Bulimia Nervosa after weight loss surgery......say it ain't so!

Has anyone heard of anyone developing bulimia after weight loss surgery?  I mean...you are making your stomach "smaller" making it difficult to get food down.  Where else can it go but up...right?  Just wondering if anyone has had this experience.....

Happy Tuesday!  :-)

I am just about 5 1/2 years post op and I do have 'issues' with food still.   I don't consider that I am bullimic, but there are times when the only relief I can get is if it comes back up.  Sometimes that is a result of eating a few bites too many (and what comes back is the 'overage' not the entire meal) and other times it's a result of eating something that my pouch out and out does NOT like.   Even after all these years, I still have food intolerances, and they are not always the same ones.  I can eat something today that I cant' tomorrow and vice versa.

I had an esophageal stricture diagnosed about 6 months post op and as a result even after being dilated 3 times over a 3 month period, the opening to my pouch is very narrow and I have problems with density.

Hugs, Mo

Ah man!  Wow.  I knew there were others out there.  I have the same issues.  I just pray that my esophagous does not corrode or something over time.  I'm alwasy afraid of that....

I do take Prilosec for my stomach acid (the prescription protonix worked MUCH better but my prescription insurance felt they knew more than my doctor and it got to be too much of a hassle to get the protonix).  When I do throw up, it's not like throwing up sick, it sort of 'slides' up and out if that makes any sense.  Almost like a baby spits up.

Hugs, Mo

unless you intend to throw up before you start eating, you do not have bulimia. i throw up alot but that is because i am still a binge eater and now because of the surgery, i can not eat like I used to so i have to throw up because I am in pain. so you may just be a binger LOL. but not a bulimic.

I agree.  I don't think I have bulimia, but it makes you think.  I eat sometimes with my eyes and then by the time I realize it's too late.  it's gotta go!

Nicole, I'm trying to understand the subtle difference.  Is this correct:

The only difference between binge eating and bulimia is the initial intent to eat and then throw up afterward?  You're still a binge eater and not bulimic even if you eat so much that you throw up or have to make yourself throw up, because of the discomfort, but didn't intend to throw up at the outset? 


Terri

yup. bulimics know ahead of time that they will throw up. that is why they eat as much as they can beforehand. I think the throwing up part is part of making them feel better. I just eat and eat because I am trying to fill the void but the surgery gets in the way. i never used to throw up before surgery and don't do it now unless i feel really sick.

Thanks, Nicole.  I know that is over-simplified since bulimics also abuse laxatives, etc., but as far as the act of vomiting vs. initial intention , that's where I was a little fuzzy.

Hope you have a good day!

Terri

well eating disorders make no logical sense so it is normal to not understand! probably the better you understand it, the worse off you are LOL. I actually was in an eating disorder unit a couple years back, trying to stop the binge eating, so i learned alot while in there.