Dear All,

Having been sleeved a whole 17 days, I have noticed a very nasty side effect to this surgery - Reflux.

I have been given the PPI, avoid fatty/surgery foods, limit caffeine and chew like the proverbial cow chewing the cud. None of this seems to help things. If I'm gonna get taken out with it, I'm being taken out.

On academic research, I have learnt that VSG increases the likelihood of GERD due to, in short and without doing the 'science bit', the Lower Esophageal Sphincter being weakened. Subsequently, all your gastric juices - PPI or not - jump above that valve and languish in your esophagus causing general discomfort, pain and misery.

Consequently, what I'd like to ask all you good people, is a) have you had this (before or after surgery) b ) how did your surgeons/doctors deal with it c) have your symptoms improved with the surgery, weight loss, or just got worse over time?

Any opinions, particularly from the long-term sufferers, are very much appreciated. x

So, this morning, at 05:00hrs, I awoke, choking on my own bile. I actually inhaled it. Cue 1.5 hours of rolling around on the bathroom floor, crying/panicking, desperately trying to cough up battery acid out of my lungs - gagging, burning, dry heaving. As it went into my lungs, I now have burning all up my esophagus, throat, vocal chords, sore gums/teeth and the pain radiates from the middle of my back. Not to mention the wrench of my stomach and incision sites. I contacted my bariatric providers and they are having me back in to see the surgeon on.. Tuesday. I was also reliably informed that if it went into my lungs, I would likely have to take a course of antibiotics... Now, after answering questions, i could understand it if I had eaten something which hadn't agreed with me. However, my attacks are not during the day/evening. They're in the middle of the night, where my PPI has obviously worn off and the valve just opens itself and lets all the bile escape into my throat and lungs. This, to me, indicates an over-production of bile and the valve malfunctioning. Anyone have any experience of this? What did you do? What did your med team do?

Any advice or assistance would be very much appreciated x

(One fairly miserable girl)

On my. The EXACT same thing happened to me at about the same time since surgery. It was awful. I woke up to my mouth and esophagus FULL of acid. I coughed and puked for hours!! Just a few weeks later it is gone, though. I stopped eating anything after 7 pm and stopped drinking an hour before bed. Also, weirdly enough, I stopped taking my Prilosec because I felt more acid whenever I took it. I doubt that would work for everyone, but it has worked for me!!

I think I'm going to have to do the same thing - no drinks. As for food, I don't eat late anyhow. It is a thoroughly miserable experience, isn't it. Could you tie it down to any food / drink type in particular, or did it just happen to you? Did your attacks happen regularly? Right now, I have to say I'm quite scared of going to bed tonight...

It was right after I began puréed foods. I was on liquids for three weeks. The worst night was refried bean night but there were varied intensity nights for about a week and 1/2. I was so paranoid that I would wake up around 1 am every night and sleep upright in a chair. That might have helped, I guess. Hopefully yours is temporary as mine was!

I certainly hope so.. Definitely don't want that to happen again...

So' date=' this morning, at 05:00hrs, I awoke, choking on my own bile. I actually inhaled it. Cue 1.5 hours of rolling around on the bathroom floor, crying/panicking, desperately trying to cough up battery acid out of my lungs - gagging, burning, dry heaving. As it went into my lungs, I now have burning all up my esophagus, throat, vocal chords, sore gums/teeth and the pain radiates from the middle of my back. Not to mention the wrench of my stomach and incision sites. I contacted my bariatric providers and they are having me back in to see the surgeon on.. Tuesday. I was also reliably informed that if it went into my lungs, I would likely have to take a course of antibiotics... Now, after answering questions, i could understand it if I had eaten something which hadn't agreed with me. However, my attacks are not during the day/evening. They're in the middle of the night, where my PPI has obviously worn off and the valve just opens itself and lets all the bile escape into my throat and lungs. This, to me, indicates an over-production of bile and the valve malfunctioning. Anyone have any experience of this? What did you do? What did your med team do? Any advice or assistance would be very much appreciated x (One fairly miserable girl)[/quote']

Oh no! That sounds awful!! I haven't had anything like that. I'm so sorry you are dealing with that. I sure hope they can get it all fixed up for you.

So do I, treacle, so do I... What scares me the most, is that this might end up being permanent.... <shudders>

Oh sweetie, that sucks! You poor thing.

I've never had anything that bad, but I do recommend either jacking up head of your bed or sleeping on two pillows for a while. That has helped me get rid of the sore throat that I suspect was caused by GERD.

I shall be sleeping on as many pillows as I can get my hands on. And as for the sore throat, I think it sounds most definitely like reflux... Just very very unpleasant all round..

I don't have much to add.. I've seen a lot of people go through this and a fair amount of them get better with time...

I'm sorry you are going through this and I hope that you have a good outcome also.

Cheers, my dear. I guess all I can do is hope that it's not what I'm reading in academic journals - which is the pancreas going into overdrive. In that way, grave danger lies...

Hi Madam, just saw this thread and yes, I had the same symptoms... The only thing that helped was first, sleeping almost sitting up. Sometimes though,, I would still wake up with my lungs and throat on fire and feeling like I was burning up from the inside. I tried tums, Roland's, gas-x, etc. and the only thing that would quench the fire was a liquid extra strength mylanta. Tastes horrible but it works.

I stopped eating anything after 8pm and only drink water during the night. It's gotten better but it still happens on occasion... I just push the pillows under my back and swallow two mouthfuls of the chalky stuff...

One the bright side it's no where as bad as it was at first. sorry your going through this, I hope it gets better soon!

On a side note, I think the reason the liquid helped so much for me was because it washed the acid lining my espophogus, etc. back down into my stomach. It's also a thick liquid so it coats everything nicely. Chewables or gas-x strips won't offer that.

Silly question...are you taking the antacid twice a day? It may need to be doubled like...omaprazole 40 mg twice a day. Or pantoprazole 40 mg twice a day. I started with taking mine before bed cuz between my thyroid meds and multi vits (antacids need to be taken 30 min before other meds or supplements) , there was just no time left..... So I've taken the PPI at night. And yes, reflux can get worse after VSG which is why they will do, or supposed to do, an RNY on those with reflux pre-op. Sorry you feel so miserable, love. I know that wasn't a good experience. If you start with a fever before you see your doc on Tuesday, please go to the emergency room..you may have aspirational pneumonia.

Revs your taking a ppi? Right? how about Reglan or in the UK Maxolon?

Might be worth looking into...