Is this GERD???

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

2 nights ago I had some kind of episode where I had a snack about 45 minutes after I worked out at night and I had INCREDIBLE pain. Felt heavy, sharp pains, burning. Hurt to sit up, hurt to lay down, couldn't find a comfortable position. Took pepto twice before I finally got any relief after about an hour. I was left with burning in my throat. My husband said it sounds like reflux (I'm on a PPI for 6 months, but I've never had reflux or GERD or anything before). My snack was normal (1 tbsp hummus and 1/4 cup sliced cucumbers) but my workout was more intense than normal (had the treadmill at a 5.5 incline at a speed of 3.5). Now I have burning in my throat everyday and slight nausea depending on what I eat.

The burning in the back of my throat is getting bothersome. I'm already on 40mg of Omeprazole daily (I never had GERD or reflux in the past, but I have to be on it for 6 months after the surgery) and after the "episode" that my husband said was a big GERD issue (he has it and said it's exactly like what happens with him) I haven't been able to eat without being nauseous and I have a persistent burning in the back of my throat. Not sure what to do since I'm already on something. I may need to call my surgeon's office on Monday, but this is going to make for a miserable weekend.

[Tomo 1,135]

I don't know but I can share how mine began. I didn't get gerd till a few years in with my sleeve. It began with a slight burning throat (near the base of my throat). It progressed to an added feeling of mucus there or a lump so I swallowed a lot to try to clear it. I was switched several times from famotidine to Omeprazole to esomeprazole... Etc. Some worked for awhile. It progressively got to the uncontrolled state.

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

It seems to be worse at night. It just started getting worse and I drank some milk and I'm in agony now. In my stomach area, burning in my throat, hard to catch my breath, can't get comfortable, almost feels like it hurts in my back area directly behind where it hurts in the front (and everything feels like it's burning). I've never had this before the last 2 days and it's freaking me out. I'm afraid it'll trigger a panic attack since I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and GERD has been known to do that.

Edited August 20, 2022 by SleeveDiva2022

[summerseeker 1,844]

Hi, Serious pain should be reported to your team. It sounds like Gerd and could also include Gallbladder problems. I had my gallbladder out years ago and remember a back and front agonising pain from that. I never had Gerd till sleeve surgery so have had some trouble with nausea and reflux at night. I now take 2 x 30 mgs of Lansoprazole. [ Might be a different name as I am in the UK] I take them on a very empty stomach in a morning and at night. I also bought a bed wedge and also put some bricks under the top legs of my bed. So my head is higher than my feet. I never eat after 2 hours before bed either. I hope you can get this sorted out

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

5 hours ago, summerseeker said:

Hi, Serious pain should be reported to your team. It sounds like Gerd and could also include Gallbladder problems. I had my gallbladder out years ago and remember a back and front agonising pain from that. I never had Gerd till sleeve surgery so have had some trouble with nausea and reflux at night. I now take 2 x 30 mgs of Lansoprazole. [ Might be a different name as I am in the UK] I take them on a very empty stomach in a morning and at night. I also bought a bed wedge and also put some bricks under the top legs of my bed. So my head is higher than my feet. I never eat after 2 hours before bed either. I hope you can get this sorted out

I'm going to call on Monday and see if I can get in to see my surgeon or the NP. The burning in my throat is constant now and I have zero desire to eat because everything either makes me really nauseous or triggers a BRUTAL reaction (pain, intense burning in my stomach, chest, and throat, nausea, shortness of breath, PAIN). I had my gallbladder out in 97 so I know it's not that.

[Berryello 2]

28 minutes ago, SleeveDiva2022 said:

I'm going to call on Monday and see if I can get in to see my surgeon or the NP. The burning in my throat is constant now and I have zero desire to eat because everything either makes me really nauseous or triggers a BRUTAL reaction (pain, intense burning in my stomach, chest, and throat, nausea, shortness of breath, PAIN). I had my gallbladder out in 97 so I know it's not that.

You could have a stricture which can cause all the symptoms that you are saying. I would ask your surgeon about it. It could be acid reflux as well. Since you had the sleeve it will make Gerd much worse or even cause it. I hope you get the answers you are looking for. They may want to do an upper endoscopy to see what is going on. If it is stricture they will have to perform surgery to fix it. If it gets worse, you may want to consider going to they bypass. I'm in the process of getting my surgery. I am choosing the bypass because I have Gerd now and can not imagine it getting worse.

wish you the best of luck.

Rebecca

[catwoman7 10,856]

6 hours ago, Berryello said:

You could have a stricture which can cause all the symptoms that you are saying. I would ask your surgeon about it. It could be acid reflux as well. Since you had the sleeve it will make Gerd much worse or even cause it. I hope you get the answers you are looking for. They may want to do an upper endoscopy to see what is going on. If it is stricture they will have to perform surgery to fix it. If it gets worse, you may want to consider going to they bypass. I'm in the process of getting my surgery. I am choosing the bypass because I have Gerd now and can not imagine it getting worse.

wish you the best of luck.

