Dumping syndrome and the VSG

I am just over a year out from surgery and have been lucky to have had no problems so far until tonight. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me as I had made some poor choices with food and drinks shall we say....( I will leave it at that...lol ). All of a sudden it hit me like a brick wall. I could barely stand, started sweating, and was dizzy with my heart racing. I felt as if I was going to pass out. I quickly layed on the couch with a cool fan on me and it started to go away. Then the big D hit.....I also won't elaborate on that but holey **** .....No pun intended =) I couldn't figure out what was wrong then as the symptoms subsided I thought....I just had a dumping syndrome attack and it sucked! Read up on it and basically anyone who has had gastric surgery is prone to it and all this time I thought is was just others that had had GBP surgery.

I get something similar if I eat too fast. And for me, I think it's my vagus nerve getting tweaked. It's a major nerve that regulates a lot of body functions, including digestion and the stomach. But it connects to the neck and brain and sends other signals as well. And mine is touchy so I sometimes get it screaming at me to slow down or to eat less.

So for me, I don't think I dump, but rather my body has other ways of telling me I'm eating too much or too fast.

Google "reactive hypoglycemia".

VSG folks can also experience the symptoms that you mentioned. It is thought to be due to increased gastric emptying, as well as eating/drinking foods or drinks high in sugar or carbs. Another reason to always have protein first, especially with carbs. High carb foods/drinks spike your blood sugar high, so the release of insulin is started to bring down the blood sugar. This spike in insulin starts a cascade of reactions, one of which is the rapid release of fluids in the intestines, which you experienced as the big "D." This is a simple explanation for a more complex series of reactions. It is real and has been documented with VSG. "Dumping or Reactive Hypoglycemia."

Rich foods either in sugar or fat seem to initiate this process. Even people without gastric surgery can experience this reaction, if they eat too much fat and/or sugar. I did experience this prior to surgery on a few occasions, when I ate something with too much fat and/or sugar.



Gail