Question:
Is this dumping?

I am about a year and a half out of surgery and I have lost about 135 pounds. I know what fat does to me and I believe that is dumping for me...but I have never thrown up. I just get bad stomach cramps and diarreha. However, a few times I have gotten what I think is dumping from sugar....I get very dizzy, sweaty, the hearing gets fuzzy, and I feel very faint. I have to sit down and put my head down and drink water until it passes. This happened twice when I thought I could link it to sugar. However, it happened out of the blue yesterday! Maybe it is not dumping but something else? I did eat something higher in fat about an hour before this happened yesterday, but not anything I hadn't had before. And I hadn't had anything high in sugar. Any ideas? Someone mentioned hypoglycemia?    — Denise F. (posted on November 13, 2002)

November 13, 2002
Sounds like dumping to me - I dump on some fatty things. Dumping for me is caused by a multitude of things - and I haven't bigured out what yet - I just keep a list!! My surgeon told me to try new things very slowly and in very small amounts until I know what does and doesn't make me dump.
   — Scarlett A.

November 14, 2002
hiya...i'm 17 mos post op and have noticed that dumping has changed. a lot of times i'll just feel "icky" and not get the full-on dumping symptoms like during the first year. what you are describing does sound more like hypoglycemia --keep a "food" journal for a few days and see if you can figure it out that way. when i get a dip in blood sugar (from waiting too long to eat)i get dizzy, nauseous, fuzzy in the head, heart rate increases and i get cranky. it's best to eat natural sugar (fruit) like applesauce is great with some protein like a bite or two of peanut butter (better yet, apples dipped in peanut butter), try to stay away from carbs even tho that's what your body may yell for. they will burn up too fast and it doesn't keep your blood sugar levelled out. maybe a few sips of protein drinks would help or a few bites of a protein bar - that you can carry with you. our bodies do some weird things post op, i've developed a gluten intolerance so every time i eat something with gluten in it (which is almost everything!!) i start sneezing, runny eyes and if i eat too much my chest closes up! i only figured out it was the gluten by keeping a food journal. good luck! kate open rny 6-14-01 pre op: 268lbs goal: 135lbs current: 126lbs
   — jkb

November 14, 2002
The few times I have dumped, those are my exact reactions-the dizziness, faintness, sweaty and weak feeling. I have sometimes eaten something, like the fried chinese foods that will cause the stomach cramps and diahrea. I don't consider that dumping but some kind of intestinal thing where that particular fat food doesn't agree with your system. I actually had that pre-op every now and then.
   — Cindy R.

November 14, 2002
Technically we don't "dump" on fat, but that doesn't mean you can't get sick from it. But it sounds like hypoglycemia to me. The reason dumping and hypoglycemia feel similar is because dumping is a whopping case of hypoglycemia induced by the sugar you eat. When the sugar hits the intestines, your body "dumps" insulin to regulate your blood sugar. Unfortunately, it works a little too well and makes your blood sugar too low so you feel crappy (as most of us are familiar with :). If I wait too long to eat I do get hypoglycemia but I can usually snap out of it fairly quickly by drinking orange juice or sucking on a piece of candy. Dumping, well, there's nothing to do for that but wait it out. Almost anything you can do will only make things worse.
   — ctyst