11 years out..Im getting a revision!

I didn't have any reflux before the band but at the end slept sitting up, choking and aspirating acid.  I never found that elusive sweet spot either.  You will find most surgeons are moving to doing only the RNY and Sleeve.  It is due to how many people are having the same issues as you with the band.  I wouldn't have made it driving 450 miles as after every fill they would have to remove half of it the next day or two no little how much they put in.

Best of luck!!! 

Not everyone is on a PPI with the sleeve nor do we ALL nor MOST have reflux issues. I am one of those who does not. And I am most certainly not unique. I was taking a PPI for six weeks after surgery but it was to protect the stomach lining, not for reflux. Then was told to stop and everything is fine. I am teo years out from surgery and have been stable for about a year in terms of weight. I also have a relatively moderate sleeve - not tiny but not huge I suspect as I am pretty much done after 3-4 oz per meal. Lots of people on the VSG forum don't have reflux and many don't take PPIs. My surgeon told me the stats were about 30% of post ops develop reflux. Sort of the same as the dumping statistic for RNYers. I don't know the stats for issues with the band. I think all surgeries are somewhat invasive and alter the body as it was made. We have to make the best choice for each of our situations and medical needs. Take the good with the less good and do the best we can to be healthy. 

I know droves of folks are getting revisions to and virgin sleeves but I am not certain that Nana is correct in saying that droves are getting revisions FROM the sleeve. It would be interesting to see a credible statistic on that. 

Wishing you a safe surgery and better health.

Here is a very recent study on the Sleeve, ClinicalTrials.gov processed this data on September 04, 2014 regarding Reflux, both short and long term.

It indicates the Sleeve reflux can get better, then can get worse after 6 years post op. The latest study also indicate the Sleeve has a HIGHER Re-Operation rate than the Lap band, Reoperation/intervention rates for the LSG (2.97%) are positioned between the LAGB (0.92%)

Also this raw data is out there, anyone can just research on their own and use google.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02068872?displayxml=true

Thirty-day morbidity was 5.6% and reoperation rate 3%.[38] The 30-day morbidity rate for LSG (5.61%) is statistically higher than the LAGB rate (1.44%), however this is comparable to the LRYGB rate (5.91%). Similarly, 30-day readmission rate for the LSG (5.4%) is statistically higher than for the LAGB (1.71%), but comparable to the LRYGB (6.47%).

Reoperation/intervention rates for the LSG (2.97%) are positioned between the LAGB (0.92%) and the LRYGB (5.02%), which is significant on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Overall, complication rates following the LSG seem to be positioned between those for the LAGB (which has lower 30 day morbidity, readmission and reoperation/intervention rates) and the LRYGB (which has higher reoperation rates)[38].

Unlike other bariatric procedures, patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy have not been found to suffer from nutritional deficits following surgery, but close monitoring of B12, folic acid, zinc, calcium and iron are recommended.[48]

The most common long-term complication of sleeve gastrectomy is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is reported in 22% of patients at 1 year, but declines to less than 5% after 3 years. A recurrence has been observed in a small population after 6 years, and has been attributed to asymmetric stapling of the gastric sleeve leading to a conical shape and relative mid-stomach stenosis.[37]

In addition, compared to the AGB, the sleeve gastrectomy has statistically higher rates for peripheral nerve injury, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, unplanned intubation, renal insufficiency, urinary tract infection, organ space infection, and sepsis. When compared to the LRYGB, sleeve gastrectomy has higher rates of organ space infection, renal insufficiency, and sepsis but lower rates of ventilator dependence.

Bariatric surgery-specific postoperative occurrences requiring readmission, reoperation or an intervention within 30-days show that compared to the AGB, LSG has a higher rate of anastomotic/staple line leaks, fluid/electrolyte/nutrition problems, strictures, infection/fevers, pulmonary embolism, bleeding and events not otherwise specified. Compared to LRYGB, sleeve gastrectomy has a comparable rate of nearly all postoperative bariatric specifi****urrences requiring readmission, reoperation or an intervention, except for a lower rate of stricture, intestinal obstruction, and anastomotic ulcer.http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02068872?displayxml=true

Statistician in the health field here! I'm not seeing the information you posted on that link, did you get it from elsewhere? The link you posted is for a clinical trial in stage 1, so no actual data has been collected just yet. Raw data is often hard to come by for reasons of patient confidentiality; even with PII (personally identifying information) removed to anonymize the data, the government is usually hesitant to release those records to the general public.

Digging through PubMed, it's pretty clear that there are studies showing that things can go either way for GERD patients, and several I've found acknowledged that the literature is all over the place and there's no clear consensus.

In the largest study I found, the numbers suggest that about 85% of sleeve patients continued to have GERD afterwards, with only 15% reporting that it went away completely. Of the RNY patients, 65% reported that their reflux was no longer an issue. (Most single studies contain ~30 subjects; this was a meta-analysis with many thousands of cases.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24500799

Thanks for that. 

I'm 6 months out from VSG and I don't need a PPI. No reflux whatsoever. 

I think you will do just fine with the sleeve. Not all of us are on PPI's for life and food does not just "go through". You physically can not eat more than your sleeve can hold and you will be in serious pain long before you get to the point of total capacity. I'm only 4 months out and some may say " what do I know". Well not as much as some but I know what the last 4 months have been like for me. Best of luck!!

I, too, have not been on a PPI since about 4-5 weeks out from surgery (at most). I did have some acid reflux before surgery; however, I found that when I started eating differently during the supervised diet, it went away. The acid issues, for me, were completely diet related.

Best of luck to you!

Bonnie,

Good for you! Good luck...i'm having mine this winter. Don't have a date yet because of insurance. Keep us posted. Go 49ers.

Robin

Hi and congratulations!  I had all those issues with the band.  I had to fight a once in a lifetime policy to get the band removed and than to get the sleeve.  Mine was done in two surgeries so the stomach could heal from the damage from the band.  Our center puts us on a PPI 2X a day for a year.  After some great person posted some really good research info on the VSG boards.  (I sure wish he would come back or I could find it.)  I cute back a 1 a day at 6 months.  The thing with PPI's is what they don't tell you, when you go off you make MORE acid for a while.  After 3/4 weeks of really bad acid had I not know better I would have started taking them again. Than when my year was up I stopped talking the other and it was bad for a little while.  I am over a year and a half out and don't take anything and have not issues.  In hind sight I would have stopped the second one sooner.

The sleeve has been the right choice and given me a new life.  It does what I thought the band would but did do for me.  I hope you love your sleeve as much as I have and many, many others on the VSG boards.

I did "OK" with the band and was their poster band patient.  Than I wasn't and had to go thru hopes to get it removed.  I did get under 200 for a week or so and went from a 26/28 to 18/20 for a while.  I am now "normal" and wearing size 8/10.  I wore size 12 in sixth grade.  Never even dreamed of seeing a single diget just wanted to be out of the 20+.  Good luck with your revision.