GI issues

i am 2 yrs post op RNY & have lost 250 lbs & am doing great but am having GI issues. it started about 9 months ago when i started having alot of bloating, gas, belly pain, cramping & going from loose stools to constipation. i thought it was just a side effect of the RNY & didn't call up my wt loss clinic because they are busy. the pain got so bad i could not take it anymore so i went to another city where i saw a friend of mine who is a GI dr who i have known for many yrs. i told him what was going on & he said that after 15 yrs that the IBS has come back only really bad. he is giving me meds to help with it and i am trying to watch what i eat. i am a very calm person who rarely gets depressed. has anyone else had this problem after wt loss surgery?

yes, but in my case I don't think it's related to my surgery. I had a colonoscopy this past summer, and the guy said I have "redundant colon" (an abnormally long large intestine). That explains a lot of what I've been experiencing - bloating, gas, constipation, abdominal pain, very slow transit. (of course - constipation is a common complaint of a lot of people who've had WLS and is a factor of the high protein diet and a couple of the supplements (iron and calcium, specifically...) - but the rest of these "ailments", no - not common and probably not due to WLS in my case).

anyway, yes - I think IBS can cause some of that as well..

I consider that my intestines were sliced and diced back together and are never going to work like before surgery. So I am often treating constipation and all the other issues that come up. I never had any kind of issues before weight loss surgery, so blame all of them on the surgery.

I essentially have IBS with all the symptoms you describe and have since my VSG. I more or less just live with it treating the symptoms as best I can when necessary.

Cutting down white carbs will probably help those symptoms and foregoing the cruciferous vegetables.

Dairy, especially milk, was also a GI factor for me, so worth cutting that out too

Google SIBO (bacteria overgrowth) and whatever you can find on that. I know I have that together with Internal Candida (yeast overgrowth).

Post op RNY my body doesn't not make enough acid, creating perfect condition for SIBO. I have to be vigilant about BM and gas. I need to make sure I have a complete BM every day, or almost every day. It is possible to be severely constipated while having daily BM. When it is not a complete BM, eventually things start accumulating inside and things get backed up.

My gut is working so slowly that I need to do a 2 day colonoscopy prep. The typical one day for normal people doesn't work for me.

For me that creates IBS-C. IBS with constipation.

Contrary to popular beliefs that when you constipated , you need more fiber, I need to limit fiber to stop the severe constipation. For me - less fiber is better. Plus fiber = gas in my small intestines' and pain, often such a severe pain that could bring me down on a floor, unable to take a deep breath.

I take my morning dose of Miralax in my coffee, and I take 1200-1600 mag per day, most in the evening. Plus a lot of water.

When I say "my dose" it means 2-3 capfuls of miralax. Less when things move nicely, more if they don't.

My GI doctor told me that i definitely have IBS-C constipation and put me on Amitiza and the first pill i took i slept like 11 hrs even though its not sedating. it helps with constipation and pain. he also put me on Bentyl and Flagyl which is an antibiotic to try and get rid of the bugs in my gi tract. its really nice to know that i am not alone

I take a lot of magnesium oxide (to help with constipation) and I also take a fair amount of generic Miralax. (I take app 1200 mg mag oxide at night, and 2-3 capfuls of generic Miralax (I buy that in Costco - specially when on sale).

I also have a few Linzes capsules (as samples) hen I need an extra help. y insurance doesn't cover Linzes. an cash price they are too much.

Beside antibiotics, I also take Diflucan for internal candida. Specially when I take antibiotics. Unfortunately I can mange SIBO and Candida, and not eradicate that. But overtime i am getting much better and don't need to take the combo as often.

Be careful with flagyl. My doctor doesn't like prescribe that to me because that antibiotic is known to cause some serious side effects, neurological side effects.

I get Xifaxan, because it is more specific to be used in the gut only. But that antibiotic is really expensive.

After I take my2 weeks worth of antibiotics and Diflucan, I always take probiotics, very strong, very potent probiotic. If take Diflucan, i also take the special probiotics like in Florastor, simple yeast that we need for proper digestion.

Your not alone.

I had a revision and then. I started with GI problems.

That's because my Bile duct is giving problems ,vomiting and lots of constipation.

Went emergency with severe burning and stomach pain and the same doctor that perform the distal order

CT scan and they found something Bile duct, Ampulla damage. They decided to do surgery ... I thought

it was to address the problem. NO!! they went to do surgery and all they did remove adhesions.

Then they. suggested a MRCP and the results suggested an ERCP to look at my bile duct and everything

else.

Did a Virtual with my original surgeon and he said there was nothing wrong with me just take Nexium OMG

He ask me, who sent you to do this testing? I responded you did!! Your office sent referral to A gastrologist that does ERCP

after that we lost connectivity. Its been 1 week no call from him at all..

I am very depressed and trying to find a doctor that can help mw with issue.

The burning and pain starts at 2 in the morning NEXIUM dos not work.

If anyone has this problem...Please, Help me!!

i have found an excellent gi doctor that i am now working with that is helping me alot. But the constipation-dumping the last 2 yrs got so bad i thought it was just a side effect of the RNY and then now i have a rectal prolapse & am scheduled to see a colon-rectal surgeon in another city for possible surgery. yuck! hang in there! My GI doctor has me on some excellent meds and i am changing my diet but it took many months.