First post in this forum. Your views please

Hi,

I had the VSG for almost a decade and 2 weeks ago, I had a RNY. I had chronic gerd, swallowing issue and a hiatal hernia. Got tired of so much reflux and as a result, I started eating bread which caused some weight regain. The deciding factor would be whether you currently have reflux. Both surgeries will lose their efficacy after time and you can regain. Also, even though the sleeve officially doesn't have dumping syndrome, you could be lactose intolorent. My first few months with the sleeve, I had several times where I had the sweats and the worst stomach distress you could imagine with dairy.

Thanks for that. I had reflux years ago but I no longer have it. I did not know that VSG could have symptoms that mimic that of dumping. How much worse is the recovery from RNY vs VSG? Cheers.

Hi,

For me about the same. RNY was scarier because I am now older (52) but when I had the sleeve it was pretty new so there wasn't much information out there. Recovery time the same for both .

My bariatric surgeon is in the process of doing a study on VSG and dumping... because so many of his patients seemed to have dumping symptoms. It may or may not be the same mechanism that is happening in the body...but similar results.

My understanding is only about 30% of RNY patients get dumping... that being said we are in control of what we eat, so fear of dumping can be a great motivator to do the right things.

Hi, I'm 10 years out (as of yesterday), and I don't know whether I have ever had "dumping syndrome." Fortunately, or unfortunately - however you want to look at it - I can eat anything. Right after surgery I had several instances where food would get stuck in my tiny new pouch, which would result in what many referred to as "foamies:" an uncomfortable or sometimes painful stomach ache with foamy stuff coming up until the food finally passed. Also, if I'm not careful with high-sugar foods (or a lot of refined carbs), I can sometimes experience reactive hypoglycemia - high blood sugar followed by very low blood sugar, with the accompanying symptoms, such as shakiness or light-headedness. If that happens, I just have to eat again to raise my blood sugar, which can be annoying. After all these years, I experience the blood sugar low maybe a few times per year, depending on how well I'm eating. Again, it only happens when I make poor food choices, so I can control whether or not it happens. Usually I have no response to a poor food choice - except the opportunity to gain weight!

Good luck with whichever decision you make. I have not regretted my decision one day.

What do you mean by "I am desperate?" Your BMI at 33 doesn't ring desperate unless you have a serious co-morbidity? If it happens to be diabetes, then RNY is suppose to be the better option over VSG. To answer your ending questions: 1) RNY surgery was relatively low pain for how serious a surgery it is--pain level never went over a 5 on the 1-10 scale 2) the worst side effect for me was constipation which I believe led to an internal hernia which led to bowel obstruction surgery--very painful with slow recovery 3) WLS hospital stay was four days long 4) no regrets whatsoever

Recovery for both surgeries are identical. Complication rates are nearly identical. Eating plans we need to follow are the same. Most of those things, you will find very, very few differences.

Only about 30 percent of RNYers dump. Those that do, do so for making really crappy food choices, and is avoidable.

I chose to have RNY, and it was the best decision I ever made.

Let me know if you need help with anything

Regards,

Kathy

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We're seeing a lot more VSG to RNY revisions lately. If you have EVER had gerd, I would think very carefully about VSG.

I've dumped a lot over the years, my own stupid fault, but while it is awful at the time, I've not died of it yet ;-). Of course most of us (70%) don't get it at all.

Had to switch from sleeve to bypass due to acid reflux. Surgery was 05/02. So far so good. The only problems I have had were my own fault like eating too fast and not chewing long enough. I have not had a problem with dumping.