Nissen post-op heartburn

Hi Folks,

First, thanks to all the people who make this forum a great source of information for all stages of the nissen process!

I am 2 months Lap Nissen post-op. My doctor put me back on regular food, at my discretion, after 7 days, I haven't had any swallowing problems, though I can feel when I forget to chew well. I've been belching from day one, although my burps now come out like kind of a high pitched gasp which is a bit embarrassing but oh well. The problem is two weeks ago my heartburn came back and is daily once again. I started taking prilosec again and chewing tums but as with pre-op, it's not really helping.

A nurse told me to chew gum as it helps your mouth produce saliva which can even out the stomach pH. Chewing gum does seem to help but only while I'm chewing it and doing so 12 hours a day isn't much of a solution. Anyone familiar with gum chewing as a remedy?

Walking around does help as well, but I'm concerned that the Nissen hasn't worked or needs to be tightened. While the heartburn isn't as intense as before, I wake up with it, feel it through out the day, and go to bed with heartburn, the same as before.

Is this normal? Did anyone else experience this in their recovery process?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

-Erin

Hi Erin,

The whole gum cure is interesting to me.  I've never been a gum-chewer, and the main reason is that chewing gum actually bothered my stomach.  I think it caused my stomach to start producing acid. 

I've been participating on this forum since before my surgery 3 and a half years ago.  It has been my observation that around your stage of recovery people start introducing more foods and chewing less carefully.  This creates irritation of the wrap and lower esophagus, which mimics reflux.  The esophagus is a dumb organ, and it interprets all pain as reflux. 

Sure, it's possible to get reflux during the recovery period...you can get it anytime--even after healing is complete.  It's less often and less severe, but sure, on occasion it can happen.  If the wrap was tight enough to stop all chance of reflux, it wouldn't allow food to pass through it.  It's a balancing act--tight enough to stop reflux, but loose enough to allow eating.

Try backing off the types and amounts of food you're eating for a few weeks.  Be sure to take multiple sips of water after eating to ensure that food goes through the wrap and doesn't just sit on it.

Hang in there...you've till got a great deal of healing ahead of you.

It'll get better!

Denise