Advice needed

Ok peeps. I need help. I have no idea if this is what you call the "foamies" but I tried to explain it to my surgeon's office and they had no idea what I was talking about. I call them "episodes" where all of a sudden I get this pain in my sleeve. It gets real tight feeling, not the same as full feeling but almost like a stomach bug type thing. It hurts like crazy and then I'll have to vomit. I gag and heave and gag and heave and occasionally something will come out but for the most part I just heave. It's happened twice since surgery (5 months ago) but then the past week it happened last Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I called my surgeon and they acted like they had never heard of anything like that happening. They said they thought it sounded like I scratched the lining of my stomach by eating something hard or sharp. I was told to do a liquid/soft diet for 3-4 days. So I did, the rest of Thurs,  all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday I ate some softer foods (tuna, cheese, etc.) Tuesday for lunch I had 1/2 a ham & cheese lunchable and the 2nd 1/2 for supper. Absolutely no problems. Yesterday I had some chicken and cheese, no problems. Today for lunch I had another lunchable (1/2) and like 2 hours later here it comes. I went to my regular doctor today (not just for this) and they looked at my like I was insane when I was explaining it. I don't know what's causing this. If I did I would stop doing it. After my liquid/soft food diet I really went back to focusing on making sure I chew, chew, chew, and eat a lot slower, and eat quite a bit less than I had been (setting a clear end to a meal, not just wait 30 or so minutes and eat a little bit more). It's not like I can say "an hour after______ it happens" or "when I eat______ it happens" because it's never the same amount of time after I eat (anywhere from 1-3 hours) any particular food or the same time of day. I don't know. I feel like this is dumb, like I am dumb. From the doctors that I've talked to no one knows what I'm talking about or have ever heard of this before. When it comes it comes full force, get out of my way to the bathroom, but then as quickly as it came, it leaves. Sometimes it lasts 15ish minutes. Today it was an hour. 

I don't know what is causing your distress, but I am sorry to hear you are in pain. 

The foamies, as I experience them, is much different.  If I eat too much,  I think the food doesn't all fit in the tummy and it causes your body to think something is stuck in your throat and you start creating all this mucus that comes up as foam.   There is some discomfort due to being over full, but the main symptom is this large amount of mucus. 

I hope you can figure out what is causing this problem. 

best wishes,

Carol

I would eliminate the Lunchables from my diet. I think they may be too processed. Hope you find the solution. I'm only 1 month out but have not had any pain or vomiting. Good luck!

Oh my God Laura I am very sorry to hear what ur going thru considering ur doing so great on the sleeve. Unfortunately even though I am a fast eater and don't chew very well, I have personally never experienced any such thing. I however sincerely hope someone chimes in with some advice and experience. Have u tried googling it? Someone MUST know what's going on!

Hi Laura,

I am sorry to hear about your situation.  What is unusual about your situation is that it doesn't happen right after you eat.  Most discomfort from overeating such as foamies comes immediately after overeating or eating too fast.  You said that you eave issues several hours afterwards.  I think this is key to your research.

I hope you find answers soon.

My first thought is maybe you aren't chewing well enough but you say you are.

It sort of seems that your new tummy doesn't like the ham lunchables. I would try some deli ham, a couple slices.  See what happens. Ham has serious nitrates and sodium and lunchables are highly processed.  

Either way, you are not describing foamies. Foamies happen like it does right before you vomit, in your mouth not the tummy. You get a lot of saliva suddenly building up in your mouth. Sometimes, instead of vomiting, I would blow some outrageous bubbles thinking I was going to vomit. To me, that and excess saliva constituted foamies.

See what you are eating that your tummy doesn't like.  Good luck.

It sounds like you have a spasmodic stomach.   There are anti-spasmodic drugs that you could take but there are also anti-spasmodic herbs that you may want to try first.  If the herbs help the problem then you might just have your answer. 

Kind of surprised the doctor didn't think of this one 

That's what I think as well.  I had to take an anti-spasmodic at 3 months post-op and it solved the issue for me after about a week.  

Here's one from left field and I am not a Dr. Do you have allergies? I experienced something similar and it has to do with my allergies acting up. I think my sleeve fills up with post-nasal-drip and then when I put something in there I get distressed and I need to lie down for a few minutes. (TMI).

It also could be stress, this is a very stressful time of year and you may not be able to deal with your stress in the same way you did pre-op. 

Again, I am not a Dr and  this advise is worth what you paid for it.

I could be way off here but it sounds to me a bit like what I went throught when I had gallstones except the pain was maybe a little higher.  Certainly remember it being triggered by totally random foods.