Question:
There are foods I could eat a few months ago, and now they cause dumping.
Has anyone else run into this situation? A few months ago, I started experimenting with some "forbidden" foods. I guess I am just a die-hard chocoholic or something. I found that I could eat a few bites of cake or a cookie without any problems. I went on like that for about four months, with just a couple bites of sweets two or three times a week, but then six weeks or so ago, I ate one cookie and dumped really bad. Since then, I have dumped about every other day. I know I should not be eating these things at all, but I just can't get that through my thick head. I can't understand why I didn't have dumping at first, but now I do. And, something inside me keeps remembering how I ate this same item before without any problems, so I am willing to risk dumping in hopes that it won't happen this time either. Of course when I am sick and dumping, I regret eating the sweets, and I beat my self up for being so "stupid". But, then a couple days later I do it again. What the heck is up with this? Why would dumping just start at this late date (9 months post RnY)? And, does anyone else keep attempting to eat sweets even though it makes them sick almost every time? — Lynn K. (posted on June 30, 2000)
June 30, 2000
Lynn, you seem to forget why you needed the surgery in the first place.
Dumping not only tells you how stupid it was to eat that forbidden food
but, it also means that your body didn't get to use the proteins you also
took in before dumping. It's hard enough for the body to utilize the
proteins and harder yet to take more in that day.
— char T.
June 30, 2000
I guess what I don't understand is did you have the surgery if you wasn't
going to learn from it. I don't mean to sound harsh. The purpose of the
surgery was for you to stop eating sweets. But you yet are eating cookies
and cake and then you are getting sick but yet you are still eating cookies
and cake. They do have protein bars out there that will satisfy your
chocolate taste without the calories. It shouldn't take too many times to
learn. You are defeating your purpose for having the surgery. Later you
will wonder why you are not losing weight. Then you are going to want to
sue the doctor because the surgery failed. Please forgive me for being a
little strong. But this surgery is not a cure all it is a tool for us to
use, and if you are not going to use it in the correct manner why did you
have the surgery. I know it is not easy Boy do I know. But I made up in my
mind that I am not going to let anyone or anything stop me from reaching my
goal. That mean that I am not going to eat anything that I am not suppose
to eat just to see if I am going to dump. As far as cookies and cakes are
concern they are no longer going to be a part of my eating pattern. I will
eat a nasty protein bar ( they are nasty)before I put a cookie or cake in
my mouth.
— [Anonymous]
June 30, 2000
I have already stated in my original question that I know I should not eat
sweets, and I have been beating myself up for being so stupid. So, it is
not necessary for anyone else to tell me how stupid I am or flame me. I am
asking if anyone else has had similar experiences to mine so I can try to
understand why I am doing this to myself. I am not an idiot. I am a very
intelligent woman, but I am still doing self-destructive things to myself
and I don't understand why.
— Lynn K.
June 30, 2000
Lynn,
Please don't beat yourself for doing these things. If you're like me, you
spent many years being overweight, and old habits die hard. I can't answer
your question as to why you would start dumping at 9 months post-op, but I
can give you suggestions about your behavior and eating. Find a therapist
or counselor to work with you on your new lifestyle changes and addictive
behavior issues. Of, if you can't live without your sweets and don't want
to see a therapist, make your own using Splenda, a sugar substitute that
tastes EXACTLY (I mean it - no bitter aftertaste!) like sugar. You can
bake with it! I use it in my tea and kool-aid. www.splenda.com. Also,
try to increase your protein. I have heard that it satisfies the sugar
cravings. This is not an easy journey, and don't feel like you are alone.
We're all going to slip up now and then. We're not perfect - we're only
human. I think a multidisciplinary approach of physical, nutritional,
psychological, and medical counseling will pave the road to success. Best
wishes!
— [Deactivated Member]
June 30, 2000
I think you should talk to a psycologist to help you to work through some
of the issues that you are going through. It should be a part of your
aftercare. I don't know many doctor do have a psycologist you could talk
to. Sometimes when I am sad or upset I want to eat but can't I try to find
something else to do with my time like read a book or walk. I hope whatever
issues you have that you will be able to work through them and by talking
to someone (professional)it could help. Good luck to you.
— [Anonymous]
June 30, 2000
I completely understand what you are going through and only have a clue of
what of is for me. I am 6 months post op and am 51 pounds from my goal of
135. All of a sudden I am finding myself in a state of rebellion and panic.
For me the thought of being thin is more scary than I thought it would be
and also have learned something about the way I used to hide behind my fat
self. I keep thinking that if someone does not like me now I can't blame it
on my fat but I have to take the blame myself. I am working through that
issue now, but I still find myself looking for something to hide behind.
