Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group
Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.
Hello everyone,
I had my surgery on 10-7-10. Everything was great, i was very lucky and had no problems.
Around June 2011 i started having a weird problem with my mouth. It felt like i had just ate shredded wheat and had teeny tiny pieces floating in my mouth, ALL the time. It was very annoying, and sometimes painful.
I searched high and low for an answer. Posted on here, but no one had experienced this, went to several docs, added vitamins, added water, added protein.
No luck.
Then my Primary sent me to an ENT. The ENT said i had acid reflux and put me on a PPI. I told him i never have heartburn. He said that is called silent reflux. so i looked it up and i had some of the symptoms. Lots of belcching, pain in my ribcage and chest. so i thought yep i bet it is acid reflux. so i thought i should let my bypass team know and they wanted to do an endoscopy.
I went in yesterday and the procedure itself was interesting. The best part of the process was that they easily found a vein! For my surgery it took 3 people looking and poking to find one. Anyway the results...
Doc said my pouch looks great, my esophagus looks great, and that i do NOT have acid reflux. He said the PH level of my stomach was a 9. (stomach is supposed to be 2-3 - very acidic). I have BILE REFLUX!
Now who's ever heard of that!
he gave me a couple of extra meds and, of course, i have lots of research to do, and i hope it fixes my annoying mouth.
Couple of side notes about this whole thing. One, i have noticed since my surgery my blood pressure has been going down at every doc visit. last time i went it was something like 79/56. the nurse actually commented on it. Yesterday it was higher, but i was nervous. And during the procedure they could not give me the full sedative because my BP went too low. My sis in the medical field and also has low BP due to Addisons and she wants me to watch it.
Second, through all of my research the one thing i have learned is that the body is SUPER complicated. I really like my primary doc because he is honest and says there is no way he can know everything about everything. he welcomes my research. some he immediately rules out, but most of the time he will test me or refer me to a specialist.
When something is wrong with you - even something so small, like my mouth, keep at it. you never know if it's a small issue or something larger. This bile reflux should not be ignored, and who knows how bad it could have got if i and my docs didn't keep going.
I'll check in later and let you all know how the meds go and long term prognosis.
Good luck to you all!
Rochelle
I had my surgery on 10-7-10. Everything was great, i was very lucky and had no problems.
Around June 2011 i started having a weird problem with my mouth. It felt like i had just ate shredded wheat and had teeny tiny pieces floating in my mouth, ALL the time. It was very annoying, and sometimes painful.
I searched high and low for an answer. Posted on here, but no one had experienced this, went to several docs, added vitamins, added water, added protein.
No luck.
Then my Primary sent me to an ENT. The ENT said i had acid reflux and put me on a PPI. I told him i never have heartburn. He said that is called silent reflux. so i looked it up and i had some of the symptoms. Lots of belcching, pain in my ribcage and chest. so i thought yep i bet it is acid reflux. so i thought i should let my bypass team know and they wanted to do an endoscopy.
I went in yesterday and the procedure itself was interesting. The best part of the process was that they easily found a vein! For my surgery it took 3 people looking and poking to find one. Anyway the results...
Doc said my pouch looks great, my esophagus looks great, and that i do NOT have acid reflux. He said the PH level of my stomach was a 9. (stomach is supposed to be 2-3 - very acidic). I have BILE REFLUX!
Now who's ever heard of that!
he gave me a couple of extra meds and, of course, i have lots of research to do, and i hope it fixes my annoying mouth.
Couple of side notes about this whole thing. One, i have noticed since my surgery my blood pressure has been going down at every doc visit. last time i went it was something like 79/56. the nurse actually commented on it. Yesterday it was higher, but i was nervous. And during the procedure they could not give me the full sedative because my BP went too low. My sis in the medical field and also has low BP due to Addisons and she wants me to watch it.
Second, through all of my research the one thing i have learned is that the body is SUPER complicated. I really like my primary doc because he is honest and says there is no way he can know everything about everything. he welcomes my research. some he immediately rules out, but most of the time he will test me or refer me to a specialist.
When something is wrong with you - even something so small, like my mouth, keep at it. you never know if it's a small issue or something larger. This bile reflux should not be ignored, and who knows how bad it could have got if i and my docs didn't keep going.
I'll check in later and let you all know how the meds go and long term prognosis.
Good luck to you all!
Rochelle
even if you have been diagnosed with acid reflux you need to have the PH in your stomach checked because acid relux is sometimes secondary to bile reflux. and bile reflux is actually more dangerous (from what i have read so far).
The meds could take up to a month to start working. my biggest fear is the side effects. all three of the new meds can cause constipation and we all know how horrible that will be!
You mentioned "procedure" - did you mean the surgery or are you having an endoscopy too? is there an issue you're trying to get addressed?
Maybe we have some thoughts.