I have had the gastric sleeve surgery 3 years ago. I lost 75 lbs and I have gained 20 lbs back. Any suggestion

Question

I am a healthy 43 year old female 5'0 @ 196 lbs. I would like to have another surgery what do you recommend?

Wiljon W. Beltre, MD · Answer

What are you eating? if you are eating soft, mushy high caloric foods (slippy slidy as I like to call them), you can eat a lot of it.  Soft mushy foods slide pass the sleeve as i you did not have surgery.  If this is the case, then you need to change your eating habits.  What happens when you eat otherwise healthy foods? Are you filling up quickly? If you are, then your sleeve is working fine.  If you can eat large amounts of healthy foods veggies, fish, chicken etc) then your sleeve is too large and was not appropriately done.

Mark Pleatman, MD (retired) · Answer

The first thing you need to do is figure out why you are regaining weight.  Was the operation done properly, and are you just snacking all the time and eating the wrong foods?  Or are you able to eat much more than you used to?  You may be able to answer that question for yourself.An upper GI x-ray or endoscopy will show what your stomach looks like, and if it has "stretched out."  If, indeed, the stomach is too big, you may be a candidate for "re-sleeve."  On the other hand, if the sleeve is not stretched out and looks normal, that points to you as the reason for the reason for regain.  If you accept that, the best option would be to work with a dietitian to get back on the right track.  Start exercising... you know the drill.If your sleeve is properly sized, and you insist on having an operation, the most reliable option to lose more weight would be addition of malabsorption in the form of the duodenal switch.  I don't recommend this, as there are long-term side-effects such as vitamin deficiency, anemia, and osteoporosis.  But it is an option.Somebody might suggest conversion to gastric bypass, but current evidence suggests that you may not lose any more weight with this operation.The fact of the matter is that what has happened to you is fairly typical of patients after both sleeve and bypass; the best weight loss is after the first year, and patients then regain a bit over the next few years.

I have had the gastric sleeve surgery 3 years ago. I lost 75 lbs and I have gained 20 lbs back. Any suggestion

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I have had the gastric sleeve surgery 3 years ago. I lost 75 lbs and I have gained 20 lbs back. Any suggestion

Answers (2)

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.