Advice

Hey guys, how is everyone doing?  As many of you know I am down here in Antarctica chillin with the penguins...=)...I was wondering, this has been coming and going and its kind of weird. I get these pains (not bad pains) in my lower abdomin area and than I have a lot of gas that comes out the lower end and it will last for several hours. I drink water and it sometimes makes it worse. My food intake is normal so I know its not anything like a stricture or what. Is it just gas from what I'm eatting? Like today I had ribs for dinner (they actually feed us real food...lol) and some cheese for protein. Last night it was Chicken Fajitas that were kind of spicey and before that was home made lasanga with meat and cheese....Is it my diet maybe? Could it be something worse? I really am trying to avoid seeing the docs here because for one if they can't diagnoise it they are going to medvac me out on the C-17 to New Zealand which means I may or may not come back and I don't want to do that.  This doesn't happen daily but maybe 1x a week or so. Like right now its doing it and I just had a bowel movement and its like the pain is moving so that leads me to believe its gas escaping. Also, what is a "normal" bowel movement for us? I've had 3 today and they were all solid and came out just fine but its weird because even before surgery I didn't have 3 I had maybe 2 a day....Could it be my fat intake being to high you think???? PS I should add that I have lost 15 pds since I've been here and I am at a weight of 245 from a starting weight as of May 1st 2007 at 365 so things are moving qucikly but this pain is weird!!!

I know i have recently started getting some gas pains.  This usually happens when i bend the rules and drink some milk with my snack.  I thought it would help me get some more protien in.  But after I do this i get some bad gas pain that usually last an hour or so until something moves.  I have found out that this is what happens when I eat and drink at the same time. so a little more incentive not to do this. JIm d This pain can be very wery uncomfortable

You know I never thought about the eatting AND drinking at the same time. I take some juice with my meals (or water) and I have been doing that a lot lately so that could be it. This pain is moving lower so its got to be gas and my gases are getting less scary smelling...TMI I know but we are guys so...LOL.....Thanks for that tibit I think I might just stop drinking and eatting!!!

It is very common for post op WLS patients to become lactose intolerant post op.   Some of the "symptoms" of lactose intolerance is severe gas, and extra BMs after drinking milk or eating milk byproducts like cheese.  On the other hand C-dif  is also common after WLS......they symptoms of that is gas plus DHR.  Since you don't have DHR i'd probably think that you have some type of food intolerance. The final posibility is some type of blockage in your Y limb.  You have 2 limbs one where food goes down normally, and then another that holds digestive enzymes ....the eventually meet up in a common channel.  You can have totally normal BMs yet still have some type of blockage.....again  some of the symptoms of this is gas and more BMs.  Reason...food isn't being absorbed, because some or all of the digestive enzymes are being blocked.  Now this is normally accompanied by some pain....and your BMs will normally change in color.   My thought would be that it is milk...and you should lay off all milk products for a bit and see if that helps....if not go to your doctor...any PCP can test for C-Dif.  Scott

I would try watching the liquids while eating. When I drink to soon after a meal it's not long before I get the rumbling in my gut and after that the gas will start. I think it because I am forcing the food through to soon and my gut is having to work harder to proccess it.  pan head