edpsych78

Dumping triggers for me have been unpredictable. I’m walking a fine line between low blood sugar that makes me pass out and too much that causes dumping. I can eat pudding one day (not sugar free) and be fine, but have dumping eating exactly the same thing tomorrow. I have noticed that simple sugars in combination with simple carbs or full fat dairy almost always trigger me. But applesauce, fruits, and sugar paired with 1% dairy is different. I also can’t consume sugary things that are more liquid in consistency. For example, a handful of dry cereal is fine, but even with skim milk on it I’ll dump. I think it’s so individualized that you just have to see what works and learn through experience sometimes. I will say that I’m so glad not to have reflux any more.

I had a sleeve done just over 5 years ago. I lost a lot of weight very quickly and managed to keep it off. However, I had ongoing issues with gastritis, GERD, and GI motility. At the beginning of 2019 those issues got much worse. I ended up being hospitalized because I couldn’t eat or drink and was in terrible pain. I had a great bariatric surgeon who was persistent in figuring out what was happening. He determined that my sleeve was not functioning, everything I ate stayed in my stomach and esophagus for way too long. After trying several non-surgical interventions we ended up having to convert to a bypass 4 weeks ago. The conversion to bypass has been a completely different recovery than when I had my sleeve. I never had dumping with the sleeve, and I learned the signs of being full easily. After the bypass, I don’t have any sensation of fullness until I suddenly have terrible stabbing pain under my left collarbone. I also have experienced both the “slimeys” and dumping multiple times. Dumping syndrome is no joke. I’ll immediately start to feel flushed, weak, intense nausea, and within 10 minutes have diarrhea. The only relief is to lie down for a couple of hours until the weakness and nausea pass. I never vomited after my sleeve, but following the bypass my stomach will randomly reject something, even if I’ve eaten it successfully before, and I’ll vomit it all back up. The positive side of the conversion is that I have no reflux at all anymore. After living with terrible GERD for decades, even after my sleeve, that’s a huge relief. It has been a struggle to try to stop losing weight after this surgery, because I’m way under my target weight. The only advice I’d give to you is expect that this will be an entirely new journey, and some of the things that worked after your sleeve won’t work this time around. Be patient with yourself and follow your diet restrictions. With bypass it’s been even more important to get my protein and liquids in. Don’t worry about food for a while, that will come in time.

You all look so amazing and have been incredibly inspiring along my journey. Here are a couple of my pics 8 months post-op and 108 pounds down. SW: 304 CW: 196