severe reflux

[justdance 0]

Ok so after reading that 5 year study where it stated that some people who had severe reflux and had to be revised to bypass...what??? Ok so my question is done anyone here have severe reflux? Did u always suffer from it before surgery? Reason I'm asking is because I don't have any problems with reflux(pre-op still) and I don't want any. I don't want to be on medication for life or worse have to have bypass in the end. Something none of us wanted in the first place. I do realize we are put on ppi's after surgery for a few months but crap, this news is slightly depressing

[juliarh 35]

I have only had severe reflux when I am not taking my PPI -- really, it seems to do the trick -- I've not heard of anyone who has been taking a PPI that had issues with reflux -- but I may be wrong.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I have only had severe reflux when I am not taking my PPI -- really, it seems to do the trick -- I've not heard of anyone who has been taking a PPI that had issues with reflux -- but I may be wrong.

I'm not sure if there are studies on long term PPI use while taking Calcium or not... I know that long term PPI use can lead to bone loss and increased fractures. I hope to go off of PPIs some day... my doc asks us to take them for 6 months. I only had reflux before surgery when I ate lots of chocolate (CAKE...read that Crack!)... so I hope not to be one who needs to take them forever.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=38747

[StacyS 20]

I have severe GERD, heartburn, reflux.... whatever you wanna call it and I havent had surgery yet. I've been prescribed medication for it but they never work so I take TUMS everyday. I have a hiatal hernia and the surgeon said he will repair that when I'm in surgery but WTF, am I gonna have this forever, even after he repairs the hernia simply because of the sleeve?

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I have severe GERD, heartburn, reflux.... whatever you wanna call it and I havent had surgery yet. I've been prescribed medication for it but they never work so I take TUMS everyday. I have a hiatal hernia and the surgeon said he will repair that when I'm in surgery but WTF, am I gonna have this forever, even after he repairs the hernia simply because of the sleeve?

A small 5 year study of sleevers show 30% have reflux after 5 years. It does not say if they had it before or not. Ask your Doc if your hernia is the cause....

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

With this surgery, chances are if you had reflux pre surgery you will likely have it after. I'm not a Doctor though so I'm only guessing, but it just makes sense to me. Anyway, I do take Omeprazole every morning. I was only told by my surgeon to take it for the first 6 month post op, however I have no real intention of ever stopping taking it. The studies show too much evidence that reflux is a big issue with the sleeve. I'd rather keep my acid under control rather than "chance it" and end up damaging my esophagus so much I have to revise to RNY or DS. I honestly do not think my body can handle either of those surgeries and need to practice some preventative medicine here.

To combat the Calcium deficiency, I take 1500 mg of calcium citrate a day making sure not to take it with Iron, and taking Vitamin D and Magnesium for super potency and absorption.

All of this to me is a small price to pay for my health and fitness. If I didn't do all this I'd end up with a stroke, Type 2 diabetes or heart disease, even cancer. All of these run in my family, and I was already diagnosed with hypertension at 31 years old. I was headed no where and fast. I was placed on 4 maximum dosage pills per day to bring my BP down. Today I'm down to only ONE!!! It's the minimum dose and to date my BP has been excellent. It's only a matter of time before my PCP takes me off of that too.

You really have to consider your choices when you do this. Think about your future, look at your relatives when making this decision too. If they have something, chances are you will too if you continue with very bad habits.

Hang in there, don't sweat the small stuff.

[justdance 0]

Thankyou for the replies. Much appreciated

[Lakelady 2]

I'm 4 weeks out and have nasty reflux-bad when I've eaten, bad when I'm hungry. I'm a little freaked out because it might be long term. My doctor didn't prescribe a PPI but told me today I could take OTC Prilosec. It's working great but I don't want to take it forever.

[jovigrl62 2]

I just happened on this thread, but I'm 3months out. I've lost 8o pounds and had very little reflux pre-op and now I have GERD! If I have it the rest of my life I guess I'll just have to live with it, but I really don't want another surgery. I take Regland 4x a day and 40 mg of pepsid a/c and gas x daily.