BTW, I can eat an entire candy bar with no dumping and just a little ache
in my stomach. Several days in a row. That is something that I shouldn't
know, but the fact is I do know it and now I have to learn to control
myself. I have issues. They caused me to get fat and they can keep me from
getting thin if I don't deal with them now. You didn't ask for a personal
journal, but it is irritating to me when people assume that the reasons you
are doing something is out of ignorance. Not all of us got fat for the same
reasons or are able to so easily identify them. Some of us are deeper
people than the rest of the world gives credit. And spending years hiding
behind the fat, consciously or not, is something that takes some time to
deal with. Get with someone you trust and try to figure out what is going
on in your mind when you do these things :o)
— S S.
June 30, 2000
I have this same problem. I will get sick on a sweet and swear I never
want it again, but the next day Im craving it again! I dont dump from the
sugar, I just get sick from eating too much. I dont know what the answear
is but I wanted you to know you are not alone. Mabey we are all a little
phyco!! RNY 4/29/99 170 lbs lost
— jenae C.
June 30, 2000
Lynn. Your post mystified me. I suggest you enlist the assistance of a
good therapist who knows about eating disorders. Dumping syndrome, in my
opinion, is your best friend. It will keep you honest. It is definitely
not worth it to resort to old patterns and eat the sugar shit. I know. I
have dumping syndrome bad and I was a sugar junkie. You seem to be
willing to lie to yourself about the whole deal. Quit. Who cares that you
got dumping syndrome late. It helps. Please see a therapist. LOL
Beth.
— [Anonymous]
June 30, 2000
I read your post, and I can identify with your issues; I too feel like I
know what to eat and what not to eat, but you know what? There are still
days that I eat things that are not the best things for me! Granted I
don't crave to many sweet things but I do crave salty things... which is
probably just as bad! I crave these things more often around my time of
the month and there are days I can't seem to get enough of the salt and the
stuff the salt comes on like crackers... anyways... I just think everyone
needs to get off their soap boxes and quit suggesting that she go see a
counselor; I have a hard time believing that all of you posting here have
never eaten things that you know are bad for you and yet you still eat
it... and if you can be so honest to yourself and state you don't cheat/eat
the wrong foods ever... (since the surgery) then please let us all know
your secret to being so perfect. I started this new life October 14, 1999
I weighed 400lbs the day of my surgery; I have lost over 155lbs, in less
then 9 months, I had an open RNY/distal procedure. I just do not think
anyone should judge this lady for being honest and forthcoming in her above
question/issue... she is looking for answers from "US" people
that have been through similar issues and can give her support. I am pretty
sure she,like most of us can handle the "cruel truth" but as you
can plainly see if you read her post, she knows the "truth".
— Jamie T.
June 30, 2000
Lynn, I can empathize with you completely about having the desire to eat
favorite foods. I also would like to say that the reason you are having
dumping now instead of before is answered in your own words!!!. You say
that you started experimenting with eating a bite or 2 of forbidden foods
and didn't have any dumping. Great-that is probably because it was only a
bite or 2!!! But now that you have started to eat a little more of these
foods, like a whole cookie instead of just a bite, well that is most likely
too much. Heavens!!! Don't beat yourself up about experimenting with food.
