Guest guest Posted July 9, 2000 Report Share Posted July 9, 2000 I really appreciated you reply - now I don't feel like I'm so alone or that I'm the only one that's gone thru the barfing bit. It seems like I barf something almost every day! One day I can tolerate something just fine and the next it comes right back up. Thanks for your help. wrote: > > > , > > > > My name is Sandi and I'm new to the E-Groups. > > Had surgery May 24, 2000. > > Have had problems with the Actigall - nausea, diarrhea > >, intestinal cramps. Problems with swallow- > > ing - everything goes down in a lump and sometimes it really hurts > > and doesn't stay down - even water! I'm 54, had surgery on my > > birthday - maybe it has to do with my age. Did > > you have any of the above problems and how long did it take to go > > away?? > > > > Thanks! > > I'm 47, so there's not a big difference in our ages. > > > Have had problems with the Actigall - nausea, diarrhea > > intestinal cramps. > > I have had trouble with the Actigall. I discovered right away > that if I took that and didn't eat for an hour, when I did > eat, there would be a *lot* of bile/liquid in my stomach and > I would barf or want to barf just about anything I ate, there > would be a *lot* of bile/liquid in it, *and* worse, I'd get > the dry heaves, and then I would be nauseous afterwards. > This is the *worst* barfing there is and even made me wet > my pants from barfing so hard. Ordinary barfing from eating > too fast, or not chewing enough, is not like that at all. > (Side note, the MGB cures ordinary urinary incontinance, but > I discovered this *new* version, call it the > " Actigall effect " heheh.) > > The " cure " for this for me was to eat the Actigall at the > end of a meal (and be sure it is a full meal, not just a > snack, something that will absorb the excess fluid the Actigall > causes.) > > If that doesn't work for you, you might ask Dr. R about > changing medicines or taking you off the Actigall. If you > are losing weight slowly, you may not even need the > Actigall at all. > > I also found that the Carafate was giving me nausea and loose > stools so since you are just getting off that, maybe that will > help, too. > > Taking Konsyl (I take that instead of Citrucell because I > *hate* the taste of Citracell and Konsyl is unflavored) > stops the diarrhea. Konsyl mixed in applejuice is a lot like > applesauce and quite tasty. > > Also, the more fat you eat, the more loose stools you will > have because the one thing your body cannot process well > now is fat. To get an idea of your fat (and other nutrients) > intake, I have found it very helpful to chart every mouthful > over on http://www.dietwatch.com for a few weeks (plus it's > kinda fun to chart BMI, weight, and so on, too.) > > " Problems with swallowing - everything goes down in a lump and > sometimes it really hurts and doesn't stay down - even water! " > > At this point (5-6 weeks), you are well into the stage > where both your stomach and the hole into the intestine > have built and continue to build scar tissue, making > them *smaller* than they were in the first 2-3 weeks, > and so they also are *much* more sensitive to foods that > aren't well chewed, or to too much food at one time, and' > even to certain textures of foods. > > You can *feel* your stomach much better now than you ever > could before, too. > > You can also *feel* food moving from the stomach into the > small intestine, something you could never feel before > because you had a pyloric valve that you don't have now. > > Gulping water or eating a large bite of food *hurts* as the > food goes down because the water or food occupies *all* > available space on the way down but it also pushes air > down into the small stomach ahead of it (you can't > drink without getting air). If you've taken a big gulp, > there's no place for it all to go, plus the air bubble spends > the whole time trying to go *up* as the swallowing muscles and the > water are pushing it down, so you've got a little war going on in > the stomach and throat in not much space. > > You never noticed this before because your stomach was so much > bigger there was a place for the air to go, a place for the food > to go, and they weren't fighting for space. > > It's worse with food or thick liquids like yogurt, because the air > bubble has a harder time getting past it. > > You'll feel better when you burp and if you can force yourself > to burp, so much the better. But if burping makes it better, > that should tell you that you are taking too big a bites/sips > or too fast, one after the other. > > The stomach can no longer grind food as well as it did, so > it is *vital* that you thoroughly chew food before you eat > it and also that you don't eat too fast, overloading the > stomach, even with liquids, because the stomach is less > responsive than it was. > > If you overload the stomach, the food, by gravity, will try to > go on and dump into the intestine and if the food is too large, > not chewed well, or just too much of it at once from eating > too fast, that will cause a pain from stretching the hole > between the stomach and the small intestine. > > Food that is too large and hits that hole into the intestine > will either make you barf, make you nauseous, or hurt. > > The *texture* of the food makes a difference, too. For instance, > cottage cheese, which I used to love, makes me barf, even