Switched off of Omeprezole at 4 month post op visit and have raging reflux now

[writegirl]

Regardless of whether they can or cannot do fundoplication or beaded ring both involve lap scArs and I just paid $15k for lower body lift. Ain’t no one carving me up!! I’ll suffer PPI consequences

Ha! I would have the same attitude lol. How are you feeling now, btw?

 

[writegirl]

First, there are data on both sides of the PPI-Alzheimer’s link, and there hasn’t been a randomized controlled trial, so it is not absolutely certain PPIs cause dementia. But, I agree with the opinion that it’s best not to mess around with brain cells. I also think that severe reflux is so debilitating that what works is hard to give up. But be aware that these drugs affect vitamin B12 levels so that might be responsible for the potential link to dementia.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1788456

There is a surgical treatment for reflux. I was lucky enough to have reflux surgery—fundoplication—before my bariatric surgery and I have never experienced reflux since. Preop patients should discuss this, because there is a surgeon doing fundoplication at the same time as sleeve gastrectomy. (I don’t think you can do it after DS or sleeve gastrectomy, since it uses part of the stomach.)

You might have a hard time finding someone to do it, and I don’t know if insurance companies approve it easily, but I see there is an FDA approved device that is like fundoplication, the LYNX. It is a ring of magnetic beads that open when eating and close after eating to prevent acid from refluxinginto the esophagus. And it only involves the esophagus, so your DS may not be a contraindication. I don’t know. They do it at NYU in NY and USC in California and I am sure other places.http://www.surgery.usc.edu/uppergi-general/gastroesophagealrefluxdisease-linx.html

Thank you! All of this is good to know. So, do we actually have to be on one of these stomach "protectors" for the rest of our lives, or are there some DSers who are NOT on anything and doing just fine? They told me before I had surgery that taking these is forever for me. If I can get off of a drug, though, I would try.

 

[writegirl]

I know many with DS/VSG who went off PPIs without incident. In fact, Mexicali Bariatric Center (Dr Esquerra) recommends stopping after 3-4 months (I can't remember) as do many other American DS surgeons.

And then there are others like me.

I started PPI 2 months before DS for "silent" GERD. And it remained silent... until I tried to get off PPIs about 6 months post-op. Before DS, I was told I'd have to be on it forever unless [doctor stares at me up and down] I made SIGNIFICANT lifestyle changes. So I got DS and lost 110+, slept on bed wedge, avoided acidic foods, gave up coffee and tea, etc. I did wean myself down to 20mg vs 40mg. But when I tried to get completely off... AGONY. So I returned to 20mg only now even THAT didn't work so I was taking 20mg PPI in the morning plus 75mg rantadine at dinnertime. (One step BACK!) Months passed and after researching protocols for how to slowly wean oneself off, I tried again. I got off PPI (briefly) and was taking two 75mg rantadine 12 hours apart. I was miserable but tried my damnedest to stick it out until the reawakened acid producing cells stopped acting berserk and settled down. I added fistfuls of Tums (calcium carbonate) to help ease the pain and in 6 weeks developed the most gigantic kidney stone. (Turns out calcium supplements were the cause of my kidney stones post DS, but that's another story.) I gave up and went back to 40mg PPI until the gastroenterologist completes his tests in two weeks. (I suspect I just have a "lazy" esophageal sphincter due to age.)

Be aware that H2s have the same dangers such as dementia, higher infection rates, especially c-diff, as acid fights infections, and kidney stone production as calcium metabolism is impaired. PPIs have all of those dangers and also add possibility of swift and permanent kidney failure. Your body needs acid to work effectively. The only reason to go to H2s (if they work for you) is that they are supposedly easier to get off of than PPIs.

Google PPI withdrawal and you will find the methods for getting off the drug. It should be a s-l-o-w process -- maybe as long as months.

Good luck

Thank you for sharing your experiences with the PPI. It helps to read that someone else struggled trying to get off of it. I have never once vomited since my surgery. Not even felt nauseous. Today, though, on my way to work this morning I almost had to pull over to gack up my breakfast. I held it together, but I felt like absolute hell. I can't believe the nurse just yanked me off the PPI like that--she could have weaned me a bit. I'll try to slug through this for a few weeks and see if I can survive it. I wish they never put me on the damned PPI in the first place.

 

[writegirl]

I tried coming off a PPI a couple of years ago, lasted a month. Developing dementia is preferable to 1) not sleeping, 2) getting esophageal cancer from GERD, etc. And mine got worse over the month, not better.

I also found this: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/881978
Study was a large one and unlike the previous ones, included younger patients.

I currently use OTC Prevacid. Getting a prescription for a PPI is damned near impossible now that most are OTC.

I think that they give me the prescription because they can make a case for me needing it from the damage done by the h-pylori infection I had last year.

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

Wait...you had voice problems? I have had terrible voice issues since surgery and I mentioned this to the nurse during my post op visit last week and she kind of shrugged and told me to go to my PCP since it can't be surgery related. Do you think the PPI gave you voice issues or the GERD or both?

