Thursday fitness fun fact

Dumping Syndrome: Gastric Bypass' Sledge Hammer 


Dumping syndrome is an effective result of the gastric bypass system which alerts the body of inappropriate eating. Dumping syndrome is described as a shock-like state when small, easily absorbed food particles rapidly dump into the digestive system. This results in a very unpleasant feeling with symptoms such as a cold clammy sweat, pallor, butterflies in the stomach and a pounding pulse. These symptoms may be followed by cramps and diarrhea. This state can last for minutes of sometimes hours and is quite uncomfortable.

That was the clinical description of dumping.

This is what I experience when I dump: shortly after eating a food I don’t tolerate (sugar, milk, sugary milk products or starchy carbs) I begin to feel a bit disoriented, maybe dizzy and then an overall sense of confusion or panic takes over my mind and body. This is a mild state of delirium. Then I begin sweating. Profuse sweating that can completely soak my hair, my clothes; it drips and glistens on my skin. During this state of sweaty panic I feel like I’m out of my mind! A few times during extremely dramatic dumping episodes I literally thought I was dying, the state of distress was that severe.

At this point during a dumping episode I have learned it is best to lie down on my side and let it nature take its course. The body is efficiently, albeit painfully, correcting a chemical imbalance in the cell system. It takes great presence of mind to calm myself and lay down, but even in a state of near-delirium I now know this is the only action to be taken. I know the event is passing when the sense of panic is replaced by exhaustion and cold chills instead of sweating. Occasionally I have suffered diarrhea at this point. If I have the luxury I’ll try to take a nap or go to bed after dumping. If it is in the evening I’ll sleep through the night, and wake feeling like I’ve been run over by a truck.

The mild delirium associated with dumping is the result of an interruption of nerve impulses affecting cerebral metabolism. The interruptions are caused by metabolic disturbances such as fluid or electrolyte imbalance. When the incorrect foods are consumed and dumped into the digestive system the electrolytes get out of balance. Dehydration will also cause an electrolyte imbalance. This mild delirium is characterized by a reduced ability to maintain attention to surroundings or disorganized thinking. The daily routine can become confusing. In extreme cases a person who is dumping may experience rambling, irrelevant or incoherent speech.

After the dump passes the interrogation begins: what caused that dump? In most cases eating the inappropriate food for my gastric bypass system is the culprit. Through trial and error I can predict most things that make me dump and I avoid them contemptuously.

It is important to note that the dumping experience is different for every person. Some will always have extreme dumps and others more mild episodes. Individuals will notice dumping episodes will vary by incident. No two people dump the same and no two dumps are alike.

Source: Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story and an award winning journalist

I thought I dumped about 3 wks out, but I'm not sure that I just didn't abuse my pouch a little and it was telling me about it. I mindlessly sipped about a quart of tomato soup while watching the Big 12 Championship game. Had massive stomach cramps for about 2 hours afterwords. Other than that one episode, nothing. As close as I've come is the feeling of mild discomfort that kept me from eating pecan pie back in the old days. It was just to stinking rich and left me feeling mildly bloated/nauseous for a couple of hours. I've had that same feeling a time or two from drinking a glass of ovaltine. But then again, I haven't really pushed the envelope yet. I guess I could eat a couple of Hershe's bars just to see what happens but I don't think I will.

OK, here is what has happened to me three times when I have eaten too fast and eaten something a little too solid (like chicken jerky and soy nuts).  All of a sudden I feel a pain in my pouch of extreme fullness and then I almost feel like I'm suffocating, breathing remains difficutl.  My pouch seems to fill up with flem that then ends up coming out with the food.  It's kind of like throwing up but it isn't nearly as bad as throwing up used to be.  It usually lasts thirty minutes and then dies out.  SOrry for the details, but this doesn't sound like dumping to me.  Something else.  I don't think I have had dumping yet.

Can any of you enlighten me on what is happening to me?

Yep, that's the "foamies".  Believe it or not, I used to experience this BEFORE my RNY whenever I ate anything with clams or clam juice in it.  (Please -- no jokes!)  I've only had one episode of this (slime and all) since the surgery, and that was when I was one month post-op and made the mistake of eating a few Chinese "pork strips" too quickly.  Euacch.

More frequenlly, if I eat too much or too quickly, I'll feel a sense of discomfort and malaise for 15 min or so, but it passes.  Enough to remind myself that I should have been more careful, but not severe enough that I keep it in mind several months later when it happens again!

I've never "dumped" as such.   But I haven't tested myself to any great extent, because I'm really focussed on continuing to lose.  Very occasionally I've had a dessert like tiramisu -- what a slider food! -- and it hasn't affected me at all.

/Steve

I think what your are describing is what they call foaming. It's more of your pouch rejecting something that it can't physically handle than the more complex metabolic reactions that Boner's article is describing. I foamed three or four times within the first 6 wks or so from trying to eat chicken or turkey breast. It was to dry for me. I had to switch to dark meat and slime it up with a little mayo or guacamole in order to get my pouch to tolerate it.