Ulcer at the Anastomosis

Thanks so much. I will be contacting my surgeon. I thought maybe it was something to do with my surgery. I have having these issures for about a month now and like you said with it go to your back, that was the exact thing I was experiencing this weekend. Again, thank you, it is good to have something to go off of.
Maryann

Hi Melissa

I am so sorry for you.  I also have a ulcer and a striture at the anastomosis.  I have not been well since my WLS over two years ago at age 57.  The ulcer was found in Nov 2010 and the striture March 2011.  Done the meds/ dialaion and things did not get better.  Surgeon said I have lost too much weight (165) I can't stop losing weight since there is no nourishment going in.  Everything just comes back up.  Along with many other unhealthy issues (malnutrition) (My skin is so dry the least thing rips and bruses and takes forever to heal.  Bandaids peels the skin off.)  I am 60 this year and having a reversa/takedownl under the surgeon, family dr and GI dr recommendation.  My surgery is scheduled the 19 of this month.   I am nervous but looking for a healthier future.  Please take care of yourself befor you get in my situation.  Wishing the best for you.

Judy

Hi Judy,
 
That is really scary, I am happy that you have surgery scheduled to take down your WLS sounds like you need it.  I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.  

Thank you so much for sharing. 

Blessings, 
Melissa 

Good evening Melissa.

I had a 'freak' incident following my gastric bypass, which resulted in perforation of my intestine, pouch, and stomach, so they basically had to 'build' a pouch and reduce the size of the remaining stomach left below.  It was a one in a million risk, but I got it.  The result is my 'new' pouch was completely raw and ulcerated.  I was prescribed carafate, prilosec, and levaquin (major antibiotic).  I've taken the prilosec now for over a year at 20 mg, 2 or more times a day.  I ended up having two dialations and my surgeon was ready to go in and turn my bypass into a vertical sleeve.  Luckily, I haven't had to do that.  However, I have been having more pain than usual (same area, below the breast bone, in the back, etc.).  My doctor said that ulcers are one of the largest risks of any bariatric surgery, so it is always a possibility for us.

Do you take any anti-inflamatories?  Are you on any new mediations or foods that could be causing new ulcers?  Are you drinking wine, alcohol, soda?  I know that I can't handle anything with citric acids (in many more things than you realize) or much vinegar without flaring my ulcers.  Check your foods and your medications first and adjust if needed.  Keep up with the carafate and proton pump inhibitors and, hopefully, things will improve without the need for surgery.

If you can't get food down, get to your surgeon immediately.  It is better for them to go in and fix the resulting stricture (at your anastomosis) than for your insides to be torn.  At least they could do it laproscopically (or possibly via esophogial scope??) and avoid any additional damage.

Best wishes to you.

Jessica

 Hi Jessica, 

Sounds like you went through a lot.  Several years after my bypass I ended up with three large fistulas, they had to go in and remove part of my remnant stomach to be sure that the fistulas would not reappear, also a very usual complication given that there were three and they were so large that it was as if my two stomachs had almost completely reconnected.  After my plastics I also had severe complications which almost cost me my life, I had to have 4 additional surgeries and months and months of wound care before it was all said and done.  

I so do not want to have another surgery.  The prilosec really seems to be  helping I do not drink alcohol at all, but I  was drinking diet soda.  Since the prilosec I am eating much better.  

Thanks for your post!

Blessings,
Melissa

I'm glad to hear the prilosec is helping.  I have had to up mine recently as my 'ulcers' seem to be acting up.  Back to the carafate and omeprazole tabs (generic prilosec).  I hope it isn't a fistula... that makes me a little scared. 

I have been lucky not to need any plastics... other than the fact that I would like to put the 'girls' back up in the next few years.  I was lucky enough that my skin has been very forgiving. 

Best wishes to you with your future health!!  

Hi,

I am new. I just found this site when I was looking around the Internet trying to find out why I am in pain.

I had the Roux en y in 1992 and had not been back to the doctor since 1993. I went from 265 lbs at the time of the surgery to 119 exactly a year later. Right now I weigh 137. I like to stay around 135 to 140. I have to struggle though because of my very poor eating habits and grazing. I am 51.

I haven't ever really had much luck being able to tolerate meat well. Sometimes I can mince some meat and keep it down. Sometimes hamburger or chicken is ok but most of the time it is not. I have also not ever been able to keep down flour tortillas and the other usual problem foods from the beginning. They all continue to give me problems. I can sure still pack on the weight though if I am not careful because starch, junk food, cheese and things stay down very well.

2 years ago I finally went to a stomach doctor, not the one who did my surgery. He no longer practices and I went out of town for my surgery. They had me do an endoscopy and I was also found to have candida, bad. It was up into my esophagus. I had been nauseous almost everyday for about a year (felt like morning sickness all day long - I wasn't pregnant). They gave me Diflucan also and some medicine to settle my stomach down. They also found out I have a hietal hernia, which is pre-cancerous cells. I don't take anything for anything now though. I do take other medicines for other things though and I do take nsaids as I can't take many forms of pain relief if they are addictive due to being a recovering alcoholic. I know the nsaids are bad for me. I also drink diet soda which I know is bad for me.

Since the surgery I believe I have developed bulimia but that is another issue which I work on. Anyway, I say that because I have spent a lot of the last 20 years throwing up or making myself throw up. Most of the time because I ate too much or because I felt so uncomfortable.

