Chronic Heartburn after the Sleeve?

I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. ?

There is no guarantee one way or the other. I had GERD pre-surgery. Post surgery, I do take a PPI but have had zero problems. There were a few days that I missed and I couldn't tell the difference. Could it be that I no longer eat massive amounts of fried foods? Could be.

Everyone is different and heartburn is triggered by multiple things. Not everyone who has gets the sleeve has the problem.

If you already have GERD, a bypass will be a better option. The acid pumps in your stomach are in the lower portion of the stomach and with bypass, your acid pumps will be in the lower stomach. I haven't had a bit of GERD since my bypass.

Yes! I had the sleeve in 2015, I'm converting to bypass this year not only because I really didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped but because acid reflux (I never had it before) gave me horrible stomach ulcers and my body aches if I don't take at least 4 acid reducers a day.

Yikes!! You poor girl. ?? I'm leaning more towards the gastric bypass. Thank you.

OMG, when I was losing my voice because of GERD, the ENT put me on 2 doses of prilosec a day and warned me that this could only be short term. Bless your heart. If you are truly considering bypass, I haven't had gerd at all since my bypass in October. I do still take 1 dose of prilosec to protect my pouch but at my next round of dr. appts, I plan to see if I can get off it. I have the prescription generic and the pill is huge. With all the vitamins, 1 less pill would definitely be appreciated.

Well, I will tell you the answer to your question, and then tell you what my surgeon told me. Yes, there is more evidence for GERD after VSG. HOWEVER, if you are well controlled on a PPI prior to surgery, as I was, he basically said, "You will just have to keep taking it, in addition to some Prilosec", which I was okay with. He wouldn't do the RNY because I have quite a large ventral hernia in the lower stomach and said that the infection, after bringing the intestine into the stomach cavity and then cutting it to do the RNY would pose a HUGE infection issue.

He did say that if I wanted, after about a year, I could have a revision. To which I told him.."No"...no....no

I have a large belly button hernia that my Doctor said he could fix at the same time as the surgery, whichever surgery I choose. I was told the recovery on that hernia repair is very painful. Thanks for your story. ?

For me personally I have GERD that I control with 20mg omeprazole morning & night. I've attempted coming off them but the GERD is so bad I choose to stay on them. I am 15 months out and never had any issues before. Still would do it again.

You want to talk to people 2+ years out from the VSG to see how GERD is long term. Close to surgery the stomach takes time to adapt and so most of us have GERD temporarily.

As for experience, I have a larger sleeve than some (40F) and still had GERD. It was always my intention to pursue a DS, however I was unable to get one at the time for various health reasons. In two weeks I am revising to an RNY due to very severe and intractable GERD. PPIs help, but I also don't want to take them for more than a few years if possible, as they potentially can cause dementia or bone density issues.

Trust me, the post-op reflux I have is no joke. Even the PPI doses I take don't put a dent in it. GERD has an extremely high chance of causing pre-cancerous changes to the esophagus, too. It's just not worth gambling with, IMO. I am in a great deal of pain and often can't eat solid food. I've also had issues swallowing...even with PPIs.

About 25% of people, give or take, will develop permanent GERD post-VSG. There will be some to start because the stomach hasn't acclimated to being smaller yet. However it makes the stomach a high-pressure system which is part of what causes the GERD. Another cause of GERD is obesity, though, and so with weight loss it can improve drastically. The RNY and DS both have far better resolutions of GERD if you have it pre-op - about 75% for the RNY and about 49% for the DS, if you're curious (search for a study by Prachand if you want to read the actual numbers).

So, it's a risk. For me, my GERD is seriously awful, and frankly I'd rather not take a PPI (or at least take a very low dose) and also not have to deal with the potential consequences from long-term PPI use. It is true I may have GERD post-op with an RNY, however much of that seems to be histamine-based, so a lot can at least be helped with diet. I'm already on a very low carb diet and still have issues, though, so for me revision to RNY is preferable than the current course.