I've been suffering with GERD (Acid Reflux) for a number of years. It has been under control with medication, but I am at the max the Dr. can prescribe and the symptoms have been escalating in the last year. My Dr. thinks my next course of action is a surgical correction. I am scheduled for an endoscopy later this month. He suggested that I should also consider a Gastric Sleeve at the same time. I never really considered WLS before, but he thinks that it will help my GERD and thinks we can coax the insurance into fast-tracking it. He also said that the the prep and recovery is pretty much the same. The only different is the actual sleeve procedure.
I'm 5'8 and 250lbs. My "ideal weight" is 130-160. But I have a stocky build and I think I'm at the higher end of that spectrum. This puts me at 80-100 lbs over and a bmi of about 36. I have been struggling with weight since college. I've gone up and down, but in recent years, I am either gaining or maintaining and I can't seem to drop weight. Keto, Atkins, Paleo have all resulted in minimal weight loss for a few weeks followed by a plateau. I went to a "weight loss center" who claimed that they work with individual body types and "customize" a plan. She told me to stay under 1700 calories a day and exercise 5 days a week. I told her that's MORE than I eat now! I left with a piece of paper and a prescription for phentermine. I did that for a few months with a disappointing less than 10 pounds lost.
Moving forward to today, I am researching about the sleeve and the GERD correction procedures. One thing I notice about WLS is the pre and post op diets.... They are all liquid diets that are very low cal, low fat, and low carb... And this is the noob in me (please forgive)... Why bother to get the surgery if you can go on a 750 calorie, low fat, low carb diet? I understand that may not be sustainable, but it has me thinking is the "surgery" really what is loosing the weight? Or is it the pre/post op diet and the sickly sensations?
Bookmarks