VSG People - Do you have acid reflux?

I am considering revising to the sleeve.  My father just died of gastric cancer, and this scares me because he had no real symptoms until it was too late.  The symptoms that he did have are all symptoms that I have from the band (Acid reflux, constant hiccups, extremely full feeling and uncomfortable after two or three bites, hard to breathe after eating, etc.)  

I saw an article on Newsmaxhealth.com that suggests that the Sleeve is worse than RNY for people developing GERD or continuing to have it after surgery.  However, my doc is scared to do RNY with my family history of cancer because part of the stomach would not be easy to see if they suspected anything.  

So, I am asking you to share your experience with me.  I was super excited about getting the lap band, but I am fearful a bit of revising.

Your symptoms can also be caused by the band so getting rid of that could fix the problem. Have you been checked for a slip or erosion? With the sleeve you would have less stomach to worry about where with the  RNY you would always be worrying about what you can't see. Myself I'd go with the sleeve and treat any GERD sometimnes it goes away after awhile and sometimes not it is just difficult to say in advance which one you will be. I would research alot and take time to make a choice, but the sooner you get the band out the better so your stomach can heal from the GERD. Good luck to you!

Thank you, Hislady.  I got checked last October and everything was fine, but they said I was too tight.  I had 1 cc removed, and it got much better, but now it is starting again.  It is not too severe, but one of the reasons I wanted to revise (besides not losing any more weight) is that I was scared that I was having the same symptoms my dad was having.  I am tired of hurting after eating a few bites, hiccuping all the time, and having acid reflux!  I know I read earlier today that you were self pay for getting rid of the band, and are waiting for a revision.  Insurance companies are so slimy!  They try to get out of paying for everything! How have you done since the band removal?  Have you been able to keep your weight off? 

Hi Sally yes I'm still waiting to find out how much I'll owe the hospital. I've already paid 2-3 thousand for the surgeon and anesthesiologist which I think is pretty good and I think I'll be able to dicker with the hospital once I get their bill.

I haven't gained anything in fact have lost but that is because the band screwed up my stomach so badly that I still have trouble eating much. So because of that and other health issues I won't be able to revise to anything else. I'm just gonna go back to old fashioned dieting if I have to. Right now eating is just a pain in the rear. The band made my stomach empty slowly and I have to eat a very little bit at a time and then hope it all goes thru eventually, so I always feel full or actually overly full. I still have horrendous GERD and don't seem to be able to get rid of it no matter what I try. It could be a hernia but I can't have an endoscopy because my lungs are bad so unless it's life threatning nobody wants to put me under anesthesia. So I just do the best I can with what I have. Even if you can't get a revision I would advise getting that thing out as soon as you can and see if that doesn't help your reflux. Good luck to you!

I had a sleeve and I had terrible GERD.  I had to take 2 PPIs a day and I would wake up from it.

Since my revision to a RNY pouch nearly 4 years ago I haven't had a single episode of reflux.  I was on PPIs for 3 months as was my surgeon's practice to prevent ulcers and since then I haven't looked back.

Did you have problems before the band?  I would talk to your surgeon and get their input.  I can only tell you my experience.

BTW, I didn't have the revision due to the GERD but it was a happy benefit of it.

Hi LadyT!

Thanks for posting as I am in a similar situation as you with GERD...I developed it post-sleeve and although mine is not as bad as what it sounds yours was, it is still irritating and worrisome.

I am able to do a one-day on, one-day off with PPIs (still have to take an H2 blocker). And every so often, I wake up choking on acid and it isn't pleasant.

For the first year and a half, I was ecstatic with the sleeve and thought it was the next best thing to sliced bread...except I now had to watch I didn't go past a slice or two. LOL! Then last summer, after losing almost 50 lb from my highest weight pre-op, I gained 16 lb back and have been plateauing. It's so frustrating because I was so close to making it into a normal BMI range and then...not!

While not going into too much of a long story here, it's partly my fault because I asked my surgeon to give me a bit bigger sleeve so I could eat a normal portion of food in front of friends. Stupid and he argued against it and I won. However no one explained to me that after a few years of the sleeve, you can eat more and more.

Is that why you had the RNY revision, may I ask? I am considering the RNY for my GERD issue but am also concerned about weight gain and nutrient deficiencies.

I'm assuming you had the proximal procedure, right? How is your B12 count and all the rest?

Did you find that what you could eat changed a lot from when you had the sleeve? (I love the fact that I don't have dumping syndrome and can still enjoy foods like rice with sushi and garlic bread with salads.) 

How about weight loss? It looks like you have lost quite a bit. I guess I'm also worried about long-term results and how RNYers talk just the same as sleevers about how years down the road, they gain weight back. You've been out 4 years now so have you been able to maintain the loss? 

Dizzy from my questions? :-)

I didn't have acid reflux before the band but had it caused by the band.  After the band was removed it was much better.  I did have to take the 2X a day PPI for one year as we are told to.  They have RNYers do this also.  Based on research pointed out here I cut back to one a day at 6 months and stopped at one year.  One thing people don't realize is that when you stop taking them for a period of time it gets worse before getting better.  So they go back on them and never break the cycle.

Sally-

I got my sleeve back in 2007 and I didn't have an issue with acid reflux. I have been having issues over the last two years and went to a surgeon to get things looked at. He did an upper GI and I have large hiatal hernia which explains all the issues I have been having. I am getting it repaired and being resleeved on 8/27. I cannot wait to feel back to myself.

Giggly, 

So sorry for the issues you are having.  I know it is not fun.   I am pretty sure mine is from the band being too tight, but I would sure be sad if I made the revision and still had trouble.  Thanks for sharing your experience with me, and I wish you the best with the hernia repair and the re-sleeving.  Here's hoping you get some relief!

If I was afraid of developing stomach cancer, there's no WAY I'd get an RNY. (Well, there are several other reasons I wouldn't get an RNY, too, but that's another post.)

Pre-op, I had TERRIBLE reflux, so bad that many nights  slept sitting up. I chose the Duodenal Switch, whi*****ludes a Sleeved stomach and an intestinal bypass similar to that of the RNY. Since surgery 10.5 years ago, I have had not one episode of reflux.

However---back when I had my DS, surgeons were leaving DSers with a slightly larger Sleeve than is usually done in a stand-alone Sleeve today. Back then, no one complained with reflux. As Sleeves have gotten made smaller and smaller (in an attempt to combat regain), I see more and more people talking about reflux developing after getting Sleeved. Take from this what you will.