32 Years Old GERD, LPR, & Sinus, considering Nissen

Hi there,

I am having my tests november 7 and 8th.  The instructions I have are to not have any PPI or Zantac for 5 days before the test to make sure you get a proper pH read.

Cheers

S

Thanks UFCSam.

This is the type of info I look for. I'm pretty much done with this reflux. It's been 2 years and although I can usually manage with PPIs, my flare-ups are getting more frequent and my voice, lungs, chest and throat are always irritated.

I'm in the process of getting my second round of testing done at a surgeons office, who hopefully will fix my problem...

Hey UFCSam, Question for you.. Now that you're all healed, would you say that you notice that your stomach and swallowing is normal... and that you don;t feel like every swallow is a reminder of having the surgery?

Hi JPT, I'll try the PH drops. I haven't done much research on that yet. Interesting.

Ph probe came out yesterday and I took some Zantac. I'm going to stick with Zantac as long as possible to 1) see if the PPIs are causing any unknown side effects and 2) see if I can find an underlying cause for my reflux. I figure if I'm going to have surgery, I might as well try everything before doing so.

Thanks again to everyone here for the advice and feedback.

I wanted to post an update on my pre-nissen tests and surgeon search.

I have done a 24 hour PH test, Manometry, Barium, and of course EDG - Results below. I have met with 1 surgeon who uses DaVinic Robotic to assist with the surgery and meeting with a traditional laproscopic surgeon next week. I felt extremely confident in the DaVinci surgeon’s ability. He recommend a loose 360 wrap. He ordered a Barium swallow since the Manometry showed normal LES with weak peristalsis. (FWIW, I have never had swallowing issues and never get anything stuck. And unfortunately inhale my food half the time.)

So I’m basically at a point where I trying to decide whether to move forward with the surgery. I have to say I have concerns about making an anatomical change to my body but the other option is making a chemical change to the ph of my gut for the remainder of my life (I’m 32) which could potentially be more dangerous. Already done that for 12 years of Nexium.

I’m confident an NF will get me off of PPI’s but trying to predict if I’m going to have gas/bloat issues post surgery. I don’t want to trade 1 problem for another. And trying to decipher from the test below if they can predict this?

I’m also trying to decipher from testing whether or not this will help with my extraesophogeal issues such as chronic non-allergenic rhinitus (sinus) which improved when I first started taking Nexium, more so than when I had sinus surgery 2 years prior to that. I’m wondering there any other tests I could do to determine if the LNF will help with the extraesophogeal sinus and LPR issues? I have ordered a PepTest.

Lastly, I still can’t let go of this ‘pie-in-the-sky’ idea that I’m going to find a food intolerance responsible for all this. I could spend the next 3 years trying more diets and eliminating foods with potentially no luck. I could eat a perfect diet never touching alcohol, caffeine, or junk food and maybe not have to take PPIs. I guess at some point I have to decide whether or not it’s time to move on. I think is time, I just want to make sure I’m going about it in the smartest most informed way.

Many thanks to all who help on this forum. I hope to be able to contribute pre and post surgery.

Test Results:

Ph Test Results (off Dexilant and Zantac for 5 days prior)
- Demeester - 13.9
- 69 Acid Exposures, 26 Non-Acid Exposires, 96 Total Refluxes
- 100% Correlation between symptoms (heartburn, belch, regurgitation)
- Total Time with Ph Less than 4, 51.3 minutes.

Manometry Test Results
- Normal LES
Weak peristalsis with frequest failed swallows (60%) and small contraction breaks (40%) - GI and Surgeon did not sound concerned about this and reco’d a barium swallow
Normal UES

Barium Swallow
The surgeon recommend I have this since my LES and UES are both normal and that I had missed contractions in peristalsis
I have not received official results but the radiologist said my upper GI looks completely normal
We ( I say we, because he let me watch the swallows which was cool) only noticed one episode of reflux with the barium, but I was in a fasting state for the test

EGD - Normal, some minor esphogitis, no Barretts

paleoman said...
I wanted to post an update on my pre-nissen tests and surgeon search.

I have done a 24 hour PH test, Manometry, Barium, and of course EDG - Results below. I have met with 1 surgeon who uses DaVinic Robotic to assist with the surgery and meeting with a traditional laproscopic surgeon next week. I felt extremely confident in the DaVinci surgeon’s ability. He recommend a loose 360 wrap. He ordered a Barium swallow since the Manometry showed normal LES with weak peristalsis. (FWIW, I have never had swallowing issues and never get anything stuck. And unfortunately inhale my food half the time.)

So I’m basically at a point where I trying to decide whether to move forward with the surgery. I have to say I have concerns about making an anatomical change to my body but the other option is making a chemical change to the ph of my gut for the remainder of my life (I’m 32) which could potentially be more dangerous. Already done that for 12 years of Nexium.

I’m confident an NF will get me off of PPI’s but trying to predict if I’m going to have gas/bloat issues post surgery. I don’t want to trade 1 problem for another. And trying to decipher from the test below if they can predict this?

I’m also trying to decipher from testing whether or not this will help with my extraesophogeal issues such as chronic non-allergenic rhinitus (sinus) which improved when I first started taking Nexium, more so than when I had sinus surgery 2 years prior to that. I’m wondering there any other tests I could do to determine if the LNF will help with the extraesophogeal sinus and LPR issues? I have ordered a PepTest.

Lastly, I still can’t let go of this ‘pie-in-the-sky’ idea that I’m going to find a food intolerance responsible for all this. I could spend the next 3 years trying more diets and eliminating foods with potentially no luck. I could eat a perfect diet never touching alcohol, caffeine, or junk food and maybe not have to take PPIs. I guess at some point I have to decide whether or not it’s time to move on. I think is time, I just want to make sure I’m going about it in the smartest most informed way.

Many thanks to all who help on this forum. I hope to be able to contribute pre and post surgery.

Test Results:

Ph Test Results (off Dexilant and Zantac for 5 days prior)
- Demeester - 13.9
- 69 Acid Exposures, 26 Non-Acid Exposires, 96 Total Refluxes
- 100% Correlation between symptoms (heartburn, belch, regurgitation)
- Total Time with Ph Less than 4, 51.3 minutes.

Manometry Test Results
- Normal LES
Weak peristalsis with frequest failed swallows (60%) and small contraction breaks (40%) - GI and Surgeon did not sound concerned about this and reco’d a barium swallow
Normal UES

Barium Swallow
The surgeon recommend I have this since my LES and UES are both normal and that I had missed contractions in peristalsis
I have not received official results but the radiologist said my upper GI looks completely normal
We ( I say we, because he let me watch the swallows which was cool) only noticed one episode of reflux with the barium, but I was in a fasting state for the test

EGD - Normal, some minor esphogitis, no Barretts

By ''deciphering from the test below'' whether ''you trade reflux for bloat'' were you referring to the manometry? I too am interested in finding out whether it does trade one problem from another as my symptoms aren't typical so I don't know if I belong in those who have success from surgery or in those who complain about it. Any input would be very welcome.