5 weeks post Nissen report

For the benefit of other members who have had the surgery and or those contemplating getting it done, here's a quick recap of my first 5 weeks post Nissen (no PPIs at all since my surgery):

* Began having some heartburn 4 days following Nissen. That totally freaked me out and really thought the surgery would've been a "cure all" immediately following the procedure, so figured it had failed. I had posted something to that effect a few weeks back and some of the more knowledgeable members tried to ease those concerns stating it was too early to tell.

* Weeks 2 through 3, I'd get some mild heartburn which I would rate a 5 (scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst). I'd still get the throat clearing throughout the day and decided to watch what I eat and how often.

* Week 4, went to see my surgeon and relayed my concerns about the persistent heartburn. He stated some people walk away from surgery never experiencing heartburn again, while others have to tough it out through the 8 week benchmark that has been established to better evaluate. He also said that no all pain that feels like heartburn is necessarily related to heartburn. If I'm still having issues following week 8, he will run some testing...which I hope will not be necessary.

* Week 5 - over the last 7-8 days, I've noticed a turn for the better with heartburn either non existent following meals or somewhere around a 2 on a scale of 1-10. Even enjoyed half a beer and a glass of wine on Christmas. The throat clearing has almost entirely subsided during that time too.

Be patient folks as I now understand these things take time to heal properly. My expectation is that it will still further improve over the next few weeks, so I hope this is encouraging for those who have had the surgery or those taking it into consideration.

Happy Holidays to all.

Bruce,
I've had gerd problems for 7 years and had been reading up on the surgery for 2 years before finally opting for it. I'm 41 and in relatively good shape, but some of the symptoms brought on by gerd such as chest pain, throat clearing, wheezing, heartburn (all despite use of PPIs) had me thinking there was something far worse wrong with me. The different ailments and referred pains this disease can cause is shocking at times.

Another reason I opted for the surgery had to do with bouts of unexplained anemia over the last 2 years and the onset of multi joint pain (shoulders and hips) which I attribute to 7 years of Nexium. Nexium is know to cause iron, B12 and calcium deficiency, so don't believe everything you read when they say these are safe drugs....they are, if you don't have to take them beyond a few months, not several years.

I honestly believe the horror stories you hear are in the minority. People who have the surgery and are doing well are not likely to come on the boards and post about how well they've been feeling for the last few years. The people who come on here like you and I, do so to ask questions in our search for answers towards well being.

If I recover fully from this as the weeks go on, I wouldn't see myself coming on here to post just to let everyone know that I'm doing just great.

I really hope you find a solution that's right for you and based on how I'm feeling just 5 weeks in, I'd recommend it.

Best,

Tony

Tony-

Great to hear things are getting better. The hardest part is to learn to relax and let our bodies heal without jumping to negative conclusions before we have healed.

Take care,
Bill

Bruce, that's right, I've had several symptoms of LPR. I would get the chronic wheezing and throat clearing even while on PPIs, which is why I gave up on medication and decided on the surgery. At one point earlier this year, I figured, how much worse would it be without the PPIs, so I stopped them for about 5 days. I got back the chronic sore throat and I got that awful bitter taste in the back of my mouth whenever I'd eat anything, so I went back to the PPIs and decided enough is enough...so enter Nissen.

No regrets thus far. Had a good supper tonight, some steamed veggies, fish, several bites of my wife's filet of pork, snacked on chips during the evening and no gerd symptoms.

Starting to get really excited about where this is going and again, at least get a doctor's opinion if you're thinking of going that route. Of note, I also had a slight hiatal hernia repaired at the time of the nissen.

Bill, you're 100% correct.

Denise, you were the first person to respond when I had posted about some heartburn symptoms a couple of weeks into the surgery and your reassurance was welcome and with full merit.

Yikes...precisely the kind of comment that makes me think that I can't take the risk...