Does anyone have Acid Reflux? Have you had surgery?

Your link doesn’t work. Here is the proper link for everyone.

My husband suffers from acid reflex and he has to take Prevacid and Tums. We’ve changed both our diets and have tried adding more alkaline type foods in to try to keep down the acid levels in his body. If he continues to remain untreated, the acid can eventually erode his esophagus and cause esophageal cancer.

@Daisygirl
Yes I know and my husband has it but he got better before.
Tonight I heard about this Surgery. I was hoping someone had it.

For what it’s worth, my mother suffered from that or something very like it for a long time and without much relief.

Finally, one day my father simply cut 4” off the legs at the foot of her bed (they slept separately) so that she slept on an incline. She got some relief that way. It didn’t cure the problem, of course, but it made gravity an ally.

Took all those acid reflux meds for a few months. It worked. Then one day I realized I’m going to be dependent on them for life if I don’t find another way to deal with it. I did not want to live popping pills before or after eating!

So I lost weight by exercising and dieting. That worked as well and the reflux has been gone for two years.

My ex husband had his esophagus stretched once a year to help with his acid reflux. It was a tremendous relief and changed his life and his ability to eat. Before he had this procedure he pretty much threw up three or four times a week after eating. After finding a doctor to treat him in this manner, he was able to eat anything he wanted and finally gained weight.

I have had intermittent bouts of acid reflux. In addition to the common sense stuff like don’t eat too close to bedtime and getting regular exercise, Prilosec seems to have done the trick for me.

My son has suffered from acid reflux since he was a baby. It go so bad that food would get stuck in his esophagus and he would have to throw it back up because it refused to go down. He was recently put on Prilosec and he has been clear of those terrible symptoms ever since. His doctor thinks he may be on the medication for the rest of his life.

I do, but I haven’t had any surgery. :-) Hehehehehe

So, the surgery you linked to is a new/improved version of reflux surgery that’s only come around the past 3ish years (the inventing doctor’s findings were published in 2008). The older reflux surgery shall here on be known as Nissen (because they’re both fundoplications). The nissen is really designed for really severe GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). It’s often preformed on patients who don’t have such severe reflux because they do have reflux severe enough that medication alone doesn’t fix it. The surgeon goes in through the belly button, makes some incisions in the esophagus, and sort of wraps it around itself. The down side is that there are side effects, like not being able to burp (which can lead to an uncomfortable build up of gas in the stomach), and not being able to vomit right away. Insurance does usually cover the nissen, because it’s been around long enough that they’ve had time to be all “oh, yeah, we should cover this”. The nissen is pretty widely preformed. It helps many, many patients get their GERD to a manageable level, but it’s also pretty common for people to still need meds.

New Surgery, to henceforth be known as TIF (Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication) (and actually, EsophyX is the device used to preform TIFs, not the name of the actual surgical procedure), is designed for patients with slightly less severe GERD, where meds alone don’t fix it enough, but a nissen is a rather harsh solution. It’s less invasive than the nissen, because the surgeon instead goes through the mouth, and doesn’t make any incisions. It doesn’t have a lot of the side effects that the nissen does, so you can still burp and vomit with the TIF. However, while the nissen fixes the hiatal hernia (a common cause for the reflux), the TIF does not, so it’s really only good if your reflux isn’t caused by a hiatal hernia. It is very effective on many patients; many have been able to come off meds or drastically lower the dosage. It’s also often not covered by insurance because it’s new enough that insurance companies haven’t come around to paying for it, but also not so new that they do have a policy on it (mainly, that they’re not paying for it). They’ll come around eventually, but that probably doesn’t help you right now. Currently, there are maybe 25–30 surgeons in the US that have done more than a handful of TIFs. It is also in a real clinical trial phase; there are a few different ones going on right now.

Both are… I don’t want to call them cures, and I don’t think any doctors would call them cures. One, cure implies 100% effectiveness, which neither have. Second, it implies that it’s a permanent solution, which isn’t true. Many people have one nissen surgery last them for a lifetime, but it’s not unusual for patients to need a nissen touch-up surgery after 5 or 10 years. The TIF is too new to absolutely know if it will need more or less touch-ups, but right now the head doctors seem to be theorizing that it’ll probably be the same as the nissen.

