Pain, pain, nothing but pain!!!!!!!

I had my RNY surgery in June.  Since then, I've had nothing but pain in my gut everytime I eat.  I am constipated, vomit at least 3 times per week, dizziness, drink 2 litres of water a day, even water can't go down without hurting, can't tolerate meat, have had pain so bad I am doubled over and crying.  Doc says "it's probably dumping".  I say, no, it's not that because I chew chew chew, it takes way over 30 minutes to eat 1/2 food and now I can only tolerate mush.  I am seeing doc next week.  I would like him to consider doing the DS.  Is that feasible??  Am I asking for too much??

Lynda,

I am sorry to hear of the issues that you are having with pain and eating.

If you would not have stated that you were going to the doctor next week I would advise that you see him ASAP.

What you are stating sounds like some normal post op issues and Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) or possible stomal stricture ( I am not a doctor, but symptoms are similar).

As far as the constipation goes there are a lot of medications available over the counter as well as prescription that can be tried to combat that issue, but you did not mention if that has been tried yet.

As far as the vomitting goes you did not explain what a typical meal consist of or how much you are eating size wise.

You also did not say if the vomiting was after you ate or if it happened even if you had not eaten.

I hate to tell you this, but a lot of people post op WLS cannot tolerate some types of meat postop WLS.

You did not state which meats you have tried.

Click on the link below and you will see what I mean.

www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/question.php

Click on the link below and it will explain a lot of things to you about your issues you are having.

www.asbs.org/html/pdf/asbs_bspc.pdf

Dumping has nothing to do with how well you chew or if it is solid or mush.

Dumping has to do with what kind of food you are eating and what type of liquids you are drinking.

www.bariatric-surgery.info/dumping-syndrome.htm

In order to get an accurate idea of what could be going on with you we would need to know a lot more information than you have told us.

Are you eating foods high in fat, carbs, or sugar?

Are you eating fried foods?

Are you eating protein first?

Are you drinking cokes or drinks with high sugar content?

Are you eating foods with high sugar alcohols?

How much are you drinking or eating at one time?

Are you taking your vitamins (iron can cause constipation)?

Are you getting in the right amount of protein?

When you vomit is food coming back up or is it liquids?

Is the pain in your gut constant or is it only when you eat or drink?

Do you drink while you are eating or do you wait to drink after eating and if so how long?

A lot of questions would need to be addressed so the people on here could try to give you suggestions or ideas on how to help you until you see your doctor.

I do not feel that any doctor would revise you to DS at this early stage of the game.

I am not againgst DS, but it is a much more complicated surgey with a lot of possible side effects that are a little more extreme than what you have explained.

If you cannot eat properly now with the surgery you have then no one would do DS on you until you get your pain, constipation, dizziness, vomitting, eating, and drinking down to where you have minimal issues.

DS is a great surgery, but you need to find out how to correct what is going on with you now before you ever think of another surgery as you are not even 6 months post op yet.

That is way to soon to speak of another surgery option at this point.

Have you lost any weight since surgery?

I  am not a doctor, but just a person who has had RNY and have experienced the symptoms that you have spoke of at some point in my journey.

I can tell you that it was in the begining of my journey as I was learning how to eat with my new anatomy.

It took time and it did not happen overnight.

www.provostbariatrics.com/success-after-weight-loss-surgery/ gastric-bypass-7-rules-for-managing-your-pouch/

Some of the things you spoke of are typical experiences a lot of people post op WLS go through minus the pain.

Hopefully your doctor will suggest the proper diagnostic tests to determine where the pain is coming from and have a plan of how to ressolve it.

I also think it may be helpful to you to keep a food journal of what you are eating and how much you are eating and drinking so when you see him you will have that to show him.

If you do a search on this site for posts on pain, vomiting, dizziness, and constipation by clicking in the search box in the top right hand corner of the page you will see that you are not alone and you will see solutions to a lot of the problems you speak of.

I wish you well on your journey.

I hope you get to feeling better soon.

Dear Lynda:

You might be jumping the gun just a little wanting to consider a revision this soon in the game...If you just had surgery in June you haven't even had enough time to heal...

