Got GERD?

Oh, girl, I was one of the biggest carb addicts in the world. I ate right when I was dieting, but the rest of the time? Nothing but pizza, pasta, cereal, bread, rice, potatoes, junk food, chips...yada, yada, yada. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2014, and cut them all out cold turkey (worst 3 months of my life!), and then that's when I got serious about getting this surgery. So I feel your pain!

That's reassuring to hear! I also have diabetes, and I know that the RNY is generally recommended for helping with that. But given that it's a recent diagnosis (only about a year) and that I'm so close to the A1C threshhold, my doctor doesn't feel strongly that I need to have RNY. Especially because it seems like the VSG has had some decent success as well.

I consider myself a T2 diabetic in remission. My last A1C was 5.5 and my blood sugar stays between 90 and 110 most of the time. VSG, and the accompanying new very low carb lifestyle, did it for me!

No GERD before and no GERD after. I took a PPI for a several months after surgery. He then told me to take OTC Pepcid. I took it for a few days and have never taken it since.

That's great to hear!

I had occasional reflux prior to the sleeve. Based on my upper GI series, my surgeon felt it was caused by a hernia, which would be fixable during my sleeve surgery. He did repair the hernia and I haven't had an acid reflux episode since my sleeve surgery.

With respect to the larger issues involved in choosing which surgery -- the sleeve was recommended to me due to personal and family history of medical issues that are difficult to treat with the bypass. If not for that, I would have had gastric bypass. I had a little more to lose than you do, and I was successful with the sleeve. That said, if I could have, I still would have chosen the bypass. Yes, people can be successful with the sleeve, even with a lot of weight to lose, but the bypass has significantly better stats for the average person. I wanted to give myself the best odds possible and not think that I am a special snowflake who doesn't need the best odds. Clearly I got myself to over 350 lbs by needing a lot of help! In fact, I would have gone for the DS but my insurance would not cover it.

I'm definitely really curious/nervous to see what the endoscopy turns up for me, since that could have an impact on the surgery I choose.

Part of why I've been so torn between the two is definitely the fact that the RNY does have better stats for the average person, and I definitely want to give myself the best chance possible. I don't have any family medical history that would necessarily indicate potential future need for meds, but it does freak me out a little, the thought that something could come up down the line (since I'm still relatively young) and having had the bypass could make treatment for other illnesses an issue...

I did not have reflux/GERD prior to my VSG. I had an endoscopy and everything was fine, and was given the go ahead for VSG. I developed significant GERD about 8 months after my surgery that was uncontrolled by PPIs (I do have a gene mutation that affects the rate I metabolize PPIs so they don't work for me at all). I ended up with acid levels 409% higher than normal and the beginnings of lesions on my esophagus. I converted to RNY on 7/1/17 and my acid has been much better. Just wanted to show you the other side of the coin.

As far as weight loss. I lost 130 lbs with my VSG, so the amount you have to lose would not be a concern for me.

Thank you so much for weighing in! 409% is crazy high!! Gosh, that must have been rough. I've noticed that revising to RNY from VSG doesn't seem to be uncommon. Did you know about the PPIs not working for you before you had the surgery, or was that something you had to figure out post-op?

Oh, so you're a pretty recent RNY convert. I'm happy to hear it's already helped, and I'd definitely be curious to hear more from you regarding your acid and how that's doing as you get even farther out.

No, I had no idea about the gene mutation because I was never on PPIs prior to surgery. MY PCP figured it out because we could only find one medication that worked for me (Dexilant, which was not covered by my Insurance and would have cost me upwards of $600 a month for the dose I was on) and it utilizes a different channel in the liver that isn't affected by the mutation.

Ask me anything about my acid, I'm a year post revision, so I'm assuming it's as good as it's going to get. I'm pretty much an open book.