@Aethelflaed I hope my son’s medication always helps him. That surgery sounds drastic.

I’ve had Acid Reflux since I was born, and I’ve just relied on my prescription medicine to help. In addition to what @CWOTUS does, as weird as it sounds, I would suggest sleeping on your left side to help with gravity. They way your organs are, sleeping on your left will help minimize the acid buildup as you sleep.

I wouldn’t recommend the surgery unless your doctor suggests it…it seems like a bit much to do for a condition that’s so easily treatable.

My husband has been suffering for a month now. Usually the medicine and pills worked.
I did not intend to recommend anything. I want to know how to help my husband.
It hurts me to see him suffer.
The doctor has not really been very helpful.

@philosopher Has your husband done a food diary to see if there are certain things that make it worse for him? Some common triggers are caffeine, alcohol, carbonated beverages, chocolate, citrus fruits/juices, tomatoes, spicy and fatty foods, peppermint, and spearmint. If he does a food diary, he may find that he has different triggers though.

Has he been sure to eat smaller meals and remain upright for at least 30 minutes after he eats? Doing exercises or bending over after eating can also be a trigger, as can tight fitting pants/belts. It also helps at night if he can avoid eating for 2–3 hours before going to bed.

If your husband is overweight, has he considered trying to lose weight? Obesity can worsen acid reflux.

Is he on any mediation (not counting the one for the acid reflux) at this time? If so, has he looked to see if any of those could be causing the acid reflux? There are several kinds of medications that can cause acid reflux. If he is on any of those medications, he may need to speak with his doctor to see about changing his medication.

He should also talk to his doctor about the medication he is currently on for the acid reflux. There are several different medications that can be used to treat it. As with any medication, what works for one person may not always work for another, so he needs to let his doctor know that the medication is not helping at this time.

One more thing, when you say the doctor is not really helpful, are you sure your husband is giving him all the information? I only ask because I know many people (and sadly most of them are guys) that don’t always give their doctors all the information or they try to down play how bad something really is (to avoid admitting a weakness I suppose). If your husband is thoroughly discussing what he is going through with his doctor and the doctor is not helping, he should ask for a second opinion. If he is just talking to his normal doctor about this, he could also ask to see a GI (gastrointestinal) doctor.

As for the surgery, I haven’t seen the new one (mentioned in the article) done, but I have taken care of patients after having the Nissen done. It does take quite a bit to recover from and there are some diet restrictions after the surgery. For the patients I’ve taken care of, they had a good bit of pain and had some trouble with liquid diets, let alone the soft diet. As they are discharged from the hospital, they are told to basically advance their diet as tolerated. How fast they get back to regular food varies from person to person. I’ve heard patients describe trying to eat after the surgery (during recovery) and often they describe it as being difficult (because it’s difficult to swallow and they feel like the food is getting stuck). Surgery should definitely be a last resort after trying lifestyles changes and medications first.

@tranquilsea As surgeries go, it’s actually not that drastic, but surgery is always, always drastic, so…

@Aethelflaed Yeah, I know. From what my son’s GI doctor said…the surgery isn’t all that helpful, or I guess, as helpful as they’d like it be.

@tranquilsea The nissen is really helpful, but only if you have really severe reflux. If it isn’t so severe, then it’s not really as awesome, and you’re not a good candidate.

@Seaofclouds
I am going to ask my husband your questions. He will tell me I am nagging.
I listen to my doctor and ask too many questions.
My husband usually goes alone. I don’t want to be intrusive.
I am watching what he is eating and telling him No. Men usually eat what they like and it is hard for him.
My husband is very thin and I cook very healthy food. Lately very plain food. He is eating little and I am insisting he eat little amounts all day. He never eats before bed. We know that is unhealthy for anyone.
Actually people call me a Health Nut because I try to follow a low Gylermic Diet. We eat No red meat and nothing with additives.
Thank you for the information.