Severe slime choking me constantly and acid in lungs at night

[Kate207 3]

Hello :-)

I'm 9 weeks post surgery and honestly this has ruined my life I don't feel this is ever going to stop and I'm so scared.

So my story is a little different. I had a laparoscopic gastric sleeve because I had a benign tumour growing on the outside of my stomach. My gastric sleeve is a smaller op than normal because they didn't take as much of my stomach away but I can't understand why I'm suffering so badly.

Due to other health issues I've also got dysphagia and have been on a permanent liquid diet since 2016 and already very underweight. This is unrelated to the benign tumour and still being investigated. I never had any issues with acid before surgery.

Anyhow, after surgery I was doing really well. The first few weeks I was building up to 4 300ml ensure shakes a day quite well. I felt great but this might have been the painkillers I was on for a pneumothorax. I wasn't taking the anti reflux medication as they couldn't prescribe it in liquid form and the orodispersable ones had hundreds of tiny hard capsules in them which made them difficult to swallow. But I was ok. No reflux problems.

Then suddenly everything changed. I started getting the general foamies at first. Which I could deal with as they were quick in passing and after a google search I eased off the ensure shakes a little, drank more slowly and drank more Water. I was started on omeprazole capsules that I have to open up and dissolve in water so I'm not really getting the full 40mg of it. I never miss taking this though. Over the past 6 weeks its gotten to the point that I no longer have foamies I have this constant thick sticky slime in my throat which is so bad I'm now losing sleep due to waking up choking and trying to hack it up.

Every night is a nightmare. I go to sleep and start producing more thick slime and breathing in acid that I wake up choking and covered in sweat. I'm panicked trying to get the slime up to breathe, coughing up acid, gagging, choking on the slime, gulping on the huge lumps of slime that I can't hack up or swallow and sometimes vomiting.

Its now gotten to the point that I'm living on a few cups of tea a day and water as I can't get the ensures past the slime during the day. Even an empty stomach has made no difference.

I saw my surgeon and nutritionist finally a few days ago who treated me like I'd had something as simple as a tooth extraction and were unbothered by my weight loss, the fact that I can no longer get ensures down so I'm basically not eating at all and that I'm becoming depressed dealing with this choking slime and acid despite taking omeprazole. He's scheduling an endoscopy but in the meantime I'm honestly just so done with dealing with this. Its completely ruining my life. I can't eat, I can't sleep and I'm tortured every second by this choking slime in my throat. I have a young child to look after and I feel so tired and panicked daily.

Has anyone dealt with the slime constantly? Rather than just when eating too much? Has anyone found a way to reduce stomach acid if already on anti reflux meds?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

[liveaboard15 1,294]

what is your weight and height? Why did you get weight loss surgery if you were already underweight and on a permanent liquid diet due to other health issues?

[Kate207 3]

1 minute ago, liveaboard15 said:

what is your weight and height? Why did you get weight loss surgery if you were already underweight and on a permanent liquid diet due to other health issues?

I had a tumour growing on the outside of my stomach that needed to be removed. As it had grown right through the stomach wall I had to have a sleeve to take it out. Thry originally planned to just take a small wedge but the tumour was bigger than expected when they operated.

I'm 5 foot 4" and currently 48kg

[liveaboard15 1,294]

1 minute ago, Kate207 said:

I had a tumour growing on the outside of my stomach that needed to be removed. As it had grown right through the stomach wall I had to have a sleeve to take it out. Thry originally planned to just take a small wedge but the tumour was bigger than expected when they operated.

I'm 5 foot 4" and currently 48kg

Ok so you did not get weight loss surgery for the weight loss. It was due to this tumor on your stomach. Ok now i get ya. You may need to end up getting revised to bypass if your reflux is getting this bad. Its always a fear for most that get the sleeve on having to revise it to bypass and its something i fear because my insurance does not cover these surgeries. Maybe talk to your doctor about other PPI medications. There are better ones than Omeprazole.

