Guest guest Posted July 9, 2000 Report Share Posted July 9, 2000 > , > > 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, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2000 Report Share Posted July 9, 2000 > , > > 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, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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