Gastric sleeve in Turkey

[Raquel75]

I’m am thinking of going to Turkey for a gastric sleeve . Please can you share your experiences if you have been .

Lithuania has a good reputation.

That’s amazing 9-10 stones . I think I need to do more research, you can never eat the same which would be good for me as I over eat . Thank you for your honesty in your post

I lost nearly 12 stone. After reaching my lowest weight I put on a stone and a half. Apparently that's normal.

Five years ago now and I'm a healthy weight/bmi, a size 12, I exercise regularly and eat very well 90% of the time. I don't eat upf and cook regularly. Protein protein protein. I'd have struggled to eat enough protein if I was vegetarian.

I'm still over 10 stone less than I weighed before surgery.

No one would know by my portion sizes now I'd had it done. I look normal but I dress to hide my saggy and baggy skin. I would not have surgery for that - much higher risk than gastric surgery. A friend had her weight loss surgery in turkey and it was fine - but the plastic surgery she had in the UK after has not been fine.

I'm still very mindful of what I eat and count calories sometimes. Surgery is a tool, not a silver bullet. I know someone who did it and put loads of weight back on but they eat badly and didn't - in my opinion - commit to making long term serious changes.

Oh and I've maintained my weight for two years now.

My sister's colleague went to turkey for this and came home really unwell. She went to many doctors who told her the surgery went well and everything seemed fine.
No one could figure out what was wrong until they scanned her. They'd taken one of her kidneys.
Organ harvesting is a big thing in turkey as they're sold on the black market.
The worst thing is, she can't even take it to court as she'd need a scan image from before she went to prove that she initially had two kidneys 🙄

Weight loss surgery can be life saving but you can and will regain the weight. You say you can never eat the same but you can. Years later your body gets used to high calorie foods and volume and I've seen people who've lost 9-10 stone regain the lot, even with a bypass.

Why did you have no luck on Wegovy? Were you tracking your calories and weighing your food?

Do not do this my friends sister died on the operating theatre in Turkey.

I wasn’t tracking or weighing I was following slimming world .
In 3mths I lost 10lbs whilst taking wegovy I thought I’d lose so much more .

@Raquel75 I know it’s frustrating but you did still lose weight so it didn’t not work. I would also try MJ before choosing surgery and stick with it for 6 months at least

You may need to change your expectations

What will do you do if you have surgery and you lose 3lb a month?

You might not think that is very likely, that the weight will drop off

Well it doesnt always, mine has been very slow, Im a very slow loser. I lost at the same rate as I did prior to the surgery.

Most people are losing at least a stone a month

If you get panicky or frustrated or despondant, you need to know that you just carry on, you cant do anything but carry on.

I’ve heard about this happening as well. You really want to not believe it it’s such a terrifying thought.

As an nhs anaesthetist please don't. Have taken so many to icu septic as hell or we've had to cut out most of their gut to keep them alive as massive chunks were dead from them cutting off blood supply during the initial surgery

Wegovy is pretty good but it doesn’t work for everyone. And I think Slimming World isn’t really a good fit with it if you eat lots of carbs which SW can lead to.

Did you start on the lowest dose of Wegovy - 2.5? That initial month doesn’t really count for some people as it’s such a low dose and designed to get you used to the medication. The next dose of 0.5 can lead to good weight loss but not for everyone. The following month is 1mg and should lead to weight loss. But that’s not the maximum dose. So you possibly haven’t given Wegovy long enough to reach the full dose of 2.4mg. And you need to eat lots of protein and fibre and drink lots of water.

Mounjaro is supposed to be better than Wegovy so it might be worth trying that. But if you do really research how it works so you understand and can work with it.

These medications are fantastic but they aren’t a magic bullet. You need to understand how they work and why and follow the dietary guidelines too.

Also read the book Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson who is a bariatric surgeon. It’s a really good explanation of why diets don’t work and what foods really contribute to obesity.

If you eat within a calorie deficit, maybe with the help of one of the weight loss drugs, you will lose weight.

Check your calorie target on the James Smotn Academy calculator. Then log religiously on MFP or nutracheck.

Ben Carpenter is also really good and has a good book.

The foreign office has advised against travelling to Turkey for surgery because of the large amount of deaths https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/turkey/health

Gastric sleeve is a major operation and travelling on a plane, any distance , after major surgery puts you at so many risks . This is going to be for life, if you are going to do it , do it well and safely ie in the country you are residing so you are not travelling after major abdominal surgery and are close so any complications can be dealt with swiftly.

Hi.

I had one 4 years ago.

All went perfectly. No issues or complications. Hospital was great

Have lost 90lbs
I'm going abroad again soon for tummy tuck.

Someone on here recommended https://thehumanbeingdiet.com/
My friend has been following this (just a short while) but it really does work.

Did you go to Turkey
or somewhere else

Yes Turkey, but I'm staying in Europe for my TT & boobs.

@Raquel75 as others have said, it doesn't sound as if you spent long enough on Wegovy to get the kind of result you are hoping for. Assuming you did a month on .25 then 0.5 then 1.0 you were still 2 steps below the maximum dose which some people need to see the full effect. The drugs don't 'melt away fat', they just make it far easier to stay in calorie deficit.

Do think about giving them another try, they are far less risky than bariatric surgery.

I know 2 people.personally who has a sleeve in Turkey and 3 in the UK. I'm one of the ones from the UK. I can't comment on Turkey, but my 2 pals who went have had no issues, 1 lady is around 4 years out, the other approx 6/8 months. I'm 3 and a half years out and have maintained a 7 stone loss. My surgeon said he would get a third of my body weight off me which would have been about 6 stone and the rest was up to me. I've been happily a size 14 for 2.5 years, and recently joined a gym and going for 1 more stone. I've loved my results and haven't struggled at all. Yes meals are smaller but it doesn't stop me eating out and I'm loving a much fuller/happy life xx

@Raquel75
I should also say - I personally used semaglutides - starting from a 31 BMI to 24 over 9 months (SW 13.7 to about 10.9). I know this is a different starting point but wanted to be transparent.

Once it started working for me, paid for private prescriptions for a relative starting from a ?45 BMI (17st SW - 5ft) who 12 months on is 13st and still losing. NHS Tier 3 - due to previous complications from abdominal surgery for other issues I was really worried that surgery was the only option being offered.

For me the best bit is seeing a person I care for deeply who had chronic joint pain, low mood and respiratory issues (following a very severe bout of covid pre vaccination- think just below ICU admission) who was sad and very sedentary getting their mojo back because they are no longer breathless or in pain all the time.

I have another relative with similar issues where I would happily pay for their medication who won't even discuss it. They have joint issues that may prevent them working in the near to medium future and suffered a stroke 18 months ago, most likely related to weight. They are 48.

None of this offered to tell you what you should do, that's for you to decide.

Thank you so much for all your support - I’m really thinking of trying the injections again

Often people spend a significant amount of time researching surgeons to operate on them overseas, but forget that the anaesthetist is responsible meeting you pre op. and keeping you alive during the op. General anaesthesia for obese patients is risky.
Anaesthetic standards in the UK are excellent, especially compared with countries that offer this type of surgery.

These aren't having issues with the anaesthetic though, these are all surgical complications ...slipped gastric bands that cut off the blood supply, inadequate blood supply left to keep section of gut alive, awful wound infections etc

(anaesthetic ones, if significant will be "death on the table" type scenarios which us in nhs hosps will never be made aware of)