Has anyone here had any kind of gastric sleeve/bypass/band done? I’m mostly concerned about how this might effect my ability to hydrate and work in hot weather. I’m bringing my horses home soon. I can arrange for help but I’m curious what actually horse people have experienced for recovery time, especially from the laparoscopic procedures. I’m finally fat and rich enough for this to be an option, so I’m considering gastric sleeve.
I have several friends who have had these surgeries, mostly sleeve or band. Only one of them is a rider and she has blood sugar and hydration issues at times. She basically has to keep snacks and water on her and drink small amounts as often as she can to keep herself hydrated.
I will say that the biggest issue I have noticed for active people after surgery is that if they were much larger, to begin with, they need other surgeries after they lose weight to remove loose skin because that skin becomes an issue as they lose.
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A friend did it, in fact she gained weight to make insurance pay for it…and later had terrible effects 2- 3 years out, had the band removed and is now heavier than before. They scare me to death.
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I had the gastric sleeve 8 years ago, and have maintained a 120lb. loss all this time.
I was back on my horse 3 weeks after the surgery. Have had a couple issues with hydration, as I live in the Gulf South, and can’t slam down an entire bottle of water in one go like I used to. The key is drink a little, often!
The main issue I had was reflux, but I think I’ve finally tackled that recently, and all it took was switching to taking famotidine (Pepcid) in the morning instead of at night. Can’t believe it took me this long to figure that out! The other thing it did was allow me to drink more water, as before, water just had an odd metallic taste, which made it hard to drink, and made the reflux worse. Not anymore!
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A friend of mine’s husband has had this done twice and after a while ends up eating like before and gaining it all back plus more. That can’t be good.
Not something I would recommend unless you can guarantee a change in your eating habits for life.
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I’m in the process of scheduling the gastric sleeve. It seems to be much more effective than the band. 3 weeks isn’t bad for down time. I’m thinking a camel pack is going to need to be a part of my new riding equipment to stay hydrated because it is hot AF here.
When I asked when I could ride again, my doctor didn’t know what to say, because “our patients are a little more debilitated than you are!” 
He said two weeks, his NP said 4, so I split the difference.
I did not want the band for several reasons, most due to riding. I didn’t want some foreign object bouncing around on my stomach during sitting trot (I was riding Prix St Georges-level dressage at the time, have since made it to Grand Prix), and there is an injection port for changing the volume of the cuff in the band, and I wasn’t sure if it would get in the way, especially during dismounting (I slide down the saddle, so I don’t hit the ground too hard). I have heard many stories of people having to revise from the lap band to the sleeve due to erosion of the stomach from the band rubbing, and that’s in non-riders, so I can imagine the damage a lot of sitting trot could cause!
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