Question/Help

Hi I am new to this site. I had gastric bypass surgery on 8/1/06 and everything went very well up until a few weeks ago. To date I have lost about 78 pounds. Recently I have been experiencing nausea, dry heaving, loss of interest in food, fatigue, and a really bad taste in my mouth. I've spoken with my surgeon's office now and they've prescribed Zofran and Prilosec and say my dry heaving is anticipitory. I say why would I want to anticipate dry heaving? Has anyone else experienced anything like this? If so, how long did it last? Any help or advice would be appreciated Thanks

Has your surgeon run blood tests on you? I would think that would be important. Are you eating the right foods and chewing, chewing & chewing again? I know that's not much help but you should have some blood tests done. Gook luck. Koukla

Hi Kerri, Are you getting in enough water? Are you sure you're not dumping? Are you having stomach pain? Is food getting stuck? Make sure you chew your food slowly and cut it in tiny pencil eraser sized pieces and pulverize it before swallowing. The key is to take your time while eating... Could you just have a virus? Lots going around lately. If it continues, call your surgeon and ask to be seen. Don't let it go with just called in prescriptions...You may need a blood work up and some stomach tests to make sure you don't have a blockage or stricture (closing up of the stoma/hole of your pouch) They say your heaving is anticipatory...Anticipatory to what? That seems too vague of a diagnosis to me. Ask for clairification.. Feel better, paula

Thanks Everyone!! I thought it might have been a virus myself but these symptoms have been going on continuously for almost 3 weeks now. When I dry heave there is no food coming up, even if I've just eaten. Its strictly dry heaving. When I told my doctor this over the phone they stated because I was able to eat and keep food down that they don't think its a stricture. I'm going to make sure they understand at my next visit that this is still going on. I do have my 3month post op visit scheduled for next week and blood work is going to be done at that time. I thought their over the phone diagnosis was vague as well and I do plan to ask for more clarification on it. I'm trying to drink as much as my body will hold but even that can make me more nauseated. I also notice that I am still really gassy too and have been since my surgery. I initially chalked it up to the air that was pumped into me during the surgery but its still going on. I was just hoping for some advice on what I might be able to eat or take to help besides just depending on Zofran.

The really bad taste in your mouth is the key to appreciating that you're probably in ketosis-- your body is burning its own fat stores and the by-product of that process (which are the ketones) are found in your saliva. Because they are in your saliva, you get that funky taste in your mouth. The ketones are also irritating to your pouch, so you need to increase your fluid intake as much as possible. For many of us who have endured this process (which is important for the quick weight loss that motivates us early in the process), being in ketosis makes you feel a little nasuesous so you tend not to want to eat. It's not a stomach acid issue, so I don't know how the Prilosec will help (and for me, I wanted what little acid I had to stay around to help in digesting the limited food I was able to eat). I'm not a doctor, but I'd bet you feel fatigued because you're not eating (and probably not sleeping too well given that you are suffering from a pretty upset stomach). If you want to test yourself, there are strips found in the diabetic supply aisles of most drug stores that test for ketones in your urine (but, just realize, that the strips are not 100% accurate because there are lots of factors that contrbitue to measur ing your ketones, but they do provide a good ballpark estimate). When that happened to me, it hit at about 1 month post-op and lasted for about 10 weeks (which was fine, in retrospect, because I lost lots of weight in that time).

Thanks Steve for the heads up. But...10 weeks...how did you survive? I already brush my teeth up to 6 times a day and pop sugarfree breath mints a couple of times in between that too. Not sure I can survive 10 weeks of this....

At times during that 10 weeks, it got a little tough, especially when I couldn't shake a head cold and the post-nasal drip was filling my pouch and making me feel even worse. But, a few things helped. First, I avoided mints (even the sugar free ones) because I was told that I would probably be sucking in air-- which happens when the mint is in your mouth-- and that the air was very irritating to the pouch. Secondly, I drank warm broth as often as I could--- it helped soothe me, it cut through the ketones in my saliva, it contained a little protein and it was a way to stay hydrated (when I didn't feel like drinking or eating anything). Thirdly, every month I was dropping a few pant sizes and I would call my mother and tell her how much I was losing-- she would be so happy, she'd cry a little, tell me how proud she was and then within a few days a box would show up from Casual Male with a pair of pants and shirt in my new size that my mother had ordered for me. I guess you're never too old to want to make your mother proud. And, I suppose that it does sound silly, but knowing that someone was taking such joy in my accomplishments helped me to appreciate that the discomfort from being in ketosis was a small price to pay for finally get healthy.