Dumping

I still have dumping occationally
Niki,

I am almost three years post surgery and I still have an unexplained dumping episode occasionally. I use the term "unexplained" because there are certain foods that I know will cause issues and occasionally I try them just to see if I can eat them after some time but items high in sugar content still cause "predictable" dumping episodes.

Occasionally however, I have issues after I have eaten food that I normally eat with no problems. However, I very seldom have dumping that lasts for a number of days.

I would begin to suspect a stomach virus or mild food poisoning if it lasts for a number of days. Have you tried Imodium? That was helpful for me when I was having issues during chemotherapy.

The other item I found that I did not suspect is there is a sugar substitute called "sorbital" that also causes issues for me, so I have to watch items that are "diet" foods because they often contain sorbital.

Best Regards,

Paul Adams
Grand Blanc, Michigan

DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
Two year survivor

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!

Niki, Almost five years and
Niki, Almost five years and still have some problems. Always in the morning and other times it is unpredictable. I agree with Paul. There could be someting else going on. Glad he has a doctors appointment.
Sandra

mardigras said:

Rob is seven months past surgery and still dumping
Hi Niki,
I'm sorry that your husband is losing a bit of weight. The dumping will cause that
so don't automatically jump to the worst conclusions. Of course you must get it
checked out.
Rob takes imodium daily and finds it really difficult to gain weight, but he is
recovering from his surgery well and hopefully one day we will get the dumping under
control and we can start living a normal life where we can go out without having to
stay in the vicinity of a loo.
He is also not very good at meals, little & often. He still eats too much at one sitting
and acuses me of nagging if I say anything. Anyway, he's doing ok and we seem to have the weight under control now.
I hope things settle down.
Hugs and prayers
Marci

dumping- pectin and meal times help
Nikki,
My husband had a very rough time with dumping and it is getting better. Avoiding simple sugars and refined carbs has definitely helped and the single best 2 things that helped are adding pectin to every meal. Grapefruit pectin has worked the best and he bought it on line at Vitacost. THe pectin binds the food and helps it slow down. He also makes sure that at least 3 hours goes by between drinking and eating. Everyone is so different but those two things along with the diet have helped. His diet is pretty constant too. Breakfast is oatmeal with berries and yogurt mixed in ( and even turkey bacon now and then , snacks a lot on nuts- pistachios, almonds cashews, and then fish like grilled salmon a few times a week with sautéed veggies - greens usually. And then a carb at dinner might be whole grain rice or pasta in small amounts. Might snack at night on oatmeal again, or whole grain toast with cashew or a nut butter. And lunch is usually some type of sandwich on whole grain bread with veggies as a side. If he has fruit he mixes it with yogurt. Plain greek yogurt doesn't bother him but other dairy stuff does. When he went for an endoscopy recently for a dilatation he had to be NPO over night and during the scope there was still food in his stomach from 12 hours earlier. So... sometimes I think the food just sits there for hours and then you drink something and boom... everything dumps.
Hope this helps. I would strongly encourage the pectin it was a huge help and he uses it at every meal

Cora