Looking for the "bad" of the sleeve (asked about good the other day)

Please post your "bad" experiences with the sleeve here.  What would you want to tell a possible sleever BEFORE they have surgery? problems, side effects, surgery complications, food issues, year out+ problems etc etc

Thanks in advance! 

I've been sitting here pondering what might be a 'bad' experience, but I honestly can't think of anything.  I will be 1 year out in 2 weeks.  I guess the only thing I can even come up with is to make sure you drink water (constipation) and take your vitamins.  Having to make sure I get enough protein is often a struggle, but that's certainly not a bad thing.  If I had to make the choice to do it again, I would jump on that operating table right now!  Best thing ever!!  Seriously no regrets.

 Well - Im a year out or so, and this morning, I woke up and I absolutely had decided that I regret this stupid sleeve surgery, and if I could take it back I would.   Ive had bad reflux and chronic constipation (ie ex lax does nothing for me at this point) for the last year, and it totally ruined my Friday night. 


But then I went and ran a 10K and decided that if this is as bad as it gets, then I can live with the benefits. 


The only down side (which is really an upside) is that this sleeve can be pretty unforgiving for people with any type of binge eating tendencies/disorders (ok well for me, because I try to binge on dense protein lol). 

I had no complications with leaks. A few days after surgery I got pain in my legs and the surgeon told me go to the ER,he thought it might be a blood clot.Turns out after an ER visit, it was a calcium and magnesium deficiency-took liquid vitamins, problem went away quickly.  I did notice when I was stressed out getting my tax stuff together, that if I were to eat a small piece of chocolate or 5 pieces (ugh),  I have no side effects.So for me, I can not eat candy- any kind, even sugar free- because I notice it can be a slippery slope for me. If I stick to the food plan of protein first, then veggies, sugarfree jello or fudgcicles, protein pudding or shakes, and my indulgence- carb free land-o-lakes, whipped cream (which I love on high protein pudding- hey perfection is overrated!), I am fine. I also noticed, particularly in the beginning, my eyes wanted much larger portions then my stomach could handle- so I needed to get my mind to accept that smaller portions were healthy and enough, and leftovers are ok.   Also, my husband loves to eat out and Olive Garden is one of his favorites.  I get the Venetian chicken and skip the bread sticks and I am happy now, since I am wearing cute clothes with high heels- but again, in the beginning I hated to go there and not get pasta or lasagna.

My Dr says, "the sleeve is a tool, you need to make a lifestyle change". The sleeve gets your momentum started and it does slow you down considerably, but to be successful, YOU have to change. Not everyone around you will be thrilled. Co-workers and family members who are used to you being "the fat one" are not going to be happy when they become "the fat one"! Many people starting dieting when I lost weight! I did not tell people I had the surgery- I told people who kept asking- high protein, started exercising- all the things, except the sleeve, because of another co-worker's experience. (I can't tell you how much crap was said behind his back. Then when he regained some weight, they had a field day. They were also annoyed that our health ins covered the procedure, so when we got a raise in premiums, they blamed him. Nice right? )

Also, I find that since I am feeling great, I take less bs because I have decided to put myself first..like going to the gym everyday-so if that means doing something else later or not at all, too bad. My health has finally become important to me.

I had the surgery Dec 2011, and everything will not be perfect, but I am glad I had the surgery and I would do it again, in a heartbeat.

The only other negative I would add is that after losing well over 100 lbs and being 50, I need plastic surgery.  I will have to come up with the money because, as Joan Rivers said, "I rather see a new face getting out of an old car then an old face getting out of a new car"- so I'll keep the clunker and be a hot, happy old lady! Good luck

I'm still pre-op, so I can't really say, but I do want to point out that a lot of the negatives that you might see mentioned (need for plastic surgery, eyes bigger than stomach, etc) are actually going to be negatives of *any* WLS.  When losing lots of weight, you're going to have extra skin.  Sure, losing it more slowly might do something to minimize it, but it's still gonna happen.  And your head is going to need to adjust to a LOT of things, but again, that's somewhat universal to WLS.

One negative is that this is irreversible.  That being said, I don't know why you would actually want to reverse it.  Personally, I'm looking for a lifelong tool that I can use to not only lose the weight, but keep it off.

I see that you've had the band.  I think you'll find a lot of people around here who've had the band and revised to the sleeve.  The consensus seems to be that it was a good decision and has done well for them.  I wish you luck!

 Id L:OVE to reverse my surgery so I can eat a nice big giant meal :)   And I'd really like to stop getting drunk so quickly! I can think of lots of reasons why Id want to reverse it!  lmao :)

See, you're looking at those things the wrong way.  The sleeve has made you a cheap date! ;)  Marketability! haha  And hey, you could still eat a nice, big, giant meal ... it just might take you a week.  tee hee 

 Hahaha omg you made me laugh....now that Ive been convinced that I can eat a big meal...what do I start with first?!

 Theres not really a bad side that would be any different than any of the other surgeries - and our disadvantages seem to be less severe than either RNY or DS.  

Probably the worst things occur when you DONT LISTEN to your sleeve - Foamies, things like that.  There are failure stories from people who didn't want to change their lifestyle but thought the sleeve would force a change on them.  It doesn't.

If you want to hear horror stories about complications, you could always check out that forum.  But honestly, complications are very rare.

Acid has been an issue but I think its getting better.  Unless its just the Rx working.  I'll have to try not having it for a while and see how I do.

I feel like crap so often after I eat.  For about 30 minutes to 1 hours afterwards, I just don't feel good in my sleeve after I've eaten some foods like dense protein.  It sits so heavy and its so hard to digest that I feel like I want to burp and I cant.  I have to take digestive enzyme after I eat to try and help with the digestion.  

For the most part that is pretty much it.  I'm hoping both issues will resolve the longer out I get. 

Best wishes.