Post Nissen's Fundoplication

[imspared]

I had this procedure done in Jan. 2007. Since then I have had ongoing muscle spasms in my legs, mostly at night. The more I use my legs the more frequent the spasms occur. I take a multi-vitamin, plus  calcium w/ minerals, magnesium, and potassium supplements. My DO believes I have a malabsorption issue due to this procedure. Also, I expwerience, almost daily, sever pain in my abdomen, just below my ribcage after eating lunch with it getting worse after dinner. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat, and I don't over eat. I have tried extra strength Gas-Ex, with little to no relief. My DO and the surgeon together though I had a small intestine blockage and therefore ordered a Barium Follow Thru test, which I had done. Nothing showed up in the films, according to the radiologist. Both docs are stumped. Any suggestions or ideas as to what I should do from here for either of these symptoms?

[mamajay]

Had a Nissen Nov.06. Was warned ahead of time that I would have ongong problem with gas/bloating. You will have to be very conscious of gas causing foods and avoid them. In most patients the ability to burp or belch is gone due to the way the stomach goes around the bottom of the esophogus. The gas produced by the digestion that does occur in the stomach has to go on thru the system...therefore the bloating and not meaning to be crude here..but odorous gas. I had it especially at night as my food was working its way thru. As far as you leg spasms...could it be restless legs?  It is truely painful as you feel like you need to stretch out you legs to releive the pain. Since I began taking meds for that..what a relief!! But I can't go without the med or the spasms are back but 2 am.  I also had no issue with my gallbladder until I finally had an MRI due to continual abdominal cramping/dirrhea with even occasional constipation.  Found out that I do indeed have gallstones.(never had trouble with them) This brought on a dye scan of the gallbladder to check how it accepted bile from the liver and then let it into the digestive track..... they couldn't find my gallbladder with the dye because the bile wasn't coming into the gallbladder. After 3 hrs and 2 doses of the dye (i may glow for weeks, LOL), they were able to finally see some of the g,bladder.  Now I'm scheduled to see a surgeon to discuss the next step. Seems the lack of bile in my digestive track was a reason for a lot of the digestive probs.  The fat isn't being broken down, etc.  We'll see where the next chapter leads us.  I don't know what your thought of "not overeating" is but after a Nissen...for a long while....its not much more than what would fit inside of a pudding dish.  For a while I even used one of those instant pudding cups to measure my intake. Yes I did loose weight but I was a big girl then and could afforn it.  Now after 95 lbs.  I'm becoming concerned that I'm not the one controlling the weight loss !!  I would rather be in control.  I hope I have provided some insight thru my experiences.  Be blessed.   mama jay

[CalGal]

Crashing fatigue? Something like you eat something and perhaps an hour later you've got to lie down or you'll fall down? My husband found out he had celiac just a couple of years ago and one of his symptoms was an 'afternoon crash.' He'd have to sleep, but when he got up he still wasn't feeling decent. And one of the other things he said was for many years of his life, he just didn't have a lot of energy, but never realized how bad it was until it got a lot worse. He also had some skin blotches at times that no one could figure out.......anything like that go on???

I know celiac can, in some cases be involved in testosterone changes, as well as changes in other hormones, but I'm not sure if it would cause a precipitous drop.

Any other symptoms that don't seem to make sense???

One simple way to find out is to have a  blood test for celiac, but make sure they check ALL the parameters, not just the transglutaminase. I will say, though, that the blood test didn't find my husband's condition. We had to finally use a fecal antibody test (enterolab) to get a level that 'registered.' No one knows why that happens, but there are a fair number of people who finally find out - after years of misdiagnosis - via the fecal antibody test.

[imspared]

Thanks for your response! I have not had any stool tests done, but I will certainly suggest that. I do take a pro-biotic, but it hasn't helped much. I'm 50 yrs. old and actually had the surgery in Jan. 2008 not 2007 (oops), and my gall bladder checked out fine. Other symptoms I didn't mention are that my testosterone level dipped out of sight, and I have moments of crashing fatigue I didn't have before the surgery. My DO has referred me to an Endocrinologist, and  a Gastroenterologist as well; and those appointments are coming up in January. No one in my family has celiac disease that I know of. But the lot of us, my dad and 6 siblings all seem to have/had issues with reflux and gas.

[CalGal]

There are people who have major bloating issues after the Nissen and in some cases the procedure may have to be modified on that individual.

Has your DO run you through a series of stool tests to see if you might have high levels of semi-deleterious bacteria or yeast? That might be something to consider.

Also consider being checked for food intolerance issues, or keep a food diary and see if any foods cause more problems than others. In addition, check with your relatives and extended family to see if anyone in the family has celiac disease. In general, rule out all the possibilites of food intolerance and/or bacterial/yeast issues.