I am a Gerd patient and got the sleeve Sept 5, 2023. My HW 210, SW 206, CW 180. I hit the plateau in November 2023 and havent lost any weight since. I did have GERD previously before the surgery with a hiatal hernia 2cm; but, my stomach was literally stuck in my chest since 2008. I was told by my surgeon that GERD patients have a harder time losing weight. I workout 4 days hard since 3 weeks after surgery, I still watch what i eat as a GERD patient not weight loss. I want to know if anyone is going through this stall as well. I've seen videos of people around 240lbs weighing 120 6m after surgery.To me that is crazy, I do eat carbs but its limited and I still keep my protein intake above 90g daily. I do track my meals and i'll have days ill eat 1000 cal or below and sometimes as high as 1200 cals. I do drink about 48 oz of water sometimes less or more. When will my plateau stop or is it cause i am building my muscle fast; I was never obese just in my belly that is my issue. the left pic is 1 yr before surgery and the pic on the right is 4 months after surgery

I’m going jump in on this discussion if you all don’t mind. I had gastric sleeve in January 2019 (5’2” 210lbs). Within 6 months, my weight was 130lbs and i didnt like how i looked (cheeks sinking in), so i started increasing my calorie intake. Its January 2024 and im currently 175, trying to get back down to 150. Ive done it all…. gym 3x a week, personal trainer, nutritionist, dietician, logging my foods, staying within the 1500 calorie range, etc. Still no change. I got tired of the assumptions and guessing game (you should eat this, limit your fat, carbs, calories, do cardio, lift weights) and did my own research. I found out about a few scientifically proven tests that give 99.9% accurate results in regards to how many calories my body NEEDS just to function, how much lean mass and fat mass i have, etc. Low and behold, my body needs at least 1600 calories to function. Being active throughout the day, gym 3x a week, my body NEEDS roughly 2400 calories just to maintain my current weight. In order to lose weight, i have to consume 500 calories less, so thats 1900 calories. At 1500 calories a day over the past 3 years, my body was running on fumes, holding onto everything i ate, and going into hypoglycemia because it didnt have any fuel storage to pull from.

My nutritionist just recommended me eating up to 1400 calories a day. We had our appointment today and she’s happy with all my results plus understands I’m going through perimenopause and my GERD issues. She knows I eat carbs but I limit it and that’s good along with good fats and oils. I may just be gaining more muscle and my body is probably running on fumes as you said. I feel good overall and I will up my calories but I need to stop snacking too. It’s healthy snacks but as a GERD patient we can’t allow our stomachs to stay full that’ll trigger reflux.

On 1/24/2024 at 3:16 PM, Wonderwoman14 said:

My nutritionist just recommended me eating up to 1400 calories a day. We had our appointment today and she’s happy with all my results plus understands I’m going through perimenopause and my GERD issues. She knows I eat carbs but I limit it and that’s good along with good fats and oils. I may just be gaining more muscle and my body is probably running on fumes as you said. I feel good overall and I will up my calories but I need to stop snacking too. It’s healthy Snacks but as a GERD patient we can’t allow our stomachs to stay full that’ll trigger reflux.

Hi! I saw these and thought of you ❤️

Sharing my experience as a VSG patient who had terrible GERD prior to surgery and a hiatal hernia - I was taking 20 mg of pantoprazole daily and STILL felt painful heartburn. I had a hiatal hernia repair (and gallbladder removal) at the same time as VSG. In the first 3 months after surgery, GERD was still pretty bad (which can be normal for most bariatric patients). My doctor had me on a proton pump inhibitor (Omeprazole) for the first few months. I had been on this type of med for 3 years prior to surgery, and this is the type of medicine you can't just quit taking cold turkey without some seriously bad flare ups to follow, regardless of having bariatric surgery or not. So after 2-3 months I started to reduce the frequency of taking the medicine gradually. After a month or so of reducing, I switched from proton pump inhibitor to an H2 blocker (over-the-counter famotidine) and only took it on an as needed basis. At first I still needed it often, but now I am 13 months post-op, have lost 80% of my excess weight and can't even remember the last time I needed to take any anti-acid medication. I have almost zero issue with GERD anymore. I attribute that to the hiatal hernia repair + loss of visceral fat (creating pressure on the stomach) + gradually reducing reliance on medications instead of quitting cold turkey + knowing and generally avoiding trigger foods. Hope that helps. Just wanted to share a story that is counter to the common assumption that VSG and GERD always lead to bad post-op experiences. I lost weight at a very consistent rate, but this can be different for everyone. Sounds like you are getting support from your dietician on this, which is a great resource. Good luck! I know it can be frustrating when things aren't happening the way we think they should. Hang in there and keep working with your care team. You got this!

