Needing some help...

I had the DS January 7th of 2013. My starting weight was 357 and I now weigh 181. For the most part I have had little not no issues and have been so very happy with everything that has taken place. At the end of February of 2014 I started not feeling well again. Bloating, eating issues (such as not being able to with out major tummy pain), issues with BM, and cramping and major pain in my abdominal area became and got much worst as time passed. Last friday the 12th of June, I had my gallbladder removed. I was told it was not working right and when they took it out they could tell it was really bad. Well since than I have still been dealing with major bloating. All of the other issues I was dealing with have gone, except for the major bloating. Has anyone else gone threw this and can give me some advice? I called the doc today and was told to wait it out and see if it goes away with time, but when I bloat up I can't fit into my pants…. 

I haven't had any WLS yet but I did have my gallbladder out over a decade ago and what you describe doesn't sound outrageous at all.  You may still have some of the gas they use to inflate your body during surgery.  I think that takes a week or two to be absorbed.   Also, I remember being disappointed that my health wasn't coming back fast enough and my doctor telling me that having your gallbladder out really just changes your symptoms for a while.  It will take a while for things to settle down and for you to learn how to eat with your new body.  I would think that this would still be the time for baggy sweat pants for at least another week or two.  Gut surgery is a big deal. 

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your post. I was told before having it taken out that once it was out things would be fine and I would be able to bounce back rather quick with little to no issues after. It's frustrating to me that what i was told is not what is really happening. You stated in you comment about learning how to eat with your new body… is there things I am going to have to avoid now outside of what I already do with the DS? I wasn't told any of this so I'm a bit in the dark to what you mean by that. 

It is hard for me to remember the details but I seem to be the only one around right now so here goes...

I looked it up, it was 1998 when I had the surgery.  There is a French restaurant in Pacific Grove, CA named Fifi's.  I know this because we were driving in that area around 10 am on a Sunday and with almost no warning I had to find a restroom right away.  I remember running into several places but they were all closed and I was in a panic.  It must have been somewhat normal for us because I remember coming out and my husband had purchased the best psalteries ever.  He is a worrier, so he would not have been calm if that was odd.  Over the years we have been back to that part of the country and we always stop by Fifis because they were there for us when we really, really needed them.  This happened about 4 months after the surgery according to the calendar.  I think it was two weeks before I returned to work. 

When I hear people talk about their Ds, it always sounds to me like my a much more serious and long term experience but similar to my gallbladder.  Many people have not had this experience.  Maybe it was because my gallbladder was very far gone as well.  So, right now your body is producing bile to digest fats and the gallbladder used to manage that but now the bile just gets dumped into your intestines.   I have no idea if this is medically sound advice, but I remember foods like salad had me running to the bathroom in 20 minutes and then I would feel horrid for another hour and then be OK.  I remember thinking that my body seemed to do a little better if I kept a level of fats constantly percolating to absorb the bile.  I also got really bad about not eating.  I knew when I ate I would have the runs and feel bad so I would put that off, which made the problem larger, which I choose to deal with by not eating, which ...   The good news is that I don't have any of these problems any more, so sometime in the last 17 years I got better. 

I know what you mean about the attitude around post surgery.  They thought my husbands appendix was about to burst so they put him into surgery where he almost died on the table.  Turned out, no his appendix was fine, he just had pneumonia.  But the thing that got to me was that they expected him to be cool with it.  They would say things like "Now you can travel to Africa and not worry!"  Here he was on a thousand heart monitors struggling for each breath and they didn't even apologize for the whole unnecessary surgery thing.  Oddly enough, my husband didn't seem to upset.  He said that he thought this was par for the course for surgeons.  "When you have somebodies life in your hands it tends to make you a bit arrogant" was what he thought.

You are most probably past the worst of it.  You may not get my management problems at all.  Hopefully some real WLS people will check in and their experiences will lead you towards some good advice. 

I'm sorry. I haven't had to deal with this but I hope the bloating does get better with time. All I can think to do would be to add in a good probiotic, and maybe try to see if gluten or lactose is causing you issues. Keep us posted.

--gina

Hey Tonya,

I had my gallbladder out with my DS. Gas-X was a blessing, ate it like candy for couple months. Only need it occasionally now (6 mos out). For some people leafy greens are problem, for me it is things like sausage (major-I avoid at all cost). Things do get better.  :)

I had major bloating and pain and had to go to the ER in January.  I had a parasophogeal hernia and had to have emergency surgery to repair.  I had major upper stomach bloating and pain.  Perhaps you might want to be tested.

It may be that this is just a byproduct of the surgery like some people are saying but you might want to 
also go the pro-biotic rout Gina mentioned. I'm assuming you were on some kind of antibiotics after the surgery
and it might have put your gut out of whack. Either way active culture yogurt and a good pro-biotic won't hurt. You can
then decide if ti helps or you have to just wait it out with Gas-X or something else like that.

It's always been a mystery to me why some surgeons make taking out the gall bladder a part of the DS and others don't.

I was having bloating issues as well for a while (I am 4 years out).  Only recently was I able to really get these under control.  I think two things helped with this.  (1) I changed up my diet a lot so I follow more of a Paleo type lifestyle, since my diet is more natural and no "extras" from sauces or foods that are processed I think that that has made a huge impact.  Also, I have cut down on salt A LOT!  I used to heavily salt my food.  OH and I do think that the cream i was putting in my protein shakes and foods was the culprite as well since I have cut that out and not had ANY issues at all.

GOOD LUCK!