Tif procedure in July

 Hello to all again,

 I had TIF procedure done on July 18 of this year, while I followed the diet required to the letter, my recovery was very slow. I could not regain my stamina. What started off to be 2 weeks of work has turned into 4 months as of this coming Friday. My medical sympton right now is extreme dizziness, I mean to the point that I have to sit down or even lay down and keep my eyes closed until the dizziness goes away. My question is has anyone on here ever had the TIF done and their body just simply reject it, I was not dizzy before the procedure. The plant nurse where I work asked to to explore this option. Is there anyone out there who has had to reject the TIF or remove it. I cannot return to work until this problem is resolved, I am going nuts sitting at home and would really appreciate some resolve to my issue. We had had head MRI done, hearing test and blood work. Next step is a dizzy test.  Thanks

I will explore some of those options alittle. I did find the material that they use in the TIF is the same material used in vaginal mesh and the like. Of course there has been a lot of media about lawsuits over that stuff, but I can find no significant studies that prove that the human body will reject the material or even absorb it. Who knows, I am frustrated and wanting answers because staying home all the time is just not my cup of tea.

 Honestly the TIF procedure itself has done it's job, I have no reflux, I take no Nexium ( I was 2 per day), I have occasional heartburn that a weak antacid takes care of, that is what I call a normal person.

 The bad thing is that after the TIF my life went upside down. I could not regain my stamina, I lost 50 pounds ( not such a bad thing) , then I got depressed because I could not go to work or anywhere else for that matter, they chased possible gall bladder issues, liver issues and pancreatic issues  to no avail, I have been scanned, xrayed, stuck and poked at and found little or no problem, and the dizziness was there all along too. It is the only thing I have going on now my primary care doctor sent me to a ear,nose and throat doc and he could see right away that I had a dizziness issue, he became a little angry that they had let me go so long and not did some testing but so far his tests have revealed nothing. I actually think your trail that you have sent me on about the possible nerve issue may hold water and may be why the diagnosis is so difficult.

 Anyway to answer your question about meds, the doctor put me on some liquid acetominophine right after surgery, it made me sleep a lot but it was not refillable I can understand that, I take little or no pain medication. I was put on Zoloft for the depression but stopped taking it after 4 weeks due to extreme abdominal pain, he put me on Effexor and I came to my senses and quit that too so I am clean for the evil drugs but still so dizzy I can't work or drive.

 Thank you for being a friend and listening I will try to repay

  I told my surgeon about this site, the lab nurse at my primary care doctor was having the same procedure she was asking me all kinds of questions and I directed her to this site for help and support, by the way she came through easily and is 100% now yet her surgery was in late August too.

 So I can certainly agree with you about the road to recovery, I got NO that's right NO support from my surgeon, all of the tips on how to cope with the procedure came from healingwell.com, when I told him about the website he said he wqould need to check it out because he was telling me things that contradicted what people say on here . Anyway the people who have responded to my concerns have been invaluable. I have learned this probably you have too, never underestimate the value of responding to someones questions and concerns, they are on the other end of this, needing a friend and some help, just because I feel that my answer may not help is not a reason to ignore these folks.

 Have a great day

Like you, I thought my TIF procedure had failed.  My situation and symptoms aren't the same as yours, of course.  For three to four weeks following the surgery, I was reflux-free, and went back to sleeping prone.  Then, I started noticing the burning, sour taste in my mouth in the morning, and knew that the reflux was back.  I'm guessing that the swelling of the surgical site during the recovery period was enough to stop 100% of the reflux, for those first few weeks.

I scheduled another EGD, and another 48-hour pH study.  My DeMeester score has been dramatically reduced into the "normal" range, but that doesn't mean that the reflux is totally eliminated.  Did you have another pH study to confirm the reflux?

LPR is a special case.  Most patients only have LES issues leading to GERD, and for those who elect to have the TIF, can probably experience good results.  My expectations were probably too high, and am also disappointed with the results.  I am back to sleeping on a wedge, and take Gaviscon tablets before bed...although the effect of these doesn't last throughout the night.

I have been referred to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville by both my GI and the surgeon, but have to wait until January for my appointment.  Have to go through the whole deal with initial office visit, etc., all over again.

Hang in there, Sam!

-Bruce