New Loop Duodenal Switch Surgery

Hello, I had the loop duodenal switch surgery on Monday and got to come home today.  I am having heartburn.  Has anyone else experienced this and can I take something for it, like Pepcid?  I am on clear liquids for the first week.  I appreciate any help! Thanks.

You might want to contact your surgeon's office and see if they can prescribe an acid reducer. 

I've used OTC varieties over the years; Zantac 150 and Zegerid.

--gina

The surgeon's office got back to me this morning and said that I could take an over-the-counter acid reducer like Pepcid. So far today, no acid reflux! Yay!

Glad to read that you aren't experiencing reflux today.  Hope you feel better and better as each day passes!  Make sure you keep hydrated.

Most of us are on acid reducers for a good 6 months.  Call the doc and ask for some.

Thanks for the information, Valerie. I appreciate it. It's good to know that maybe it won't be a problem in 6 months or so.  The surgeon said that OTC acid reducers are okay to take. 

It's my understanding the loop procedure is new / experimental.  Given that it is so new and results in an anatomy different from the traditional DS, there aren't many veterans who will have experience and can provide relevant advice.  For instance, with the traditional DS, bile reflux is not a possibility, but with the loop DS it could potentially occur.

Who is your surgeon?  I would definitely recommend that you contact him/her for guidance and possibly a prescription. 

Wishing you a short and uncomplicated recovery and long term health and success!

Hilary :)

[Edited for grammar /typos] 

Thanks for the good information, Hilary.  I did hear back from the surgeon's office and an OTC acid reducer is okay to take. 

Thanks for your good wishes!

Not Possible? I have horrible bile and acid reflux and I had the traditional. The pylorus can be irritated along with the rest of the stomach right after surgery causing the possibility of bile reflux. When they cut on your stomach and intestines during the DS it causes swelling from the stomach to the intestines. Acid reflux is quite common in DSers especially right after surgery. Bile reflux can also occur but usually corrects itself when the swelling goes down. Unless that person has an issue with their pylorus. Mine never went away. I take a heavy dose of PPI for it. Many of us whether we have had the DS or Loop are more than capable of giving advice on reflux issues. As far as the rest of the issues that may occur I really have no idea. I will have to read up on the surgery to see how similar it is. 

Sorry to hear that.  I understand that reflux is possible and a reasonably common side effect for the traditional DS. 

What I was trying to express that it seems to me as a layperson with a basic understanding of the post-surgical configurations that the traditional DS anatomy would not typically lend itself to bile reflux, while the SADI/Loop anatomy most certainly could. 

The traditional DS results in (1.) a biliopancreatic limb that comes from the liver/gallbladder and transports the bile, that is separate from (2.) the alimentary limb which transports food from the stomach.  The limbs then meet up in (3.) the common channel at the end of the alimentary limb.  The biliopancreatic limb is not directly connected to the stomach.  Therefore, for bile to come up into the stomach, it would have to travel down through the entire biliopancreatic limb, then back upward through the alimentary limb to reach the pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach.  I concede that while the traditional DS anatomy does not create a situation which results in predisposition or likelihood of occurrence of bile reflux, given the bile would have to travel a great distance in the "wrong" direction, it may occur in some scenarios, so thank you for pointing that out.  I stand corrected and should not have used the absolute term  "not possible" - perhaps "unlikely once fully healed" or "no more likely than with an unaltered pre-surgical anatomy" is more apt. 

On the other hand, with the SADI/loop WLS, a persistent bile reflux scenario appears likely.  My understanding is that the SADI/Loop construction is such that there is no separate alimentary limb and what would be the akin to the biliopancreatic limb essentially becomes the common channel where it is directly connected to the stomach at the pyloric valve.  That means that with the SADI/loop configuration, the digestive juices coming from the liver/gallbladder are routed so that they must *always* flow directly past the stomach / pylorus.  This seems to be a potential recipe for bile reflux. 

It is because the SADI/Loop is significantly different in terms of anatomical result from a traditional DS, particularly as it pertains to bile transit, that I don't believe traditional DS veterans are experienced with the sort of bile reflux situation for SADI/Loop patients in which the bile flow is intentionally directed immediately across the pyloric valve. 

At the end of the day, the SADI/Loop is an experimental procedure which results in a significantly different anatomy than the DS and there are not a lot of SADI/Loop veterans yet who can advise about their experiences.  I would expect in many aspects patient experiences could prove to be as different between the DS and SADI/Loop populations as presently are found between Roux-N-Y and DS populations. 

In any case, I hope that all who suffer from any sort of reflux obtain relief and have healthy, successful outcomes! 

:) Hilary

[Edited for grammar/typos/clarity]