If anyone is 15 years or more out of surgery and having some issues, I would like to share and get some advice. I have climbed a lot of mountains lol in terms of side effects, etc. but now I am finding an intolerance to almost all foods. This is new in the last year and a half and has gotten worse

I'm about the same amount of time since my bypass. I don't recall having an intollerance to almost all foods for extended periods. But for a few days or a week, sure.

I don't think you should rule out the experience of anyone based on years post-op because there are people here that know more about weight loss surgeries than you and I. Heck, they give many surgeons a run for their money. Some of us research the stuffing out of weight loss surgeries before we even see a surgeon.

Could you fill us in on what's going on? How does your intollerance work? Does it prevent you from swallowing, or does your food come back up? How long after eating? Anything else change during this period?

Your previous issues could also provide insight into your current issues. Also, what does your medical team say?

Tons of knowledge and experience is on the edge of their seats waiting to help.

Tek

I didn’t have significant issues immediately after the surgery. I know a lot of people experience, dumping, nausea, and vomiting. I had one experience of vomiting, and it was simply because I made a bad choice to drink a drink that had too much sugar in it. I really had, other than the inability to eat big portions, no issues at all. Since that was what I was going for to begin with I was pretty happy and felt very fortunate. I followed what I now know to be a pretty typical less fiber, diet as the lettuce and other things seem to not do well. But vegetables that were cooked were fine.
About three years ago, I started to experience extreme, explosive diarrhea - at first I thought it was random… Maybe I was sick, or I had eaten something bad. At that point, the occurrences were about a month apart. As this started to occur more often, I started eliminating things from my diet. Last summer, it was every day. I also had cramping and it would continue until my bowel was empty. At that point out of complete necessity I changed everything I wrote down what my habits were, anything that was consistent that I was consuming. I started systematically removing. I had stopped drinking diet sodas about five years ago, and it never occurred to me that artificial sugar could play a role in this however, I did find out that as I added, sugar-free vanilla to my coffee each day, that was playing a huge role. As soon as I started drinking, just black coffee I felt some relief. I thought that maybe I found the solution. It went from every day to every other day basically. So I started cutting more things out. And then I started having more symptoms. My stomach hurt when I ate. It felt like my esophagus hurt. I started having food come back up. I had to eliminate anything with oil in it. Almost everything I enjoy eating in anyway is off the list. Which is fine, I’m 63. I don’t need to enjoy my meals, exactly. However, it makes selecting food very difficult, especially as I travel a lot.
I’ve now started adding gas, more cramping, and the symptoms are better one day worse than next.
as to what my team says, lol… My gastroenterology appointment is next month. I have been waiting four months for that appointment. My blood work is perfect better than it’s ever been. I’ve had an ultrasound on my abdomen. Everything is fine except for my gallbladder has some sludge in it. I am well aware that my gallbladder perhaps is part of the problem. However, my PCP thinks that I should just lose weight and my gallbladder will be OK.

With that, I can’t lose weight. I’ve actually gained during this whole time. Which seems almost impossible as I spend a tremendous amount of time eliminating everything I eatalmost immediately. The other amazing part of this is I feel great other than the diarrhea/other stuff. I go to the gym, I travel every week for work, I am in different environments with different schedules and somehow I have been able to work around my situation. I have had to cut out longer flights, which has made me really sad because I’ve missed several opportunities to go places I’ve wanted to go, but the risk of not being able to being in a bathroom for a half hour is too high.
my current list of what I can eat with no issue is toast, sharp cheddar cheese, cooked green beans, chicken noodle soup, and Parmesan cheese crisps. It’s not a diet that anyone really wants to live on lol. Nor is it actually possible to live on.

So sorry to read you are having these experiences @Dsmart. Wait times for specialists are terrible everywhere regardless of what country you live these days. (My mum was told 18 months to see a gerontologist in Australia. She told them not to bother as she could be dead by then!)

I have experienced a sudden & unexpected intolerance to a specific food but nothing like yours & it was only one food: eggs. Never had an issue with them after surgery but around the four year mark I suddenly started to vomit if I ate them (didn’t matter how they were cooked.) took about 18 months I was able to eat them again but I generally avoid them - too risky if I’m out.

I wonder if it could be a parasite or a bacterial infection if not the cause but contributing to your symptoms. When you do see the gastroenterologist ensure you get a colonoscopy, an endoscopy and stool samples are taken. Ask about trying a FOD map diet which eliminates a lot of ingredients that can cause digestional issues. (Actually you could try it now.)

Just throwing some ideas out there. No expert. I did have the parasite giardia for years which hates lactose and causes cramping and strong diarrhoea and a general feeling of being unwell which made me suggest a parasite or bacteria. A cousin is on a FOD map diet after experiencing an array of digestional issues following a series of viruses including covid twice.

I hope you can get some answers and a solution soon.

Thank you
I’m sorry about your mom. It’s so hard to wait to get help and especially hard to see your loved ones have to wait.
I definitely avoid eggs lol they don’t make me throw up but they do cause other issues eggs, lactose except for hard cheeses, chicken - except when it’s ground up, pork, anything fried, salad dressing, mayo, steak, and a lot of beef, protein shakes, protein bars, nuts, corn, onions, juices, oranges, avocado, most turkey, products, and turkey itself, pineapple, any food product from Starbucks - I am 100% sure this is preservative oriented, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, spinach (sometimes can tolerate cooked)

I’m not really interested in sympathy, but you can tell there’s not a whole lot left. This is pretty much why I am now affected less than I was because having figured out the list I do end up eating something from the list eventually as I have no choice or I won’t eat. I’m sure I’m missing 10 or 15 items. I would think if it was a parasite my blood work would not be as good as it is. And my blood pressure is 120/72.

