Surgery and GERD

Sorry if this is a repeat question, but I can't find it anywhere on this board.
Did anyone have severe GERD (Heartburn) before surgery and if so, has the surgery made any difference?
I am 2 weeks Pre-surgery and curious to know if I will be taking Prevacid forever.
Thank you!
Amy

i was taking prevacid before surgery and after surgery i was good for about a year, and now im back on prevacid again.  its very common after surgery to still need something

hope that helps you

jacki

Thanks!  That does help.

Hi Amy,
My gastoenterologist insisted on an endoscopy pre-op and she found some esophageal erosion.  Surprise, surprise, I knew I had GERD.  She put me on Prevacid and it did the trick.  Post-op, I was taken off the med and suffered no reflux.  I'm 8 months out and have no reflux. 

A note about Prevacid: it can cause calcium retention problems and lead to osteoporosis.  In light of malabsorption problems in RNY, this can be a real health problem.  My gastro doc told me 2 months is the limit she will allow a woman to be on Prevacid.  I take calcium supplements now hoping that I am keeping up those levels.  So far so good.   I would imagine age (peri-menapausal) plays a factor in osteoprosis but I'm not into fractures.

Good luck, feel good,
Andrea

Oh Andrea,
Interesting because I have been on it for 6 months...now I am concerned.  I also had an Endoscopy that showed some slight erosion.  I knew that though!
Thanks so much for the info!
Amy

Hi from sunny Arizona!  I have suffered from GERD for over 20 years, and now it's a situation where I have to have surgery to repair my esophagus...but my GI doc thinks we can do weight loss surgery at the same time (If BCBS agrees).   I had a band in 2005 and it had to come off because I couldn't tolerate it....
this is heavy on my mind also.  I take protonix twice a day, and he already said that I'll probably have to keep it up forever, but maybe I'm different.  I would love to get rid of the pain.