How will anyone know what they can and cannot tolerate if they don't try
small bites. Isn't that what should be done anyway? Nibble, nibble, bite, a
bit more and then-stop, you've reached that magical threashold from ok to
not ok. Lots of people who couldn't tolerate certain foods early post op
start to add variety and isn't that what it's all about? Please, everyone
should be doing what you have done!! Now as far as other people wanting to
eat more and more, well, first off, let me say that no food should be
forbidden. All foods are good and have their place in a balanced
nutritional plan. It's not the food that is bad but our behavior and
actions which cause the problems with food. I think that we have to call
our problems with food the addiction that it is and stop blaming the food
for our troubles and point the finger back at ourselves. Please let me be
personal about this because I don't want anyone to beat up on me for
expressing my opinion. I lied to myself and deluded myself for too long and
for too many reasons. I was fat because I couldn't control the quantities
of food I ate, made bad choices about foods and ate too much and refused to
exercise and move (whine whine whine).Period. Bottom line. Yes, there is
the heredity factor and other conditions to factor in but the fact is I
didn't get to be 375 pounds by eating a normal, balanced diet and
exercising. So, Lynn, I have to say that I'm with you about having the
strong mental cravings for food. Now because I had the DS I do not have
dumping at all. That was an appealing feature in my decision to have the
DS. Other people, as has been stated, honor the dumping as a negative
reinforcement to not eat certain foods. Whatever works for you. But I
struggle not with dumping but with guilt and anger at being able to eat as
much as I do eat. Because I had the DS my stomach is the real thing and the
capacity is greater than a RNY pouch. This was also a big plus in my
decision to have the DS rather than the RNY. But the amount of food I can
eat, though not nearly as much as before surgery, is definitely more than I
thought I would be able to eat and this scares me sometimes even though
what I usually eat is quite a reasonable and average portion-some things
are hard to change) I am afraid I will push the limit so much that I will
go overboard. As it is, I have already experienced severe pain when I have
intentionally overeaten-it is awful, yet I do it again. I feel like I am
slipping back to some of the same old self destructive habits I had before
and find myself saying how I must go back to Overeaters Anonymous (OA)
because that was a program that didn't sugar coat any reasons or care about
any reasons I was fat. Just straight talk about why I had the behaviors I
did, and dealing with head hunger and mental cravings and binging. I
vehemently resisted going to OA for so long and then when I finally did, I
had such an awakening and began to really see my behavior for what is was,
and also talk with a counselor about the whole compulsive eating/bulimia
issue. I never call compulsive overeating that anymore because , for me, it
is too general. Now that I have done research for years, I realize it is a
form of bulimia, without some of the additional behaviors. So, Lynn, I will
keep you in my prayers and hope that my response will give you some help
and support. Like we say, the operation fixes our bodies but not our minds.
I congratulate all of us who have had the surgery already and those who
are still in the information gathering stage. Sometimes the physical
problems have to be dealt with as a matter of life and death and then the
other issues have to be acknowledged afterwards. Kinda like the cardiac
surgery patient- they are not told to go to a psychologist and get
counseling to deal with their high cholesterol, sodium overload, and excess
weight and lack of exercise before they are given the life saving surgery
they need. The morbidly obese should also be treated in the same way and
treatment should not be with held based on the future behavior
possibilities. Hang in there, Lynn, you are not alone in this ugly power
struggle.I am right up there with you, kid, move over and pass the humble
pie.
— Fran B.
June 30, 2000
Fran, you are right on the money with your comments about the real problems
with MOs. Yes, heredity is a factor, but some people are able to deal with
the heredity factor. We all have excuses for our eating habits, because
the truth makes us feel ashamed. We should not feel ashamed, but rather,
we should concentrate on changing our behavior. While considering this
surgery, I had plenty of time to decide what I really wanted my future to
be like. I made up my mind that food was going to given a new role in my
life; it would be consumed for nutrition alone. With that and the fear of
"dumping" ever in my mind, I find the temptations are fewer all
the time.
— Louise H.
June 30, 2000
Hello Lynn. I was wondering when you took the small bites months ago has
that change. Try to see what you are doing different. Sometime if you woof
down a cookie you will have dumping. Maybe you are not taking small bites
and chewing it real well. Do you experience pain in your chest?. Try to sit
down and figure what is going on and write down what your situation was
before when you ate the cookie and how it is now and maybe you will find
your problem. Also talk to your Surgeon and see what they say. You got me
wondering will this happen to me later on. Don't listen to people who say
that you had the Surgery to stop old eating habits.<font color=red>
THE MAIN REASON YOU HAD THE SURGERY IS NOT TO DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF FOOD BUT
TO EAT A SMALLER PORTION OF FOOD.</font> You can have a cookie or two
as long as you don't eat the whole bag in one sitting. If you are loosing
weight then eat a cookie, but if it hurts you a lot to be dumping then stop
eating those cookies. GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS.
— [Anonymous]
June 30, 2000
Dear Lynn,
I am 10 months post-op. I had some dumping the first few months, but now I
almost never have any dumping. I am also a sugar nut. I have figured out
how many cookies I can eat without any dumping and keep it under that
number. I will eat a banana first so I will be partly full and than eat my
cookies (usually 2 or 3, sometimes 6). I keep a food journal and count
every calorie. I will have ANYTHING I want as long as I keep my daily
calories between 1200 and 1800. It has worked for me. I have lost 108lbs.
and have 35 more to go. Each person must find a way that works for them. I
probably break every rule, but I am happy and continue to lose weight. My
health is excellent and my self esteem is high. E-mail me if you want to
talk privately [email protected].
— Cheryl H.
