EsophyX TIF A Big Disappointment

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Have milk shakes...they're considered liquid, also cream of soups. I found some good recipes online for soups. Steak and Shake has a happy hour with half price shakes 2 - 4 each day. That saved me! You won't really know if the procedure worked until you start going back on "real" food. I find that 7 weeks after the procedure, I'm pretty good if I eat bland food. However, if I try acidy food, like red sauce or spicey food I still need to take my PPI. My internist told me (after the fact) that most of his patients haven't had very good luck with the procedure. At least i'm not taking my PPIs two times every day...more like once every other day.
 
My old "normal" was much worse than the new (post fundoplication 5ys. ago)
"normal". I still take PPI's twice a day, my bed isn't elevated, my asthma is under
control, I eat /drink pretty much anything I want to. It isn't perfect but it's
'doable'. My GI is Markus GolRABchmeidt of Dallas, Tx. He's excellent and works by
referral only.
 
I just quit taking the PPIs and watched what I ate. If I felt indigestion, I took the pills again. Having felt pretty good for a week, I was feeling pretty smug. Last night I went to a superbowl party and apparently had too much to eat and drink, because I was sicker than ...last night. I woke up because I had burning crap coming up my throat. I kept feeling burning coming up my throat, but couldn't vomit. Has anyone experienced that? I'm afraid to go to sleep tonight because I might have a repeat of last night.
 
I'm sorry to hear you are still having such problems.

I can't speak to the EsophyX TIF, but I did have a Nissen Fundoplication last year. For me, it helped a lot, but that isn't the experience everyone has. I find it interesting that the marketing is geared to "no more pills" and "eating whatever you want". Neither my GI doc and surgeon promised I'd be able to go off the pills. The surgeon said many people were able to, but my GI doc told me all along that I'd need to stay on my twice per day PPI's. My stomach is still producing too much acid, even though it isn't coming up like it used to. He was also clear with me that I should still stay on the modified diet. Although, after a couple years on it, I have lost some of my willpower and sometimes "cheat" knowing I may pay a price digestively.

Be very careful for a while longer on what you eat. Meat and bread can take a long time to be able to accommodate since they don't break up in your mouth and kind of glob up when you swallow. They are harder to get down. Angel food cake is still a tough one for me. My surgeon was clear about the fact I'd always have to take small bites and chew well.

Have you had a follow-up with your surgeon yet? When is your next GI appointment? You really should be talking to them about what you are still going through.

Good luck,
MountainReader
 
I am scheduled for the EsophyX TIF procedure this Friday, January 8, to be performed by Dr. Bada at Fawcett Hospital, Port Charlotte, Florida. He explained that the vast majority of people, 85% to 90%, who have had this done have been able to completely discontinue taking prescription medications. He said the other 10% to 15% have had to take a prescription some or most of the time. No guarantees. Sorry to hear that you had to go back on the PPIs. That's a major disappointment after going through the procedure, 23 hours in the hospital ant the eating restrictions. Is Dr. Bada your doctor? Is there anything else that can be done to be of help to you? Best wishes to you.
 
How'd the TIF go? I just returned from a cruise and found that following the diet was a lot easier on the ship than at home where I have to cook for myself. I also found that I didn't neet to take the PPIs every day...maybe twice during the week. Yes, Dr Bada is my surgeon also. I have my final visit with him in a week and we'll see what he thinks about my condition. At my last visit, two weeks after the surgery, he told me to discontinue taking the PPIs, that I didn't need them anymore...except in rare occassions when I ate spicey food. With the diet, I haven't had spicey food since early Deceraber.
 
I got the TIF thinking it would have results as advertised by my doctor and the manufacturer of the tool used to preform it. He actually has a billboard in town. Guess that should have been my first clue. The TIF was presented to me as a way to never use PPIs again and eat whatever I want. There is no need to reverse the procedure. It doesn't provent me from doing anything I did before the TIF. It's just like it never happened. I am still taking a PPI a day and still experiencing my original problem, which is burning tongue and gums. Maybe that isn't caused by acid reflux, who knows?? I haven't found a doctor or dentist who does!
 
Yes, I now enjoy carbonated beverages; the only one I cannot (and really miss) is champagne on New Years eve. I take PPI's twice a day.
It took about a year before I could handle Dr. Pepper. Congrats on the jalapeno burger; I'm not sure I'd try that!
 