[Kate207 3]

5 minutes ago, liveaboard15 said:

Ok so you did not get weight loss surgery for the weight loss. It was due to this tumor on your stomach. Ok now i get ya. You may need to end up getting revised to bypass if your reflux is getting this bad. Its always a fear for most that get the sleeve on having to revise it to bypass and its something i fear because my insurance does not cover these surgeries. Maybe talk to your doctor about other PPI medications. There are better ones than Omeprazole.

Thank you. I feared this would be the case :/

I've been tried on possibly every PPI. The pharmacy has also refused my surgeons request to put me on liquid omrprazole so I at least get the full dose as its too expensive.

[St77 87]

In the first few weeks after my bypass I kept choking on slime in my throat and that was also coming up when I was heaving. The surgeon said that I had a lot of mucus and that's what was coming up.

I wonder if Carafate is something would help the acid issue you are having.

Good luck, I hope you find some relief.

[RickM 1,753]

There are some Facebook groups specifically for people who have had gastrectomies, both total and partial, and that may provide better context and patient experience than a basic WLS group like this.

That said, it sounds to me, in my non MD view, that you may have some kind of stricture, where the stomach has twisted or folded over in itself owing to it now odd geometry; the sudden onset leads me to this type of conclusion. What you have had surgically is not a classic sleeve gastrectomy (most likely, at least) but rather some variation, particularly if they were trying to minimize the amount of stomach they were removing. That puts it outside the normal bariatric experience base. Frequently what is done in these cases is a partial gastrectomy that is more akin to an RNY gastric bypass, where they remove the lower part of the stomach including the pyloric valve, form a pouch with the remaining stomach and tie the exit some distance down the intestine. This, of course, depends upon where the tumor is, how much they need to remove, and surgeon's preference and experience.

We rarely see these problems these days with a conventional WLS sleeve as they are fairly cookie cutter and routine once the surgeon has done a few dozen of them, but it does happen occasionally early on owing to inflammation from the surgery, but that usually resolves itself in a couple of weeks or so. The RNY type procedures are somewhat prone to strictures around the joint between the stomach pouch and intestine from scar tissue if that is the type of configuration that you have. The endoscopy (or a barium swallow test) should provide some answers, though I am a bit surprised that they aren't expediting that considering the situation.

Hopefully you can get some answers soon.

[Kate207 3]

2 hours ago, RickM said:

There are some Facebook groups specifically for people who have had gastrectomies, both total and partial, and that may provide better context and patient experience than a basic WLS group like this.

That said, it sounds to me, in my non MD view, that you may have some kind of stricture, where the stomach has twisted or folded over in itself owing to it now odd geometry; the sudden onset leads me to this type of conclusion. What you have had surgically is not a classic sleeve gastrectomy (most likely, at least) but rather some variation, particularly if they were trying to minimize the amount of stomach they were removing. That puts it outside the normal bariatric experience base. Frequently what is done in these cases is a partial gastrectomy that is more akin to an RNY gastric bypass, where they remove the lower part of the stomach including the pyloric valve, form a pouch with the remaining stomach and tie the exit some distance down the intestine. This, of course, depends upon where the tumor is, how much they need to remove, and surgeon's preference and experience.

We rarely see these problems these days with a conventional WLS sleeve as they are fairly cookie cutter and routine once the surgeon has done a few dozen of them, but it does happen occasionally early on owing to inflammation from the surgery, but that usually resolves itself in a couple of weeks or so. The RNY type procedures are somewhat prone to strictures around the joint between the stomach pouch and intestine from scar tissue if that is the type of configuration that you have. The endoscopy (or a barium swallow test) should provide some answers, though I am a bit surprised that they aren't expediting that considering the situation.

Hopefully you can get some answers soon.

Thank you for this. This really makes sense! My consultant explained a few days ago that it was the lower part of my stomach that was removed although thats all he said. They never really go into much detail. I'll ask about the pyloric valve as I think you're right on this.

Regarding the twisting this also fits. I never suffered from this slime or reflux until approx 3 weeks after surgery. I stupidly chugged back approx 750ml of a litre bottle of milkshake quite fast and instantly felt sick. I had extreme pain in my stomach so I went and lay down. As I did I had this strange muscle spasm in my stomach followed by a weird flopping sensation inside. Exactly as if my stomach had moved position. Thats the only way I can describe it.

