Question:
Has anyone experience no dumping at all?
I'm 1 year, and almost 4 months out. I used to get sick when I ate too much, but I now I just feel a bit uncomfortable. Most of the time I make healthy food choices, however I found I have a very high tolerance to sugar and fat. I don't get sick and doen't dump. Unfortunately I couldn't stop myself from trying new things while on vacation last week. Nothing I ate made me sick. I'm worried the fail safes that were built in during my surgery are failing me. I still exercise but my diet has gone down hill and I'm not sure how to stop it. I find myself falling back into bad habits like eating wehn I am stressed or bored. I am working with my therapist to overcome this, but I am worried about weight gain in the mean time. Please help! Anyone have any advice or support? Thanks in advance for your help. 291/135 — Heidi H. (posted on May 27, 2004)
May 26, 2004
Your normal and sadly about to begin facing regain issues if you dont clean
up your act. Its hard but try going cold turkey on sugars and bread, go
very low carb for awhile and you can reset your dump o meter.It truly comes
back. The less junk you eat, the more sensitive you will be espically to
sugar. I STILL eat when stressed, but try to make better choices. Finances
bad? Rather than eating cookies ow about some carots? They tern to be very
filling:) Therees some studies that show a bad regain for many of us by 5
years. Well I went thru too much, and risked my life on that OR table. I
realize I am RESPONSIBLE for EVERYTHING! I put in my mouth. Its a struggle
but I work at it everyday. I also added more exercise, by getting a grocery
store stock job 2 nights a week. Presently things are slow there I gave my
hours to others that need the money bad, like single parents, and workers
struggling to make car payments. My current replacement project is spring
house cleaning. Tons of exercise there:) The other day I went for a 5 mile
fast walk:) It scares me if I dont make these lifestyle changes PERMANENT
I will regain the weight get sick and die. Life is too much fun thin to let
that happen. BTW I will be 3 yeatrs out in july. 313 bottomed at 179,
bounced back normally to 190 or so, regained to 205:( With lots of effort
and better food choices weigh about 188 today. Its all detailed in my long
winded profile. I wish you tons of success.
— bob-haller
May 26, 2004
I'm just 8 months out but like Bob says, I've seen the stats on regain and
I'm determined to not let that happen. So far I haven't tried anything with
more than 13g of sugar so don't know if I dump on sugar and don't intend to
find out. I'd rather just assume that I will be very sick and not take the
chance. I don't like sick!! and most of the time if I even think of having
something sweet, I'm at a restaurant or with a crowd of people and do not
want to risk being sick. I did have a couple of bad episodes with pork
chops so I'm staying away from them. I had read several times on this
board that the South Beach plan was a good post-op plan to fight regain so
I bought that book last week and have already started following that plan.
Like Bob says, life as a thin person is too good to go back the way I was a
year ago. From what I've read, there are no fail-safes with the surgery,
only a very powerful tool to help us get where we need to be. Staying
there is entirely up to us. By making good choices and life style changes
we can win the war one battle at a time. I think you're doing the right
thing by working with a therapist but I'd also get the junk food out of the
house, get off all carbs for a few days even if I had to eat protein more
frequently. I wish you the best in regaining control.
— scbabe
May 26, 2004
I'm just under 9 months out, and have never dumped on anything. I never
assumed that I would. In my research it was not a guarantee that we would
dump. I do understand that it can "crop up" later, so I'm
prepared if that happens. I am actually glad that I don't dump. I enjoy
various sweets on special occasions, and I'm able to keep it under control.
I don't keep the sweet stuff in my house, though. I just enjoy things
occasionally, like a dessert after dinner, or birthday cake at a party, a
little candy at holiday times, etc. If you're having emotional eating
problems, though, it's a good thing that you're working with your
therapist. Being at a weight that I've not seen in 25+ years (171 lbs) is
what is keeping me on the straight and narrow for the majority of the time.
I'm not willing to let go of this feeling easily. I suffered too many
years of depression and defeat over my weight problems. Now that I'm thin,
I'm planning to do whatever it takes to stay that way. WLS was a miracle
in my life, and I cherish it. Best wishes. Lap RNY 9/11/03, 270/171/???
— Carlita
May 26, 2004
I am a little behind you; as I am at just over a yr PO. I have not dumped.
I just this week asked my surgeon at my 1 yr PO apt about it (dumping) and
he said that some people do not dump and if I had not dumped yet I PROBABLY
would not dump at all. Now, I do not use that as a reason to eat anything
that I want, I use it as a threat over my head that I still may dump and I
do not want it to happen when say I am not at home or I am at work. I have
not really pushed the "envelope" so to speak and have not really
had massive quantities of sugar or greasy foods. You are normal in the
sense of letting bad eating habits come back into your life. Remember, the
doctor did surgery on your stomach not your brain. It is going to take a
long time if not years to break old eating habits. Congratulations on the
fact that you have recognized the fact that you need help in dealing with
these bad habits by seeing a therapist keep up the good work. If you would
like you can e-mail me and maybe I can give you some ideas on how to get
back on track with your program. I have just dealt with this issue recently
and will I am sure for a long time. You can also do a search in the library
on this site to see if there is anything that can help you. In regards to
your just feeling a bit uncomfortable when eating too much that is normal
also because the stomach pouch stretches a little almost everyone goes thru
that. Most people will be able to eat about 6 oz maybe more food
eventually. Christine open RNY 5/7/03 241/151/130
— ChristineB
May 27, 2004
I dont dump either. I think not dumping means we have to be responsible
and careful when eating. We must exercise. I enjoy sweets sometimes, but
not every day and only in small portions. We have a wonderful tool to help
us control our eating. WE have to watch what we eat and exercise FOR LIFE.
