cross post:acid reflux/heartburn after RNY?

Has anyone encountered this kind of problem since having their RNY? A little background....in July, I was having major heartburn then all of a sudden one evening I had MAJOR chest pains(went to the ER in FL, I live in NC)..I was diagnosed with acid reflux.  Since then I have been brushed off by my PCP, but my surgeon has been doing extensive testing to see what's up.  I had an EGD about 2 weeks ago, there was inflammation in my esophagus and stomach(he did a biopsy, nothing abnormal showed up)..I am scheduled for a ph test at the end of this month. My surgeon is totally baffled since I should not be having theses issues...anyone encounter this before? Any ideas?  I'm so utterly tired of this at this point....Thanks so much! Dede

DeDe, I have never heard of that happening to anyone. Keep us posted. I have heard of those who have had some of those complaints to find out it was an ulcer. Good luck and best wishes. Mike

My surgery completely cured my GERD. I have no idea why you would have an acid problem. The lower stomach is where the acid pumps are located, and this is completely cut away from the pouch and esophagus.

Hi Deidre, I too have had some acid reflux/heartburn issues since my surgery. I also saw someone post to the mainboard about dealing it with since surgery. I am going to bring this to my surgeon's attention at my next visit...coming up soon.  I didn't really follow the thread to the end so I'm not sure what most suggestions were. I did see one that suggested it could be an ulcer.  I hope that you get some resolution to this soon...

I will try to explain what my WL surgeon preaches to us all even before surgery in the best way I can:  Our RNY is identical to surgery being done for years to cause ulcers in lab animals so that they can be tested for ulcer medicine. Dr. Roe Believes that acid reflux & Ulcer type ailments are a given fact after RNY which is why he puts all his patients on a life time maintanence regime of prevacid or soemthing like it. I have never missed a pill and dont plan on it because I have talk to way too many of his patients who didnt take the prevacid (or whatever) because why take it if you dont have the problem and they thay ended up with bleeding ulcers or bad heartburn, gerd etc.   I must say that I never had any problems before either but I trusted huim with my life and I still do :-) Good luck Diana RNY 9/17/03 360/196/still aiming for 180

Hmmmm, good advice, maybe I should go on a regimine of some type...not sure why I'm not, since this seems to be (prevacid, etc)common place....Thanks everyone! Dede

I have had GERD for years and after my WLS it went away. For about 3 months and then returned with a vengence. My WLS and weight management doctors explained that for some people the smaller remaining pouch/stomach can contain acid producing "cardiac area" pumps and this is my problem. I am on Nexium 40 mg a day and have no more GERD that used to double me over with pain. I had an endoscopy and I no longer have any damage or inflamation from the acid so the Nexium is working well and keeping me happy. Good luck to you.

I must, must, must take Prevacid solutabs (30mg) every day.  I just recently tried to go off of them on my own (stupid idea) and ended up in some real pain after about 3-4 weeks without them.  I filled the prescription again and I am fine. I never had any acid issues as a pre-op (well, except during my twin pregnancy I ate Tums constantly).  But, seriously, I never had to take any acid reducer, ever. My doctor said that some people's pouch just produces more acid.   I've had an endoscope done to check for an ulcer at about 4 months post-op, but, only slight irritation was found. Anyway, I have resigned myself to the fact that I must take a Prevacid a day.  Not really a big deal. Of course, if I ever get out of hand with my eating, I can just stop taking Prevacid, LOL.  I literally can't eat if I go without it.   I know, I'm a sicko, lol. Good Luck! Karen