2 years+ post op, now GERD?!?

Hi all, long time no post. I have always been more of a lurker, but I'm looking for some first hand experience and perhaps advice. The title says it all. I graduated last year from Nexium to Protonix, and then last week from one pill to two pills of it. And it's just not cutting it. I'm belching, constantly hungry/wanting to soothe my stomach. Nothing seems to be helping.

I'm starting to worry about a hiatal hernia. I had a small one repaired during my surgery. I was a lightweight to begin with and have been at goal since 9 months out. I gained a bit in year two in part due to being forced on a modified bed rest for 6 months due to an unrelated medical condition. But I, got to a good weight for the next six months. But five pound have popped back on this month as my symptoms have become bad.

Anyone get GERD this uncomfortable? How about this bad that didn't require surgery? If you needed surgery, what kind worked? Anyone NOT have to go to bypass?

Many thanks!

~Merrie

Some people need PPI 3 times s day. 

There is also stronger PPI, dexilant. 

sometimes GERD maybe due to hernia...or good allergies. (the suppose to be: food allergies) 

Get tested for allergies. 

Of course I meant FOOD allergies... Not "good" allergies...  Stupid tablet..

I'll stick with bad allergies. lol 

Damn it.. Stupid autocorrect..

But in a way some food allergies / intolerances made stay away from those foods..  The 2- 3 day long lasting side  effects are not worth 5 to 15 min of eating pleasure ... 

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll talk to my doc if the current changes in meds don't do the tric****rtainly would prefer that to going under the knife again. And I hadn't thought of food allergies, so I'll consider that too. If prefer not to have to give up caffeine, that's for sure. But I can easily cut it to one cup of coffee per day.

~Merrie

Coffee is very accidic. I love my coffee but it affects my gut. I have add things to my coffee to neutralize the avif. Even just a little. 

I found "calciblend coffee tamer". http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=calciblend+coffee+ tamer&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=71799315156&hvpos=1t1 &hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7507247850139934241&hvpone=&hvptwo= &hvqmt=e&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_1xzbacs8jh_e

That helps some or I use unsweet almond or coconut milk as creamer.  

In addition - I use some meds every day. Very small pills. My pharmacy changed the generic manufacturer and suddenly I developed a horrible acid reflux.  Every meds use fillers. What I discovered - the other manufacturer uses SLS while the first one did not. We are not sure if the very very small amount of SLS in my meds is making my GERD so horrible, but for now I am back on the other brand and the acid is manageable.

Sometimes it is very difficult to find out what is upseting our system. 

I do hope you find an answer. 

Btw- I have RNY and no hernia, and in theory I should not have any GERD...Thats why my doc and I knew there is an issue with something my body does not tolerate... 

You can brew the coffee with some baking soda in the grounds too, to reduce acidity :)

Thanks. Great idea.

 I use a coffee maker that grinds the beans so cannot add it there. But I can try adding a pinch of baking soda to the finish coffee. Plus I use powdered calcium carbonate - that is a main ingredients in the "coffee tamer" anyway. 

That is how it progressed for me. I had a hernia repaired during the vsg. For a while the acid levels were getting worse, and by this past summer I couldn't keep solid food down. I also had the gallbladder tanking on me during that time, which contributed immensely to not keeping food down. What was very different over the summer, was the acid and the relationship to a huge spike in my eating. I gained quite a bit, and for the first time in maintenance went above goal weight and struggled. I had the belching and constant need to eat as well, along with diarrhea and stomach pain. When they took the gallbladder out, they repaired the hernia this past December. I had a "very large" hernia this time (compared to a small one at vsg) and most of the stomach was up in the chest area. I frankly cannot tell you much about how he fixed it, other than I do recall he mentioned using mesh. He did warn it was a lot riskier the second time through. I am still symptomatic though, and suspect I may be partially herniated again. At the last consult, he said the risk of going back in was high so unless I was crazy symptomatic it would be left alone. I now take a PPI daily, but was at least able to cut back from twice a day to once a day. I have tried a few times to not take it at all, but the acid is clearly an issue without it. 

If it were me, I would get it checked if you have good insurance. You need an upper GI. Being scoped could easily miss it, as I was scoped maybe 2 months prior to the upper gi and it did not find the hernia despite it being so large. Upper gi and the CT scan picked it up though.