You only had GERD 3 years prior as I’ve been dealing with GERD now for 14 yrs. This a huge difference and I was bleeding internally at one point cause a doctor prescribed me nsaid medications and I had an ulcer 23 yrs ago. I know all too well how to deal with things but the dr keeps putting me on higher medication Protonix 40 mg twice a day, Pepcid 40mg twice a day and now back on the antibiotics. Im 5 months post op and nothing has changed. So weaning off of my meds slowly doesn’t seem to be in my favor.

You only had GERD 3 years prior as I’ve been dealing with GERD now for 14 yrs. This a huge difference and I was bleeding internally at one point cause a doctor prescribed me nsaid medications and I had an ulcer 23 yrs ago. I know all too well how to deal with things but the dr keeps putting me on higher medication Protonix 40 mg twice a day, Pepcid 40mg twice a day and now back on the antibiotics. Im 5 months post op and nothing has changed. So weaning off of my meds slowly doesn’t seem to be in my favor.

I did not mean to suggest that we were the same, or that you should do what I did. You asked for experiences of people who had VSG and GERD, so I shared my experience. We are all different people and different experiences. It sounds like you're going through a hard moment and just want to know that you're not alone in the struggle. I may not have the exact same situation, but I do wish you success. Keep working with your doctors and advocating for yourself and your health.

You only had GERD 3 years prior as I’ve been dealing with GERD now for 14 yrs. This a huge difference and I was bleeding internally at one point cause a doctor prescribed me nsaid medications and I had an ulcer 23 yrs ago. I know all too well how to deal with things but the dr keeps putting me on higher medication Protonix 40 mg twice a day, Pepcid 40mg twice a day and now back on the antibiotics. Im 5 months post op and nothing has changed. So weaning off of my meds slowly doesn’t seem to be in my favor.

1 hour ago, Baribrain said:

I did not mean to suggest that we were the same, or that you should do what I did. You asked for experiences of people who had VSG and GERD, so I shared my experience. We are all different people and different experiences. It sounds like you're going through a hard moment and just want to know that you're not alone in the struggle. I may not have the exact same situation, but I do wish you success. Keep working with your doctors and advocating for yourself and your health.

My question was never asked about other peoples issues with VSG & GERD. I asked if anyone with GERD hit a plateau and it’s harder for us to lose weight as my surgeon had told me. I’m 5 months post -op my height and starting weight I should be 168lbs but she thinks with my GERD it’s slower in patients like us. But yet I have more muscle in my body than I do fat. I never asked about anyone’s GERD and how to get off the meds or what suggestions they have.

1 hour ago, Baribrain said:

I did not mean to suggest that we were the same, or that you should do what I did. You asked for experiences of people who had VSG and GERD, so I shared my experience. We are all different people and different experiences. It sounds like you're going through a hard moment and just want to know that you're not alone in the struggle. I may not have the exact same situation, but I do wish you success. Keep working with your doctors and advocating for yourself and your health.

My question was never asked about other peoples issues with VSG & GERD. I asked if anyone with GERD hit a plateau and it’s harder for us to lose weight as my surgeon had told me. I’m 5 months post -op my height and starting weight I should be 168lbs but she thinks with my GERD it’s slower in patients like us. But yet I have more muscle in my body than I do fat. I never asked about anyone’s GERD and how to get off the meds or what suggestions they have.