Posted on 02/05/2016 9:33am in Procedures
A common misperception is that all forms of weight loss surgery will give you constant diarrhea. If someone has told you about this, or you've read it somewhere, they might be confusing the Gastric Sleeve for the Gastric Bypass. The symptom of constant diarrhea, irregular bowel movements, or what's known as "dumping" syndrome are all more associated with the Gastric Bypass. However, the Gastric Sleeve preserves the pyloric valve, which is a valve located at the bottom of the stomach, and it's job is to regulate the stomach contents which are entering the digestive tract. The Gastric Bypass does not preserve that valve's functionality because it is bypassed. With the Gastric Bypass, the foodstuff and other stomach contents are immediately routed through an artificial hole in the side of the stomach, made higher up, towards the top of the stomach. Stomach purpose and functionality is entirely changed with the Gastric Bypass. That's why the bypass has those symptoms. This is just one of the reasons why most people who desire to receive a primary weight loss surgery for the first time nowadays are selecting the Gastric Sleeve instead. Doctors and other healthcare professionals who are out of the loop with recent developments in bariatric surgery may not understand the latest weight loss surgery techniques which have been perfected over the years. They might not realize that there are better options these days for people to consider. The historical "gold standard" weight loss surgery was the Gastric Bypass (sometimes referred to just the "bypass" for short), and back then, constant diarrhea was well known to be the downside of weight loss surgery.
Nobody wants to run to the bathroom after every meal. Due to fundamental differences with the Gastric Bypass, you have much better chances of not having constant diarrhea if you go with the Gastric Sleeve vs. the Gastric Bypass. However, as a disclaimer, with the Gastric Sleeve, not having diarrhea is not guaranteed. You might have it for other reasons (similar to someone who never had weight loss surgery to begin with), you might have it in the short term immediately following surgery as your body adjusts to your temporary liquid diet while your body is healing. But you might not have any at all. There are many factors and everyone is different, has different things going on with their bodies, different parallel conditions, and so forth. So if you're considering weight loss surgery, we would urge you to meet with a doctor who knows about these things to discuss a plan that's right for you. Weight loss surgery is a fantastic intervention which may solve many health conditions, however it does involve risks, and we feel that the best patient is an informed pateint who understands those, follows the guidelines provided by their medical team, especially the short-term dietary restrictions while your body is healing following weight loss surgery. If you have the right expectations and commitments to lifestyle changes, and use the Gastric Sleeve surgery as a tool which is part of a bigger plan, then you should do just fine and love your new body, most possibly without constant diarrhea.
Nobody wants to run to the bathroom after every meal. Due to fundamental differences with the Gastric Bypass, you have much better chances of not having constant diarrhea if you go with the Gastric Sleeve vs. the Gastric Bypass. However, as a disclaimer, with the Gastric Sleeve, not having diarrhea is not guaranteed. You might have it for other reasons (similar to someone who never had weight loss surgery to begin with), you might have it in the short term immediately following surgery as your body adjusts to your temporary liquid diet while your body is healing. But you might not have any at all. There are many factors and everyone is different, has different things going on with their bodies, different parallel conditions, and so forth. So if you're considering weight loss surgery, we would urge you to meet with a doctor who knows about these things to discuss a plan that's right for you. Weight loss surgery is a fantastic intervention which may solve many health conditions, however it does involve risks, and we feel that the best patient is an informed pateint who understands those, follows the guidelines provided by their medical team, especially the short-term dietary restrictions while your body is healing following weight loss surgery. If you have the right expectations and commitments to lifestyle changes, and use the Gastric Sleeve surgery as a tool which is part of a bigger plan, then you should do just fine and love your new body, most possibly without constant diarrhea.
