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Current State of VSG/GERD

I just saw a post by a woman who is in stage 3 kidney failure due to long term use of PPIs. Which is why I got off those things very soon after my VSG surgery. If you take them, you should start stepping down from them immediately. The product I talk about in this post would be an excellent way to do that. Read on. However, if you’ve not read it, I’d read my other post which includes the links to PPI research before reading this one if you want the full picture. The kidney specific articles are here and here. I also have several posts about getting off PPIs, you’ll see them in the category.

The woman with kidney failure and my current status have prompted me to write an updated post about my VSG and long term GERD issues. I’ve not written anything about it in detail since 2021 when I tried acupuncture – which didn’t do much, sadly. I wrote a passing note within a deck building post last summer, but I have not written anything detailed, which will now be rectified.

Ok, so let’s go back to my last batch of writing from 2021. I did acupuncture, and while I do feel acupuncture is helpful for many issues, I got little results even with the Chinese Death Tea™.

I got into a routine with ONLY famotidine (H2 blocker), 3x a day, totaling 40mg/day and antacids (calcium). This was fine until 2024, when I started throwing up. Often.

I thought I was just overeating, but when the spitting and puking kept happening, I started to pay attention. It was NOT volume related, it was something else. I did some digging and found that throwing up typically begins with VSG patients around the 8-10 yr mark. Why? It is the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) spasming and/or becoming weak. When I mentioned this within my deck building post, I was thinking it was gall bladder, but no.

So I kept on with my famotidine routine and tried to be extremely careful when eating (read: eating TINY amounts at a time) to not miss the signals that I would end up puking. This went on until about a month ago (June 2025) when I was looking at FB and an ad caught my eye. It was an ad proclaiming Kiss My Acid Goodbye!, which of course, has the perfect tone for me. So I clicked it and read about the product and decided to roll the dice on a fucking FB ad.

I interrogated the dude who said he was behind the product – I even ran his emails through AI detection! – and he was, indeed a real guy who was ALSO a VSG patient who had the same puking experience that I am dealing with. I started the KMAG supplement (you can read all about it here: How KMAG works) and after a month, I can say that it definitely does SOMETHING. I’ve cut down famotidine to 10mg Pepcid at bedtime only and I’ve only had 3 pukes in that time, with a few spits w/out puking. I should probably go to 2x/day with it, but I take SO MANY fucking supps. I take: multivitamin, NAC (because I’m a sot), vit D+K sublingual, B12 sublingual, liquid glucosamine/chondroitin (nasty), concentrated liquid biotin/collagen and liquid magnesium (to offset the calcium, which is becoming a non-thing), PLUS the KMAG. It’s a lot.

I do feel that KMAG is healing my ravaged stomach and LES, it’s taking some time, but ALL natural supplements take time.

So that’s where I am with VSG/GERD and supplements. I feel that KMAG is doing its job healing up damage and soothing the LES spasms that are the likely culprit of the puking.

If you want to read ALL my posts relating to VSG, PPIs and managing GERD, here is the category, which is recent first, so you’ll need to go backwards to get to the beginning.

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VSG 5 Year Anniversary!

It’s been five years since my Mexico visit and changing my life! Time flies!

I’ve learned a lot in these last five years, that’s for sure. LOTS of gains and losses. Then Captain Trips. It’s been a strange five years.

Despite constant GERD, I still do not regret getting the VSG surgery. I almost reached my goal weight of 170 in year two – I got to about 174, I think. But then my weight rebounded to around 180 and it has stayed there, give or take 10#. So my actual weight loss from VSG was 70#, which is not too shabby.

I refuse to diet at all, but the GERD keeps my intake pretty low. My body likes set points, however, so it’ll stay in the 180s unless I diet it down. It’s maddening to be able to eat VERY little and still not lose. But that’s what I got. I did gain about 8# of pandemic weight, which is coming off on its own. That is from the WINE, no doubt. LOL

Today my weight is 188-ish. I will get it back to 180-ish if it kills me.

I wear a 32/32 jean, which is either a 12 or a 14 depending on which brand it is. I wear a large shirt, which is what I wore before the gain.

Overall, I’m happy that I got the VSG done. I wish they’d have done the anti-GERD part when I was getting it, but that wasn’t standard at the time. It really sucks that I can’t get it done now, but it is what it is.

I take Tums chews (750mg calcium carbonate) and Pepcid (famotidine and calcium carbonate) at night for the GERD. Some days are fine, some suck. It is completely random. Food is random, too, I can eat steak and be fine or I can have a salad and get heartburn. SO, I eat what I feel like and hope for the best. I eat a LOT of club crackers to soothe the burn.

But, overall, I’m fine. I don’t like the way I look naked, but that will not change unless I get tons of plastic surgery, which I’m not willing to do. I’m 55 years old, I feel it’s too late to go through plastic surgery and I don’t want the HORRIBLE recovery of a tummy tuck, either. So loose skin I stay. Whatevs.

I hope to stay in my current weight range forever. I probably won’t, but by the time I get round again, I’ll be too old to give a FUCK. LOL

If you are chronically overweight and have other issues because of it OR can’t get proper medical care because of it, I HIGHLY suggest booking your trip to Tijuana Mexico and getting VSG. It is four days and $4000 that will change your life. Skip the bullshit of the US and just GET IT DONE. Bam. Contact Veronica at QMF and take control of your life. You WILL NOT regret it. Veronica at Quality Medical Facilitators. They speak English and I promise the care you get from this team is AMAZING. Find them on FB HERE.