Alright so, I'm a 29 year old female, I suffer from High Blood Pressure at this age (so upsetting), Diabetes. I have gone through the 6 month program at my clinic and I'm approved for surgery. My A1c is above 8 right now, so I'm just working on getting that lowered to ~8 at my next blood test, and I'm good to go to get sleeved. Now call me an idiot or a coward, but I am scared to get GERD after the surgery. I know, it sounds so stupid, for Christ's sake I have high blood pressure and Diabetes already, but I feel like if I go through something so drastic as to cut out 70% of my stomach, I just don't want to accumulate other diseases like GERD and still be bound to take medications everyday for other diseases acquired - does that make sense to anyone? I want to get this procedure done (And let me tell you, I am soo scared still to do it, but I know it is the best option for me considering my health status), I just feel like let's say I do get GERD, there is all this talk about sleevers down the line getting revisions, I don't wanna be a non-normal person getting surgeries and other procedures done all the time to feel normal. What advice can anyone give me to relieve my nerves? As of right now, I do sometimes get heart burn if I eat something spicy - i don't take any medications for it. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Is there a possibility I will get chronic GERD after surgery and I will need a revision done later on in life?

Any advice would help me out!!! I'm a confused mess right now....

Edited July 20, 20197 yr by AchieveGoals
made it simpler

Soon as the Dr saw how bad my sugar levels were he said bypass is the best option for diabetes sufferers, some people have been known to leave hospital diabetes free!

On 7/20/2019 at 7:02 AM, GradyCat said:

I had GERD for many years before WLS surgery. I had the sleeve 7 months ago. Now I no longer have GERD.

That is really great. But I think your case is a very unrealistic exception.

Prior to my VSG 2 years ago, my acid reflux was minimal, not everyday. I had experienced reflux when I gained weight. I was a yo-yo dieter for years getting low as 130lb to high of 310. At my pre op testing for surgery, my surgeon says I have mild gerd. He had recommended gastric bypass. I didn't want bypass and told him if I lose the weight the reflux should go away like it has done in previous years.

I was reflux free for 1 1/2 years post VSG. By then, i was 100 pounds lighter. By Dec of last year, I started having reflux here and there but not everyday. The ppi medicine was working but fast forward to this year. I was still experiencing mild acid in my esophagus after eating even with taking a ppi using with nutrition dense foods.

My surgeon again recommended gastric bypass to get rid of the acid reflux or stay on ppi forever. I was leaning towards staying on ppi medication and losing more weight. However, I am still reading those with gerd/VSG and have reached a healthy BMI under 25 still experienced gerd.

I will be moving forward with revision surgery from VSG to Gastric Bypass on the 19th of Sept.

I never had GERD before surgery... since surgery end Oct 2018, I now have it but can easily get rid of it with mild OTC meds - Rennies (in the UK) - I need to take a few a day but in the scheme of things its a very small price to pay for the weight loss and much better quality of life. I NEVER leave home without a rack of Rennies in my bag as it can get very uncomfortable if I don't have them with me... they fix it really quickly. I'm seeing my surgeon this afternoon and will talk about it with him... I don't fancy the idea of more surgery and need to weigh up the pros and cons of taking Rennies - or prescription PPIs - or further surgery...

It's a tough one, but GERD can be excruciatingly painful...

On 9/9/2019 at 6:28 AM, KadieEuropeBound said:

Prior to my VSG 2 years ago, my acid reflux was minimal, not everyday. I had experienced reflux when I gained weight. I was a yo-yo dieter for years getting low as 130lb to high of 310. At my pre op testing for surgery, my surgeon says I have mild gerd. He had recommended gastric bypass. I didn't want bypass and told him if I lose the weight the reflux should go away like it has done in previous years.

I was reflux free for 1 1/2 years post VSG. By then, i was 100 pounds lighter. By Dec of last year, I started having reflux here and there but not everyday. The ppi medicine was working but fast forward to this year. I was still experiencing mild acid in my esophagus after eating even with taking a ppi using with nutrition dense foods.

My surgeon again recommended gastric bypass to get rid of the acid reflux or stay on ppi forever. I was leaning towards staying on ppi medication and losing more weight. However, I am still reading those with gerd/VSG and have reached a healthy BMI under 25 still experienced gerd.

I will be moving forward with revision surgery from VSG to Gastric Bypass on the 19th of Sept.

Thank you so much for responding. Quite an interesting experience of yours. Just a quick question. When you wrote that you got down to 130lbs by dieting compared to getting in the 100 range by VSG, does your body feel smaller by the VSG weight loss compared to the dieting weight loss? Just wondering if your body after the 2 different types of weight loss made u look skinnier than the other? Hope this makes sense, hope to hear from you thanks!

what I've noticed is that my first weight loss - in 2012 where I lost about 97lbs - was much slower and my body seemed to shrink more in line with the loss on the scales... this time, the weight loss has been faster and my body has taken longer to catch up... it's weird because I kept my clothes and some of them still look wrong now when I wear them - so my body must have adjusted in a different way ...