Vomiting post gastric bypass surgery

[Jalapeño 13]

Hi, sorry if this question has already been posted. I'm now 2 months post op following a revision from mini gastric bypass to RNY. The surgeon kept the original pouch from the mini. When I eat, despite chewing well, I often vomit up the food. From those who have had RNY, did the restriction of food get any easier over time? I'm hoping I'll be able to eat a normal sized meal at some point without running to the bathroom.

[NickelChip 1,358]

The issues I have with foods aren't so much about quantity as texture or bite size and/or speed of eating. I'm 4 months post-op and have averaged one vomiting incident a week, usually from a new culprit each time. Often, the same food will be something I've been fine with in the past and will have again in the future without problems. Reheating is a big issue as it dries out food, but so is swallowing too much at one time, even when well-chewed. A normal portion size for me right now might be 4 oz meat or fish and a small serving of vegetables, or a small hamburger without the bun. Today I ordered a bowl of short rib chili at a restaurant and ate about half of it, plus a bite of the cornbread. From what I hear, yes, the restriction will be less over time. But don't expect that for the first year or two.

[toodlerue 462]

I’m 6 years out & if I tried to eat a “normal” meal I would throw up. I can only eat about 3 1/2oz at a time. This means I have to eat 5 times a day. My surgeon even made my pouch a little bigger because I didn’t need a by pass for weight loss but because my esophagus was in an L shape & this was the best way to correct it.

Try eating smaller portions.

[catwoman7 11,278]

I eat fairly normal-sized meals and have for a long time. And by "normal" I don't mean the gargantuan amounts I ate before surgery - I mean the size of your average woman who eats more on the light side. No one could tell by what I eat that I've had RNY (like they could have my first few months post-op). If they even notice at all, they'd assume I'm just a light eater. I really don't eat any differently than most of my never-been-obese women friends who are watching their weight.

example - if I go out for pizza, I can only handle 1-2 pieces (as opposed to the half a large pizza that I used to eat). At restaurants I'll often order something like Soup and salad or an appetizer, but if I get an entree, I'll eat half of it and have them box the rest up. Pretty much the same as a lot of my women friends.

Edited June 25, 2024 by catwoman7

[JennyBeez 289]

At 3 months out, I'm still between 1/2 cup to a cup per meal, depending on what it is. Thinner and wetter dishes are better tolerated for me; if I have a 2oz turkey burger patty, I can eat one or two bites of cooked vegetables -- but if I have that same amount of patty with gravy or ground up in a stew/chili/etc, I can stomach a bit more veg.

At 2 months -- and even now at 3 -- the texture of food seems to affect me more than the quantity. Anything too dry (including both white and dark poultry for some reason) induces vomiting and/or dumping syndrome. Egg whites. Even when I think it's moist, often my body argues back and proves me wrong.

I've heard from so many people -- on this forum, in my program support group, from my care team -- and it will get easier and better as time goes by, both in terms of portions and foods becoming less irritating, usually around the 1 to 2 year mark. Some people can never go back to a few certain foods, others can eat pretty normally.

Bear through it. Cater to your tummy's tantrums when you need to -- move into soft food as slowly as you need to. Make your meal half puree and half soft if it helps (pureed sweet potato or really well mashed cauliflower/potato is a great side dish to help your Protein get down).

[summerseeker 2,372]

2 hours ago, JennyBeez said:

I've heard from so many people -- on this forum, in my program support group, from my care team -- and it will get easier and better as time goes by, both in terms of portions and foods becoming less irritating, usually around the 1 to 2 year mark

Yes thats so true. I could not eat chicken for 2 years. My stomach says cooked salmon is still off my menu. Pork is ok if its lean. I am 2 and a half years out now.

[Jalapeño 13]

It’s a learning curve. I could eat like a pig while I had the mini gastric bypass. With the RNY, the mental hunger is always lurking in the background, so I naturally tilt towards large portions, but then struggle to eat the majority of it. Restriction is definitely there, and the vomiting episodes are a bugbear but hopefully settles with time. Thank you for all your responses.

[GreenTealael 25,579]

On 6/24/2024 at 4:12 PM, Jalapeño said:

Hi, sorry if this question has already been posted. I'm now 2 months post op following a revision from mini gastric bypass to RNY. The surgeon kept the original pouch from the mini. When I eat, despite chewing well, I often vomit up the food. From those who have had RNY, did the restriction of food get any easier over time? I'm hoping I'll be able to eat a normal sized meal at some point without running to the bathroom.

The only time I vomited post revision was when I had a stricture. It was after every meal and I wasn’t over eating so that was a big clue that something was not right.

Are you over capacity when this happens, just certain foods or every time?

[Jalapeño 13]

I don't vomit with every meal thankfully. At certain times in the day, a meal goes down fine. At other times, I get a lot of foamies build up, loads of thick saliva when I vomit. Sometimes once I've vomited all the thick saliva, getting food down becomes slightly more tolerable. It's hit and miss as to when this problem occurs. It's less prevalent once I've emptied my bowels and then have a meal. So I can have a proper meal once a day basically, with slight snacking to fill the day.