I was going to go to A and E but held off. The pain eased. The sickness went away. Then that night. Slime. And slime ever since :/

[tx2az 54]

I have Sjogren's Syndrome. Mine is moderate, mainly causing a lack of moisture in my mouth, sinuses, throat, and eyes. I take OTC guaifenesin (generic Mucinex) to help thin down the mucus in my throat. I had the sleeve on 9-1 and have had "the foamies" more than I have ever had. Often after I drink a Protein Shake. "Foamies" is such an accurate description! If I miss even one day of not taking the guaifenesin I get this awful "plug" of slimy mucus in my throat that basically chokes me until I can get it up and get rid of it. I have had this problem for years, finally I went to an ear, nose, and throat dr that correctly diagnosed my problem and put me on guaifenesin. This is not medical advice, just my experience. Maybe finding a different kind of doctor would help, as it did with me. Best wishes to you.

Sjögren's is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the entire body. Along with symptoms of extensive dryness, other serious complications include profound fatigue, chronic pain, major organ involvement, neuropathies and lymphomas.

[micmean 0]

Hello :-)
I'm 9 weeks post surgery and honestly this has ruined my life I don't feel this is ever going to stop and I'm so scared.
So my story is a little different. I had a laparoscopic gastric sleeve because I had a benign tumour growing on the outside of my stomach. My gastric sleeve is a smaller op than normal because they didn't take as much of my stomach away but I can't understand why I'm suffering so badly.
Due to other health issues I've also got dysphagia and have been on a permanent liquid diet since 2016 and already very underweight. This is unrelated to the benign tumour and still being investigated. I never had any issues with acid before surgery.
Anyhow, after surgery I was doing really well. The first few weeks I was building up to 4 300ml ensure shakes a day quite well. I felt great but this might have been the painkillers I was on for a pneumothorax. I wasn't taking the anti reflux medication as they couldn't prescribe it in liquid form and the orodispersable ones had hundreds of tiny hard capsules in them which made them difficult to swallow. But I was ok. No reflux problems.
Then suddenly everything changed. I started getting the general foamies at first. Which I could deal with as they were quick in passing and after a google search I eased off the ensure shakes a little, drank more slowly and drank more Water. I was started on omeprazole capsules that I have to open up and dissolve in Water so I'm not really getting the full 40mg of it. I never miss taking this though. Over the past 6 weeks its gotten to the point that I no longer have foamies I have this constant thick sticky slime in my throat which is so bad I'm now losing sleep due to waking up choking and trying to hack it up.
Every night is a nightmare. I go to sleep and start producing more thick slime and breathing in acid that I wake up choking and covered in sweat. I'm panicked trying to get the slime up to breathe, coughing up acid, gagging, choking on the slime, gulping on the huge lumps of slime that I can't hack up or swallow and sometimes vomiting.
Its now gotten to the point that I'm living on a few cups of tea a day and water as I can't get the ensures past the slime during the day. Even an empty stomach has made no difference.
I saw my surgeon and nutritionist finally a few days ago who treated me like I'd had something as simple as a tooth extraction and were unbothered by my weight loss, the fact that I can no longer get ensures down so I'm basically not eating at all and that I'm becoming depressed dealing with this choking slime and acid despite taking omeprazole. He's scheduling an endoscopy but in the meantime I'm honestly just so done with dealing with this. Its completely ruining my life. I can't eat, I can't sleep and I'm tortured every second by this choking slime in my throat. I have a young child to look after and I feel so tired and panicked daily.
Has anyone dealt with the slime constantly? Rather than just when eating too much? Has anyone found a way to reduce stomach acid if already on anti reflux meds?
Thank you in advance for any replies.

I went through the same thing my hole opening was to small my gastroenteritis went down my throat and had to make it 3 center meters bigger they had a feeding tube in me I couldn't eat or drink all I would do was spit up all day for 3 months I want to sue my sergion now I'm better good luck.

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