Narrowing of sleeve?

I was sleeved 3 years ago. I have had reflux since the beginning, but it got better with weight loss. Then I developed it pretty badly about a year ago while I was pregnant. It just keeps getting worse even after having the baby. I just had an EGD today and the GI doc said my stomach is "shaped strangely." He said it is long and thin with a narrowing in the middle. He said I have a small hiatal hernia now (never did before), but it would be better evaluated with a barium swallow.

In any event, can the "narrowing" be causing a back-up of food/reflux? He said the hiatal hernia may be larger than he thinks, but we won't know until the barium swallow. PPIs are not working well. He just gave me nexium 40 mg to see if that would help, but omeprazole 40 mg, prevacid, protonix, and aciphex have not given a ton of relief, so I'm not sure that nexium will.

Could this narrowing be causing issues?

Thanks,
Shannon

Narrowing definitely can and often does cause reflux and it varies with the type of food you are eating etc.

Sorry you are going through this.

MS Shell

Hi Sharon,
I have not had the surgery yet but I remember reading on some posts that a hiatal hernia can cause acid reflux.  Maybe fixing that will make it better.  Again, I don't know much.  Just giving you my 2 cents worth. 

This is a stricture or stenosis of the sleeve. At least that is how it was explained to me as a possible complication due to technique in surgery. When the sleeve is made in an uneven form, especially in the middle part where it is pulled in a different way during surgery it can result in an hourglass shape and that can cause the problems you are describing. This can be fixed by stretching the narrowing by inserting some sort of a baloon thing gastroscopically a few times. My surgeon said that this is why he also prefers a much faster progression to mushies and solids because this tends to (his data) prevent strictures from setting in. Sorry you are having issues, but the good news is that this can be fixed.