Yukie

Ok guys, I notice that I get nauseous after eating, and extremely sleepy. Not sure if its because maybe I ate to much at the time or what it is. I definately notice anything with sugar in it, I need to be careful. So know I look at the sugar amounts in everything I buy, which has helped, but I still have been getting this sick feeling right after eating, last about 30 minutes......is that dumping? It's nothing to get upset over, just not sure whats going on or how to fix it.............any suggestion, or is anyone experiencing the same thing? Tracie - 81 lbs (Still)

From what I have read, dumping symptoms can include: extreme fatigue (sleepiness) nausea/vomiting diahhrea gas and gas pains profuse sweating rapid heart beat So yes, you could have a mild form of dumping with the sleepiness and nauseau right after eating. Peppermint may help with the nausea ... add a little extract to decaf tea or herbal tea or water to calm the tummy. Watch the sugar grams in food. At our support group, they recommend limiting yourself to 5 grams or less of sugar at a meal to prevent dumping. Also nausea could be caused by eating too fast or eating too much. Hope you feel better soon. Mary

Thanks for sharing with me Mary, just knowing i'm sure will help me feel better too!! I haven't seen my doc for 2 months to ask, but my appt. is next week. And yes, I have been watching the sugar lately, I wasn't before, it has helped though in the last 4-5 weeks. Thanks again Mary, you're always so great!!! Tracie

sleepiness is definitely a sign of a form of dumping. I do the same thing if I over do it on sugars, or fats. It's like I go into a coma for about 15-20 minutes, then I'm ok! Sherri C 242/180/140 -62 RNY 2/16/04

I feel better that other people are experiencing the same things, not that I want anyone to but sharing info helps me out....... Thanks.

Here is an article about dumping.... Rapid gastric emptying, or dumping syndrome, happens when the lower end of the small intestine (jejunum) fills too quickly with undigested food from the stomach. "Early" dumping begins during or right after a meal. Symptoms of early dumping include nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, and shortness of breath. "Late" dumping happens 1 to 4 hours after eating. Symptoms of late dumping include weakness, sweating, and dizziness. Many people have both types. Stomach surgery is the main cause of dumping syndrome because surgery may damage the system that controls digestion. Treatment includes changes in eating habits and medication. People who have dumping syndrome need to eat several small meals a day that are low in carbohydrates and should drink liquids between meals, not with them. It is imperative to the Roux En Y or other procedural gastric bypass patient that they follow their diet plan to reduce the risk factor of Dumping Syndrome. Many people equate the term solely to be spasmodic fits of diarrhea, when that is merely one of the symptoms of a more intensified unpleasant experience. Dumping syndrome is usually divided into "early" and "late" phases - the two phases have separate physiologic causes and shall be described separately. In practical fact, a patient usually experiences a combination of these events and there is no clear-cut division between them.Early dumping is caused by the high osmolarity of simple carbohydrates in the bowel. The various types of sugar all have small molecules, so that a gram of (for example) sucrose has MANY more molecules than a gram of protein, creating a higher concentration (number of molecules per cc) from simple sugars than from other foods. This matters because, inside the body, fluid shifts will generally go toward the higher concentration of molecules. So, if a patient consumes a bite of milk chocolate (lots of sugar), when it gets to the Roux limb it will quickly "suck" a significant amount of fluid into the bowel. This rapid filling of the small bowel causes it to be stretched (which causes cramping pain). This also causes the activation of hormonal and nerve responses that cause the heart to race (palpitations) and cause the individual to become clammy and sweaty. Vomiting or diarrhea may follow as the intestine tries to quickly rid itself of this "irritant."Late dumping has to do with the blood sugar level. The small bowel is very effective in absorbing sugar, so that the rapid absorption of a relatively small amount of sugar can cause the glucose level in the blood to "spike" upward. The pancreas responds to this glucose challenge by "cranking up" its output of insulin. Unfortunately, the sugar that started the whole cycle was such a small amount that it does not sustain the increase in blood glucose, which tends to fall back down at about the time the insulin surge really gets going. These factors combine to produce hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which causes the individual to feel weak, sleepy, and profoundly fatigued.Late dumping is the mechanism by which sugar intake can create low blood sugar, and it is also a way for gastric bypass patients to get into a vicious cycle of eating. If the patient takes in sugar or a food that is closely related to sugar (simple carbohydrates like rice, pasta, potatoes) they will experience some degree of hypoglycemia in the hour or two after eating. The hypoglycemia stimulates appetite, and it's easy to see where that is going....The reason that sugar does not cause dumping in non-operated people is that the stomach, pancreas, and liver work together to prepare nutrients (or sugar) before they reach the small intestine for absorption. The stomach serves as a reservoir that releases food downstream only at a controlled rate, avoiding sudden large influxes of sugar that can occur after a Roux En Y. The released food is also mixed with stomach acid, bile, and pancreatic juice to control the chemical makeup of the stuff that goes downstream and avoid all the effects outlined above.Obviously, surgeons consider dumping syndrome to be a beneficial effect of gastric bypass -it seems to be important to provide quick and reliable negative feedback for intake of the "wrong" foods. In practice, most patients do NOT experience full-blown dumping more than once or twice. Most simply say that they have "lost their taste" for sweets. Of course, this is always a great topic to ask about directly, so you may want to talk about it at our support group in person, or in a support group online.