Your problem doesn't sound like dumping at all to me...Dumping isn't pain...it's nausea, vomittnig, diarhea and an overall feeling of doom...

The pain sounds like it could be a kink or twisting in your intestines...I had that after my 1st revision to RNY and it was a killer...The pain would start in my back and work it's way up under my breast bone and I would double over...get nauseated and throw up...It happened several times...My Dr. told me he thought it was my intestines twisting or flopping over and as the food went through it would twist back right...They could never read it on an X Ray because it never lasted over an hour or so...Does your pain come and go? Also, if your vomitting you are constantly flaring that newly sewn pouch which makes it difficult to eat again or drink...It's just like opening a wound over and over again...You need to try and only eat soft foods for a while to see if you can get than stomach/pouch healed also, you may need an endoscopy to see if it's just to small or tight...Hernia's can give you pain like that as well...

Good Luck to you...Hope you get better...let us know...

Janie

I had a rough time for about six months but I finally got better and did very well kept my weight off for almost 20 years...Definately see your Surgeon or Dr. and get an X Ray...

 Hi Lynda,

You poor thing...so sorry to hear of your troubles especially at a time where you should be reveling in the amazement of what a wls honeymoon period can bring.  I do hope all turns around for you.

I have to say I share the same view as Janie and Teena as far as it being pretty early to consider a revision, especially to one so complicated as the DS at a time where you body has not had a full opportunity to heal yet.  Please try to find out what is actually wrong first before such a drastic measure this early in the process.

I can tell you when I was early out after my original RNY in 2001 I had some of the same issues as you.  Could not keep food down, could not tolerate many foods at all except simple carbs, vomiting very frequently, pain in my abdomen etc.  I also thought there was something seriously wrong with my plumbing....and I would not hear any different when the doctor or anyone else told me I had not adjusted to my "new" plumbing and some of my old eating habits were probably causing some of my issues.  I just KNEW I was following the rules and doing it the right way....But once I healed a bit, let down my defenses a bit and researched a bit more on EVERYTHING a RNY post op is suppose to follow I learned differently.  I had pain because I was over filling my new very small pouch and just had to have that one more bite.  Vomiting was caused by this over filled pouch or by my meat being to tough or not chewed enough...drinking with my meals (a very, very hard thing to change) caused some of this pain and vomiting as well.  I didn't want to admit it....but I had to, that I was the cause of many of my issues.

Don't get me wrong, to this day there are certain foods I still can not tolerate.  I have just learned what they are and I avoid them like the plague.  There are even days that I know I can't tolerate a certain food but then the next day I "just know" that I can.  Can't explain it...it's just a different kind of signal your new system puts off.  This getting use to your new system is so totally different then your pre surgery way that you can't even fathom prior to surgery what it will be like.  There is definitely a learning curve.  It took me a good year to really get it down and to learn to listen to my system.  One little bite to much can send you into misery, especially very early out.  It does get better over time.  And it does get better once you learn the miracle of your new system.

The doubling over pain......not right.  Get it checked out immediately!  Pain is the body's way of signaling you that something is wrong.  Don't mess around with it.  Also if you are absolutely sure you are, down to a T, following the wls guidelines then perhaps there is something medical like a stricture or obstruction.  Again, get with your doctor....none of us on this site are qualified doctors and the advice we give is based on our experience and wanting to help and should not be taken for medical advise.

Good luck to you.  Please let us know how you make out.  I will send a prayer your way.

MEW

Wow!  Janice, my pain that I have experienced is exactlly how you explained.  I did have a stricture.  I ended up back in the hospital and one hour away from a second surgery.  Doc did one more test and it showed that the stricture or kink fixed itself.  The pain from overeating.  Right on the button.  I am learning,  I cannot have steak.  Meat has to be moist.  My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.  No overeating.  It does cause pain.  Not right away all the time, sometimes around 10 to 15 minutes later.  There is so much to learn.  We will get through this.  I pray you start feeling better soon.  Thank you for sharing your experience.