July 1, 2000
Lynn, I applaude your courage to post this question and Fran,
I appreciate your honest answer! I knew when I had this surgery
I was going to have to address the emotional issues that
contributed to my weight. What I didn't realize was how HARD
it was going to be!!! I knew I could lose the weight due to surgery
(because of so much "success" doing it before- but always
gaining it back), but this emotional head hunger and cravings
stink! I certainly understand much better what drug addicts and
alcoholics go through in recovery as my drug of choice is
food (sugar in particular) and there are days when I absolutely
HATE life on life's terms and want to EAT. I, too have eaten
what I shouldn't have and felt icky (to put it mildly), and
again will try the food later. BUT, I have also felt crappy eating
things that are good for me, too. SO, Lynn, hang in there-
you are NOT alone! Journaling seems to help me in both identifying
what I am eating that makes me sick, and the reasons I am eating
inappropriately. I am angry I have to do all this sometimes, but
I am determined the dysfuntion of my family stops in my generation!
Good Luck!
— M B.
July 1, 2000
Lynn, I can see that there are some very well thought out responses to your
post, here. Some not. I will trust that you can see weed between the two.
I saw a psychologist specializing in eating disorders (when I was an
inpatient for 30 days to try to help me with "binge eating
syndrome." I can say that I don't think a psych program is going to
solve your immediate issue, here. You crave sweets. You've had an RNY.
Me too. I am guessing that like me, you will read labels. I read the
label for mini chocolate donuts, for example. The listed serving size is
three doughnuts. The sugar content of a "serving" is 15 g.
Since I know I cannot have over 6 g of sugar without inviting dumping (I
have never dumped), I have one doughnut @ 5 g of sugar, and go on my merry
way -- quenched. Same thing for Hershey Kisses. I have three and then I
back away slowly. LOL Recently, I craved cake icing. Low and behold, I
found that Sweet and Low has a "just add water" version in the
cake mix aisle. Yummy. Next, I found a brand of candy called
"Fifty/50." Delicious peanut butter and chocolate, straight
chocolate, hard candies, etc., made without sugar added. Then ice cream --
I've found two good brands without added sugar (milk has natural sugar, but
they don't add extra). I have the specified serving amount, and am
satisfied. Since we can eat so much less, post-op, there's not that
deprived feeling, when finished. This is a great way to get my milk
allotment for the day. (PLEASE no one write me on the evils of Milk. MY
nutritionist and surgeon OK it for their patients). As another post here
said, Skim milk has the highest sugar content, so if you need a sip to
chase your doughnut, go for a little fat, as opposed to skim. Lastly, I
purchased Sucralose -- Marketed on the Internet as "Splenda." It
makes great cookies, cakes, hot chocolate, etc., and has no effect on the
body, like sugar. No plaque on teeth, no dumping, etc. Might try that, if
you like to bake. Splenda bakes very well, unlike other sugar substitutes.
If you need recipes, please email me or see Victoria Bowen's Page. I use
her recipes and substitute Splenda for sugar. I wish you all the best.
Stop beating yourself up, please? Let go of the "I'm a bad girl"
thing. It will only perpetuate your guilt and yur cycle of eating less
healthful. There are not "bad foods", but you can eat badly.
Look at food as a breakdown of nutrition -- carbs (sugar), fats, protein,
etc, and not as "good for me / bad for me". Enjoy, as I do -- in
moderation. And stop the slamming. You CAN have your sweet tooth
satisfied AND continue to lose your excess weight. <~~~ No charge.
That's what I learned in therapy. ; )
— lisadiehl
July 1, 2000
I think you're very brave to come forward and admit what alot of people
won't. Everyone overeats for different reasons and I can only speak for
myself. Before I had this surgery I had no control over food (especially
sweets). I would eat so much that I would become nauseous, then the guilt
and self loathing started, then after the food passed out of my system I
would feel okay again until the next time I overate. Vicious cycle. I
suppose you could call it bulimia without the vomiting. I was slowly
killing myself and I knew it. I ate my way up to almost 400 lbs and there
were no signs of it stopping. My weight had nothing to do with heredity
(my parents and brother are all normal weight). I wasn't sure what was
going to happen after the surgery. I found that the surgery gave me a
little control over food and I've been able to muster up some additional
control on top of that. I still struggle almost daily with sweets. I've
wondered if I should seek counseling and I'm certainly keeping that option
in mind. I notice some people tell you just to stop eating the sweets and
that makes me laugh. Isn't that what thin people have told us for
years..."just eat less and you'll lose weight." She knows what
she is doing is harmful. The problem isn't whether you dump or don't dump,
it's eating things even though you know they will make you sick that is the
problem. If you feel out of control go and see someone that will help you
get control back...counselor, OA, whoever can help you figure out why
you're doing this to yourself. Good luck to you.
— Kellie L.
Click Here to Return