I joined the Wrapped Club Nov 19, 2013

Day 26 - Felt good all day long. I'm starting to add more foods. Peanut butter on crackers is going down well. I had cheese and crackers and some salami also. I got some gas but not too bad. Exercise on the BowFlex is going well. I have increased my reps to the point of adding more resistance...maybe tomorrow. IT weirdm I only get gas sometimes and its only after my evening meal.

Gunner

I still get the d word attacks, too, and they don't seem to be related to anything I've eaten. I am 3 months post-op.

Day 29 - Tomorrow I see my surgeon for my 30 day post surgery checkup. Maybe he will let me eat more foods now since I am doing well.

Gunner

Day 32 - Got a little intestinal bug today, but nothing too bad. Just laid around mostly. Too bad cause it was 70 degrees here today. (D.C.)

Gunner

zeldagoblin,

Wow, same day. Yes burping is interesting. My Doc, last week, told me I will not be able to burp and said if I do, its from gas in my esophagus, not my stomach. I'm not sure whether he is correct or not. Seems like burps come from my stomach. Well anyway, at least I can burp when the pressure builds, but most times the feeling just goes away.

Its weird about getting intestinal gas. I get it only after my evening meal. Also my sister-in-law had a Nissen recently and she has the same problem. I think its getting better. Tonight is a good test as we are going to a dinner party. Lasagna is the main course. I have been eating it for days because it is one of my favorite foods and goes down really well.

Keep in touch.

Gunner

Day 35 - The last two days were perfect with no gas or pain after eating. Christmas Eve however was not as good. I tried a few new foods and as I thought...GAS, no burping and mild nausea. Its mostly gone now after about three hours. Had to cut the Eve festivities short but we got the grandkids to bed and I left. My daughter tried really hard to prepare foods that would work for me and I know she felt bad as I retired to the couch after dinner and just laid there. This may have been harder on her than me.

Gunner

Hi Gunner,

I am interested in your situation as i think similar to mine.I am still going thru the hoops to see if i am a candidate for the surgery.The ph study confirmed that i have reflux after each meal although not as strong as other people and i also have throat issues (lpr although not formally diagnosed yet but have been referred to ENT specialist).Had a gastroscopy 10 days ago and will get the results next week.

I am just wondering if you are still on the ppi's as that would be a very important element for me is to try and get off the pills as they are causing me more serious side effects.

How do you find your energy levels now compared to pre operation?Are your bones and muscles feeling stronger?Are your size of meals much smaller than preop even when you pick safe foods for the wrap?

Cheers.

Louis   

Thanks Bill,,

Did you find any difference in energy levels,absorption of minerals,blood circulation, etc...after leaving the ppi's?

Louis

Hi Gunner,

I think i have had a form of rhinnitis also but there is no pain attached to that just annoyance.And i seem to be the only one in family with it. 

I have been on the ppi's for 15 years on 40 mg/day with the exception of the last month where i am trying double dose to help with the LPR.I don't want to stay on double dose more than 2 months.

I have developed tingliness and numbness off and on in the lower limbs since september but the blood tests don't seem to detect critical absorption issues but i am starting to wonder if i can still be affected if i am at the lower end of the normal range (doctors don't tell you that).I am almost sure that the ppi's long term are causing this as my brother's second wife has similar symptoms only after five years on them (plus a general feeling of getting cold easily).

I am in northern canada and although we have a regional haspital where i live you will not find a surgeon doing nissen only surgeries.Which mean likely a 9-10 hour drive to get to a hospital that will have surgeons that do more but not sure if they will do just that as it is not as common as down in the states.

I have some big decisions to make and you seem to have researched your operation very well.What i have read is the nissens last on average beteween five to 10 years some being lucky and for life.If you have really enjoyed being off the pills and your wrap needs repair or redo is it another two hours plus operation or can they fix it in less time once it has been done once?

I can't see from my trials how i could be off the pills without the surgery after all this time on the pills.I aslo have difficulty staying on the pills with the symptoms i have now unless i find what needs to be supplemented. I see the specialist tomorrow to get the result of recent endoscopy/gastroscopy.

