The Truth About Post-Bypass Diet & GI

I have read some horrifying things about different patient's food tolerances after they underwent Gastric Bypass. Most notably, "you will be a slave to the toilet after RNY". Having said that, I have two close friends (who are of very different ages and both had RNY but in different states) that have very liberal diets. Granted, they do eat notably less than those around them, but no food seems to be off limits. One of them even drinks soda on occasion but more regularly drinks milkshakes with her meals. Both women have had dramatic weight loss and have managed to keep off a majority of that weight, years later.

Let me just say, I am not aiming for those kind of tolerances or abilities when it comes to post-op eating. Quite frankly I don't really understand why people go through the whole process if they are just going to continue similar but smaller diets. I want this to be a life transformation. And I truly want to implement the surgery as a tool (not a fix) for a long journey of healthy and happy living. 

So, what I am getting at is, what can I expect post surgery? Will I "be a slave to the toilet" every time I introduce a new food? And, on similar note, will I experience a lot of GI distress just due to the fact that I had the surgery (this one is important as I already suffer from frequent nausea and IBS-C)?

Thanks for reading! 

I'm not sure where you heard the slave to the toilet statement. That sounds like something one might say about DS, maybe, but not so much RNY. Some people have difficulty with eating too much fat in one sitting after RNY because the part of your intestine that the food enters after RNY isn't used to digesting fat. This can lead to digestive distress, but it is easily avoided by not eating high fat foods, which aren't good for you generally anyway. Really the only fatty food that has caused me distress is particularly greasy pepperoni pizza. Eating too many carbs at once also makes me feel terrible, but that is a different kind of problem. Actually, I have a lot less GI distress than I did before surgery. I suffered from frequent nausea and GERD before surgery, and RNY completely resolved these problems. That said, I cannot speak to what effect the IBS-C might have, so hopefully someone else can give you some insight on that issue.

You sound like you have the right attitude. Good luck!

It would seem that no 2 people have an identical outcome.   You really have no guarantees about if certain foods will make you sick or not.  Some people that have problems follow the rules and guidelines and just have bad luck, others push the limits, eat things they shouldn't,  and then obviously  have issues. There is a lot of "listen to your own body" in this journey.

I'm still a newbie, having surgery in October, but if anything, constipation seems to be the challenge. Of course, I'm very careful with the diet and avoid sugars and carbs like the plague. I'm not worrying over much about fats at this point, but since I am measuring everything and never put more than 1/2 cup of food past my lips at one sitting, I'm probably not getting too much. I did try some cream of broccoli and cheese soup at a restaurant one day and discovered pretty quickly that it was much too rich for me. A couple of spoons into it, I felt queasy and stopped eating.

It will be a journey.  Things may very well be delicate in the beginning on but you'll "toughen up" the further out you get.  Eventually you will most likely be pretty normal as long as you eat well.

I agree with what everyone says--early out, you may need to stick close to the toilet when you introduce a new food.  The most difficult thing for me was constipation and now Reactive Hypoglycemia, but I wouldn't change a thing!  I can drink diet soda, but I would never attempt a milkshake.  It's just not worth it to me.

I am lactose intolerant...sooo I tried a milkshake once. bad idea because it fits more then like a bowl of cereal or something and good gracious the lactose intolerance and sugar..yeah never again..and that was a small small treat after a 15 mile hike so not something I would normally do. 

I'm 5.5 months post op and have very few foods that I can't eat.  I do avoid pasta and rice,  bread and sugar. Sugar alcohols mess me up pretty badly,  too. But I had that issue before surgery. I may be slightly lactose intolerant,  but I have never had diarrhea since surgery.  I have very little nausea, and the times that I've felt nauseated was because I didn't drink enough fluids. 

I think you just hear the horror stories because they are so bad,  but the majority of us don't have any issues at all. 

I think a lot of it has to do with what how your GI system worked prior to surgery. IE--Did you get stomach upset easily? Have to take tums/pepto etc all the time?

i'm one who would describe myself as having a stomach of steel pre-op. it could and would handle anything and everything. I've had 1 case of the stomach flu in my life, and one case of food poisoning. Outside that-- was always  regular, never threw up, never had a tummy ache etc.

Post op, i'm basically the same. I can clearly see as  result of surgery my systems does not like fats and they give me stomach upset. But it something so subtle, it took a few times for me to make a connection to see that my tummy didn't like it. In no way shape or form am I slave to the toilet. 

I don't have any issues like you describe. I have never been a "slave to the toilet," and you could never pick me out of a lineup based on what I eat. The only thing yhat gives me GI issues are sugar alcohols, but from what I can tell, so does the rest of the world.

Honestly, I think you are worrying about all of the wrong things.