Regrets? Sleeve or DS?

I was considering the Bypass over the sleeve but I just found out that my surgeon does the DS procedure. IF you have had this surgery do you have any regrets? Would you choose a different procedure? 

FYI: I need to lose around 100lbs. I am type 1 diabetic, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.  

Thanks for all input! 

At 18 months I'm happy with the DS. No regrets anymore. I'm not sure anyone goes through the first 3 months without
a twinge of "why did I do this" at least once.

It took me 12 months but I'm off all BP medicine and my sleep apnea is no longer a problem. This won't do anything for type 1
diabetes but it put my type 2 into remission. You will at least need less insulin and have better control as the weight comes off.

I think you could get your 100 lbs.  It was hard to get used to all the vitamins and I still work on a good DS diet but it has worked well for me.

If your not committed to the vitamins or think you can't handle the day in day out taking of the vitamins you should opt for the sleeve. It doesn't do
you any good to lose the weight and eventually have problems because of some vitamin or other deficiency.

Good luck. It can be a hard decision. Another thing that convinced me to go with the DS was that there was a smaller chance of weight regain. 
Not impossible but a better chance of keeping the weight off statistically. Every time I lost weight before I always ended up gaining back more
than I lost so that was important to me.

Hi, I actually had the sleeve, but wished I had the bypass. I am admin over a support group on fb and have seen quite a few DS'ers complain about slow weight loss. I had 150 to loose and only lost a total of 60 with the sleeve and 30 before surgery on my own.

Would you recommend the DS than over the sleeve? Why the slow weight loss I wonder?!

Had sleeve lost 55 pounds

Bypass - only lost 25

Looking into a DS

I wish I would of done a DS from the beginning

I'm surprised that someone has a fb group where people who say they had the DS complain of losing slowly. Maybe it's a question of unrealistic expectations, I don't know. The longterm results of the DS are well documented. It has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, maintaining that weight loss, and resolution of almost all comorbidities. Maintenance is a big issue, as weight regain is a frequent problem with VSG and gastric bypass.

There is no bariatric surgery that will resolve type 1 diabetes. The DS is great (best by far) for type 2 diabetes, and the weight loss will help with control of your type 1 diabetes, but won't resolve it. The DS also has the best statistics for both high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

Who is your surgeon? We are always on the lookout for more surgeons who offer the DS.

Larra

PS to answer your question, I had the DS over 8 years ago, no regrets, would not have accepted any other procedure. Could have had gastric bypass sooner, and I don't regret the wait - it's all about longterm results, not having surgery a couple months sooner, and not about how fast or slow the weight loss is.

I had a band for 5 years , no need to tell you how that went and did not consider the sleeve for a revision. I went straight for the Ds.  I am self pay so I chose the surgery I thought would be best my long term results after much consideration and research.  If I lose slowly I do not mind as long as I  get there and keep the weight off. 

Im 3.5 months out from my DS surgery. Pete is right, I went through a phase where I asked "why did I do this", but more surgery in general not DS specific. I never considered the sleeve - why get 1/2 the DS when I can get the full thing for the same price and have better results? And the bypass wasnt covered by my insurance, so I didnt think heavily about it. Now my husband is getting bypass with about 280lbs to loose and I wish he would  wait a few months and get DS but it is his decision and I support him. Anyway, I havent been without some "problems", or more just getting used to my new way of life. But no, I dont regret my DS at all. 

The sleeve helps people lose weight with straight restriction.  For some it is perfect, but many realize over a couple of years that it's  just not enough, which leads them to a second surgery later down the road, either the DS or Bypass, which offer a metabolic change along with restriction.  The DS has the sleeve stomach, along with some pretty aggressive bypassing to yield the best statistics of EWL and long term loss than any other procedure. 

With that comes a degree of responsibility to keep yourself healthy.  I'll warn you that few medical professionals really get what all we need and how we should eat.  Fortunately, DSers like to share what works for them.  The last thing you want is to be like that girl on the main board the other day blaming her docs because she was malnourished.  She was only a sleeve patient and didn't bother to understand the importance of supplements and knowing yourself what you need.  She'd be dead as a DSer.

 I saw someone mentioned about DS'rs complaining about slow weight loss and just wanted to address that
because it feeds into expectations. it is a journey not a marathon but people are people and sometimes they 
want to be finished NOW and that is just not always possible.

For many of us the weight loss does slow down the closer we get to our goals. There are a couple of reasons as far as I can see.

First, you just have to accept it is easier to lose 10 lbs when you are carrying around an extra 200 lbs. If you are shooting for 200
and starting at 400 10 lbs is 2.5%.   If you are at 210 shooting for 200 it is a little over 5% weight loss. My math may be suspect 
here but I think you can get my point.

Second, many of us do low carb, high protein to promote the initial weigh loss. It is hard to sustain that diet and as you let more 
carbs in your loss slows but in the 122-24 month window post op it usually doesn't stop completely.

Last on my list is that many of us go through periods of intense frustration that the DS isn't working or we "broke" it. This is because
there isn't a "straight line" loss of weight. Sure, easy to say I lost 200 lbs over 8 months but it doesn't take into account the weeks
where I was stalled and wondering if I was done losing for some reason. I saw someone describe this as the "stair step method" of
losing weight. Lose, stall, lose some more and so on.

Just one last thing and I'll put my soap box away on expectations. The DS isn't "magic". Not everyone gets to goal. The statistics say
you are a success if you take off 80% of the weight you need to lose and keep it off. Some people make 100% some people don't.  You
make your choice and work with it as best you can to get to the place you want to be.