Question:
Help, is this dumping syndrome?
Hi, I was wondering if anyone might know what this is that happened to me, as I want to ensure it never happens again. I am just a little over 3 months post-op and have since eaten stuff from cookies, to sugar drinks, chocolate bars and even apple crisp. During the past 3 months, I have never had dumping syndrome once except one time when I drank a shirley temple (and approx. 30 mins later, felt like i had the flu..sweaty, dizzy, hot, weak). Ok now heres my real question, last night I went to a restaurant and literally ate 3 small french fries with a kinda spicy sauce, and about 25% of a caramel cheescake with pecan nuts on top, as soon as i felt full I stopped (this was at 1am)..I was fine the whole night and went to sleep at around 3:30am. At around 7am, I woke up and was in horrible pain, the spot between my breasts felt like a knife was literally going in and out. Every which way I moved produced more pain, I couldn't breathe, the room was spinning, I was shaking profusely, i was in a cold sweat. If it wasnt for my boyfriend, I would've called 911 and went to the er....i have never been in so much pain in my life. Its not the same day and 12pm, and I feel alot of nausea and slight pain still in my chest. Does anyone think this could be a delayed reaction to the cheesecake or possibly something else. I dont know if this has something to do with it, but im on darvoset (a painkiller for my foot) I have been taken the darvoset for now 2 weeks, one every night before i go to sleep. — Kirsti W. (posted on May 5, 2002)
May 5, 2002
It could have been a drop in blood sugars as if you ate sugary foods right
before bed, your blood sugars may have risen and while you sleep your body
works harder to process them, making your blood sugar drop more rapidly. I
have to say though, that while reading your post what concerns me most are
the food choices you are making. I am almost 1 year post op and wouldn't
even consider eating the foods you mentioned. If you are eating sugary,
fattening foods now, even in small amounts, you will be setting yourself up
for problems later on when your appetite really starts to come back. This
surgery is just a tool, and I urge you to try to change some of your eating
habits now and make better choices so that you can maintain good weight and
health later on. Your goals should be to learn to change, save the sugary
stuff for a very rare treat, but right now everything you are eating should
have good nutritional value so that you can optimize weight loss and give
your body what it truly needs. I know this isn't the advice you were
asking, but I hope you know that I say this out of true concern for you and
I am praying that you have continued success...
— Vicki K.
May 5, 2002
First of all, I am sure you know that some of the food choices you have
made have not been the best...but to each his own, right? Just be careful
with that! What your pain sounds like to me is a gallbladder attack. When
you lose weight quickly, it affects your gallbladder very much and the
development of stones is highly likely. Call your surgeon and describe the
pain you had, then ask for an ultrasound...if you've had one gallbladder
attack, another one is likely. It probably needs to come out, or your
doctor can prescribe meds that can reduce the stones...either way, I think
you need to call your surgeon to discuss this. Good luck!!
— LaRayne H.
May 5, 2002
That doesn't sound at all like dumping syndrome. I agree it sound like gall
stones, I had mine removed years ago because of that. Fatty foods not
sweets trigger a gall bladder attack. Many surgeons take the gall bladder
at time of RNY, so talk to your surgeon.
— W H.
May 5, 2002
The first thing that came to my mind was could the darvocet have been
stuck? Those pills are pretty big. It doesn't sound like a food reaction,
since it had been so long since you ate. The severe pain usually
accompanies things that have gotten stuck. Just my thoughts... Shelley
— Shelley.
May 5, 2002
Hi,
As I am pre-op, June 3rd is my date. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS
WRONG, I AM JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.... I am curious as to why you would
even eat all of that stuff since I am sure it is NOT on your food plan? I
am curious as to why you would even take a chance on eating that other
stuff? I haven't been in your position before, and who knows if I will be
in your position, I may be in 4 months, I don't know... So Again, please
dont take this wrong. I don't understand why you would intentionally eat
those things? Or is it that you cant help it and were craving those things?
