BPD - Eating Plan

In 1998 I had the distal RNY bypass. After losing approx 150 lbs I started gaining weight and picked up about 75 lbs due to the opening from my stomach to my intestines stretching which allowed food to pass right through my stomach and never “linger" there, giving me a sense of fullness. This left me hungry and able to eat larger amounts of food. When I went back to talk to my doc about a revision he suggested going in an placing a silastic ring around the opening because they had realized this was an issue and had started doing this during procedures. I attempted to have this done in 2008. My surgeon couldn’t add the ring due to scar tissue in the area so he decided to make the bypass longer trying to compensate for not being able to add the ring. Since then my life has been hell. I have no social life and no idea how to gain control over the situation. I have very little control over my bowels and have horrible gas (constantly). When I went back to see him last year to see if there was any info he could give me to help he said he could operate again and “fix me" but that it would be a 6-7 hr procedure. I am not interested in going through another procedure. I almost died the last time and have no desire to push my luck. What I would like to know is an eating plan for someone who has had the BPD. When I try to create an eating plan for myself it’s either no BMs or too many/loose BMs. My insurance doesn’t cover a nutritionist or I would just find one with experience in this area. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

You will have to play around to find what works for you, but as for me, I find the less white flour carbs and plain carbs I consume, the better my life is... I can be "normal" almost.  I still go several times, but mostly in the morning several times upon waking and then maybe in the afternoon or evening a bit.  That's it. It does not control my life.  I can eat complex carbs some, like 100% whole wheat, corn products, some corn chips or tortillias, etc.  I eat the low carb whole wheat bread and tortillias also for sandwiches, etc.  If I stay pretty much away from carbs, I can sleep through the night without having to wake up and go to the potty.  I have found I can tolerate about 20-25 carbs per meal without too much problem, but that isn't a great amount to strive for and lose weight.  My goal for this year is to bring my carb level down more and eat lots more protein (which will make my bowel movements and weight loss much better), and finish losing the rest of my weight I need to.  I  have played around too much and found what I CAN do, not what I should do.  But, for you, I believe the big key is knowing you may not be able to tolerate white flours and carbs... I can't.  If I have too many, I have horrific gas and cramp immediately... miserable.

Good luck.

Carolyn

I cannot believe that your doctor took you from a distal RNY to something even longer. I'm so sorry you are having to go through this. No need for me to go on about how ridiculous this was of the surgeon because it will only aggravate me more.

I am not a BPD, I have a ds, but I have a very short common channel (50cm).  I have had a LOT of bowel issues and still have them. I poop more 12 - 20 times in a 24 hour period. I have a very precarious diet.  Too much fat and I'm pooping water and fat and crapping in my pants from urgency. Too little fat and I'm constipated like no ones business. White flour is my killer carb as are sugar and sugar alcohols (such as splenda).  When I am good and eat a high protein diet and keep my carbs around or under 50 a day I find urgency to be less of an issue as well as gas and paint peeling flatulence.  My husband groans when he sees me eating white bread because he knows the aftermath that will ensue.  I have gone gluten free for months at a time and have had a lot more success with having less gas, bloating and urgency. I do still frequently poop though, but mostly because I do have to eat more fat since if I don't my body will bind me up faster than a kinky person with a lot of rope. 

For a while I had to just eat one thing and see how I felt. Waiting 2 hours or more to eat the next thing to see how my body would handle whatever it was I was eating. I'm not lactose intolerant, but I found that some types of dairy gave me more gas than other types. Such as 1% milk was terrible for me. Whole milk was better, but in my coffee it's heavy or light cream or half and half. The latter still gives me gas, but I live with it because I don't want to give up my coffee.  Bread, white pasta, sometimes even whole wheat pasta killed me. I have tried Dreamfields pasta and though I like it, I get horrible gas from it.  Pretty much pasta is a no go for me.  Rice works better for me and though I am not a huge fan brown rice rarely gives me gas or upsets my stomach. I eat sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Both give me a bit of the farts, but a girls got to live you know? 

My biggest advice would be to eat one thing every meal and diary how that thing makes you feel. Get to know what you can and cannot eat. I diaried my poops, consistency, urgency and more until I got to know just how much fat I need and how much would keep me from being horribly constipated. I tend to shy away from white flour and sugar items, but I still eat them occasionally. (I love my chocolate ya know?).  For the last couple days I have had a fairly low fat diet, simply because I just wasn't paying much attention and this morning I had a "normal" poop. Normal for a non WLS person I mean. It was formed and log like. I know that if I went one more day of eating low fat that tomorrow I would be constipated and so today I ate some saltines (white flour...so bad for me) with butter.  I would rather have loose pudding/yogurt like stools then be constipated. 

You might want to ask your doctor for Creon too. It's an enzyme that will help your body to absorb more nutrients, which might help your stools. Note though that you will absorb more calories too so you need to be aware of your diet for awhile. You also may want to be tested for C-diff to make sure you do not have c-diff, which would cause you to have stools and frequency as well as gas from an over abundance of the c-diff bacteria.

Hope this helps.

Maddie