im suffering help

[olivegirl]

I am 2weeks 3 days post op and was advised to start puree food 3 days ago. I tried a mashed poached egg one day and 1 tablespoon of cooked mashed minced beef the next. Then I was struck down with severe abdo pains, had diarrhoea, chills, shaking and fainting and ended up back in hospital, on a drip and had cat scans of stomach. I cannot tolerate any food or liquids; I was doing so well before this.
Doc feels I have "Dumping syndrome" Has anyone else experienced this??? if so how did you overcome this........HELP

[Pip]

Hey there Olivegirl... Yes I can tell you I definitely experienced this.. I have a feeling it was my stomach saying Hell No I'm not ready for that...
I ate a couple of mashed up fish fingers ...ten mins later I was sweating ,felt dizzy and ended up on the loo with everything going into unhappy mode.
I can tell you it gets better ...now if I eat too much I can tell way earlier ..waaaay before that happens ..admittedly sometimes I take it too far and then I end up being sick but that's my fault not listening to my stomach !
Now I notice a couple of bites in I go back to pick it up my food and I get this eeeeewww that looks gross feeling ..I have gotten used to that telling me no more
Good luck ..I hope you start feeing better

[Grace]

Hi
I think it was the kind of foods you chose.
Some of us can't get potato down for months, it's too starchy and makes the stomach work too hard and yes can cause sleeve dumping which is essentially when all the blood in the area goes to your intestines to help you digest and you get that nasty sweating, etc.
Beef, too dense, still can't manage ground beef at 19 months out without drowning it in sauce.
When you try again - go back to the beginning for the short term.
A few days of clear liquids (even 2) then full for a few, then thick as in soups with the solids strained out, blended up to mush, and then put back in to heat up (easy on the potatoes, rice, or noodles), then slowly try tiny amounts of different foods.
Some suggestions - understand I'm not sure what's avail where you live.
Canned (potted?) chicken, drained and mashed with some sort of sauce, or mayonnaise, or gravy. Make it really wet and mushy. Regular chicken is ok too, just put it through the food chopper or mince it well.
Scrambled egg with cheese mixed in to soften it up, medium poached egg, or what we call egg beaters (liquid egg whites) goes down easier for many if reg eggs don't work
Greek yogurt (plain) mixed 1/2 with one with fruit to cut the carbs, or regular yogurt with a scoop of protein powder mixed in if you don't have greek yogurt around.
Smoothies, of course.

I lived on pretty much all of the above the first 2 months.
you may wish to keep a food journal of what worked and what didn't - you'll find as time goes on you can slowly expand your food.

[niamh]

Definitely too early for beef. The first time I had salmon I had dumping. Don't worry though, it doesn't mean anything about the future, the few times I've had that experience I just had to slow it down for a while, but then at future times I've been able to tolerate things fine. I can now eat anything.

I didn't have beef til six weeks post-op, I wouldn't have tried it at puree stage. Hope you're feeling fine again soon, take it slow.

[WaywardSmiles]

Great advice from Grace and Niamh. I can't try ground beef til month 3, and it's stated it must be finely ground. Pureed foods need to be the consistency of baby food or applesauce with no chunks whatsoever. Best wishes in figuring out what foods you can tolerate.

[Socaldixiegal]

Both those foods are often difficult for a lot of people. Fish was recommended and I did well with that - except Salmon as mentioned above. For me, lighter white fish has been much easier to eat (Talapia has been great). But, I believe this might be better for the soft food stage. I actually didn't have a pureed stage, but was on full liquid for 3 weeks then went into a soft food stage.

Yogurt is a very nice transition. Especially Greek yogurt as it's higher in protein. I never really used to like yogurt but now crave Greek yogurt.

I just tried my first beef the other day and while I tolerated it, I found I was very full really quickly. Definitely eating slowly helps figure out how quickly certain foods fill you up. There are some meats, I can eat 3 oz at a time, while others it's only 1 - 2 oz. Small bites and taking lots of time between bites helps figure this out and helps you from overeating and getting that icky feeling.

[JulieJ]

I can't add anything that these smart women above haven't already told you. I wasn't able to have any meats other than canned chicken and canned tuna for several weeks. Eggs are still hard for me and I am 5 months out! (so are refried beans for whatever reason) Don't get discouraged!

[slim_again]

I've always loved eggs but now they sit like a rock in my stomach, I still eat them but I don't get the same satisfaction. Fish was the easiest, especially soft sashimi, chicken and turkey next. beef and pork were really tough to digest. I really don't recommend tucking into mashed potatoes and the calorific, high carb, insulin spiking foods unless you want to get back on the hunger roller coaster again. They fill your tummy up and you will feel awful anyway. Try to nourish your body with healthy foods. Maybe just have a few bites as opposed to sitting down to a whole meal of solids.

[olivegirl]

Thanks so much for your advice and help. Much appreciated. Olivegirl

[olivegirl]

Thank You so much.

[Lea]

My stomach can tolerate a much larger range of food 10 weeks putt. Baby steps and you will be fine

[olivegirl]

I'm not feeling fine. I have bad diarrhoea - 13 times today and pain. I can't tolerate anything !! I spent the weekend back in hospital and it looks like I am going back again. Has anyone experienced this???? Blimey I'm going down fast.

[christine53]

No with the hospital thang, but I have learned that I have to so very slow with food or in a few mins I run to the bathroom. So I just drink water and lots of it and it helps, I'm in my 4th week and still don't do meat or heavy solids, my belly just isn't ready. It will tell me when it is. We are on first name bases.