Our lifestyles have to be healthy ones or we can regain. We cannot go back
to our old bad habits.
— bransonboy
May 27, 2004
The farther out we are, the more responsibility we have for keeping the
weight off. The surgery HELPS by giving us a tool, but in no way is it a
"fail safe". I have no problem eating "around" the
surgery, dumping or no dumping. I sound like a broken record, but re-read
the pouch rules. It tells you how to use your tool, and it WORKS. I crave
things that are bad for me. The more I eat of these things, the more I
want. Here's what helps me avoid regain: 1) Eat dense protein foods that
fill up the pouch and keep it full. 2) NEVER drink with your meals. I
usually wait an hour after. 3) Stay away from refined carbs as they make
me RAVENOUS. 4) I don't limit veggie carbs, but I do limit whole grain
carbs to once a day as I'm super sensitive to them too. I'm still addicted
to (refined) carbs. They cause real, physical overwhelming cravings if I
eat them alot, so I know what you're fighting against. I've had to do a
carb detox many times. But for the first time in my life, I have the tools
to be able to make good decisions (usually :) and keep the weight off.
— mom2jtx3
May 27, 2004
You are very smart to start addressing this issue now. Too many post-ops
think that they will never regain and because they eat small amounts, they
can eat anything and everything. Unfortunately not the case for most of
us. Seeing a therapist to help you figure out why you are falling back
into a lifetime of old habits that got you obese is a good thing. You can
also help yourself by doing a few simple things. Like Bob suggested, if
you have to eat when stressed and bored, change what you are eating. We
are assuming that you are eating bad things when stressed or bored- if good
things, then don't worry!! Veggies, fruit, sunflower seeds (ever tried to
eat one at a time-shelling them can take forever)..or try this..I can have
that cookie or sweet treat IF I run up 5 flights of stairs first, or IF I
drink 16 ounces of water very fast first. Sometimes after you have
accomplished the "IF", you no longer want the treat. Get the
stuff you cannot resist out of the house, out of sight, hopefully out of
mind, or at least out of reach. This is not easy but sweetie, you have
worked so hard to throw it all away. Pat yourself on the back whenever you
have resisted a treat. Paste a picture of your obese self and then your 135
self on the refrigerator. Keep up the exercise, drink tons of water, and
keep at it. You can do this. Its all in your power.
— Cindy R.
May 27, 2004
Heidi, here's the thing about WLS: The "getting sick" from
eating part really doesn't last for very long, even if you are a dumper.
I've never been one. The surgery really isn't about saving you from
yourself by making you sick. It's about giving you tools to use so you can
eat heathfully more easily than we could as pre-ops.<P>Fill your
pouch with dense protein foods first, always. Start working some high
protein foods into your menu at virtually every meal, be it a meal or a
snack. That allows you to use the pouch's restrictive feature, which is a
key tool of the surgery.<P>With the RNY, we also have malabsorption,
though it's a subject of debate of how much, or how long. But, to the
extent you malabsorb, IF you do, you malabsorb a little fat, not sugars
(those, we absorb). And fats can be more filling in the pouch than sugars
and junky carbs, which flow right through the pouch for me.<P>Get
aggressive and use your tools. Staying passive and hoping the surgery will
save you from yourself won't work, as you've learned. The more you return
to the old foods you had problems with, the more you make WLS like a diet
instead of a permanent lifestyle change. As hard as the lifestyle change
is, failing at WLS would be harder, emotionally. You've got to get away
from those bad foods for awhile and concentrate on building a whole new set
of foods you like and will use to fill that pouch.
— Suzy C.
May 27, 2004
I have not experienced any dumping, and have found that I can tolerate lots
of sugar. I wish I would of never found that out. I can drink a red bull
energy drink which has 32 grams of sugar, and have never dumped. I had a
distal RNY, so I don't know why I don't dump. I usually make good food
choices though. I can't get rid of my energy drinks, and the sugarfree ones
just aren't the same.
— Raegan T.
May 27, 2004
I have not experienced any dumping, and have found that I can tolerate lots
of sugar. I wish I would of never found that out. I can drink a red bull
energy drink which has 32 grams of sugar, and have never dumped. I had a
distal RNY, so I don't know why I don't dump. I usually make good food
choices though. I can't get rid of my energy drinks, and the sugarfree ones
just aren't the same.
— Raegan T.
May 27, 2004
I am almost 14 months out, and I have never dumped. I've never knowingly
eaten anything with appreciable amounts of sugar either though, other than
yogurt and fruit. Maybe I do. Hopefully I'll never find out.
— Jim F
May 28, 2004
I had the same question!! I am 4 weeks post op and I have not dumped on
anything. I also have the problem of not getting really full like I thought
I would. I was kind of hoping I would dump on sugar, just so I would not
ever want to eat it. Nice to know I am not the only one. God Bless!
— shalandar
May 30, 2004
I am 3 years P.O. I have gained my 8# in that time. I dump on over eating.
It doesn't matter if it's a piece of cake,or tuna out of the can. Too much
in my pouch makes me puke!
I try not too eat when I'm super hungry, this is when I seem to dump more,
eating too fast and too much. For me it is not the type of food rather the
amount/rate I eat.
— Cindee A.
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