Acid Reflux After Weight Loss Surgery

This blog is written by Kimberly H, a bariatric patient who discusses being a mother, eating well, working out, and trying to lose weight after weight loss surgery. Aside from sharing her experience with WLS, she discusses motivation, self-love, and mental health. 

Weight loss surgery is a tool that helps thousands of people lose weight. There are so many positive changes that come after the procedure. You will feel stronger and healthier than ever before and it will be an amazing feeling watching the quick weight loss. There are so many benefits from having bariatric surgery. However, there are side effects from having bariatric surgery that you must be aware of. 

Unfortunately, acid reflux is one of those side effects. It is more common in gastric sleeve patients, but it still can be seen in other surgeries as well. If you have GERD before surgery, it is usually recommended that you do not have gastric sleeve as it is the surgery that is most likely to cause those symptoms to be more severe. It can be extremely challenging dealing with acid reflux after surgery. For many people, anything they eat can cause acid reflux, which is an extremely uncomfortable feeling. 

As a bariatric patient, I can speak first-hand about having acid reflux after gastric sleeve. I am almost 6 years post-op and still struggle with acid reflux. When I initially had the surgery, my GERD symptoms went away. However, the farther out I got, the more I noticed the symptoms coming back. There was a period where the symptoms went away, and I noticed it was during a time that I was eating extremely clean. When you are not eating healthy, acid reflux tends to get worse. On a positive note, there are things that can help with your acid reflux problems. Many patients find comfort through medication. Others try following a strict diet to help with the reflux. Some gastric sleeve patients even decide to convert to gastric bypass to alleviate the pain. Everyone has different experiences and decisions on what should be done should be discussed with your doctor. 

It is important to remember the pros and cons of bariatric surgery. This is, unfortunately, one of those cons. However, I oftentimes get asked if I would do this surgery all over again. My answer is always yes. Gastric sleeve has provided so many benefits. It saved my life. Even though I have to deal with acid reflux, I am still so grateful that I had the surgery. Above all else, remember that my experiences are my experiences, and just because I had something happen doesn’t mean everyone else will have the same issues. Everyone’s bodies respond differently to the surgeries and it is important to remember that when you are deciding on which surgery to have. If you are currently researching whether or not surgery is right for you, I encourage you to consider the side effects so you are aware of what life could be like after the procedure.