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Tales from the Land of Reflux

Today, I’m reading about Apple Cider Vinegar as a remedy for reflux. I just got my ACV capsules, which I will be trying out today. One before meals with water. I can’t drink 8oz of water at a time, so I’ll take it with 4oz. The theory is that the ACV assists with digesting food, which will lessen acid production from the stomach’s proton pumps. We shall see.

I love that I’m also reading that high protein meals can cause more reflux, which is exactly what I’m experiencing. AWESOME! All I can get down is 2-3oz of protein which exacerbates the reflux, so I don’t eat… rinse and repeat. I’m living on one protein shake and a couple of small protein snacks per day with some miso soup as a meal. And vitamin water.

At this time, anything solid/protein (chicken, ground meat, lunch meat) I eat causes stomach discomfort and reflux. The only things that do not do this are protein shakes and miso soup. Liquids and non proteins don’t seem to aggravate the reflux as much as solid proteins, which is a big fat bummer. Basically I’m two steps back to soft/liquid foods with little protein. This is not good. Hopefully it’s temporary – it has to be temporary, I can’t live on NOTHING!!

I hope the ACV helps. I’m taking 150mg Zantac every 8 hrs or so. They DO NOT last the advertised 12 hrs.

I will probably have to deal with this for the rest of my life. This makes me sad. It makes me hate food, which is a BIG part of my life. This problem is screwing up a huge part of my life! For me, it’s kinda serious.

A big part of my identity is (WAS) food. Now I can’t eat it or enjoy it. Gee, wonder why I’m so depressed!!

It is estimated that 25% of VSG patients have reflux after surgery. I’m betting the actual number is MUCH higher. Judging by what I’ve seen on the various forums, I think it is pretty damn common. It bothers me that I see SO MANY patients remain on PPIs indefinitely and their Drs consider this A OK. It is NOT OK to be on PPIs forever! ESPECIALLY women! While the PPI drugs do stop the reflux, they open the door to several other big time problems such as osteoporosis, h pylori infections, ulcers and thinning of the lining of the stomach. I had no reflux on PPIs, but the crazy rebound acid I’m experiencing tells me that prolific acid production is a BIG side effect of VSG that is really not being addressed by Drs who perform VSG. They prescribe PPIs and consider it a non-issue.

I think we, VSG patients, need to demand better after care. We need to press our Drs to do more research and find a way to stop this acid production that is ruining our post surgical lives. I don’t WANT to suffer with reflux for the rest of my life. But from what I’m reading, it looks like I will, thanks to the shortsightedness of the medical industry. But, hey, why should they care? The sales of PPIs are astronomical and having large swaths of the population dependent on them is a good reason to NOT explore alternatives and prevention.

This is not an indictment of VSG Drs in particular, it is more towards the medical industry that doesn’t do its homework. But I think VSG Drs should be aware that we, their patients, expect a higher quality of life. Our Drs should be actively working to FIX THIS, rather than bandaid it. Perhaps if I’d known that it’s likely I’d have serious reflux after surgery, I might’ve thought harder about doing it. I would have likely gone through with it anyway, but at least I’d have KNOWN about this. Reflux should be listed as a probable side effect in the literature. For those of us who have never had any issues with it, it is a rude awakening to have constant pain.

I will keep you posted about the efficacy of the apple cider vinegar capsules before meals. ::fingers crossed::

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VSG and Reflux

Well, aside from not losing much weight, the truly sucky part of my sleeve recovery has begun. As I wrote about the other day, I decided to discontinue taking Prilosec because I didn’t like the long list of issues that can arise with long term use. I was expecting some acid rebound, so I had Pepcid, Tums and Zantac on hand.

I had a couple of days with no acid after I discoed the Prilosec. Then it hit me hard. I beat it back with Zantac and it was mostly OK (pain level 3-4) for a few days. THEN, day before yesterday, the acid started really hurting, like 7-8 with spikes to 9. I took Zantac and Pepcid, but didn’t get much sleep that night. Then yesterday the acid was terrible all day, despite the Zantac. I even took a Prilosec before dinner, to no effect. The pain kept me up most of the night last night. I took a Zantac around midnight when I got up and went to the couch to sit up for a while. I dunno about YOU, but I cannot sleep sitting up. So all together, yesterday I took Zantac, many tums, Prilosec and another Zantac. FINALLY at around 4-5am, the pain eased off and I slept a little. I moved to the bed around 7am and slept until 11am. No pain today, but my stomach feels weird. And I feel like little bitty RAT TURDS.

I took a Zantac this morning and I’ll take another before bed. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep tonite.

I talked to Amy and she is still having reflux at 7 months. She takes Zantac twice a day and still wakes up with reflux every morning. Which tells me that I’ll probably have reflux for the rest of my life. Great. I never had any issues before VSG.

YES, I have buyers remorse. I have horrible reflux, I can’t eat anything, I can’t drink anything alcoholic (reflux and I can’t get drunk at all) and I’m very depressed that I’ve only lost 17# in TWO MONTHS. Overall, VSG has been mostly negatives for me.

I know intellectually that this is all just the Period Of Suck that everyone goes through, but it just doesn’t matter, I still feel crappy and depressed. Ugh.

I have a theory that the reflux (that is VERY common) with this surgery is partially due to the design of the sleeve itself. Let’s think about this. They make a narrow tube from the esophagus down to a pouch at the bottom. What do tubes do well? THEY SIPHON. I think sleeve patients get reflux because the tube siphons the stomach acid right up to the esophagus and VOILÀ! REFLUX. I hope someone who designs these bariatric surgeries reads this and will rethink the shape of the sleeve. Why not mimic the original shape of the stomach, just smaller?

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the HORRIBLE reflux that I and many other sleeve patients suffer with. Maybe in the future, they can do something about it by changing the shape of the sleeve. All I can say is that Prilosec forever is NOT the answer. Zantac is not much better, but it appears that I’ll have to take something for the foreseeable future. Which makes me SAD.