I had not heard of any of this before and this has been very enlightening. Thank you.

[KabinKitty 11]

I had heartburn twice in my life and one time it was when I was 8 months pregnant, ate chili Soup and was doing alot of bending over. So, no real history of acid reflux here.

I had my sugery 23 days ago and have had no issues. My surgeon had one patient who he had to revise to RNY due to extreme acid reflux. She had to be fed through a tube for a month, waiting to see if it would resolve. This was his first and he said he refered to other docs who say it's rare, but it does happen.

I may be get beat up here, but I think some of the problems may stem from the surgeon's techinique. I would ask my surgeon point blank how many of his patients who have no acid reflux issues pre-op, end up with it after surgery.

My surgeon wants us on a PPI for only 2 months. I will go off of them as he advises and see how things go. If I have a problem I will definately let him know. A friend's surgeon never put her on one after surgery (hers was 3 days before me) and she has had no problem. I want to get off of the PPI as soon as possible due to the Calcium deficiencies!

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I almost never had reflux before the surgery - only if I all-out binged on horrible food, and even then, it'd be very minor. After the surgery, I didn't have any reflux for the first 3 months or so, even though I only took my PPI every other day rather than daily. Then at some point, I started having pretty severe reflux 2-3 times a week. It'd never last very long, but it was a very unpleasant feeling and it didn't seem to relate to what I ate and how much in any way. I avoided taking my PPI for it because of the bone density thing and just took an OTC antacid, which worked within a few minutes. Now I'm at almost 7 months out and hardly ever have reflux. I still make sure to have an antacid in my bag whenever I'm gone from home for extended periods of time, but I haven't had to use one in a while. I've been eating crap food (ice cream, lots of coffee, fried foods, etc) for the last few days since I'm on vacation and haven't had any reflux....then yesterday morning I had 2 pieces of sushi for Breakfast and 10 minutes later, my throat was on fire! It's so random! BUT I'm still PPI-free and my reflux, although much stronger than pre-surgery, is quite rare. I'd rather have yucky reflux 2-3 times a month than be obese, that's for sure.

[Go Kart Mozart 44]

I rarely had reflux pre-op, but I had bad reflux the first three weeks or so post-op, and only then did my surgeon offer a PPI. It says to take daily, but I only take it as needed - probably 5-6 times a month now (and it knocks it down quickly). Compared to being 332 lbs., I'll deal with this instead. Of course, I'm not trying to minimize the plight of anyone who has had severe heartburn after the sleeve - I truly sympathize with them.

[klaufer 0]

What does "PPI" mean ?

I'm 15 days out and have no idea what this means.....

Thx

[Dawn 16]

I had reflux REALLY bad before surgery but haven't had it since. I do get a real sour stomach in the mornings so I take my PPI at night before bed. I was on nexium but it wasn't working anymore and I just got switched to Asiphex(sp) and so far it seems to be doing the trick! Good Luck!

[emilygrace 5]

PPI = proton pump inhibitor, the reflux drugs ending in -azole, as a rule: omeprazole, esomeprazole (Nexium), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (Aciphex).

I had no heartburn preop, but I did have an annoying dry cough which I now think was reflux-related. At sleeve surgery a hiatal hernia was found and repaired. I started with reflux immediately postop and was commenced on Nexium.

It worked well. After about 3 months I had to go off nexium due to insurance issues and tried Prilosec OTC. It doesn't help much. Went to see a GI guy who did an upper GI scope this week (EGD). Showed a normal esophagus and stomach. He took biopsies which I have to wait for the results.

My reflux isn't "bad", just annoying. I feel kind of bubbles rolling up my throat when the prilosec is due. Often if I feel "hungry" and eat a Tums it goes away. My surgeon did tell me it may last 3-12 months postop - he said just like you have scars on the outside, your stomach has a long scar on one side that is stiff and needs to soften up over time.

jovigrl62 - it may be worth you trying a PPI instead of your Pepcid (which is an acid blocker but not a PPI). H2 blockers are good at treating symptoms of acid reflux but not at healing the esophageal irritation. Reglan is not very effective for heartburn either.