Sinfrontera LINX post op journal

Thanks, Nick. I will try that right away. The dysphagia has really knocked me over the past couple of days.

Hi SF,

I would like to request communication with you. :)

If you click on my username, the profile contains my email address.

Thanks,

GM

 

I'm sorry your going through this. Are you saying that when you eat that you vomit the food when it doesn't go down? I always wondered what happens to saliva its funny you mentioned that. So the saliva builds up? So you regurgitate the saliva as well? So would you say you were better off before the linx or after?
Seems if you can't get food or saliva down your not better off. I have a consulation with a surgeon in regards to linx at the end of the month. I will bring up these side effects your having during the consultation.
Are you glad you did it? Are others havinhg the same symptom?

Hi Tracks--

Bouts of nausea do happen, but they are quite mild and short-lived.

On saliva, I think it tends to pool above the LES, and is not heavy enough to go through (at least not all of it). That and/or the esophagus has not yet developed strong contractions enough to push it through.

And yes, the food that does not go down comes up. Usually pretty quickly. At this point, when I feel it getting stuck and the pain builds, I just let it come back up and wait a bit. Then I start again.

I should point out that all of this is episodic. It may or may not happen during a meal. Much of it depends on how I eat. I'm learning to take it slowly, take small bites, swallow properly, and get things functioning smoothly. Usually I have problems when I lose patience, eat too fast, don't chew well, or take big bites or gulps.

Am I better off with the Linx surgery? I would say definitely yes. The key to me is the last statement in the post-op summary: I have no noticeable reflux and have taken no ppi's in three weeks. Dysphagia is supposed to be temporary and last several weeks. Same with the related saliva issue. I'm happy to go through all this, if at the end of the line I have licked reflux.

By the way, check some previous posts in this thread by others who have given me good advice on how to deal with this and what to expect.

Good luck with your consultations and decisions about Linx.

Sinfron, have you tried Gas-x at all? I am only 1 week out from my LINX but I have noticed when gas pressure builds up below the device, I can feel it, and it makes it difficult for anything to pass. If I take a gas-x within seconds the pressure is relieved and normal swallowing resumes. Anyway, this seems to work for me maybe it will help.

Thanks, Honeybadger. I'll give it a try. And good luck with your recovery. Please keep us posted. If you are one week post-op, you may be soon starting to feel some dysphagia. That's been the pattern for many of us. Let us know how it's going. In this information-starved Linx world we are in, the sharing of information between patients is very very helpful.

tracks83 said...
Honeybadger,
So how do you feel since the surgery? Any heartburn? Are you able to eat? Can you feel the linx device?

I feel pretty good, I have some swallowing issues but I can get past them. I have zero reflux so far which is good, first time in ten years. I have been eating hard to swallow foods intentionally to get my body used to the device. TonightI had BBQ ribs, rice, and cookies for desert. Ribs started out tough but got easier as time went on. My shoulder hurts after eating, hurts bad, like debilitating pain. Its gas related because I can take a Gasx and it resolves pretty quickly. Gasx has been a life saver for me. Before I started taking it the pressure from the gas and the violent painful burps made me vomit. I'm taking less and less gasx each passing day.


For reference my 24hr pH score was 67 before the surgery.

GM said...
Hi SF,

How are you feeling?
Did the dysphagia and saliva "pooling" reduce just yet?

Hi GM,

I waited a day before answering because I wanted to make sure. But feel sure enough now to make this my "Day 26 post-op summary":

It's been about 36 hours without a major dysphagia episode, which is remarkable, because it stopped unexpectedly. Lunch on thursday I had a major painful episode. And then at dinner nothing, and since then, nothing. The food goes down without pain or blockage. Of course, I'm eating VERY carefully. Small bites, take my time, chew well, etc. I think if I ate quickly I might feel it again. But sometimes I do forget myself and realize that I've had several chews/swallows like in the old days.

This could change, of course, and probably will. But for now I'm enjoying it, eating carefully, but eating more.

I still have a pretty constant soreness in the esophagus, thought. It may, ironically be that the LES is opening and closing a lot more now, and it gets sore around the linx because of it. This healing takes time. That's my theory, anyway.

So it's good news.

In sum: strong dysphagia issues kicked in on day seven, and continued until about day 24. Now they've abated, and with careful eating I'm doing much better. Just dealing with soreness.