This leads me to my current issue. I know I am going to have to break down and go to the doctor and I will, I just wanted to know if there is anyone else out there who has or is experiencing the same thing.

About 2 weeks or so ago, I started to have stomach pain. Maybe it has been longer, I think it has, I think it has just gotten more severe. I have all of a sudden gotten really gassy. I have not been that way - no matter what I ate. I also have been able to eat whatever I want to spice-wise, hot has never bothered me and I eat a lot of hot and sometimes greasy food. Anyway, at first it seemed to be only occurring in the middle of the night when I had been asleep for a little bit. The pain, it almost feels like upper intestinal cramps, will wake me up. Only problem, sorry for too much information but, I haven't been able to fart or burp much since the surgery! Even when I have been able to pass some, it hasn't helped that much. After a while it lessens and I am able to fall back to sleep and when I wake up in the morning it is mostly gone.

Sometimes it almost feels like it is burning between the bottom of my breastbone and my belly button, I have thought at times that it felt like it was on fire in there.

Yesterday it happened during a nap in the afternoon so it is not occurring just during the night. I haven't been able to go to the bathroom much either but have gone a little. I don't think that is the problem because I am able to go some but it is not helping it.

For the last couple of days every time I eat something now I am feeling the pain.

Again, I am going to have to call the doctor on Monday. I just wondered if it's happened before. What happens to that old stomach? Anything ever go wrong with it? Anybody know?

For now, I bought some things tonight to make some homemade chicken noodle soup (no jalapenos this time) for myself for the weekend. I think that I should probably take it easy on my stomach this weekend. Probably some prilosec would be in order also. Maybe I will send hubby for some.

Any comments or support or just empathy for having been there would be greatly appreciated.

Stefanie Reynoso

 Hi Stephanie,

I am sorry you are having so many issues.  I too have had many issues both emotional and physical since surgery.  I am 5' 6' I went from 262 to 160 now...I got down to about 120 after plastics and near death from going into septic shock, 4 surgeries later and months of wound care and I recovered.  I later developed a three large fistulas from the pouch to the old stomach and gained about 20lbs fast as I could eat a lot and did....I had to have that surgerically repaired that surgery took over 4 hours and was complicated but I recovered well.  

Last year I started having bad pain in my pouch it hurt really bad and I could not eat well at all and was throwing up a lot.  I had a endoscopy also and they found a large ulcer at the anastomsis and severe candida as well.  They gave me something for the candida I forget what it was.  I also take 40 mg of prilosec daily.  If I do not take it for a few days the pain comes back.  My dr said if it did not heal she would operate again, but I just can not go through another surgery.  When I had my plastics I had a hernia also and it was repaired but sometimes I still feel it bulge.  

I think my ulcer was brought on by stress I got a divorce and became addicted to xanax and ambien and spent time in detox, it was about a month later that I got the ulcer.  Ulcers can start to bleed or worse if it is at the anastomsis like mine it can cause a blockage so I hope you do get it looked at soon.  

You are lucky on the gas issue, lol.  If I eat the wrong foods, which I do often I get bad gas.  My surgery was in 2004 and I still stuggle with meats sometimes.  


I wish you well please keep me posted. 

Melissa

I just had the endoscopy on this past Wednesday.  I couldn't believe I had an ulcer.  I thought nothing of it until the NP at the GI Hospital said it could be related to my bypass which I had in 1999!  I've never had a problem ever.  I am so scared now.  I don't want surgery.  They also did an upper GI. and blood work.  and a biopsy.  Great so now what.  I can't handle another health issue.  What have I done to deserve this.  The Dr. , not my bypass doc, gave me Nexium for it.  I didn't take it until I see the bypass doc and put all this stuff together.  What is an ulcer from anyway?  bacteria stress?   I am so frightened.  Can it clear up like a regular ulcer or do I have to do surgery and go thru a lot of pain.  so far no pain but I don't eat much because of no appetite or something.  Elizabeth

Hi. My name is Rebecca, and I have been having issues since my gastric bypass in 2003. After my bypass, I had extreme trouble eating and keeping food down. I lost weight from 224 pounds to 93 pounds in about a year and 2 months. Finally, my surgeon sent me to a specialist to see if I had other issues that would cause my problems. The surgeon insisted that the bypass had nothing to do with my problems. I found out by going to the specialist that I had a bleeding ulcer directly at the site of my gastric bypass. Unfortunately, the only way to fix my problem was surgery. Being that the ulcer was at the site of the bypass, the only way to get to it was to do a gastric bypass reversal. All the meds I was on: nexium, carafate, antibiotics, and all did not fix the problem. So, I had a reversal and surgery to fix the ulcer. After the surgery, my specialist found yet another ulcer right about where the first one was. I still had the problems. Again, the surgeon insisted that it had nothing to do with the bypass. The reversal was done in 2005. Now, years later, being 2013, I am still having the same issues. I went to a digestive health doctor who did the upper and lower scope on me. Much to my dismay, another ulcer was found at the site of the surgery. And to top off the findings, I was shown a picture of my stomach where a metal piece was embedded in my stomach. I did not know that it was there. My bypass surgeon never told me. Maybe he did not know he did not remove everything in the reversal. Much of what is happening with me, I fear, has something to do with this metal piece. I don't know what to do or expect, but am hoping that everyone will pray for me. I am really scared.
I would like to state that I never had these issues until after my gastric bypass in 2003. I really believe that the gastric bypass is responsible for all the problems over the years that I have experienced. If you have the same issues, please share.

Thanks.

Rebecca