I suffered from acid reflux for 20 years and took Omeprazole daily. Still, there were nights when I would wake up choking on my own acid. When I reached 47, I decided I did not want to deal with it anymore and with an uncle diagnosed with esophageal cancer, I knew I would eventually end up in his shoes. So I went in to see about
Lap Nissen Fundoplication surgery.
The dreaded tests:
The tests were horrible. First, swallowing that big tube to test my esophageal thrust, with that viscus jelly...yuck. But that was nothing compared to what was to come....the dreaded acid monitor that I had to wear for a week. The hardest part wasn't the wearing of it so much as having to go without my Omeprazole for a week. The acid in my throat felt like it was eating me up from the inside.
Surgery was a breeze...at first!
I went in, fell asleep and woke up fixed. No acid reflux whatsoever! He told me he did a full wrap and fixed my hiatal hernia. But wait...I cannot drink, eat or get anything down...and I am hiccuping...constantly!
Recovery...Slowwwwwwww
For several days, I tried to get something down, and I was getting scared. I fought to even get down water at times. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. Did they get it too tight? Did they accidentally stitch my esophagus closed? Panic was setting in. I was frothing and spitting into a cup. But after the first week or so I began to realize I was able to get down things like mashed potatoes or protein shakes, but very very slowly. If I went too fast, I knew I would choke...then came the crazy hiccups. I found that the pain pills (oxy) before a meal would make it easier to eat. The doctor told me that is because the Oxy relaxes the esophagus. Doctor agreed that he may have wrapped me a little too tight. Offered to used a balloon thingy to stretch it out a bit, but I decided...no more!! I'll deal with it. I continued eating those dreaded mashed potatoes and gravy for many more weeks.
Fast forward 6 months.
I had now lost about
50 pounds. I went from 240 to 190 and was looking pretty good. Still not eating well. I had to chew everything to mush and chase every bite with liquid. Burping, I realized, was a thing of the past. Had to swear off carbonated beverages and the use of straws, otherwise I would blow up like Violet on Willy Wonka when she ate the bluberry pill. The bloat was so bad at times that I couldn't sleep. Gas X and Beano provided little comfort. I fart constantly!
Fast forward 3 years.
Starting to burp a little...usually only when I stand up. Can't relieve bloat when I am sitting. Running up and down the stairs and moving around a lot helps me burp more. Still have rare occurrences of getting food clogged in my throat, usually when I eat too fast. But I can eat anything I want now. The bloat is my biggest complaint now. I am so uncomfortable most of the time, worse a couple hours after a meal. Wishing I could get a pressure relief hose connected to my stomach with a valve in my belly button that I could
open and let the gas out. The bloat is killing me, like it's getting worse as time goes by. I am afraid to eat many things for fear of blowing up!
Research saved me!
I started to research things and I learned a lot about
my body. The most astonishing thing I learned was that my intestinal tract was my real culprit, not my stomach or esophagus. I started learning about
probiotics, prebiotics and cleaning out my colon. I started taking probiotics (gummys from walgreens) and eating activia yogurt and activia yogurt drinks. It helped, but something was missing. Then I found out about
prebiotics....food for your bodys own probiotics. I stumbled upon Gundry MD's PreBioThrive formula. For me and my bloat it was a miracle. I started to notice a difference in the first week. I was crapping every morning now. Some days I crapped two or three times. This was totally out of the norm for me, a person who would go sometimes two days without a crap. So as it turns out, my gut and my bowls were not healthy and I was full of crap. After my third week of using the PreBiothrive, I felt like a new person. No more bloat and I felt like I had lost 30 pounds, though I know it was just the bloat....and maybe a whole lot of crap that had impacted my bowels. I am feeling so much better and I have now steered free of meet, poultry and milk with antibiotics - these kill the good bugs that live in your gut. I bought a quarter of beef from Dale Family Farms, a farm about
40 miles from me since it's all antibiotic free. We only buy organic butter, milk, poultry, eggs in the store.
Today
My wife and I are both doing the organic thing now. Still taking the Gundry MD Prebiothrive. Learning about
when to take probiotics...early in the morning so acids in your stomach don't destroy them. We've both lost weight, the bloating is still gone and I feel healthier than I have in many years. Wished I had figured this out much sooner. I am realizing that it wasn't the surgery that was causing my bloat entirely, it was the fact that my gut was unhealthy beforehand from eating fast food and meats full of hormones and antibiotics and since I was low on good bugs in my gut, gas was being produced which couldn't escape fast enough through my clogged colon. I am farting now, more than ever and crapping regularly. It feels great!!
This is why I am sharing this...If you are bloating bad like I was, don't do like I did and blame it 100% on the procedure...there might just be other factors. Consider that your gut might be unhealthy. Research "leaky gut" "prebiotics" and "probiotics". Stay clear of foods that may contain antibiotics. Try going organic.
I would love to hear back from others that have had the same success story as me.
Post Edited (Tim Trent) : 1/28/2018 2:38:43 PM (GMT-7)