An Episode

Well, it happened again and I can't figure out what triggers it. We spent the day with my parents on Saturday in Philadelphia (very stressful) then came back home and went directly to dinner. Had 2 glasses of wine (stressful day) and we had a salad and steak (we split it). Had 3 spoonfuls of chocolate cake. We came home, I was ok for a while. We went to lay down for a while and it hit. First, the sweats. Then the room begins to spin....and I'm trying to fight it the whole time. Ate 3 bites of a banana thinking it was a blood sugar thing, and it didn't help. I wanted to throw up, but couldn't. I got up and had to hold the walls to walk down the hallway. Finally went back to bed and slept, and felt a little funny this morning. Had a protein shake and felt a lot better. Anyone else get this? What's it from? How do I get the heck rid of it? Is it a lack of protein? I don't think it's blood sugar....any ideas or suggestions? Thanks, my friends....Joanie

Hi Joanie I'm sorry about your episode and yes I get them sometimes too and no I do not have the answers....juat a few possibilities. First of all......how sure are you that it's not a sugar issue?? You had 2 glasses of wine and wine alcohol has sugar. Second of all if not a sugar issue, are you sure that you were up on your water?? Alcohol is a diaretic (spelling?). Your symptoms are also similar to dehydration. I've had episodes (especially on clear, dry days) when I thought I had enough water and found out I didn't. I had the dizzy spells and nausea and didn't feel better until I had a couple of glasses of water. We WLS folks are very sensitive to dehydration. Follow the standard hydration rules: If you do not pee regularly.....drink. If your pee is dark yellow.....drink. Just a few ideas.....hope they help. Feel better soon. Mike

You may be right about the hydration, I'm not a big water drinker, and my boyfriend is constantly after me about drinking water. All I drank all day was coffee. As I said, being with my parents is extremely stressful for me...and I wasn't really paying attention to what I was drinking. I made sure I had a protein bar in my purse, but I think I dropped the ball on the drinking. Thanks for your insights and I'm going to keep track of that! Joanie

Joanie, This sure sounds like dumping to me. Between the wine, cake and banana, I would have been praying for hurl. I can do a bite of cake, I can do a glass of wine (sipped slowly over time) and I can do the banana, but I can't do all three or in any quantity at all. The other thing that I've found is that I may be fine with something one day and miserable after eating the same thing another day. I'm finding more and more that I have to watch my combinations of food. Glad you feel better. Hugs, Connie

Well, the 2 glasses of wine were consumed in about an hour and a half span...I think all the food I mentioned was consumed in a 4 hour span. Perhaps it was dumping, althought when I dumped before I'd get very nauseous and pray for a hurl. This wasn't nauseous, it was light headed, dizzy and shaky. I have not been having my protein drinks in the morning, and I decided I am going to be religious about having one each morning. It's 20 grams of protein, and then I can relax a little during the day and not worry so much. I'm also going to get on top of the drinking thing. My boyfriend bought me a case of bottled water today (Ocean City, NJ water isn't great), so I'm going to see what happens with that. Again, thanks for the input....I really appreciate it! Joanie PS--I'm leaving to go on a cruise next Sunday, and I'm petrified it's going to happen on the ship...ugh!

JOanie, It sure sounds like dumping to me. All those 3 have sugar in them & all pretty much in a small period of time. Your body was telling you to knock-it-off. When I passed out a few weeks ago now, it was due to being hydrated (not enough water & not enough food that day either) When your sugar levels go up, they will also drop very fast when that sugar gets into your system. That is why the room was spinning. Take it easy on the Wine & be careful what you do eat when you ar drinking anything. I hope you are feeling better now. When you add protein into the equasion it counteracts some of that sugar, just not fast enough to not cause the dumping. Marilyn, the Bearlady

Thanks, Marilyn.....I think it was the combination of the whole day...the stress, the sugar and what I did/didn't eat. I am being MUCH more careful now---paying more attention to my water, and having my protein shake in the morning. I've also been a little lax on my vitamins, and I'm being more careful with them too. I guess it goes back to the fact that we MUST follow the rules if our WLS tool is to work properly! Thanks for your insight! Joanie

Dear Joanie: It sounds like you were dumping. I find that it isn't always the same. When I feel like you did the best thing for me to do is to eat a little protein. It seems to help. The other thing it could be is dehydration like Mike suggested. Hope this helps. Pat/Louise

Thanks for your response....and I agree. Dumping can be different each time...I think we look at the word 'dumping' with throwing up, but in our case, I think it means more than that. If this should happen again, I'm going to head for the protein first,....I think that's the answer. Thanks again! Joanie

Last time I had wine I SERIOUSLY thought I was going to die!!! It wasnt normal dumping but massive pains in my chest. HUGE massive pains. scary stuff... dizzy... lightheaded... horrible. Be careful of that wine. Havent had it since I completely stopped. The low sugar ... I get lightheaded, dizzy, lights, tunnel vision...almost passing out feeling... TERRIBLE shaking then insane hunger... i eat something sweet then it goes away... its hard to tell the difference sometimes I think. I do know that also dehydration messes me up real bad too... tired... shaking... hungry... just overall feeling crappy and dizzy alot. be careful of the wine though... it really hurt me last time. Elizabeth M