Esophyx TIF in ~2 Months

Hello

Brand new to the forums/site so I thought I'd introduce myself and share a brief background. I began experiencing reflux-like symptoms at a very young age, probably around 16. At the time, I did not recognize them as such because it appeared that my esophagus was able to 'pull' the food back down my throat. I recall feeling pressure moving upward after certain meals, but in general it was more like heartburn than true reflux disease.

It wasn't until college that the reflux got worse. When I was 20, I began experiencing significant burning with the reflux, full-on regurgitation, nausea, etc. A DR at my college health clinic put me on protonix, and since then I have been alternating between OTC medications (PPI's, H2 Blockers). As I am now 29 years old, it has been with me for almost a decade. I usually alternate 2-4 weeks on a PPI and then 2 on an H2 like Zantac.

However, my symptoms aren't well-controlled by the meds and I experience other side-effects, such as not fully-digesting food, bloating, gas, nausea, headaches, etc. Also, as a young person, I do not feel comfortable living my entire life on medication... I want to not think about these things and enjoy my days as much as possible.

After discovering the TIF procedure years ago I was very interested, but since then I have been waiting until more success-data was available. At this point, I am 100% ready to have it done. I found a surgeon in WA-State near Seattle, and she is the first doctor ever to perform the procedure. Apparently she has done hundreds of them, without any complications (which is not to say all of them worked perfectly). I was approved for surgery based on endoscopy, PH test, and manomotry.

At this point I all I need to do is set a date, which should be sometime in the next two months. My major concerns are my continued hypochondria (I worry a lot about my health) and how it'll effect my mental state during recovery, as well as weight loss (I am not a very big person... 6 feet tall about about 170). If the surgery doesn't take, then at least I will know I tried.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I will be posting more after the procedure is done and leading up until the day it happens.

- Adam

Hi Adam. Glad to see you dropped in to our forum. Have you considered the Linx. They have a team at Swedish which is kinda near your area. It would be worth a read for you.

http://www.swedish.org/about/blog/may-2012/a-new-treatment-for-gerd-the-linx-reflux-manage

Suggest you use our search engine to read the comments about the TIF. I can't recall many favorable comments about it. Sounds like you've done reseaech on it though. Why not ask to speak to patients that had the TIF about a year ago. The surgeons nurse assistant should be willing to help with arranging it. It helps to talk and ask about their recovery period, foods consumed, physical endurance post TIF, are they glad they did it, would they do it again . Our surgeon painted a rosy eat anything that makes one want to do it. If there are problems several months post then you normally get sent to GI doctor--(speaking about our family experiences).

Wish you well with your health. Please let us know what you decide and follow up information to forum helps us all so much. Pat

Pat Fill said...
the HW forum has 580 topics on TIF. You might want to check and see if some of the members are still active by clicking on their names. Some give e-mail address and you could ask them questions about the procedure that way. That's how our family did it. We have found this forum and its moderators the absolute best. 🍀

Thanks for the direction :) I will certainly look into contacting folks who have had the procedure done before.

Hi Adam, -- me again. My neighbor had the Stretta done in May 2013. It was done by a GI doctor. It was like an endoscopy and she went back to work later same day. This is another option to consider if appropriate for your issue. She was kept on PPI for six weeks post procedure and one follow up visit at six weeks. I see her periodically and she has said she was glad it was done. She drinks coffee in the morning and glass of wine at night. Watches what she eats. Uses DGL occasionally and carries it in her pocket. ( insurance did not pay for it).

There is a member here on the forum that works for the company and she participated by answering questions about the Stretta . I'll send the link when found.

I'm not trying to recommend any particular procedure,-- just mentioning options that we investigated ourselves. (Stretta has web page too). Good luck. Wish you the best. Pat

Pat, thanks very much for the info. I had actually never even heard of that procedure and it is very interesting. After visiting their website, it doesn't look like anyone in my area (within 250mi) does that procedure. For the right 'cure', i'd be willing to venture out further, but I will need to do a little more digging for information on it's efficacy before I make a judgement call.

GERD is such an annoying issue to have. Of all my ailments over my lifetime, it is perhaps the most aggravating. It's something that everyone knows about but it is often underestimated, and how miserable it is to spend everyday wondering about the next severe reflux episode doesn't really occur to most people without the disease.

The numbers cited in the later link you sent do look promising, but of course it's very difficult to know much about sample sizes, etc, and really assess the objective outcomes.

Praying for some relief..