Emergency marginal ulcer surgery post-RNY

Thanks Teenie! I had zero issues with reflux or stomach pain or heartburn or anything. It was completely out of left field. You could in theory go to a gastroenterologist to do a scope I believe, and they could check the lining of your stomach. But my surgeon told me that even a Cat scan the week before wouldnt have shown it. One day it's intact, the next day it's perforated.

It was incredibly scary and I'm so grateful to be on the mend! I had no idea alcohol could be wreaking such havoc inside me!

Thank you for sharing. I'm glad you had common sense and called 911. I wouldn't. I'm not though, but I delt with severe pain that would wake me up screaming, or unable to breathe. Because of SIBO and IBS-C, I deal with a lot of horrible pain, so I would probably think my pain was from that.

Unfortunately after RNY I developed alcohol dependency, something I didn't have before. I know I can't drink. But...yea, ugh.

I dealt with severe GERD and my doc put me on Rx ppi dexilant. That's the only thing that works.

I am glad you are recovering, and doing OK. Regain happens. When I eat Keto, I can't get enough food in me, specially proteins. But when I start adding carbs, or alcohol, my pouch is bottomless. I can eat almost regular portions, wait an hour, then eat again.

Good luck and best wishes.

Wow, I am so glad you're okay. Thank you for your honesty in this post. Great reminders for all of us!

To add: I have been dealing with gut issues, and leaky gut (damaged gut lining- small intestine) for years. That resulted in food allergies and sensitivities. I've been working on repairing and maintaining my gut lining for years. There are supplements I take to support healing of the small intestine lining: l-glutamine, collagen (complex, from many sources including beef, chicken, eggs, marine), turmeric, plus recently added zinc carnosine, and colostrum. I think I'm doing a pretty good job since my last testing for food allergies showed no reaction to any foods. None. And my reaction used to be bad to severe.

I still avoid some foods, or limit how much and how often I eat that, but I no longer have to carry epipen with me, and avoid somd restaurants. I used to have severe allergies to soy, to a point that even drinking tea in an Asian restaurant (while everyone was eating food) would cause hands and ears itching (soy is in many dishes, so trace soy residue on a cup, or because of soy sauce vapors would cause a mild reaction). I now can eat food in Asian restaurants, even use soy sauce ****asionally) when eating there. That's a huge thing for me because I like sashimi, and some other stuff.

I add l-glutamine (powder - a scoop), to my coffee or some drinks that have citric acid.

Turmeric- I add to my meat, eggs or fish dishes.

Check these supplements because ulcer like that indicates damages the cells lining the small intestine. Also watch for food sensitivities, allergies. Unfortunately taking ppi aiky helps in one way, but we need the acid to make the lining stronger, it's a really difficult issues.

I also noticed that I often have issues properly digesting dense proteins- specifically beef. I use digestive enzymes when I have beef. Makes a big difference, specially when I eat beef at dinner time.

Hugs.

That is a scary experience and I believe the NSAIDs may be more to blame than the alcohol or tobacco. My friend who had RNY about five years before I did went from about 280 down to 150. She had a regain of around 70 pounds. She has a lot of back pain and went back to NSAIDs. A few years ago she ended up in the hospital with an ulcer situation similar to yours.

She has never used alcohol or tobacco products.

After the experience with the ulcer, she turned things around. She lost the regained weight and stopped the NSAIDs. She now uses CBD to control the pain. She has found CBD to be a new lease on life and also gives it to her aging golden retriever, Sunday. Both Vonnie and Sunday were dealing with arthritis pain and both are doing much better with the CBD gummies. They are on the same dosage.

CBD became legal in Ohio in 2016 and I believe it was a life saver for Vonnie. As I get older and deal with more pain, I do find that lots of gentle exercise and following Weigh****chers makes it more bearable. I am sometimes tempted to get some Advil or drown it out with wine. I have not tried the gummies yet but would not rule them out.

That's so awesome your friend could lose her regain and turn her life around! Honesty, I may have taken two NSAIDs in the last ten years out of desperation. I just take the Tylenol or Sudafed. My doctor was very specific that alcohol and tobacco and NSAIDs cause these ulcers and since I don't use the latter two, I can only attribute it to my enjoyable glasses of wine

I am sure everyone is like "oh well not me" because I used to feel the same way when I read the "beware of alcohol" or "transfer addiction is real" posts! I don't imagine anyone will modify their diet based on my experience. I just decided to put it out there because I could have easily died, and if even one person moderates their intake, it could make a difference.

Yo may be surprised. People actually read stories like yours and may change what they are doing.

Thank you for sharing.

As for regain - as you know, it's not gong to be easy, but it's doable. Hard work, mostly diet and some exercise.

When I eat supper good keto diet but drink alcohol occasionally - I don't lose weight. Nothing. The burning in my esophagus is real after drinking. Unfortunately I know. I know I need to stop completely. Im on pain meds and muscle relaxants and they affect my liver. So its alcohol. I know.

If you only had one or two NSAIDs then it does seem like the wine is the culprit. My friend, Vonnie, found a doctor who prescribed her Celebrex and she was taking a lot of them. She was my inspiration to have RNY and I am so proud of how she has turned things around. I had RNY in 2007 and my goal weight is 136 and today I weighed 136.

But I have had several periods where I regained up to 30 pounds and then lost it again. One thing I am faithful about is daily weighing. Without stepping on the scale I go into a form of denial and am always heavier when I do get back on. I went back to Weigh****chers at about the beginning of year 3 after RNY.

A group of my friends are getting together this summer to celebrate that we will turn 75 this year. i was thinking about a winery tour in a bus so people are not drinking and driving. Wine is one of the wonderful things we should be able to enjoy in moderation. But I understand that if you cannot stay away from it, it is a poison to your system.

This literally hit home. I was using alcohol to cope with stress. I wasn't eating properly at the time. I found myself always at her ER for stomach issues, severe diarrhea etc. My liver enzymes were extremely high but I wasn't honest out loud to blame it on the alcohol. I had episodes of severe diarrhea but I'll still drink alcohol. In October, I landed back at the ER with the same symptoms. Twice in the same month. They did a cat scanned and seen that my intestines were inflamed. I was very scared! I stopped drinking that day and never had a drank since Oct. 2022. I was drinking wine everyday for the last 3 years. I had gotten to the point that I didn't remember what happened the previous night. I had an ulcer as well. I will second that and say drink in moderations. I will also say that I started out as a casual drinker, but it turned into me using it for stress and to sleep. I feel so much better without it. I stopped on my own. I didn't feel like I had an addiction because I could stop if I wanted to. But I didn't want to until I had the medical scare.

I'm so happy for you that you figured it out before needing an emergency surgery! I've been reading a lot about marginal ulcers post RNY and the mortality rate can be 6-30% if you get to where I was. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing your story. I think there may be many people in the same boat as you and I. We can't self-soothe with food but alcohol works! You should be so proud of yourself for kicking alcohol to the curb. Did you lose weight as well or get better sleep or feel better in general? I'm so glad you shared!