Less Or Slower Weight Loss After Band To Sleeve Revision

Has anyone heard any current consensus as to the reason why there is slow or less weight loss after band to sleeve revision? I wasn't told about it preop and couldn't get a straight answer from my surgeon afterwards when I realized I wasn't losing weight the way other sleevers were. I had a Lap Band in 2005 and lost a little bit, but went unfilled for years since they could never give me the right fill amount. It was always either too tight or too loose. Now post revision to sleeve, I'm concerned that I will miss out on the honeymoon period and find myself at the time sleevers' weight loss will slow down anyway. Is the issue that the weight loss is just slower and it will equal non-revision sleeve loss eventually? Is it less weight loss overall no matter what? Why does it happen anyway?

This is a great question and I hope someone can chime in with some solid answers. Just completely speculating here, but I've always thought that the weight loss was slower with revisions surgeries because most patients have already lost a lot of weight (or lost and regained weight) when they do a revision. You know how like even before bariatric surgery, when you would diet the weight would come off quickly at first but then slow down significantly. And if you switched from one diet to another, it would still be a slower weight loss than those that started out with the second diet to begin with... (I'm not sure if I wrote that in a way that makes sense.)

I'm revising from a sleeve to a loop DS and my surgeon told me the weight loss would be slow, but hopefully steady. I'm sure there are exceptions and everyone is different, but I'm curious to better understand why weight loss tends to be much slower with revisions too.

Try not to worry to much about the honeymoon thing... that might be more a virgin bariatric surgery phenomenon. Just keep trying your best and following doctor's instructions and your weight will land wherever it will land. Hopefully it land in a place where you are happy and comfortable, or at the very least in a place that you feel better than where you were before the revision.

I lost a little bit with the band before giving up on it completely, but gained it back with interest. Before I went in for sleeve consultation, I had gone up to 250 lbs. So far it's been 3 months and 10 days, and as of today I've lost only 46.5 lbs. My surgeon thinks I'm at the higher end of weight loss for revision so far. I'm hoping that I haven't lost muscle to add to the amount lost. My clothes are quite a bit looser but not as much as I expected. I definitely expected more actual weight loss on the scale at this point. I just wish I knew the mechanism behind what's happening so that I wouldn't be so hard on myself. When I get discouraged, it makes me want to eat the wrong things.

46 pounds in 3 months and 10 ten days is AWESOME!

Really, I know you are feeling frustrated because you want to lose faster. I totally get that, as does probably everyone here! But, honestly, you are doing really well. With my sleeve I think I averaged about 10-15 pounds a month in the honeymoon phase. And I was heavier than you to begin with! You are losing almost 15 pounds a month with your revision! You could lose NOTHING this coming month and you will still have lost more in your first four months after sleeve surgery than I did. Don't compare yourself to the outliers that lose 20 pounds a month. That isn't the norm.

You've got this - you are really off to a wonderful start. You'll get there!!

Thanks! I think one of the discouraging things is that my support group combines all the bariatric surgery patients, so I have to hear about the patients with the more invasive surgeries (the majority of the group) who lose 30 pounds a month, and of course the males who will lose 100 pounds or more in 3 months. But I'm going to keep fighting the fight because like everyone says, "It's a marathon, not a sprint."

I think its awesome too.

I have only lost 40 pounds in 7 months.

I'm so fustrated.

Peggy

That's 15 lbs a month which is pretty spectacular actually. Most do not continue to lose at that rate but even at 10 lbs a month, that's over 100 lbs in 10 months. Look at it this way, did you lose 15 lbs a month before the surgery?

Very true. But they never explained to me that revisions lose slower and less overall than first time sleevers, so it was a big let-down from what I expected. I thought with this surgery even women can lose weight nicely. I never thought revision would be an issue. If I hadn't been trying to avoid the invasive procedures of either having my stomach cut off or having my intestines switched around, I might be at my goal weight by now. But I'll try to make the best of it, and I'm certainly grateful for the weight I've lost so far.

I think you are doing good. I had the lap band for 5 years and lost nothing. Finally I found a doctor that would do a revision to the sleeve. It's been 7 months and I have only lost 40pounds. I still need to lose 50 more.

It's been extremely slow. Don't know how to lose it any faster. Any suggestions?

After 6 years I had my bad removed because I was not losing enough weight and my fills were either too tight or not enough. I lost 60 pounds, but have gained half of that back since band removal and am scheduled to have gastric sleeve next week. My surgeon did tell me that band to sleeve patients don't usually do as well as people who only did sleeve because your body has already gotten used to food restriction. I am still hopeful that I will loose more with the sleeve than the band. I'm just terrified about not being able to get through the early diet stages after surgery.