Gastric Sleeve: The Honest Guide I Wish I'd Had
After my own gastric sleeve, I built the guide I wish I'd had: honest, written by someone who has been through it, and medically reviewed by a consultant bariatric surgeon. These pages cover the whole journey, deciding whether the sleeve is right for you, understanding the operation and its risks, what it costs, and what recovery and the rest of your life really look like afterwards.
Latest articles
- Choosing a Bariatric Surgeon and Hospital: How to Vet a Provider
A surgeon-reviewed guide to choosing a bariatric surgeon and hospital: checking accreditation, qualifications, surgical volume, the MDT, and lifelong aftercare.
- Questions to Ask Your Bariatric Surgeon Before Weight-Loss Surgery
A surgeon-reviewed checklist of questions to ask your bariatric surgeon: experience and volume, complication rates, aftercare, and which procedure suits you.
- Gastric Sleeve on the NHS: Eligibility, Tier 3, and Waiting Times
How to get a gastric sleeve on the NHS: the NICE eligibility criteria, the tier-3 weight-management step, referral, waiting times, and what is covered.
- Gastric Sleeve vs Weight-Loss Injections: How They Compare
A surgeon-reviewed comparison of the gastric sleeve vs weight-loss injections (Wegovy, Mounjaro): how each works, weight loss, cost, side effects, and regain.
- Gastric Sleeve vs Diet and Exercise: Why Surgery When Dieting Should Work
Gastric sleeve vs diet and exercise: why willpower so often fails, the set-point biology behind regain, and what surgery changes that dieting cannot.
- Is a Gastric Sleeve Worth It? An Honest Look at the Pros and Cons
Is a gastric sleeve worth it? An honest, surgeon-reviewed look at the benefits, the lifelong changes, the risks, and who tends to be glad versus regretful.
- What If the Gastric Sleeve Doesn't Work? Causes, Revision Options, and What to Expect
If your gastric sleeve underperforms or weight returns: the real causes, revision options like sleeve to bypass, and how to set realistic expectations.
- Gastric Sleeve Stall: Why Weight-Loss Plateaus Happen and What to Do
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to the gastric sleeve stall and later plateaus: why they happen, why they are normal, and what to do (and not do).
- Exercise After a Gastric Sleeve: When to Start and How to Build Up
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to exercise after a gastric sleeve: when to start, how to build from walking to strength training, and why it matters.
- The Emotional Side of Weight-Loss Surgery: Head Hunger, Body Image, and Support
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to the emotional side of weight-loss surgery: head hunger, the early dip, body image, transfer addiction, and support.
- Alcohol After a Gastric Sleeve: Why It Hits Harder and When It Is Safe
How alcohol affects you after a gastric sleeve: faster, stronger absorption, transfer-addiction risk, empty calories, and when it is sensible to drink again.
- Pregnancy After a Gastric Sleeve: When to Try and What to Watch
A surgeon-reviewed guide to pregnancy after a gastric sleeve: how long to wait, fertility changes, and the nutrition and vitamin monitoring you will need.
- Hair Loss After a Gastric Sleeve: Why It Happens and When It Regrows
Hair loss after a gastric sleeve is usually temporary shedding around 3 to 6 months post-op. Why it happens, the protein and vitamin link, and when it regrows.
- Dumping Syndrome After a Gastric Sleeve: Causes, Symptoms, and How to Avoid It
A surgeon-reviewed guide to dumping syndrome after a gastric sleeve: why it is less common than with a bypass, the triggers, the symptoms, and how to avoid it.
- Loose Skin After Weight-Loss Surgery: Why It Happens and What Helps
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to loose skin after weight-loss surgery: why and where it happens, what helps, and when skin-removal surgery is an option.
- Gastric Sleeve and Reflux (GERD): Why It Happens and How It Is Managed
A surgeon-reviewed guide to gastric sleeve and reflux (GERD): why the sleeve causes or worsens it, how common it is, treatment, and when a bypass is considered.
- Weight Regain After a Gastric Sleeve: Why It Happens and What to Do
Why weight regain happens after a gastric sleeve, how common it is, how to address grazing and a stretched sleeve, and when revision surgery is considered.
- Vitamins After a Gastric Sleeve: What to Take and Why It Is for Life
A surgeon-reviewed guide to vitamins after a gastric sleeve: the multivitamin, B12, iron, calcium and vitamin D you need for life, plus blood tests.
- The Long-Term Gastric Sleeve Diet: How to Eat for Life After Surgery
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to the long-term gastric sleeve diet: small portions, protein first, no drinking with meals, and the foods to limit for life.
- Life After a Gastric Sleeve: Eating, Exercise, and Lifelong Follow-Up
What life after a gastric sleeve is really like: smaller portions, exercise, your relationship with food, follow-up appointments, and lifelong vitamins.
- Gastric Sleeve Results: How Much Weight Will I Lose?
How much weight you lose after a gastric sleeve: typically 60 to 70% of excess weight over 12 to 18 months, the timeline, what affects it, and health gains.
- Gastric Sleeve Risks and Complications: What to Know
A surgeon-reviewed guide to gastric sleeve risks and complications: leak, bleeding, clots, stricture, reflux, deficiencies, and warning signs to act on.
- Gastric Sleeve Diet Stages: The Week-by-Week Post-Op Plan
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to the gastric sleeve diet stages: clear liquids, full liquids, purées, soft foods, then solids over about 6 to 8 weeks.
- Gastric Sleeve Surgery: What Happens on the Day
What happens on the day of gastric sleeve surgery: admission, the anaesthetic, the keyhole operation, waking up, and the 1 to 2 night hospital stay.
- Preparing for Gastric Sleeve Surgery: The Pre-Op Diet, Tests, and Checklist
How to prepare for gastric sleeve surgery: the 2-week liver-shrinking diet, the tests and assessments, stopping smoking, and what to arrange and pack.
- How the Gastric Sleeve Works: Restriction and the Hunger Hormone
How the gastric sleeve works: a surgeon-reviewed look at the two mechanisms behind weight loss, a much smaller stomach and a drop in the hunger hormone ghrelin.
- Types of Weight-Loss Surgery: Sleeve, Bypass, Band, and Balloon Compared
A surgeon-reviewed guide to the main types of weight-loss surgery: how the sleeve, gastric bypass, adjustable band, and balloon work, with pros and cons.
- Gastric Sleeve vs Gastric Bypass: How They Differ and Who Each Suits
A patient's surgeon-reviewed comparison of gastric sleeve vs gastric bypass: how each works, weight loss, reflux, reversibility, dumping, and who each suits.
- Gastric Sleeve Recovery: What the First Weeks Are Really Like
A patient's surgeon-reviewed gastric sleeve recovery guide: the hospital stay, the week-by-week timeline, the staged diet, work, and the emotional dip.
- Having a Gastric Sleeve Abroad: What to Weigh Up
A surgeon-reviewed guide to having a gastric sleeve abroad: why people travel, checking accreditation and surgeons, aftercare back home, and the real risks.
- How Much Does a Gastric Sleeve Cost?
A surgeon-reviewed guide to gastric sleeve cost: typical US and UK private prices, what the fee includes, NHS and insurance cover, and why it's cheaper abroad.
- Am I a Candidate for a Gastric Sleeve? BMI and Eligibility
A surgeon-reviewed guide to gastric sleeve eligibility: the BMI thresholds, the conditions that count, who it's not for, and how the assessment works.
- Gastric Sleeve Surgery: How It Works, the Risks, and the Results
A patient's surgeon-reviewed guide to gastric sleeve surgery: what the operation involves, how it drives weight loss, the risks, and the results to expect.