I'm new here but seems like I found the right message board.  I was revised (Sleeve to Bypass) on September 16, 2013.  I had many issues with the sleeve...I barely lost any weight.  In fact, I lost MORE weight pre op then post.  I was sleeved October 15, 2012.

After trying several things to figure out what was going on (endoscopy, ct scan, increase food, decrease food, etc.), they found that when filling my sleeve with air, it almost blew up to the original size!  Not to mention a stricture that created a side pouch of sorts.  And of course, scar tissue. 

I had the sleeve mainly because I could never get full.  I thought that since 85% of my stomach was removed, I would no longer have that problem.  For the first month, I didn't.  I was eating very healthy on the sleeve but the quantity of food I could get down was too much.

So, we decided on revision to bypass.  I tell you, while I'm losing and it's very noticeable, it is HARD CORE!  This is the first week that I haven't vomited up my food.  I'm blown away by the tiny amount of food that "overfills" me.  There is no way I can get in the amount of protein that is suggested.  The same with the water.  In fact, I had to go to the hospital the other night for a 4 hour saline drip because I was so dehydrated.

This is a learning process for me.  I realize that.  But I NEVER realized how much harder the bypass is BUT I'm determined for this to work.  I didn't go through the process of the sleeve just to give up.  I've been struggling with my weight for over 30 years and enough is enough!

I'm so sorry that the sleeve didn't work out and that the Bypass has been so hard.  I can't imagine throwing up all the time like that. I hope it gets better in time. Please be sure to get your protein in through shakes or other means as well as your vitamins. I am most likely going to go with the Duodenal switch surgery because it will allow me to take ansaid medication and because there isn't any dumping. That said, there are pros and cons to each surgery. Good luck with your journey!

Hello Aimstergal:

I really hate to hear that you have been having such a time with the weight loss surgeries. To be honest, yours is the first post that I have read that said they didn't lose any weight with the sleeve. I had a Lap Band in 2005, had it removed in early 2010 due to a slippage and a Mega-Esophagus. Had a revision to VSG in 8/2010 absolutely lost no weight at all and now I am getting ready to undergo my last revision to a RNY on 12/9/13. Hopefully the third time is the charm for me. I can not go through this again and if playing by the rules just as I has in the past doesn't work. I will just accept that it is not meant for me to be healthy and my genes outweigh any medical intervention known to man. I hope things continue to get better for you. Take care.

Seeing you are sleeved, did you look into going to DS.  The sleeve is the first part of the two stage DS.  It was done first in high risk patients to help them lose to a safer weight and than they went back and did the DS.  This would make more since and leave you with a better surgery than the *******ized sleeve to "RNY".