Rebecca

strictures are actually much more common with bypass, and even then, only about 5% of bypassers get them. That said, it *could* be stricture -- but that's pretty rare with sleevers. GERD would be much more likely. I had two strictures - they just do an upper endoscopy and stretch them out while they're in there - so no surgery required. It's a pretty easy-peasy fix.

Edited August 20, 2022 by catwoman7

[Arabesque 6,470]

Glad you are contacting your surgeon. There are a few things you can do to help alleviate some of the GERD symptoms. Besides the bed wedge or bricks under the head of the bed, don’t eat any soIid Protein before bed & don’t lie down within 2 hrs of eating. Cut out carbonation, caffeine & spicy & rich foods. I managed my reflux for years through these dietary changes. I’d only have to take a PPI maybe 5 times a year (when I’d ignore my avoid carbonation rule & have too many glasses of champagne or gin & tonics 😉).

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

3 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Glad you are contacting your surgeon. There are a few things you can do to help alleviate some of the GERD symptoms. Besides the bed wedge or bricks under the head of the bed, don’t eat any soIid Protein before bed & don’t lie down within 2 hrs of eating. Cut out carbonation, caffeine & spicy & rich foods. I managed my reflux for years through these dietary changes. I’d only have to take a PPI maybe 5 times a year (when I’d ignore my avoid carbonation rule & have too many glasses of champagne or gin & tonics 😉).

Yeah, I noticed that it's the absolute worst at night. I already didn't have dairy or spicy or rich foods. I can and will cut out the occasional diet soda I was drinking. Caffeine will be tough, but I will do it (I did it once, I can do it again). I've been sleeping propped up the last few days and it does help. I will definitely look at not eating any Protein before bed. Looking back, I did that twice while this was going on. Definitely gonna cut that out. There was no buildup to this at all. It just BOOM hit me like a mack truck one night and I thought I was dying. Could it be a hernia? Would that actlike this? Or does this definitely sound like GERD?

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

It's getting to the point that I can only drink liquids. Eating is miserable. I get full almost immediately and everything starts feeling heavy and burning and I can't get comfortable. I've never wanted a Monday to get here so fast before...

Edited August 21, 2022 by SleeveDiva2022

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

I know I was really thinking what I have is GERD, but now I'm not sure what is going on. So here's what I'm dealing with:

1) burning in my throat and occasionally my chest and stomach

2) nausea when eating anything at all, no matter what it is or how much or little of it I try to eat

3) can't tolerate anything but liquids now

4) if I try to eat, it literally won't go down. It sits at the bottom of my throat and doesn't move for AGES. Drinking liquid doesn't help. It just gets stuck there, too.

5) lots of burping and hiccups

6) dark, sticky kinda poo (sorry, tmi)

7) heaviness and pain in my upper stomach/abdominal area

8 ) occasional shortness of breath

9) feeling full after literally 2 or 3 bites of something (small bites, and before stuff wouldn't go down, I was trying to eat and I would be PAINFULLY full after 2 or 3 bites)

10) literally woke up with what felt like acid in my throat this morning (now my throat feels raw and hurts)

Some of this sounds like GERD, but some of it doesn't. My husband looked it up and said it sounds like a hiatal hernia, but I don't know. Anyone have experience with that? I'm up late because I'm in so much pain and I can't sleep. Definitely looking forward to calling my surgeon's office. But still, anyone on here have any clue at all what this might be??

[Berryello 2]

Good Luck, and I hope you get the answers you need.

Rebecca

[St77 85]

Even though you've had you're gallbladder out, you can actually still have pain similar to when you had you're gallbladder in. No one told me that for years.

After years of GERD, I also found out that I had esophagitis and gastritis, which went unidentified until I had an endoscopy. After taking 2 PPIs for a while I eventually healed. That was before having my bypass though.

Hopefully your surgeon figures out what's going on and a solution fast. Hope you feel better soon.

[Arabesque 6,470]

With those additional symptoms you’ve mentioned a hernia does sound more likely. Could it have been something that occurred during your gym session - lifted or strained something - as the first symptom you noticed was just after your session?? Sometimes it doesn’t take much & can be nothing all that unusual. I did my back the first time leaning sideways to pull out a weed.

I hope you get on to your surgeon soon.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Arabesque

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,812]

I have esophagitis, gastritis, and gerd. I'm being referred to a GI specialist to have a scope done to see if there's a hernia. They could only do the barium swallow test in the ER. OH, also, apparently my esophagus spasms pretty dramatically any time I eat or drink anything. So...yeah.