Acid reflux: when did it start for you? How bad is it?

[OldMomOf3 52]

I was banded 2012 and immediately stopped having reflux. I was revised to sleeve 4 days ago and have had worse acid reflux than I have ever had in my entire life! Is this normal? Common? Will this go away? The prescription Pepcid isn't doing a thing to help it. What do you do about your reflux? I'm on full liquid diet for 2 weeks and I can't imagine what food will be like if liquids (water, juice, broth) is this bad.

[MoMo12onTheGo 66]

@@OldMomOf3 .. do you have any idea what size your bougee is? I've read a lot that if it's smaller than a 33 your chances of bad reflux go up dramatically.

[Mike4132 256]

My reflux was bad prior to surgery and is actually lessening now after at 3 months post op.

I take Dexilant which is the best PPI I've tried. You may want to ask your Dr about it. (Protonix is also very effective)

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I never had reflux prior to surgery. Post-op my doctor's protocal is to start pts. on 20 mgs omeprazole day 1 in the hospital. The first 2 mths I was fine, but about 6 - 8 weeks in when I was cleared to eat whatever I could tolerate, I started having problems. It wasn't bad, but I did have to increase my omeprazole to 40mgs a day. That lasted until month 5. I now no longer need a daily dose. I occasionally get a little acid, but it's fairly mild and managed with chewable tums.

So overall my reflux wasn't bad at all.

[JamieLogical 8,710]

I was immediately prescribed 40mg omeprazole, so I didn't really experience bad reflux until my prescription ran out at 2 months post-op. I have since been taking the over-the-counter dosage (20mg) twice daily. Have you experimented with taking your PPI at different times of day?

[Elode 8,093]

I have some when I didn't take my prescription my surgeon gave me. I don't know if I still have it because I keep my prescription filled. Maybe I will try to stop at 6 months post op....

[LSF 264]

I had reflux after my surgery. I bought some over the counter stuff and took it before bedtime. I'm 6 weeks post op, I noticed over the past week I wasn't feeling the reflux as much but I still took the pill. Last night I didn't need it- I was fine

[Mom0f3inOC 11]

Thank you for all you have shared!

Edited April 10, 2015 by Mom0f3inOC

[amyecpa 33]

I had controlled reflux before the surgery and then it became horrible about 10 days after. It's so bad now that it wakes me up at night, filling my throat, mouth, and nose. I take Protonix 40mg twice a day and I'm having an EGD done day after tomorrow. My surgeon has already mentioned bypass. ????. The gastro doc says don't panic yet. We will reassess after we get the results of the EGD. So needless to say, I am also very interested in hearing others experiences. Good luck to u. BTW, I almost two months out.

[bikrchk 1,313]

Mine worsened for about the first month. They had to double my omeprazole. Then with healing and weight loss it resolved. I still take 40 mg omeprazole 2x day. May have to for life. Small price to pay IMHO!

[VSGmary 418]

Im in the same boat as jamielogical

[Georgiagirl27 17]

I never had acid reflux but I started having symptoms immediately after my surgery. I take prescription Prilosec every morning. If I didn't I would be miserable and I'm one year out from surgery.

[Cleo's Mom 257]

Research has shown that if you have reflux before the sleeve it can make it worse and about 10% who didn't have reflux before the sleeve will develop it. This is why some surgeons won't do the sleeve on those with reflux. The gastric by-pass cures reflux in most cases.

[back2me15 5]

I got bad reflux after surgery and never had it before. Dr. Changed me to disolvable prevacid and added liquid Carafate. They use Carafate to treat ulcers. I take it 4 times a day. Helps tremendously!