Quiz - How Well Do You Know Your Pouch?

I know everyone’s pouch is a little different.  But there are a number of things all our pouches have in common.  Today’s quiz is about those common things.

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don’t (at least not a functioning one).  What is that and what affect does not having one have on you?

Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals?

If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it?

Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch?

Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch?

How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch?  What if you take them by injection or IV so they don’t actually come in contact with your pouch?

Great Quiz!

I am waiting to see the answer to your last question.

Oh goody!

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don’t (at least not a functioning one). What is that and what affect does not having one have on you?

The pyeloric valve is the little regulator at the bottom of the stomach that controls when and how much food is released into the bowels at a time. It is the lack of this regulator that causes the dumping that you find in about 30-40% of RNY patients. The food does not sit in the pouch as it would the stomach and can move directly into the bowels.

Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals?

The fluid will push the food right out of our pouch because we do not have our little "regulator", allowing us to eat more and preventing us from feeling fullness. This is one way to "eat around" your surgery and can potentially set you up for regain if it becomes a constant occurance.

If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it?

Absorption happens in the bowels, not the stomach. Drinking will not affect the abosrption rate of the vitamins. Even if a vitamin were absorbed in the stomach in a non-op patient, this would not happen for us. Using the example of b12 we no longer have what we need for this to happen.

Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch?

There is no scientific evidence either way, but drinking soda or other carbonated drinks can potentially cause other issues such as calcium leeching or increased calorie intake (if not diet).

Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch?

Maybe only if you are using a beer bong to pour it in! ;) Actually, your pouch is open ended. It will just flow through. If you drink so fast that it is coming in faster than it is pouring out, it will most likely just come back up.

How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch? What if you take them by injection or IV so they don’t actually come in contact with your pouch?

NSAIDS do not cause ulcers by sitting on your mucosal lining. It's the acutal mechanism of the drug in your body that causes the ulcers. NSAIDS reduce the amount of prostaglandins by blocking the COX enzymes that produce them. These prostaglandins are what protect your mucosal lining, and when reduced you are at an increased risk for developing ulcers... regardless of how you take the NSAIDS.

Thanks hedrider for the last answer. I had heard it was irritating the lining of your pouch, but then I heard that it also could affect your remnant stomach too. So I wondered how, since you don't use your stomach any more.
 My orthopedic surgeon recently prescribed Celebrex for my knee swelling/pain a week after surgery. Thank goodness I found out it was a NSAID before I paid for the med!

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don’t (at least not a functioning one).  What is that and what affect does not having one have on you?

My pyloric valve held food in my stomach, allowing it to interact with my "stomach juice" before going on to my intestines. Now that I don't have one (or at least not a functioning one), along with the fact that my food doesn't interact with quite so much "stomach juice," I am sensitive to foods containing sucrose (table sugar) and other simple sugars , along with certain types of fat. I am also susceptible to a phenomenon known as "Dumping Syndrome" whereby I eat said simple sugars and fats...and all hell breaks loose.

Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals?

Since we no longer have a pyloric valve, our pouches work something like a funnel. There is nothing keeping food in there. While dense foods like lean proteins and whole grains keep us satiated and generally move through more slowly than so-called "slider foods" (foods that are soft, high in water content, etc.), drinking after a meal pushes food through our pouches, allowing us to become hungry sooner than we would if we wait a while after a meal to drink.

If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it?

God, I hope not because I always drank with my vitamins before I started taking chewables!

Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch?

There is NO scientific evidence to support this assertion.

Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch?

No, although forcing too much of anything through your stoma at one time can be dicey. And painful.

How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch?  What if you take them by injection or IV so they don’t actually come in contact with your pouch?

I know it has something to do with the lining of the stomach and ulcers. I am the one and only person probably for whom this is not a big deal. I did not take medicine pre-op (by choice. I don't like medicine period, point, blank) so I am not apt to take it post-op either. Thankfully I've never had a medical situation that absolutely necessitated medication of any kind.

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don't (at least not a functioning one). What is that and what affect does not having one have on you?

Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals?
We want our bodies to absorb our nurtrients. If we drink its absorbing empty calories wasiting what could be protein!

If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it? No?:/????????? Waiting to hear the answer to this because I drink aton of water with mine bc if I dont I feel sick unless its liquid.

Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch? Some people say no. My doctor said yes. How ever, He said the carbination can cause you to have dumping, or eat more. I always was heavy, always wason a diet, so all I drank was water. my cheat drink was sweet tea! So carbinated drinks for me isn't an issue!

Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch?
I recently thought it would. I was so affriad! Thank God for yall!!!

How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch? What if you take them by injection or IV so they don't actually come in contact with your pouch
Yes it can hurt us. We are not suppose to ever ever ever take them. Still IV or not. Do not take them.

Good job, everybody!

Great Post Kelly! Thank you for the info once again! I don't know my pouch that good yet, just 3 months out and still learning.