Oh! One last thing. Last night for the first time I had two glasses of white wine with dinner. NO REFLUX. That never happened before (at least in 15 years). To drink wine, with no ppi's or antacids, and to have no reflux symptoms at all is amazing.

SF,
That's fantastic. I'm so happy to hear these results from you guys. Enjoy it.
Before you had surgery what was your issue? Was it a lazy LES? Hiatel Hernia? If so how large? How long have you suffered from GERD.

I'm 13 years with gerd, a sliding HH about 1cm. Lazy Les and taking 40 mg of nexium for 13 yrs.

I'm with you. Not a fan of surgery and I'm glad I held off with the Nissen. I'm just glad this technology came out when it did. Hopefully there are no long term side effects. But the first time in my life I'm looking forward the O.R. so I can rid this acidic suffering. As I write this I feel the burn.
Thanks for responding and keep up the journal love to hear more of your experience.

Hi Folks,

Sorry for being out of the loop for a while. Here goes my Week 5 post op report:

Well, week 5 plus one day, but who is counting:

The most important point: five weeks without taking ppi's and no noticeable reflux. I do feel some irritation and discomfort around the LES that feels like reflux but is likely mostly irritation interpreted by the esophagus as reflux. A table-spoon of gaviscon soothes that away.

Other symptoms that I had before--intestinal bloating, cramps, etc., have largely cleared. My intestinal function is average--which is a very big development.

I had a steak dinner with red wine at a restaurant a few days ago. At least three glasses, and had no reflux at all. Amazing! Spicy ribs a few days later. Felt fine afterwards.

On the down side, I thought I'd be feeling better at this point than I am actually feeling. I still feel regular pain/discomfort at the LES. Last week I reported that the dysphagia had stopped, and that cessation lasted 36-48 hours. Then it returned, but not as intensely. I don't have "lock-down" dysphagia as I did then. For five days after it returned I would have food getting stuck and some regurgitations that cleared things during a meal. Occasionally I'd get a painful pushing of bolus against the ring, but it generally opened up and let it through. So...a milder form of dysphagia than during weeks two and three.

The biggest hassle is that it often hurts/burns at the LES during the day. Sometimes it's a condition that saps me of energy. I'm able to fulfill a regular work day, but I have to pace myself and conserve energy. I also eat half of what I used to eat before stopping. Eating also takes a long time.

I also feel some nausea at different times of the day.

My energy levels are about 70 percent where they should be. I do not yet exercise. Still too much discomfort and fatigue. I'm in full teaching season now, though. I lecture for 90 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for 2-3 hours on Wednesdays. And I do perfectly fine. So when I have to I can pull off significant physical feats. That probably means I can do more than I think I can.

Pain killers: usually take one Tramadol (50) a day. I usually take it before having to do a big work push--it helps with pain, energy, and focus. Very occasionally, especially in the evening, I take the vicodin-like stuff if I'm sore from a tough day and don't want it to keep me from sleeping well.

I met with my surgeon after one month. He and his team felt that this was all 'physiologically consistent' with what we should expect. Swallowing makes the ring expand and contract. Scar tissue forms around it. For a couple of days the scar tissue has been stretched and is elastic. Then new scar tissue forms and the pain starts again until that gets stretched. Mild nausea and discomfort is to be expected.

The expectation is that at around six weeks things should start to get better more consistently. That, apparently, is usually how long it takes collagen to form, which is part of the process.

I'll keep you posted around week six with another report. Let's see if I continue to 'meet expectations.'

That's it. In sum, very glad I did this. The reflux cure is fantastic. The recovery process has been longer and more trying than I expected or was told to expect (I still think the medical community in general is slightly more optimistic about recovery than they need to be--nothing wrong with stressing to people that they need to be patient for 6-8 weeks to let the entire healing process run its course).

Looking forward to hearing about other peoples' experiences! NDL? JPT? HB? And some of you recent linx patients...?

sinfrontera,

I have actually been emailing Dr. Nathaniel J. Soper, as I live in the northwestern suburbs of chicago, and I was wondering how you would rate this doctor? To what I have read, it seems that he is a good guy. Thanks for your time :)

-also, did you have any LPR symptoms?

Sinfrontera,

Thank you. I will for sure let you know. I don't know about the linx yet, for I have a lot of stomach problems which could very well be the cause of my reflux. I have to tackle that problem before I tackle the reflux issue. Thanks for the response! I will keep you informed!

Benjamin