Question:
How long does it take before you dump?

I am a new post op and am afraid to dump. How long after you've ingested something would you dump- right away or ??? I've checked through the questions and I can't seem to find a time reference. Thanks.    — Jill M. (posted on August 29, 2000)

August 29, 2000
It really depends? If I eat something I shouldn't it happen right away. Everyone is different. Usually when it happens I can't eat anything for the rest of the day. I believe some people it is within the hour to 24 hour after they had something they shouldn't.
   — Sharon T.

August 29, 2000
My dumping episodes have all occurred within 15 minutes of eating something I should not have and usually were almost immediately after eating something "bad." I've decided to try new things out at home first, when possible, so that I am not caught in public having to deal with a dumping episode. They are not fun and you learn quickly!
   — [Anonymous]

August 29, 2000
I am almost at the 6 month, post-op. I find that if I'm going to dump, it usually around a half hour after eating. I sometimes drink water with my meal, which is a no-no and it does happen sooner, when I do that. Your bowels will let you know fairly fast if you have eaten something too greasely or with concentrated sugar in it. I find that I can eat hard cheeses and it helps firm up the diahrrea. If you don't want to do that, you could use vegetable fiber (like Konsil or Mettamucil), to help form any loose stools.
   — char T.

August 29, 2000
You mean dumping as in heart palpitations, sweats, sleepies, nausea, dry mouth--all that? Not diarrhea, right? If I'm going to be silly and not read the labels right or "sip" a little too much with a meal, it hits me within about 15 minutes and lasts for 30-60 minutes. It's miserable, so a great way to avoid anything with sugars over about 6g or so.
   — vitalady

August 29, 2000
I'm wondering why Michelle took diarreah off the "dumping" list? Cause when I experience it, I have heart palpitations, sweating, severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea - usually in that order. It occurs usually within the hour. Someone suggested hard cheeses but I must warn you that one of my biggest "dumps" early on was from just eating one big chunk of cheese. Cheese has lots of fat in it so eating just that cheese on an empty stomach caused me to dump. I've never thrown up, but I've dumped a few times - another time early on was on a few dips of sweet-n-sour sauce (high sugar, I suppose). Another time was when I purchased some yogurt that had way too high of a sugar content - and I dumped about an hour later even though I noticed my mistake after only 2 or 3 bites! Be careful! To me, dumping felt like severe food poisoning.
   — Cindy H.

August 29, 2000
First of all Michelle didn't "take" diarrhea off of the dumping list, she was just specifying what type of dumping she was referring to. I have never had what I would really call dumping but anything close has come within an hour of eating a really high sugar food. Two things with that, I should not know this and sometimes I wish I did dump so that I would not be so tempted with the sweets that I never liked before surgery. My tastes have completely changed since surgery and chocolate and fruit are the two things that I crave constantly. Before surgery it was starchy carbs and salty food. Go figure. ;)
   — S S.

August 30, 2000
Hi Jill, I think the reason you have not found an answer is becuase how you react to sugar is so individual. I have only had the dumping response once and it was after drinking an ensure/high protien too fast. Within about 10 minutes of finishing I felt nauseous, started sweating profusly and had to lay down for about an hour. After that I was fine but it was pretty miserable while it lasted. Good luck and I hope this helps.
   — Andrea P.

August 30, 2000
Ah, yes, dumping - not a pleasant experience. My first experience was 9 days post op when I ate a powdered egg (which I found out has sugar in it). I knew within 5 minutes that it was a problem - getting very nauseaus, sweating a lot, and needing to throw up. It took several hours for me to recover.
   — Paula G.

August 30, 2000
I'm 8 weeks post-op and to this day don't believe I've had the experience. I had a brutal experience with a scoop of ice cream that could be called that but not the sweating rapid heart rate and everything else. Thank goodness I've never had a real sweet tooth because it seems I can tolerate them too well. Good luck to you.
   — Guy C.

Click Here to Return