9 Weeks Post LINX!

Glad to hear from you!
I'm so glad everything when well.

Hi PPI-LESS,

No I don't feel anything from having my " Ring of Confidence " inside me!! Even if I prod around the area, there is nothing to feel. The only time I'm aware of it, is if I try & eat too quickly or take too big a mouthful of food. Then there is a slight 'stuck' feeling & I have to take a drink & wait for a short while until the food goes through. It's a slightly weird feeling, but not really painful unless I really overdo it!!!! Only did that once or twice - soon learned not to get over-confident with my food intake!!!!

Thanks for the good wishes folks. Hope 'Irene' isn't giving anyone any trouble! Stay safe & well.

Hi Beargirl,

Glad to hear you are doing so well. I believe we had the Linx at the Spire the same weekend (weekend of 25th/26th June). I seem to have had the opposite experience to you. My first 5 weeks were excellent - no symptoms at all either of bloating or acid. However the past 3 weeks have been tough with reoccurence of acid burn. I am wondering if I came off my ppi's too quickly and am now suffering from acid rebound on a huge scale which is causing the return of symptoms. I was taking high doses of ppis for nearly 14 years so it is definitely possible. I have read it can take up to 3 months for the acid rebound factor to subside due to increased Gastrin levels in the blood and mass expansion of parietal cells.

How long have you been off ppi's now and did you come off very gradually or more quickly?

Antzag:
Sorry to hear about your return of symptoms. However, are the symptoms now as bad as they were before the LINX? Is it possible that LINX is not tight enough - or is not working as effectively anymore as it did during the first few weeks?

Could you post the link/medical references for high failure rate for Nissens you refer to please.

Most of the sites I've seen quote a 90-95% success rate even on re-dos.

Even the Annals of Surgery Journal at the NIH quote from 78-97% success in controlling esohageal reflux.

Thank you.

I did a lot of research about failure rate pre-op and questioned my surgeon and GI extensively beforehand.

I don't think surgeons/GIs/physicians in general would be allowed to quoting incorrect information to you facing the risk of lawsuit.

I have 4 friends in my hometown who have had the surgery done in the last 10 to 2 years and they're all doing well and the surgeries were done by different surgeons in our location and they were all given the same statistics which my surgeon gave me.

Just wanting to be as accurate as possible but if you do have new information pertaining to statistics confirming a new and higher failure rate I know we'd all like to be able to review them as well.

Thanks.

I know that some of you who got the surgeries (denise and joy) had mostly "atypical" symptoms and the surgeons in such cases are not super confident - although, as we know both of them have had wonderful outcome from the surgery.

In my case - on top of having atypical (throat) symptoms - I also have normal LES pressure. So, I am not a good candidate for this surgery. Plus, my condition is new - and I guess I need to give this thing more time to see where I land.

My problem is that since I can not tolerate the meds, I have to live with the symptoms and even though they are not that severe - are quite annoying and do affect my quality of life.

Can someone explain the LINX surgery to me please and does it really work. It seems awfully easier than the Nissen Wrap. I looked at a video with a doctor explaining this procedure. Where is this procedure available....I live in Canada.

Thanks.

Cindy

HI PPI-LESS

I now wish I hadn't jump the gun for the nissen wrap. I had the nissen wrap back in January and had a very rough recovery, I am now somewhat starting to feel normal again. I had a hard time with burping and gas/bloat. Everyday gets better but gosh I wish I had waited.

Thanks for the info.

Cindy.
p.s. If it hasn't been approved in the States, it's going to be a while before it's approved in Canada.

Hi Everyone,

A few questions to answer.

4hn - I will gladly ask about LINX in Asia, but it may be some time before I see the Doctor who would possibly know. Might I suggest www.toraxmedical.com/ & click on " contact us ". You can put a few details in & there is a box to ask questions at the bottom of the page. Hope you get a positive response.

Antzag. Hi, sorry to hear you're going in the opposite direction to me!! Bummer! I wasn't on PPIs for that long really as I couldn't tolerate the side effects. Basically I was in a walking trance most of the time & fell asleep every time I sat down. Add that to the extreme nausea & the anxiety, & the acid was preferable!! I was managing(!) on high doses or Ranitidine throughout the day alongside large quantities of antacids & Gaviscon Advance. I actually found no need to take antacids or the Gaviscon from day 1 after surgery, but continued with the Ranitidine for about 3 weeks, gradually reducing the dose, & fingers crossed have not suffered any adverse effects since.
I am in touch with another lady who had the procedure before us, & I believe she is also having some problems similar to you. I assume you have told them at Healthier Weight & I hope they've given you some useful advice. They really should have introduced us that day & we could have stayed in touch by phone or email. There should be a LINX Club here in the UK - we're quite an elite group at the moment!! Really hope you start to improve again very soon. Please stay in touch.

Cindy123, the LINX looks like a little bracelet of beads on elastic. It is small enough to be a ring on a middle finger & once in place, acts like a one-way valve. It's not a 'one-size fits all' device - the size depends on the individual. Because the 'beads' are Titanium, it's supposed to last as long as you do. Hope they're right on that one cos a diamond ring would've been cheaper!! In terms of the actual surgery, it takes 30/40 minutes to insert & I came home with a few stitches across my belly button & a small cut either side of that. Stitches were dissolvable & gave me no trouble at all.
Given that all the trials took place in the USA, it seems crazy that Europe seems to be offering it first. As it stands now, if this is the best it gets for me, I'm very pleased with the outcome & I'm very glad I had the procedure done.

Thanks for your continued good wishes. Hope everyone feeling as good as they can.

Hi PPI-LESS,

I had a look at my paperwork, & from what I could work out I had 85 reflux episodes of >6/8. The upright acid was at upper limits of normal, & severe when lying down. They recorded acid burping, heartburn, acid reflux, & oesophageal acid exposure. My Demeester score was 31.4. Also had a Hiatus Hernia of 2cms.

Manometry showed my LOS was borderline.

Prior to the LINX I generally felt crap!! Constant acid cos the H2s couldn't control it. Constant heartburn & acid burping. Also extreme bouts of nausea which sometimes lasted a couple of days & knocked me off my feet. Eating was no fun at all & my diet became quite limited. Very low energy levels. Think the worst was the heartburn - a couple of 3 a.m. bouts had me very close to going to the hospital as I was sure I was having a heart attack!! Scary!! That pain around the LOS never really went away. I've still got that to a degree, but it is getting milder as each week goes by.

Now I look forward to eating. I'm really enjoying my exercise again & my energy levels are improving weekly.

Hope the above makes sense & hope you're well.

Hi Shooz,

Thanks for the welcome. I have checked out your posts & it's really encouraging to see you're doing so well this far down the line. Think I may have spoken too soon re no acid symptoms at all, as I had a pretty bad burning under my breastbone this morning!! Took a couple of antacids & along with being upright, it cleared completely after a couple of hours. My acid was always at it's worse overnight so maybe I'm getting a bit of this 'rebound' from being off the meds. I think I'll try the Ranitidine (H2) just at night for a while & then wean off it again but much more slowly this time!! Bit of over-confidence there methinks!!! Overall though I'm really happy with my little 'Ring of Confidence'.

Take care.