Thanks for sharing your experience regarding the EsophyX TIF. Hope that things continue to go well for you. You had your procedure about one month before I did. I have not received my bill yet. Did your doctor tell you to continue taking your prescription (PPI) for a week or two following your suregery and then taper off of it? Did you have any reflux problems when you went off of your prescription?
 
Thanks for the suggestions regarding the liquid diet. Good to hear that you have some success and have been able to greatly reduce the nuraber of times you have to take PPIs. If you would be so kind
 
I had the burning feeling 3 nights ago too (not as bad as you had it but it did wake me up) and decided to go back to the guest bedroom where I have the bed tilted about 9 inches at the headboard. I hate sleeping away from my wife but at least I'm not hoarse when I wake up. I also went back on Prevecid for a few days to see if I can get the scratch out of my vocal choarRAB. I thought the TIF would be the end-all to these problems and maybe with time it will get better, but for now I am pretty close to where I was prior to the procedure. :confused:
 
I just read your other post that talked about vomiting after the procedure. Did you talk to your surgeon or GI doc about this? My surgeon was very clear about not vomiting and gave instructions for extra anti-nausea meRAB that they put into my IV and gave me a prescription with a couple refills for Zofran to help. I knew going in that the anesthesia makes me vomit and I was really worried about that so I had a couple conversations with them. It was frustrating getting the nurses to pay attention to me when I first got nauseaus after my procedure. They actually sent the CNA back with soda crackers when I complained of the nausea. This despite my surgeons orders for a liquid diet only for the first couple weeks. Tells you how little they care and pay attention. It was my first time to actually stay overnight in a hospital and I wasn't too impressed with the care.
 
Dr. Bada said my TIF, performed on Friday, January 8 at Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, FL, went smoothly and was uneventful. Since then, I am closely following the liquid diet. The good news is that my throat and esophagus are recovering and I have little pain there. The not-so-good news is that I continue to have more stomach pain that I thought I would. The pain seems as if I have stomach gas that would be relieved if I could burp, but I have not been able to do that. Did you have the same experience with stomach pain? How long did it take for that to go away? I tell myself that it has only been three days...and that this will get better. I'd appreciate any input you have regarding stomach pain. Thanks for asking.
 
MMHISLEY - are you still reading this post? If so, let me know how you are doing. I'm not doing so well. I'm trying to get off the PPIs as I've been reading that people say they can cause burning in your mouth and on your tongue. Since that was my origianl problem, I thought I'd try. I've been doing apple cider vinigar and baking soda, so last night was the first night I didn't take my PPI. I woke up at 12:30...a good 5 hours after I last ate with bile coming up my throat. Usually it goes back down (double burning, very unpleasant) but lat night it was sort of fizzing and continued up. When I spit it out, there was a lot of black particals, mixed in with the clear mucus. Does this sound like something I should panic over? Because, I am. The last time I vomitted was in the hospital the morning after the TIF. It was almost all black, but the doctor said that was undoubtedly dried blood from the procedure. I've alwys heard that black is bad...any comments please, for anyone!
 
TO Whitewrightinc ~ A jalapeno cheese burger! You give me inspiration. (I am just 5 weeks beyond my EspohyX TIF procedure, still on soft fooRAB and am still on my Nexium. I had acid reflux as soon as I started to go off of it.) You mentioned you take one PPI a day. Is that a signifigant descrease from what you took before your TIF? It is very encouraging for me to hear that you are better the longer it goes after your surgery. I've been fairly discouraged since my EsophyX TIF, thinking that it really has not helped at all.

To Hawkins6: SounRAB like you had a miserable night following the Super Bowl party. How are you doing now?
 
Hello, the burning tongue and gums can't be greatly reduced by using baking soda as toothpaste. Eliminate your regular toothpaste for awhile.
 
