Very worried my acid reflux is BAD and haven't even had surgery yet!

 I have heard that having the sleeve can make acid real bad, and now I am extremely worried because my acid reflux has been HORRIBLE (pain and vomiting) since I quit drinking pop two weeks ago.  I quit drinking pop because my surgery is Sept 12th and I am preparing for surgery and life with my new belly.  Stopping the pop, no problem, this acid reflux, HORRIBLE.  

So, how bad is the acid reflux after the sleeve short term?  Long term?  

Help!

~Jennifer Neal

I had horrible acid reflux  prior to surgery. Most nights I would wake up choking from the acid in my throat and would vomit most of the time. Since I had my surgery I have not had a single episode of reflux! If I eat a food that I know was a trigger for me I will sometimes chew a tums right before bed but I have not had a problem. I can even lay flat and sleep now and not have to prop myself up with 5 pillows to help the acid stay down. I don't know if I just got lucky but it's been a blessing not to have to deal with it now. Good luck with your surgery. It's the best decision I have ever made for myself!

I did not have acid reflux before surgery, but have it now. At first, it was really really bad. But now that I try not to go too long with out eating/drinking/sipping something, it's controllable. I still suffer (especially when I'm working and I CANT eat/drink for a couple hours) but it's not as bad.

I had acid reflux prior to surgery that was well controlled with meds, and the first few days after surgery it was bad, and I did not think I could take tums, but my surgeon said Tums was okay once in awhile when the prilosec was not controlling it adequately.  After reading others post that they were taking 40 mg a day, I ask my doc if I could up my dose to 40 mg and she said that would be fine.  That did the trick.  Good question.  I wish I had been a little more assertive about the issue because the heartburn was more uncomfortable to me than any pain and I only had one incident of vomiting after I tried a protein shot.  Be assertive and relay your concerns to your surgeon.  Best of luck!

For some, the reflux gets better after surgery. For others, worse. I never really had acid issues pre surgey, but developed reflux after. I've been on prescription strengh PPI (Prevacid) for months now and it is controlled. My acid laughed at the over the counter stuff. Months 5 and 6 seemed worse even with the meds and I added a pepcid AC at night. I rarely take that anymore and things are ok.

I'm not brave enough to go w/out my PPI right now, but hope to be off one day.

Thanks for all your responses. I sure hope it doesn't get worse, I dont think it can

I didn't have reflux pre-op except when I was pregnant. Around 6 months it got really bad. I decided to take my PPI regularly and not to eat or drink 1-2 hours before bed. For the last 2 months I haven't had one issue as long as I follow the eating rules and I have been off my ppi for the last 2 months. I predict that yours will be bad if you don't take the PPI but I think you will get through it.