Reflux?

pr31
on 5/1/17 11:57 pm

I've never experienced reflux before so I'm not sure if that's what this is. Several times in the last few weeks I've awoken in the middle of the night feeling "hunger"/nausea and mild pain in the center of my chest. Does this sound like reflux? If so, any suggestions for relief? I have my 12 mo appointment the end of next month and will discuss then. Do I need to call sooner? It's not what I would call severe. I have a regular appointment with my pap next week. Should I bring it up with her?

Surgery Date June 3, 2016

HW: 329 W at first consult 290. SW 238, LW 128, CW 139

Au_Contraire
on 5/2/17 12:40 am

Hi pr31,

I'm a newcomer here and others here will have better advice, but my personal 2 cents is that my reflux (new to me, over the past year or so) feels fiery, hot and uncomfortable, with a general location of the front center of my ribs and somewhat up through my chest. It isn't quenched by water or really anything so far except time, and I experience it mostly when I lie down. I just had my imaging done and it revealed a small hiatal hernia with some reflux. I don't have this constantly, only intermittently, but when it hits I feel like a fire-breathing dragon! It isn't painful for me, exactly, but it isn't comfortable, either. My surgeon will repair my hiatal hernia when I have my gastric bypass, and I am hopeful that my inner dragon will then be a thing of the past! "Hunger"/nausea does not describe the type of reflux I experience, but there may be other types. Good luck!

Gina 21 Years Out
on 5/2/17 4:22 am, edited 5/1/17 9:22 pm - Burleson, TX

PLEASE keep in mind that not EVERYTHING going on in our bodies has to be WLS related. We can still catch bugs, have heart attacks, etc. I know our first instinct is to think about our rearranged guts...I do the same thing, even all these years out...but we can still have other things going on

Yes, you could very well have non life threatening reflux...or...you could be having heart pain/angina. Women have such weird heart symptoms. Can you at least call your PCP, today, to give ME peace of mind????

ETA: Retired nurse, pushy Mom and full time GiGi here :)

RNY 4-22-02...

LW: 6lb,10 oz SW:340lb GW:170lb CW:155

We Can Do Hard Things

ScottAndrews
on 5/2/17 4:44 am
RNY on 03/20/17

Ive had reflux for many years and it is definitely active in the middle of the night but I'd never describe it with the words hunger or nausea. More like burning in your throat. Are you eating late?

I'm not sure how GERD in a RNY patient works. The discomfort occurs when acid from the stomach enters the esophagus. But our stomach and esophagus are no longer connected. Can a pouch produce enough acid to cause reflux? I don't know. If you're eating late, avoid that. Also you could try to sleep with your head slightly elevated.

stacyrg
on 5/2/17 9:34 am
VSG on 05/12/14

That is news to me about the stomach and the esophagus no longer being connected. I'm sitting and staring at a diagram from my surgeon that he gave me when I was converting from VSG to RNY and the stomach esophagus connection is still there. From my understanding, it's the intestines that are bypassed, which removes the pyloric valve. Hmmmm, maybe I'll text him and see if his drawings were incorrect. That's why RNY is a better choice for those suffering reflux prior to surgery. When you remove the pyloric valve, you lessen the pressure so the acid is no longer forced to back up into the esophagus. According to my surgeon, you can still have heartburn/reflux after surgery though . . . the same way a person who doesn't have GERD/Reflux may have heartburn after eating certain foods. The body still produced enough acid.

Prior to my revision, my acid was definitely more of a burning, and I have bile backing up into my throat. However, I have heard people say that when they have unexplained hunger, taking a PPI gets rid of the feeling, so it may be acid. Since I know of a few people who post regularly who have continuing issues with acid even after RNY, if it continues, you may want to seek out advice from your Dr.

ScottAndrews
on 5/2/17 9:43 am, edited 5/2/17 2:49 am
RNY on 03/20/17

The esophagus leads to the pouch. Food never makes it to your old stomach. VSG revision is different. Your old stomach is in heaven. Ours is still working making gastric juices that eventually meet up with food at the terminus of the bypass.

Grim_Traveller
on 5/2/17 10:02 am
RNY on 08/21/12

Pouch is not a medical term, just one invented by laymen. The unused stomach is officially called the remnant stomach. And she very well could have some left from her sleeve.

My surgical group told us, up front, to look up the definition of stomach in the dictionary. It says, and I quote, "a pear-shaped enlargement of the alimentary canal linking the esophagus to the small intestine." That's the definition of stomach they wanted us to use, in order to avoid confusion between sleeves, pouches, and remnant stomachs.

It also exactly describes a "pouch" or a sleeve. They are still all stomachs. Just different sizes and shapes.

6'3" tall, male.

Highest weight was 475. RNY on 08/21/12. Current weight: 198.

M1 -24; M2 -21; M3 -19; M4 -21; M5 -13; M6 -21; M7 -10; M8 -16; M9 -10; M10 -8; M11 -6; M12 -5.

stacyrg
on 5/2/17 10:11 am
VSG on 05/12/14

Yes, Grim. I do have a remnant stomach, although it is admittedly much smaller than a virgin RNY surgery. Thanks to lbarbara for coining the phrase, I like to refer to what I have as a slouch (part sleeve, part pouch). And I can vouch for the fact that it produced sufficient acid to cause reflux

ScottAndrews
on 5/2/17 10:53 am
RNY on 03/20/17

I had GERD going in and my surgeon told me VSG is like a pressurized system. He told me to look under my kitchen sink to see what my anatomy would resemble. Specifically the "U" shape pipe. I didn't even want the bypass originally.

An "...ectomy" of an organ is removal. Never heard of a resected stomach being left in the body but I'm certainly no expert.

stacyrg
on 5/2/17 2:11 pm
VSG on 05/12/14

Sigh. Even though VSG is "Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy" the entire "stomach" is not removed. A portion of the "stomach" remains and forms the "sleeve" which is a high pressure closed system that is perfectly designed to create or exacerbate Reflux. I had no reflux prior to my VSG, so there were no contraindications. My revision was not an "ectomy." My surgeon took my "sleeve" and divided it so I had a "pouch" and a "remnant stomach" (aka the part of my "sleeve" that was not used for my "pouch." My "sleeve" held 70-75 ccs of nutrition (food, liquid, etc.) My new "pouch" was constructed on the small side and holds 50-60ccs. The remainder (admittedly small at 10-15cc) is my "remnant stomach."

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