Bile Reflux or Too tight of restriction???

[outside*looking*in 0]

I posted a few days ago about "sour stomach" and it did not trigger very many responses. Here is the situation.

One month ago I had my Gallbladder removed. Two weeks after I started noticing a little acid/upset stomach. It was infrequent though.

Thursday I had a small fill.

Friday I had HORRIBLE acid indigestion! It lasted all day and night and I had a sensitive stomach all weekend!

I cut out anything acidic that would bother my stomach. The thing is I am able to tolerate food and portions fine. I have not had PB's or slimming or anything like that.

I called and spoke to the nurse this morning and she said she never heard of anyone having problems with reflux after GB removal and her thought is that I am too tight. She said if it happens again, go in to the office for an unfill.???? I wish she would run it past the docs though because bile reflux is a REAL symptom!

Has anyone had experience with this and what was the outcome?

Thanks

[Breeezie 0]

Unfortuantely, or fortunately, I haven't had my gall bladder removed so I can't comment from that perspective. I can, however, tell you that I have only experienced acid reflux from being too tight. A small unfill of ~0.25 was enough to give me relief.

I hope you find some relief soon. Good luck!

[dzeteo 0]

Be sure when talking to doc/nurse that you are not calling it 'bile reflux'. It would be IMPOSSIBLE for the band to cause that. If you call it that they might think you are a little bit off and take you less seriously.

You are describing acid reflux, which from what I hear is not all that uncommon of a thing for people who have been banded.

Treatment would be an acid controller such as omeprazole, which you could purchase over-the-counter. Be sure you talk to your doctor before starting the regimen, I do not see a problem with it, but then again I am not experienced in treating banded patients.

[dzeteo 0]

Yes, after re-reading your post, the problem is likely being too tight. The GB removal has nothing to do with the acid reflux, just a coincidence. If it continues you may need to be relaxed, like the office says.

[outside*looking*in 0]

Thank you all. I felt fine yesterday but I did feel a little icky last night. I have not had experience yet with being too tight and since I have not had pb's, stuck episodes or throwing up I was not sure if that was the problem. I will be seeing the doc if the reflux happens again. I don't want to trade being overweight for feeling bad all the time.

Thanks again:smile2:

[cbbrink 0]

My Guess is that everything is irritated and a little swollen in your abdomen and caused you band to be a little tight for a while. Once the swelling went down it probably went away.

Chuck

[outside*looking*in 0]

Just an update in case anyone does a search on this subject in the future. I had an endoscopy yesterday after going to my surgeons twice and they were unable to help me. I went to my PCP and he referred me to a GI doc. She did an endoscopy and guess what?, I HAVE BILE REFLUX! This is different than ACID REFLUX, although it can have some of the same symptoms. I did not have heartburn or acid coming up my throat. I had a horrible burning sensation in my stomach, lots of gurgling and just felt bad. It came on slowly happening once in a while and then progressed to the point of it never going away. The first time it started it was 3 weeks after I had my Gall Bladder removed. For the last 3 weeks I basically could not eat anything because that would trigger bile to release and then the burning would start. I am now on Carafate liquid 4x a day to help get rid of the extra bile. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works. Hope no one has to go through this and I am happy that it had nothing to do with my band.