Cheers.

Louis         

Day 44 - I am starting to feel normal again. I had a couple days where I just felt like laying around, but 7 out of the last 9 days have been very good. Also I have not been having any gas after eating for about a week. Sooo I started eating normal food again and it has not caused any problems for the last few days. Even had a N/A beer with an ice cube in it to lessen the CO2 gas. No problem! I will not eat any spicy foods for quite a while yet. I'm still on PPIs...22mg/da but have not needed to take any Zantac for two days now. So maybe the weening off the PPIs is working.

Gunner

distantfrog, I think I did not explain the HCL stomach acid well enough. The HCL in your stomach breaks apart the mineral compounds into their ionic forms which can be used by your body. Some compounds need strong HCL to break apart. As an example say you take magnesium oxide as a magnesium supplement. It is quite common and very cheap but it takes strong HCL in your stomach to break the Magnesium-oxide bond. So I take magnesium chloride supplements. Magnesium chloride is a salt and will break its ionic bond by just dissolving in water, so it does not need HCL to be usable by your body.

Some calcium supplements like calcium carbonate have the same problem. Calcium citrate will dissolve in water somewhat so its better for us PPI users. You could take calcium chloride, which is a salt, but it tastes really bad and may upset your stomach. We use it around here to melt ice.

I am still taking my 3 supplements and will continue until I get off all acid reducing meds. I have heart palpitations without the magnesium and calcium supplements.

Before surgery, I was taking 20-40mg Prilosec/da and up to 300mg Zantac. What I found worked the best was 20 mg Prilosec + 50 mg tramadol + 75 mg Zantac before bedtime. Then before every meal a 75mg Zantac + a 50mg Tramadol. Sometimes a 20 mg Priolosec in the morning. This worked for quite a while but since surgery was an option, I opted for it to reduce all the drugs. The Tramadol really seemed to help. I originally took it for osteoarthritis but it sure helped with the reflux. I did read that opiate derivatives increased LES pressure a little, but I'm not sure thats what helped. Maybe it just dampened the pain.


Here is the link to Dr. Adrian Parks office and phone:
http://www.aaphysicians.com/adrian-park

Must be cold up there. It unseasonably cold here. Brrrr.

Gunner

Thanks again Gunner.You must have a chemistry background this stuff seems natural to you.Unfortunately there was a calcium citrate/magnesium combination that i was going to buy (need vitamin d to fully absorb though especially up here) but when i told the pharmacist that i have tums for my lpr here and there he said that would be enough calcium but it's the carbonate version.So i only bought the elemental magnesium which says "from a highly absorbable natural magnesium complex source of oxide,citrate,fumarate,malate and succinate" but i think it was only $9 for 100-50 mg tablets.

My goal is to try and reduce the meds and get off the ppi's if possible so tonight i went from 2 to 1- 40 mg. nexium per day as i went to 2 for the LPR but i am not finding a lot of difference which is consistent with what i read on the blog but i will have to play it by ear.It will probably be a month before i can see our only ENT specialist.Before the two nexiums i was on one nexium and two xantacs per day and before that only one nexium or pantoloc.

As for now it looks like i won't be recommended for surgery and my gastroscopy only showed mild esophagitis and stomach/duodenum fine (when i asked the gi doc about my gastritis he was kind of evasive so i don't think they took biopsies for that this time),it may be a good time to try and reduce again and see where i can go.
I live in Northern British Columbia and we are the only canadian province this week that doesn't seem to be in freezing cold.My sister from Montreal told me this morning that it was quite cold there but still bearable...I am retiring next year and moving back there so i have started looking at sites to find out about nissen surgery there if my situation gets worse.I will still look at Adrian Park's site as he may have school buddys to recommend if he was trained in Canada.Do you think he does only nissen's?That would be very tough in canada to keep one fully busy but i don't know.
Cheers and happy 2014!Health first naturally...