After a forum from yesterday. The worry I had about getting GERD is a lot stronger. The thought of it happening to me scares me. When I do do acid reflux (which is not often ) it does make me sick. This is a out of pocket surgery for me. My insurance doesn't cover wls. So I can't afford this surgery and then have to pay to get bypass if I get GERD. My mood now is so different. I was so happy I made the decision to get the surgery. And after yesterday today I'm scared and sad. I need positive thoughts ❤️

7 hours ago, SleeverSk said:

Hi, were you on medication before surgery if so how long after surgery did you keep taking it and when did you know it was time to come off it and how did you come off, cold turkey or taper ?

So I had been taking the medication (Omeprazole/Prilosec) for 5+ years. About a month before the sleeve surgery I was required to stop taking it for 2 weeks in order to take an H-Pylori test. I stopped cold turkey and never took it again either before or after surgery. I had an endoscopy 18 months after WLS, I can't remember why, and my surgeon showed my evidence of GERD anymore. I never restarted taking it.

I had the band which cause me major acid reflux. The man slipped. I ended up with the sleeve. Due to a bmi of 31.

2 hours ago, Hmucci55 said:

I had the band which cause me major acid reflux. The man slipped. I ended up with the sleeve. Due to a bmi of 31.

You had reflux with your band and your surgeon revised you to sleeve? I see your revision was recent. I'm curious if you have reflux still but I assume you're on a PPI so it's too soon to know what happened with the reflux. I'm pretty sure I've seen people on this site that had sleeve with a normal bmi that developed GERD and they had to revise to Bypass to cure the GERD.

I was going through my insurance requirements for revision surgery. I found it interesting that for something that supposedly rarely happens, it's a documented reason for revision for sleeve to bypass. ?

On 03/17/2022 at 09:45, Tony B - NJ said:

Educate yourself...talk to the Doctor, don't take everything on here as gospel. People have personal stories to tell that you may not know the entire picture of their situation which may explain some of the issues that they have and you may or may not have.

Did anyone who had the bariatric sleeve have trouble with dehydration?

On 03/17/2022 at 09:45, Tony B - NJ said:

Educate yourself...talk to the Doctor, don't take everything on here as gospel. People have personal stories to tell that you may not know the entire picture of their situation which may explain some of the issues that they have and you may or may not have.

Did anyone who had the bariatric sleeve have trouble with dehydration?

I was not able to drink quickly at all for months. Although I was not considered dehydrated, it took me all day to drink 4 cups of liquid for weeks. Now, I can drink one cup in a minute. If I am going to be in the heat, I make sure to hydrate well in the hours beforehand. Hope this helps!

15 hours ago, dutch1966 said:

Did anyone who had the bariatric sleeve have trouble with dehydration?

I was feeling a bit dehydrated and my urine was dark so I called my team and they arranged for me to get fluids. I called right away and they got me In asap so it never got bad, thankfully.

On 3/17/2022 at 10:27 AM, Robz said:

I'm not big enough for bypass. I have health reasons to get the wls now. But my bmi is only 36

I’m getting bypass and my bmi is 30. Mine was recommended due to my GERD.

17 minutes ago, Quesodip251 said:

I’m getting bypass and my bmi is 30. Mine was recommended due to my GERD.

My BMI was 35 and the dr said he thought sleeve was sufficient but he said he would do bypass if I wanted it.

Just now, ShoppGirl said:

My BMI was 35 and the dr said he thought sleeve was sufficient but he said he would do bypass if I wanted it.

Yeah, many doctors will do either. OP- you just have to find a doctor willing to do it if you choose to go that route.

Yes , but the benefits outweighs the Gerd. Besides there’s meds for it that is proscribed and it works. Don’t let a little fear trip you out. We are humans and it’s amazing how the body adapts to change.

Actually being seeing a couple of surgeons reporting only 10% incidence of GERD after sleeve lately. I always thought it was around that 30/35% mark too. Maybe something has changed in the surgical techniques they use??? Or they are more vigilant of recommending bypass to those who are more likely to develop GERD with a sleeve???

I just had a revision from vsg to rny because of gerd. I didn't get gerd until quite a few years after my vsg. I believe most don't get gerd until a few years later or longer.

Also, towards the end, no medication worked hence I had to undergo a revision. Before that, I was switched to every kind of ppi, H2 blocker, anti acids available. Nothing we worked anymore. It got so bad that I was sleep deprived, and it was effecting my work, and I had constant burning in my esophagus. I was warned that if I didn't fix it, I was putting myself in danger for esophageal cancer.

I am not trying to add fear about the vsg. It is a wonderful procedure but some of us, unfortunately, experienced the worst side effect of the vsg, and that is severe gerd and esophagitis. According to studies approximately 35% get it and I fell into that category.

There are many on this site who have had no issues with the sleeve after 7+ years.

I had the SAME fears especially since I was self pay as well. I have been on protonix for almost 20 years and I cancelled my surgery three times. I talked to the dr about my fears and we decided to do the sleeve AND at the same time he did fundoplication. I haven’t had any reflux since surgery.