I’m considering trying a protein shake that is clear to see if the other things that are in them causing the issue or if it’s actually protein

but mostly, I’m just looking forward to getting a colonoscopy and an endoscopy to find out what the hell is going on

15 hours ago, Dsmart said:

I didn’t have significant issues immediately after the surgery. I know a lot of people experience, dumping, nausea, and vomiting. I had one experience of vomiting, and it was simply because I made a bad choice to drink a drink that had too much sugar in it. I really had, other than the inability to eat big portions, no issues at all. Since that was what I was going for to begin with I was pretty happy and felt very fortunate. I followed what I now know to be a pretty typical less Fiber, diet as the lettuce and other things seem to not do well. But vegetables that were cooked were fine.
About three years ago, I started to experience extreme, explosive diarrhea - at first I thought it was random… Maybe I was sick, or I had eaten something bad. At that point, the occurrences were about a month apart. As this started to occur more often, I started eliminating things from my diet. Last summer, it was every day. I also had cramping and it would continue until my bowel was empty. At that point out of complete necessity I changed everything I wrote down what my habits were, anything that was consistent that I was consuming. I started systematically removing. I had stopped drinking diet sodas about five years ago, and it never occurred to me that artificial sugar could play a role in this however, I did find out that as I added, sugar-free vanilla to my coffee each day, that was playing a huge role. As soon as I started drinking, just black coffee I felt some relief. I thought that maybe I found the solution. It went from every day to every other day basically. So I started cutting more things out. And then I started having more symptoms. My stomach hurt when I ate. It felt like my esophagus hurt. I started having food come back up. I had to eliminate anything with oil in it. Almost everything I enjoy eating in anyway is off the list. Which is fine, I’m 63. I don’t need to enjoy my meals, exactly. However, it makes selecting food very difficult, especially as I travel a lot.
I’ve now started adding gas, more cramping, and the symptoms are better one day worse than next.
as to what my team says, lol… My gastroenterology appointment is next month. I have been waiting four months for that appointment. My blood work is perfect better than it’s ever been. I’ve had an ultrasound on my abdomen. Everything is fine except for my gallbladder has some sludge in it. I am well aware that my gallbladder perhaps is part of the problem. However, my PCP thinks that I should just lose weight and my gallbladder will be OK.

With that, I can’t lose weight. I’ve actually gained during this whole time. Which seems almost impossible as I spend a tremendous amount of time eliminating everything I eatalmost immediately. The other amazing part of this is I feel great other than the diarrhea/other stuff. I go to the gym, I travel every week for work, I am in different environments with different schedules and somehow I have been able to work around my situation. I have had to cut out longer flights, which has made me really sad because I’ve missed several opportunities to go places I’ve wanted to go, but the risk of not being able to being in a bathroom for a half hour is too high.
my current list of what I can eat with no issue is toast, sharp cheddar cheese, cooked green Beans, chicken noodle Soup, and Parmesan cheese crisps. It’s not a diet that anyone really wants to live on lol. Nor is it actually possible to live on.

Sounds a lot like SIBO. Ask for the hydrogen breath test from the Gastro doc, but in the mean time you could ask your primary to run a stool test to rule out common bacteria/parasites. Good luck!

Edited January 24, 20251 yr by GreenTealael

Well, I'm obviously not 15 years out, but I suspect that your surgery is not the cause here. Could it be a confounding factor? It's certainly possible, but it seems much more likely to me you have something else going on.

I'm not a doctor (obviously), but what I do know about health and digestive issues is that there are potentially dozens of causes for symptoms like yours. Another thing to consider is that sometimes there may be multiple things going on at the same time. I mention this because we as humans have a tendency to look for (and want), a simple explanation when there isn't one. This is even true for doctors. They are trained to make a differential diagnosis based on a process of elimination. The problem with that is sometimes they struggle to make such a diagnosis because the symptoms and/or tests are conflicting, or pointing to multiple issues.

I mostly mention this because I'm guessing more than anything, what you want at this point is to know why this is happening to you and if it can be fixed. If there are multiple issues, it could make finding the root causes difficult and thus it could take a while for your medical team to figure it out. In my opinion, it's best to be prepared for that eventuality.

Some ways to deal with things if they do drag out:

1. Be an advocate for yourself. You know better than the doctors how you feel and how your symptoms impact you. Don't let anyone dismiss or belittle your symptoms
2. Don't accept "I don't know". Ask for additional tests or recommendations for other doctors that may be able to help.
3. Seek 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th opinions if you are not satisfied with the answers you've received.
4. Sometimes you may even have to consider traveling for medical assistance if no one in your area has answers.

Thank you ??

my gastroenterology appointment is in three weeks so I am going to start there and I look forward to figuring it out because it’s not fun

I have talked to a few doctors on the scope of my PCP…. One has seen complications/odd symptoms in long term gastric bypass patients. When I say complications, I mean digestive complications because there are plenty of people who don’t have enough nutrient, etc., and have issues that are beyond that. I pretty much covered all of those in my first 10 years when I really didn’t know how to take care of myself from a nutrient standpoint and vitamins.

I do think it could be a parasite, or potentially a combo of diverticulitis and acid reflux. Most of the potential diagnoses have weight loss associated with them, and that is definitely not the case unfortunately lol.
Yes, I would love to press the fix me button, but I know I have to do the work on this

I am 6 years out if sleeve and I am now getting very dizzy after eating carbs or sugar. No stomach pain but burning in stomach all the time