Nissen 10 years

Hello, I am new to this forum - I had Nissen Fundo 10 years ago and have been doing OK for the most part. I would have flare ups here and there but it did fix my issues. I had a great experienced surgeon who also fixed my HH at the same time Dr. barry Salky in NYC. For the last week however, I have been having some symptoms and I am not sure what to make out of it. After I eat, I get extreme bloating in the stomach and upper abdomen - I also feel pain in the back like I used to when I had reflux. I get some neck tightness, lump in the throat a little and when I go to take a deep breath i can feel it my throat and esophagus. I am not sure if I am refluxing though because I feel food and even water going down slowly and sometimes even stop before it goes down. It almost seems like my esophagus and stomach is swollen - I also feel like I can't burp and that maybe makes me so bloated? I could burp after my surgery and up until now so I am not sure what happened. Also, if I press on the stomach (right in the middle of my lower chest) it hurts and is sensitive. Does anyone have this happen to them? Do you know what this could be? I had esophagitis once before but it went away with meds. I am really worried and need some advice. Thank you.

Hi rager,

Welcome to the Healing Well forum!  Like GerdyGirl, I think you ought to go in to have things checked out.  Perhaps your wrap has become partially undone?  That would explain why food and water seem to be getting a little stuck.  If things are out of whack, it could create a barrier.

If it's a brand new problem, with symptoms that you've never experienced in the ten years you've been wrapped, it is definitely something that needs to be checked out.  I'm probably not telling you anything you haven't already considered.

Please stick around and let us know how things are going. 

Good luck!

Denise

Hi rager,

I'm quite sure that those types of symptoms could be related to gastritis and esophagitis.  Be sure to eat very carefully while you are healing.  Stick with things that can be chewed to a smooth consistency, and of course, no irritatants like spice, acid, or alcohol.   Healing gastritis and esophagitis are long term efforts, so be patient. 

Hopefully somebody will be along with a GI referral.  To facilitate that effort, you could create a new thread just for the purpose of a referral.  Put your query in the title of the thread,and maybe you'll attract more answers.

Good luck! 

Hope you feel better soon,

Denise

Guys,

from reading your responses you said there may be something mechanical wrong or structural - what tests would show if there is a problem? I just had an endoscopy with ultrasound last week and doctor said it looked good - no HH, stomach in the right place, not much irritation - he said the wrap seems like it is working fine. I am awaiting biopsy results - let time I had endoscopy in December it showed esophagitis and mild gastritis. Would endoscopy with ultrasound show if there was anything structural wrong with the wrap or other tests are needed? Thank you for all your help.

stkitt,

thank you - I already have a doctor and had endoscopy a week ago with ultrasound - he said everything looked ok My question is what other tests I need to have done to see if the wrap is really in place and there are no problems with it? Thank you.

Bill,

thank you for your replay - I called Dr. Salky and that's exactly what he said - you need a barium swallow so I will make an appointment to get one. Thank you once again.

Hi rager,

There are two ways my thinking can go in response to what's going on with you.

1.  There are times when against all the test results we can have problems that just don't show up.  They can say all is well and everything is working fine, so we shouldn't be having problems, but we're experiencing problems and they're real.  In these cases, the only answer is to persevere and get second and third opinions and hope that eventually we'll find someone who can figure out what's going on.

2. The other possibility is that because you're going through an extremely stressful time in your life you're experiencing GI problems.  Even people without any GI weakness can have severe stomach problems when going through what you're experiencing.  Stress and anxiety are so hard on he GI tract...You're very likely on to something there. 

Since you've had the testing, and you know you have a huge stressor in your life right now, maybe you ought to lay low and try to work on finding positive things in your life in hopes of calming down any possible anxiety/depression/nervous stomach issues.

Keep in mind that you can definitely get reflux after a Nissen even if everything is hunky dory, and if you're stressing, that reflux is even more likely.  Often people still have trigger foods...the reflux is much less severe and much less frequent, but it still can happen.

Hope you get to the bottom of all this, and feel better soon!

Denise