I've also had a weird issue with my urinary tract (also since surgery), but they just tell me to go to my PCP. I guess that I will, eventually. Right now, I want the reflux to stop and I hope the transition off of PPI mellows. I can't believe they put patients on this crap that is so hard to get off of and don't warn us that it's going to be like this. What the actual hell?

Yes, my voice was a wreck. It was weak and raspy and when I'd try to sing at church it was horrible! I finally called Nina in Esquerra 's office to ask if this was normal because I thought it was from being incubated but she said it was lasting too long for it to be tube irritation. She asked about Ppi and I think at that time I was still taking one. I put bricks under the two legs of our bed at the head of the bed. Ate small snacks at bedtime, and it eventually got better, voice took a while though. It's coming back to me now, I did stay on the PPI a while, probably longer than two months as I said in earlier post! Not more than 4 months at the most. The voice thing really bothered me and I was on the verge of seeking medical help when it began to improve.

 

[Settledownnow]

Welcome to reflux and omeprazole hell! I have been able to get off omeprazole and am down to 1 Pepcid (famotidine 20 mg) daily. It was very difficult and took a few different tries due to the rebound acid reflux. You can find information on the internet about how to wean yourself off. I would also suggest logging your food and to look for offending foods to avoid. My goal is to get off Pepcid next. I'm psyching up for it --

You may need to stay on it for a little while longer until your stomach is healed.

 

[Clematis]

If you think you have larynx issues, see an ENT. The awkward thing about reflux is that acid starts in the stomach which is the realm of a gastroenterologist but the damage it causes is to the esophagus and throat which is the realm of an ENT.

 

[juliebird4828]

My surgeon wanted me to try to get off of my PPI. He talked about osteoporosis risk as well. Knowing we need additional calcium and are with some risk there, I was all for it. I went down from two a day to one and am off of it for most days. I do avoid a lot of things that used to be an issue. I had reflux and GERD so bad preop that I had some nerve involvement- hurt to breath, cough...I haven't had any of that thankfully. He does not intend for me to be on a PPI or H2 forever.

 

[writegirl]

My surgeon wanted me to try to get off of my PPI. He talked about osteoporosis risk as well. Knowing we need additional calcium and are with some risk there, I was all for it. I went down from two a day to one and am off of it for most days. I do avoid a lot of things that used to be an issue. I had reflux and GERD so bad preop that I had some nerve involvement- hurt to breath, cough...I haven't had any of that thankfully. He does not intend for me to be on a PPI or H2 forever.

Are you on an H2 at all? I'm trying to figure out if I absolutely MUST be on one of the medicines (PPI/H2) forever for no other reason that I've had a DS. I was told pre-op that I had to be one one "for life"--it's even in the paperwork they gave us. Is that all bullshit? Can I be off of this stuff safely? If so, I would be willing to make the attempt once my body relaxes from the trauma of being ripped off the Omeprezole without some kind of wean-down period. My reflux has been a bit better this week. I only had one evening of feeling "it" badly, so I took another of the prescription Pepcid. I felt fine after a few minutes. If you're saying there is a way I can wean down to taking this stuff "as needed" rather than daily, I would much rather go that route if my body will allow. I hate taking medications daily.

 

[southernlady]

Are you on an H2 at all? I'm trying to figure out if I absolutely MUST be on one of the medicines (PPI/H2) forever for no other reason that I've had a DS. I was told pre-op that I had to be one one "for life"--it's even in the paperwork they gave us. Is that all bullshit? Can I be off of this stuff safely? If so, I would be willing to make the attempt once my body relaxes from the trauma of being ripped off the Omeprezole without some kind of wean-down period. My reflux has been a bit better this week. I only had one evening of feeling "it" badly, so I took another of the prescription Pepcid. I felt fine after a few minutes. If you're saying there is a way I can wean down to taking this stuff "as needed" rather than daily, I would much rather go that route if my body will allow. I hate taking medications daily.

Using Zantac is doable for break thru days if that is what’s happening now.

Dh is almost 7 years out, his sleeve is close to the same size as mine, and even at a 39 BMI, he never did and still doesn’t have reflux. He was given a prescription for the nexium you mix with water after his surgery, never needed it. However, I used it my first month cause we had it already.

 

[writegirl]

Using Zantac is doable for break thru days if that is what’s happening now.

Dh is almost 7 years out, his sleeve is close to the same size as mine, and even at a 39 BMI, he never did and still doesn’t have reflux. He was given a prescription for the nexium you mix with water after his surgery, never needed it. However, I used it my first month cause we had it already.

This is good to know. If I can get off the meds, I want to do that. It's so hit and miss. Some days I have zero reflux and some days I feel like I drank acid. I never had any problem at all while on the PPI, so this is now all new and *I think* it may be related to PPI withdraw. I'm not doing anything different with my diet, not eating acidy foods or carby crap, so I think it is because I was jerked off the PPI with no slow progression off the med. It's really frustrating because it feels like a set back when I was finally in what became a perfect rhythm with my vitamin and protein intake. This is just dumb.