well > chewed and eaten slowly, but other people can eat cottage > cheese with no problems. I don't have any problems with any > other dairy foods, so it isn't because it's dairy, it's the > texture of it. > > For the most part, though, for me, it has definitely been not > chewing well and/or eating too fast that causes pain (air gets > trapped ahead of the food) and also that is what makes me barf > because after I barf, I can eat the same food just fine, so > long as I chew it very well and don't rush the bites > except cottage cheese). So it is not the food itself > causing the problem (except cottage cheese). > > You're also at the stage where you are discovering food isn't a > comfort anymore. This is a huge shock. I didn't identify > exactly what it was right away, and stayed in a kind of angry > depression for 2-3 weeks until I figured it out. > > For awhile, I felt almost defiant or angry (and I didn't > know why), a lot like when you bust loose from a diet, though. > I would go out and try foods, especially foods that > were " bad, " like a Big Mac or an ice cream but most of those > foods did not do anything satisfying for me. They either tasted > bad, set in my stomach badly, or made me sick. Most > of the time, they didn't even taste good. And I got > frustrated. > > Obviously, you don't want to eat foods anymore that don't sit > well or go down well or that make you barf. But it began > to seem like that was *every* food I used to like, too. > > If I found something I could eat and I liked to eat it, I > developed my own little Rainman response -- I'd eat it for > days. I own an entire cabinet full of Vietti vegetable-beef > soup. > > Anyway, I have now concluded that the stomach no longer sends a > " content " signal after eating foods. This is something I > had relied on a lot (without knowing it) before surgery, because > I ate food as a source of comfort and as a response to most > everything. This may be because of the parts of the stomach > that are cut away, which contain some sensors. > > It is a little like chewing food without swallowing it. Something > is missing. Then add to that, some foods not only don't send > the " content " signal, they actually feel *bad,* make me nauseous, > cause a pain when they pass through the hole into the intestine, > or make me barf, and the reaction is " Well, ain't this a kick > in the pants? " > > Without that " content " signal, *no* food seems really satisfying > anymore. That was a lot of what had kicked off my frustration > and when I *finally* figured this out, I had to learn to do > something else with my hands, mouth, and my conditioned > response to " eat " whenever something made me happy, anxious, > frustrated, sad, etc., because I wasn't going to be > satisfied by snacking on much of anything. > > I have found that *cold* foods, like frozen yogurt and sugar- > free popsicles, *do* create a sensation similar to that " content " > signal and make a decent substitute while getting through this. > I also found that jerky was good because it has to be chewed > *a lot*, to it is good practice (really, I'm not joking). It > makes you chew and chew, and builds up the chewing muscles and > the chewing response -- something that idle snackers who could > toss back most anything without much chewing before, need. > > http://www.jerkyusa.com/ has great jerky that doesn't have > that odd preservative whats-in-this taste to it. It's mildly > salty and very chewy. > > Eventually what happens is we stop seeing food as anything other > than necessary nourishment. It stops being important. It > just stops being fun. This a *very* hard adjustment to make, > psychologically. I'm still working on it because my habit > has long been to eat food in response to most anything and > it is still my response, out of habit, even though I no longer > get a rewarding feeling when I snack. Every few days, I get a > craving, like a lightbulb going off, " Say, I bet *that* will > be good! " so I go out and get whatever it is, only to add > another food to the dissappointing-and-not-worth-eating list. I > figure eventually I will clue up. I can at least *see* what's > happening now. It's a psychological dependence and the surgery is > curing it by force. > > So you've got the " there's no good food anymore " thing going on > at the same time you're having the pains on swallowing, cramping > and so on, as you learn to change your eating habits, and it > is just, overall, a real psychological downer. It *will* get > better!! I think it varies from person to person but I > seem to be a pretty slow study and I'm getting a little > better at it now (7 weeks). > > I don't know if any of this will help, but I hope so. > > Kind regards, > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > CatalogLink offers hundreds of catalogs for FREE! > Click here to find the latest and greatest in the > world of catalogs - check out our featured Picks of the Week > and also look to enter our $500 catalog shopping spree! > http://click.egroups.com/1/6068/3/_/453517/_/963167385/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > This message is from the Mini-Gastric Bypass Mailing List at Onelist.com > Please visit our web site at http://clos.net > Get the Patient Manual at http://clos.net/get_patient_manual.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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