Advice from a "veteran"----DO NOT EVER take NSAIDS!!!

Hello all!  I had my RNY in April of 2010 and I recently was admitted to the hospital for 4 days due to doing the WRONG thing and not following a big rule: don't take NSAIDS!  I took them for back pain prior to my lumbar surgery in January.  After my surgery, they gave me Tramadol for pain. 

I developed an ulcer and gastritis in my pouch, and 3 small ulcers clustered together at my anastomosis (they "Y" connection of the RNY) that were irritated/inflamed to the point where I was getting spasm-like pain (way over a 10 on the pain scale) which were intermittent blockages of my small intestine.  I also smoked cigarettes (another HUGE no-no) and drank too much diet coke on a daily basis. 

The hospital treated me (after they did a test called a push endoscopy to diagnose me) with a lot of antibiotics through the IV (I also had a UTI that I didn't even feel/know about, I've never had one before) Carafate, Protonix, pain medication, Potasium, and sodium through the IV. 

I've quit Diet Coke cold turkey (it hurts when I drink it), quit smoking, stopped drinking alcohol (I did that about 3 weeks ago)  and drastically changed my diet once I got home to be very gentle with the foods I'm putting through my poor tummy. 

The doctors at the hospital also told me that if I don't make these changes and treat the ulcers that they could turn into cancer.  Well, that did it for me, I want to live, and I realized that it's my fault that this happened, but let me tell you, it will never happen again. 

Follow the rules, you really don't want to develop any complications like this.

Mal

Wow. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. It serves as a good warning to me to avoid those things. I wish you the best.

Prayers that you heal quickly. Thanks for sharing with us. 

Holy cow Mal  .. I so many times wondered what  happened with gorgeous redhead you ...

hank God you're Ok  ((((())) you learned a lesson ( not to expensive I hope )   maybe U can stop smoking ?

 your real sincere supporter and friend always

OMG how are you!!!  I did quit smoking (Saturday will be one week) and doing all the right stuff now.  Just wanted everyone to learn from my BAD!!! example!!!!  Trust me, I've learned my lesson!!!!  The very hard way!

Hope you are well!!!  It's been so very long! 

Mal

Tramadol is not an NSAID... it's an opiate.

She took the NSAIDS prior to her surgery. Tramadol was given to her after her surgery.

aah, yes, I missed that little bit in the beginning, thanks!

Also wanted to add that it is OUR responsibility before taking a new med to check to make certain it is not an NSAID. Even though all my charts are marked no NSAIDS I have had a doctor call in a prescription for one. If I wouldn't have done my homework and looked the new med up,I would have taken an NSAID without knowing. We can't assume a doctor checks those things--it's our responsibility too!

Thank you for sharing! This was one of the things that gave me pause prior to surgery. I loved my ibuprofen... I refused to take tylenol products, and that was that!

Now I have tylenol in the house for me, but I could see me taking the ibuprofen instead.. But I won't.

How scary for you! I hope you're on the mend, and that soon this will be all a bad nightmare!