Searching for a Gastric Sleeve to Bypass Revision "Buddy"

I’m seeing many folks in my groups going to GLPs instead of surgery. I know your surgeon suggested surgery and if that’s your choice. I wish you well. Many obesity specialists use the GLPs when this happens after surgery with good results. It might be an option to look into. I’d gladly be a buddy for that.

@3oakley2 - another route you might go would be to look at these available discussions on Mayo Clinic Connect on GLP1s and see if you'd like to see if someone or a group of members might like to be GLP1 buddies with you. Check out some of these discussions https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/bariatric-surgery-weight-loss/. It might be optimal if it were the same exact shot.

What is the timeline for your bariatric surgery, @pinkrose72? How are you feeling as you approach that time?

@lisalucier I am not open to GLP1s. My PCP and I have already discussed it. My body has always had extreme reactions to medications, and I normally have nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, so I am not willing to chance taking medications that are known to CAUSE stomach issues.

My conversion surgery has not been scheduled yet, as I need to get cardiac and medical clearances done before my surgeon will submit the request to my insurance. He says it should be an easy approval because my surgery is more or less "medically necessary". I had an EDG in October that showed a medium hiatal hernia and chronic inflammation in the esophagus. I have a massive inferno in my stomach and esophagus even when eating plain lettuce. I'm getting those clearances this week, so I'm thinking by the end of February for a surgery date.

At first, I was against the conversion, so I tried losing weight with phentermine, which was an epic fail due to interactions with other medications and extreme shortness of breath and palpitations. Thanks for your response.

@pinkrose72 Sorry about the long post. I’m not trying to talk you into anything but I will tell you my experience. I want others to know too.
I too respond strangely to meds. So I am very careful. I am a retired RN. I don’t like taking meds unless I have to because I never know how I am going to respond. I have had bleeding ulcers, gastritis, esophagitis, still have a large hiatal hernia and I have NA cirrhosis, thyroid papillary cancer, Fibromyalgia. Been on esomeprazole for over 20 years for GERD, have not had increased acid reflux with these meds, I no longer eat the foods that exacerbate it. My Gastroenterologist said surgery, GLP or die. I chose GLP, as it was less invasive, though I was scared of side effects as I get nauseated with my liver so easily and it is miserable. I started on the starting dose of Tirzepatide, which is Zepbound or Mounjaro, has the lesser SE of the 2 meds. I was on it 2 months. I lost weight because I wasn’t eating correctly. Not nauseated just felt full all the time. Ate a couple bites and called it done. So was getting very little nourishment. I thought that’s how it was supposed to work. That’s totally wrong. You should be able to eat on the meds. After 2 months I was weak and miserable. Ate my 2 month check, my endocrinologist asked if I was ready to increase my dose, which sadly is the usual protocol. I said no I want to decrease it and told her my reasons. The smallest dose and still get the effect you want, Dr learn that in school. She hesitantly agreed. I cut my dose to 1.5mg and have taken that for 16 months never raising my dose. I have lost over 120# and just yesterday met my first goal intending to quit real soon another 5#. PCP aren’t equipped like obesity Drs they don’t fully know all about the drugs like obesity specialists, they can’t there are too many things to cover as a PCP. I am off all BP meds, my large dose of gabapentin for pain that I had been on 25+ years, I no longer have symptoms of GERD as I have changed my eating habits. I have decreased my thyroid meds 3x. Iam still on smallest dose of crestor, small dose esomeprazole, and my Synthroid. And generic stool softener. All side effects can be worked with and obesity specialists know how to work with it. Most nausea effects are self limited and go away with time. The only time I have been nauseated was when I ate something shouldn’t have(high fat-rib eye) or ate an amount(too much) I shouldn’t have. Mow that same steak is 3 meals. I had a MMJ gummy for nausea and it took care of it. I learned what not to eat and the amounts so I don’t get nausea. All the side effects can be treated…increased fluids, protein, fiber. A good dietician that knows how to work with GLPs. I am 69 years old. I wish they would have had this ages ago but I’m very thankful for them now. There is so much to know about these drugs and more coming to light, all the time. Obesity Specialists are real Drs with a specialty in Obesity Medicine, lists can be found on line and they have the most knowledge using these drugs. GPs and PCPs don’t have the experience treating the numbers of pts using GLPs these obesity Drs do. That’s my experience. Hopefully it can help someone.

@lisalucier thank you! I am just at the end of my weight loss journey. I think 5# more. But I am not at the end of my GLP journey as I couldn’t keep the weight off if the food noise returned. I will continue to take a GLP. I have battled weight my entire life. Dieting yoyo. But I would love to be a cheerleader for others on this journey and life style change. I’m retired from nursing but it’s still gratifying to be able to help. That helps me too! Mental Health is a big part of the weight loss.

I am 2.5 years out from my sleeve procedure. My weight loss has been super slow. I'm down 97 pounds at the moment. I hit 100 pounds lost last March but I can't keep it there since my weight seems to fluctuate within 5 pounds. We've been trying a few different meds to see if that helped but it hasn't done much. I was on Omeprazole before my surgery and they figured I could get off it after my sleeve surgery. However I had some major heartburn flare ups end of last year. So we increased my Omeprazole for a few months and then back down to 1x a day. The goal was to then get me off it completely. Well that hasn't worked very well at all.

I'm actually meeting with my bariatric team tomorrow (1/28/26) to discuss the same thing. First they will be doing a scope to see what's causing my heartburn to continue before we start the revision process. So I'm somewhat in the same boat as you, just a little bit behind in the timeline.

@readinglamb
Welcome to Mayo Connect, thanks for sharing your experience. It sounds like you're doing the right thing by going back to the bariatric team to investigate the heartburn.

Keep us informed on your progress.