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Bariatric Surgery/GASTRIC-BYPASS AND BELCHING

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Expert: - 6/4/2009


Question
I had gastric-bypass surgery 6/04.  Since then, my belching has increased to the point of where I belch every second sometimes after I eat something.

I never belched so much before my surgery and I've never had acid reflux prior and I never had indigestion or heart burn --- No pain EVER and normal, occasional belching. My primary care doc says I probably have acid reflux, but do not feel pain. She placed me on Prevecid.
Can acid reflux be caused by gastric-bypass?  Could there be something else causing the belching?

Answer
Trying to keep this answer representational of my own experience, I do belch after I eat but only when I'm eating too fast.  I get that "stuffed up" feeling and have to belch to get the food to go down.  If you experienced belching every time you ate, I would suggest asking your PCM to set you up for a upper gastric scoping to see if the opening to your stomach was too small and needed "stretching".  But since it only happens "sometimes" I would see if slowing your eating or increasing the number of times you chew your food helps.  Having had surgery so long ago, you probably already know how important it is to keep the volume of your bites small and to make sure that there are no "lumps".

So, try to focus on making sure your bites are smaller and that you chew each bite well for a period of a week and document it when you experience the burping that is bothering you.  Remember to document what/how much you eat, how big your bites are, how well you chew and when you experience the burping for the whole week.  Then, take the journal with all that information to your PCM and discuss the issue with him/her.

Let me know how that works out for you so that I can provide additional information for others from your experiences, ok?

And don't forget to give me feedback on these suggestions by rating my answer on the allexperts.com website.

Thanks,
Steve

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Steven West

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I can answer any and all questions from the perspective of a weight loss surgery patient. I have had Gastric Bypass Surgery - Roux-en-Y - and can answer questions from the perspective of one who has experienced the pain and suffering of murderous obesity. I have mustered the courage to open myself to the opportunity to live life again! Let me help you get there, too! Weight loss surgery isn't for everyone, but for those who fit some specific criteria, it is a viable option. With the rise in obesity in America, there are suddenly weight loss surgery centers springing up on every street corner, it seems. Choosing to have weight loss surgery is a major decision in your life, and choosing the right center can mean the difference between weight loss success and failure. There are three main types of weight loss surgery being performed today at most all surgical weight loss clinics: the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, which creates a small stomach pouch and bypasses part of the small intestine; the Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, which is similar to the first surgery, but is done laparoscopically, so it reduces the size of the incision, and reduces the pain and recovery time of the surgery, and the LAP-BAND surgery, which is a band fastened around the stomach to create a small pouch. Weight Loss surgery is not for everyone who is obese. In most cases, candidates must be at least 100 pounds overweight. Surgery should be the last resort, rather than a quick-fix. Surgery is a long-term answer to managing your weight, and you need to be aware it will change your life.

Experience

I am a post operative patient of Weight Loss Surgery (Gastric Bypass, RNY). I am interested in providing coaching for pre-operative and post-operative patients.

Organizations
Member of obesityhelp.com.

Publications
Profiled in Obesity Help Magazine.

Education/Credentials
Bachelors Degree in Computer Science. I am an engineer working for Computer Sciences Corporation in the Washington, D.C. area.

Awards and Honors
I am a retired veteran with over twenty years of U.S. Naval Service.

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