I hope that I can make it through those times where I just cant help
myself and crave the sugars, and other sweets. Frankly I am scared. I
know these words weren't what you were looking for. My thoughts are that it
could be partially dumping and possibly gall bladder... I would call your
doctor immediaatly. I dont think it was your darvocet... but none of us
are doctors so I would surely ask your Doctor as soon as possible. I hope
that you are okay. I hope you feel better, I didn't mean to hurt your
feelings or make you feel bad. I just want to understand. IF YOU EVER
FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN, DONT LISTEN TO YOUR BOYFRIEND OR ANYONE ELSE,
OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING WAS WRONG... IT IS YOUR HEALTH, LIFE AND WELL BEEING...
Call 911, dont risk it...(sorry)
— Kim S.
May 5, 2002
Maybe I can answer Kim's question. This surgery (any of the surgeries) is
on the stomach not the head. After a honeymoon period (which varies with
every person) you still need to deal with food and your relationship to it.
This honeymoon period can give some introspection time and sometimes the
joy of being thin is enough to cure the cravings but it didnt for me and I
deal with the drive for surgary foods every day. Sometimes they win. This
is all a part of the process and anyone who thinks the drive to eat from
the head is over when you have surgery, I think they will be surprised.
This surgery cures nothing. It can level the playing field and allows you
to go from there but your head will come with you.
— Mary G.
May 5, 2002
you have very bad eating habits!! Please contact your dietian and your DR
you need to get back on the program! This is not only so you loose weight
but you need to let your new stomach heal. Good Luck
— Robert L.
May 6, 2002
What you are describing sounds like a gallbladder attack. Mine also came on
a few hours after I had eaten the offending foods. You may want to check
with your DR...It sounds like gallstones. I know from experience, this can
be very dangerous if left untreated, so I would at least have an ultrasound
to check it out. .
— ScatCat
May 10, 2002
Hi, thank you for everyones posts, i looked into gallstones on webmd.com,
and everything sounded exactly to what i experienced, I now have an appt.
with my doctor on may 15 to follow up with this. I recently found out
through a relative that there is a certain drug that the doctor is suppose
to give you because gallstones are so frequent with gastric bypass patients
but my doctor never even once mentioned it, so thats another thing I will
have to look into and I urge all of you to as well. As for my eating
habits, my meals per day are around one (usually lunch), I have no desire
to eat or hunger, when I eat the foods that were recommended I usually
spend time in the bathroom after that. Before the surgery, I used to eat
nothing and I mean nothing but chocolate, now for the most part, I hate the
taste of chocolate and crave the taste of fruit instead. For some reason,
I cant tolerate the foods Im suppose to be eating and for that reason Im
not getting any calories what so ever. But food like frozen yogurt and
sherbert go down easily and I NEVER get sick. So i try and eat high calorie
foods so I get some sort of calorie intake in my body. Everyday I work on
eating healthy things and for the most part they dont work or should I say,
stay down. When I said I was eating apple crisp, etc. I didnt mean that
was my diet, Ive only eaten apple crisp and cheese cake one time and that
was to experiment to see what my body could handle. You can't deprive
yourself of every food just because its unhealthy, and taking that Ive only
eaten two bad foods in the past 4 months, I think is very good..compared to
my seven chocolate meals pre-op. I drink sugar drinks, such as arizona or
snapple bc im working out alot and once again I need the calories (but even
the sugar drinks are limited to 1 or 2 a day) I went to my doctor and he
said he'd rather see me eat little food then eat alot of regualr food (go
figure on what that means) But I'm losing weight, so far 85 lbs and at the
same time turning all my lose skin into muscle to avoid those darn post-op
surgeries. I feel great except my whole gall-bladder incident, which Ill
post an update later too. Once again, I want to thank all of you for your
helpful posts, if it wasnt for your posts I might have went on believing
this was dumping and not getting it checked out. But one more thing I have
to say in reply to the woman who said eating the bad foods is mental..well
thats 100% true! No matter how much nutrional consultation you get, once
you have eaten all those junk foods or foods you crave all the time, for
basically your whole life its nearly close to impossible to go under the
knife, get your stomach stapled and wake up and say, "im not going to
crave those foods ever again" and for all of us who are overweight and
were once overweight, its hard as hell to resist those cravings. I know
alot of you won't agree with my motto, but I say if you're craving it, try
it..most likely you'll throw up or experience dumping..which will be a
deterent from wanting that specific food again. When I had my cheesecake,
I literally ate like 3 bites...I still don't see how thats bad, after all
you can't torture yourself!
— Kirsti W.
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