Welcome mango04! Hopefully you have been doing lots of research on the different ones. Many doctors think that if you need to shed more than 100 pounds RNY is recommended. I'm partial to RNY because it is what I had. I haven't regretted it for a second. Not even the buyers remorse some people talk about. The chances of shedding the weight faster with RNY and reaching a reasonable goal faster are greater. You get to keep your stomach which made sense to me because it still functions and fills the space it was meant to fill. When the uterus is taken out many women have to go back later and have the bladder lifted. If my stomach was gone it would mean my guts would rearrange and I want them to stay in place, thank you very much ;) My surgeon also said that with a sleeve there are a lot of stitches where leaks could occur. If you've researched, you've seen the banana shape of the sleeve. You can eat more with a sleeve and won't dump. RNY is more prone to malabsorption but that is what vitamins and regular blood tests are for. RNY is better for taking care of gerd. My surgeon also corrected a hiatal hernia. Sigh of relief! I'm just throwing out some of my thoughts and I'm sure others will pipe up.

Here is a good link of a new article comparing the two.
"On average gastric bypass patients lose about 70% (Bariatric Surgery, A Systemic Review and Meta Analysis, 2004) of their excess weight. Gastric sleeve patients lose about 60% of their excess weight. And Lap Band patients lose about 50% of their excess weight". Aug 26, 2017 article
https://www.obesitycoverage.com/gastric-bypass-vs-gastric-sleeve-surgery/

I second everything LCat said!

Personally, I chose the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass because I wanted the strongest tool possible and I didn't want to go back later for a revision of the sleeve to bypass. The sleeve procedure came from surgeons wanting to break the duodenal switch into 2 surgeries for people who were super-morbidly obese in an effort to shorten the length of time those patients were under anesthesia during a single surgery. First, they did the sleeve (to reduce the size of the stomach) and after a period of time, they'd do the second surgery to shorten the intestine (to create malabsorption). From my understanding, the surgery involving the intestine changes our gastro-intestinal hormones and those hormone changes are instrumental to shedding our excess weight (and keeping it off) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4423817/). All of that to say, I wanted restriction, malabsorption, and the beneficial changes to my gastro-intestinal hormones - therefore, I chose RNY. Haven't regretted it for a second.

When I had surgery, I was 43 years old and had hypoglycemia, GERD, sleep apnea, and pitting edema in my legs. My highest weight was over 300 lbs but I weighed 270 on the day of surgery. Immediately post-op, the hypoglycemia and GERD were gone and the pitting edema went away soon after. Within 4 months, I no longer needed my CPAP. I hit my target weight of 125 within my first year post-op and I stayed within my target weight range (123-133) for 2 years. When I was working on my doctorate, I stopped exercising and allowed some bad eating habits back into my life, which resulted in me gaining about 10 lbs a year. Although I would have preferred not to have gotten outside my target weight range, I've refused to beat myself up over it because I remember being super-morbidly obese and longing to weigh what I used to weigh when I thought I was fat (basically anything under 180 lbs). I graduated in May and am back to "doin' the deal" (3 mindful meals a day with no grazing in between, 80 grams of protein a day, lots of water, no white foods, not drinking with meals or 30 minutes before/after, getting enough sleep, and exercising) - I'm working hard to be within my target weight range again by Halloween.

Sorry, that was much longer than I thought it would be! Welcome, Mangoo4!!

JJ

Hi!
Let me tell you my story. Had sleeve 5 years ago. Lost 103 pounds no other issues till 3 years later. Developed severe gerd threw up most nights of bile. Regained 80 pounds. Developed unhealing ulcer. I recently went to surgeon and he did revision to rny bypass. I am currently healing. I beat myself up on the issues and regret it. I'm scared of the bypass I had but given the issues I'm hoping for the best. I have found now that many that have the sleeve get revised due to gerd and other issues. Research it well and know that it's a huge step. Recovery is tough more mentally than physically. Good luck!