Your surgeon obviously was much more upfront with you than mine. As far as a gastro, I really don't have one. Had one in the past, but for the most part my primary doctor just prescribes the medicine. My acid reflux was totally controlled by my PPIs until about 6 months ago when I started having what I call burning mouth....a burning feeling coming from my gums, teeth. Since it got worse when I drank wine or ate chicken wings, I guessed it was acid reflux. My doctor, ENT, surgeon and dentist were convinced that it wasn't the cause. I'd tried everything else to stop it, so as a last ditch effort, I had the TIF hoping it would correct the problem. That, plus the fact that my insurance will no longer pay for my PPIs prompted me to think that the TIF was the way to go. I told my surgeon about my vomiting after the procedure and he shrugged and said it didn't really make a difference with a TIF...said it was different than the other procedures. As far as the nurses...I also was on anti vomit meRAB interveniously. But, I was past due for a refill and as I told the nurse I was about to throw up, she finished her paperwork first. Guess they are so overwhelmed with covering their moves that the patient truly does come last. That said, my gums and teeth still burn and I still have acid reflux. Back where I started. No, I won't try bread or meat until my schedule says to. Thanks for the reminder.
 
Dear drgerd: Six weeks following my EsophyX TIF, I was still on Nexium (I had trouble getting off of it at the two week point), I was just about to go off of soft food, when I had several days with a terrible burning in my stomach. I ended up in the emergency room and was admitted to the hospital. An ultrasound showed no gall bladder trouble. A scope exam showed lots of bile in my stomach. The diagnosis was a stomach inflammation, gastritis. In addition to continuing the Nexium, I was given two medications to take upon my discharge: 1) cholestyramine and 2) metocolopramide (which I only took for a couple of days because of my concern regarding the side effect of tardive dyskinesia). To follow-up, I saw a gastroenterologist two days ago. He advised me to stop all the other prescriptions, and prescribed carafate (2 tsp four times a day). He said if I didn't feel better in two days, to start taking the Nexium again. This is my third day off of Nexium. At times, I continue to have some burning in my stomach (not nearly as bad as when I was admitted to the hospital), also some lack of appetite and occasional light nausea. I hate to go back on the Nexium...but your advice get off the Nexium gradually does make sense. Do you have any thoughts or advice regarding my situation? It is kind of you to take your time to post here and offer your professional input. Best wishes to you.
 
As stated earlier, I had my TIF done in Deceraber 09. At first was very happy with results (while on very modified diet). Then it seemed like things had gone back to where they were prior to tif. I started PPI's again and realized that having gone cold turkey off the PPI's may have been a mistake. I then weaned myself off the PPI's over about a months time and put myself on a pill a day of ranatide 150 mg first thing in the am. I also went back to a sloped bed in my basement. Things are much much better now. I can have coffee and wine and other stuff I like. Still stay away from tomotoes and red salsa. Sleeping at a slope is inconvenient but i have gotten used to it and it really helps if I have eaten food later at night. I would say I am about 80% better than before TIF and am satisfied with that. The post where someone said that they vomited right after the surgery, according to my sources, this could have ripped out the fasteners and rendered the surgery ineffective. I'm no doctor but it kinda makes sense.
 
My PPI's stopped being effective about 9 months before I had the Nissen. I spent those months trying every PPI on the market to see which was the most effective. I'm now on the "best of the worst" with regarRAB to the effectiveness of the PPI's. Kapidex has a time-release for the dosages of PPI's administered.

Does your insurance completely not cover PPI's anymore? Has your doctor tried to get authorization and show that you have tried the other PPI's that are now OTC? I know that what the insurance companies want us to do is to go with the OTC meRAB because it is cheaper for them. I tried the ones on the market first. I know Prevacid has come out OTC now, but it is out at 15mg. I was on 30 mg twice per day of the Solutab version prior to my surgery. I remained on it after surgery until I switched to Kapidex. I had to have my GI doc get prior authorization and write up the list of PPI's I'd tried prior to getting authorization for the Kapidex. Wish I hadn't had to go that route though. Nexium, even short term, gave me permenant issues with my gut as a side effect.

You might ask around to get a recommendation for a GI doc to see if they can do anything else for you. I had a bunch of other testing done prior to my surgery to rule out other things that might be impacting my reflux.

I didn't have the burning in the mouth like you have, but I had a chronic cough and asthma flares caused by the reflux. Even on meRAB and with diet and lifestyle changes, I eventually had a life-threatening asthma attack that led my doctors to take my reflux seriously. It was actually my Pulmonologist who recommended me back to my GI doc.

You might try Gaviscon instead of tums. You chew it up and it foams in your mouth before you swallow. Might help alleviate your pain some.
 
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