What's going on with my guts?

[Marbear 41]

I haven't had the obligatory poo post yet, so here goes:

Sleeved 3/25/13, I've been compliant with surgeon instructions regarding food. So far I have had NO issues with my sleeve and new foods - love it! However, this week and part of last, I've started having some issues with my guts. My stomach feels like it's burning in the evenings, i have mild intermittent nausea, my intestines make lots of loud noises, and I am having frequent bouts of liqui-poo and gas. Truly, my butt is peeing about 4 times in the evenings. It's not getting better and I'm wondering what I'm missing. I'm not getting dehydrated and I'm not throwing up, not running a fever, etc. so it hasn't even occurred to me to call the doctors office this week and ask...I just figured my body is still adjusting from surgery. But tonight my stomach really felt like it was burning so i took a 2nd Protonix, drank a little bit of Metamucil (that helped settle things, burning lessened). Is there something sinister going on? Not really having pain but now I'm getting a little paranoid about leaks, ulcers, and gallbladders and such...of course right before a long, beautiful weekend. Other info, if it helps:

I am taking a prescription acid reducer (Protonix) every morning. Drinking Vitamin Water Zero instead of Water, as it just seems to go down easier (although it burned last night and tonight), also lots of chamomile tea, mint tea, etc. I have never had a problem with dairy and eat cottage cheese, cheese sticks, etc. with no issue. Last night i drank some buttermilk to help with the queasy burning feeling and it did help. Taking my bariatric multi Vitamin with food early in the day, no probs with that or Calcium supplement that I can tell. I haven't changed my diet (Protein shakes, cheese, tofu, amaranth, fish, eggs, chicken, etc. all chewed well). At this point I'll happily cut out the dairy, but i am only having this problem in the evenings, and I have dairy early in the day. Is Vitamin Water Zero acidic or hard on sleeves? Thoughts & suggestions please? I'm getting a little nervous about this.

[buplee 556]

I would suggest you call you doctor ASAP. It may be something simple but you should seek medical assistance.

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[Marbear 41]

My only option right now is going to the ER, and I don't feel like it's that urgent. Does this sound like that kind of an emergency to you? Thanks for the response.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

Cut out the Vitamin Water and see. I think it has a lot of acid in it.

If you don't feel the need to go to the ER, go back to your original clear liquid diet for a few days and add things back in one at a time to see what's triggering your upset tummy.

As for your peeing bum? We call that pee pee dirt in my house.

[Marbear 41]

I called the dr. office even though they are closed, and my surgeon was the on call doctor. He said it is probably something I ate, and to leave off dairy. But my stomach is on fire right now (first time it's been burning in the morning) and I haven't had any dairy yet. I'll go back to the first week post op diet like you suggest. In the meantime, any ideas for how to cool off my poor tummy? It burns like acid reflux burns, but I am taking the acid reducer. thanks so much for the replies!

[juarezgil 28]

Try taking mylanta or pepto

[kulita 243]

We are sleeved around the same time. My tummy was doing the same thing earlier this week. So I went back to only Protein shakes and decided to try out each food one by one in a meal. So on Monday it was Protein Shakes and beans- no problem, Tuesday Protein Shakes and cheese- no problem, Wednesday Protein shakes and toast- MAJOR PROBLEM. Once I found out what it was I was able to take that out and then continue to eat on my soft stage again. I will try toast again when my tummy has had a chance to heal a bit more.

You could try to reintroduce your foods again

[Marbear 41]

First off, kulita, thank you for your service.

That's awesome you found it was the toast, and glad you feel better! I'm doing just that - back to Proteins and reintroducing. I'm still feeling that burning even with the Protein shakes, so maybe my stomach lining is just raw and aggravated by anything right now. I've also cut out a Vitamin prescribed by a dermatologist - Nicazel. It is supposed to help with inflammation and breakouts, which I've been having recently. It's a B Vitamin with minerals, and I've never had problems with it before. The surgeons office had said it was ok to take (I'm already on the bariatric multi with no problems). But I've cut it out; that was really the only new thing that I introduced recently.

I am really having anxiety about these symptoms, and when I talked to my surgeon Sat. he was not very happy about getting called. I don't blame him, but that didn't help my mental health one bit. I haven't taken pepto yet, I'm not sure that's ok to take. I have taken Tums, but there was no effect. Hopefully today will be better!

[kulita 243]

Are you taking prilosec or nexium to reduce the amount of acid in your sleeve? Also, are you crushing your meds & Vitamins or are they liquids/chewables?

[Marbear 41]

I'm taking a prescription acid reducer, Protonix, so there should not be very much acid there. I'm on chewable bariatric Multivitamin 1x per day and chewable Calcium 2x per day, and these Vitamins were given to my by the surgeon when at my 1 week checkup post op.

[kulita 243]

Ok, do any of your shakes have dairy in it? whey can be made with and without lactose. People who have trouble in finding lactose free whey Protein usually go to egg white protein.

[Marbear 41]

yes, all my shakes are whey Protein isolate. I've been looking up non-dairy shakes and plan on getting one this afternoon. Or maybe I'll just eat eggs until this is figured out lol.

[kulita 243]

LOL... ok I would try the Jay Robb ones before you jump to eating eggs instead of Protein Shakes.< /p>

[kidrn72 85]

You may need a different acid reducer like nexiem or Prevacid. After surgery I needed to have my dose increased to twice per day.

[kulita 243]

^ That is true too. I was on Nexium once a day but that got bumped to 2x a per day and I have to open up the capsule