Unwell.

i am about 2.5 months out, and I'm feeling worse and worse every day... I am very fatigued. I want to close my eyes and sleep all the time. I feel terribly weak. I now am getting lightheaded all the time too. And I believe I know exactly what GERD is, as I'm having major symptoms in spite of taking Zantac. This afternoon as usual, felt awful, stomach hurt. Took a ppi. Later ate a protein bar, which I avoid because they have so many calories, sugars and carbs. I was hoping that this might make me feel better, but no. So I'm waiting and in half an hour will start the drinking liquids effort so I can rule out dehydration. This sucks. Vitamins not helping. PPI not helping. Liquids not helping. My carefully tracked high protein diet not helping. Will check with the surgeon tomorrow as I work and there is no way I can be functional. I was struggling so much the last two weeks.

I think seeing your surgeon would be a good idea. Get them to check you out and see whats happening

Hope you feel better soon

Shirley

Definitely call your doctor. You should be feeling better by now, not worse. Also Zantac is an H2 blocker, not a PPI. It doesn't work on me, but a PPI like Prevacid does. So maybe try a different acid med?

Yes, Zantac is not helping. But the killer weakness and dizziness is the worst. In three minutes starting the drinking again. I feel marginally better after eating the protein bar but still very unwell, and the weirdest thing is that I get hot flashes types of sensations. I'm a person who is chronically very cold. So suddenly feeling very hot is quite atypical!

Zantac is not a PPI. Take omeprazole (Prilosec) or one of its analogues.

When are you speaking to your surgeon about this?

Check you blood pressure? Ulcer maybe? But for sure contact a doctor.

Hi Doyenne,

I'm sorry you are feeling so crap and I can totally relate. I agree with others that your first stop should be seeing your surgeon asap. I knew something wasn't right with me and kept pursuing it with my surgeon because you deserve to get relief.

Suffering from GERD is hideous. I never had it before and having to sleep sitting upright (using a tri pillow) and getting stuff all sleep just contributes to the exhaustion. It doesn't help your mindset, resilience or immune system when you are feeling yuck and barely able to get the nutrients you need to function. Have you got the brain fog creeping in too? Please, please ask to be put on a PPI and give yourself a couple weeks, if one doesn't work try a different one. I have tried 2 and the one that works for me is omeprazole and it has made a massive difference to get a good night's sleep and not feel nausea and blah all the time. I really feel this will be key to helping you feel better.

Your surgeon may also want to do a barium swallow test just to check everything is working as it should. This gave me some peace of mind.

Keeping up with your water is brilliant esp if you aren't feeling like it at all, good on you! If you can get a greens drink (I use Vital Greens as it's the most palatable for me but anything similar will do) try mixing this with a vanilla protein powder if you can't stand it just with water. The extra boost of nutrients from this made a huge difference to my energy levels and hopefully will help you too.

I would recommend you track any new foods you try as our ability to digest food changes after surgery. An example of what sets my GERD off and food I have to avoid are tomato anything, hummus, dairy milk, feta cheese, baked salmon (but smoked salmon is fine - go figure!)

You have been thru a significant operation and everyone's body will respond differently. Try to be as gentle with yourself as possible, if your body says it wants to rest (outside of work) then do listen and chill as much as possible.

It sucks that you are suffering right now. You are not alone. I honestly had waves of buyers remorse for several months until I got my GERD under control. In my experience it can and it does get better I really hope it does for you. If you need someone to bleat to or ask questions or whatever feel free to PM me.

Take care.

I'm going to reach out to the surgeon tomorrow. I need to be 100% for work, and life too. Things were good until about two weeks ago, and then I started to feel fatigue, then exhausted, then dizzy, then GERD. I took one of the leftover oemprazole capsules I had, and the GERD seems already better, at least for the moment. Actually, things started to go downhill after my last appt with the surgeon. That's when he said to stop oemprazole and use Zantac as needed since I had no symptoms of GERD whatsoever. Would untreated GERD alone cause weakness and dizziness and hit flashes too, I mean, if Zantac isn't working?

Please check for anemia!!

Please definitely touch base with your surgeon. This doesn't sound normal.