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Hi all, I had the lapband done in November 2010. I was the smallest patient my doctor performed this surgery on but I had some serious health risks including a stroke 6 months prior that made this decision an important one to start walking on a path to better health. Shortly before my surgery, my A1C blood sugar levels were 9.6 and I was on 3 diabetes medications, including Victoza and a number of other lifestyle disease medications. After the surgery, my endocrinologist wanted to keep me on Victoza but almost all the others were dropped. I stayed on that for nearly 3 years before I started experiencing what I later would learn was dumping syndrome. My A1Cs were phenomenal between the lapband (no bread, Pasta or rice) and the Victoza. But because of my stroke history, my regular doctor misdiagnosed me thrice as pre-stroke/heart attack poor lifestyle high blood pressure symptoms (DS symptoms can raise your blood pressure, especially if you don't know what's causing it, but when not having symptoms, my BP was fine.) I did not agree with him. I know my body very well. I felt it was something different, but what I didn't have a clue. It took more than a year before I was finally diagnosed with Dumping Syndrome (DS)... and even now, my doctors don't think mine behaves as their other patients who have had dumping syndrome behaves. Most literature you read says symptoms can start as early as half an hour after eating a trigger food up to 4 hours later. My experience is more like 6-12 hours later, sometimes as much as 24 hours later. Read: http://www.battlediabetes.com/articles/diet/what-is-diabetic-dumping-syndrome Read: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/dumping-syndrome-causes-foods-treatments Lapband patients typically do not experience dumping syndrome, but I think if you are already a diabetic and on one or more diabetes medications you are more likely to experience dumping syndrome. I also suspect because of how food passes through the band to the stomach and to the rest of the digestive track, that might account for my symptom delays from the typical DS patient. For the most part, I've sussed out my primary trigger food, but be aware Dumping Syndrome, it's triggers and patterns can be unique for each patient. My trigger food: Most forms of liquid or soft dairy (Milk, Cream, Cream cheese, Buttermilk, Sour Cream, Yogurt, etc...). Hard cheeses so far don't seem to bother me. Medications, I believe as do my doctors, were a contributing factor, however, even when they took me off all diabetes medications, I still experienced DS, but less severe. However, at that time, I hadn't yet discovered all my trigger foods. I knew milk in my coffee was one, but hadn't realized cream in any Indian food I'd eat, or buttermilk in my ranch dressing, etc... were also triggers. I'm very careful about what I eat these days. Dumping Syndrome isn't life threatening, but it sure as heck feels life threatening. I avoid known sources of these dairy triggers, but it doesn't take much (a sauce on some dish that contains even a small amount of dairy) and I feel like I'm experiencing a stroke, heart attack or want to pass out at a given moment.... and when the symptoms are happening, I sometimes can't be sure if it's not the symptoms of a stroke like I previously experienced (scary) until I feel the food finally making its way to my bowels. Only then will the symptoms stop. Tricks to Help Most Folks with Dumping Syndrome Here are some tricks to help minimize symptoms both to prevent and to hasten symptoms once it's already begun: Fiber... all forms: I use Benefiber in my coffee and Soups. Lots of salads (sans dairy-based dressings), and I eat fibrous fruits and veggies at almost every meal - raw and cooked. Water... both before and during symptoms. Part of the symptoms you experience is your body trying to pull out water from your bloodstream and other systems and move it toward your small intestines/bowels to flush out the offending food. Symptoms disappear much faster if you drink water as soon as you experience the symptoms... and if possible, keep properly hydrated throughout the day. Ask... Every time I order something, I ask if the dish they are preparing me has any dairy (or for you, your own trigger food) in it. However, it's not fool proof. I asked if a dressing I ordered had any dairy in it... the young waiter came back and said... "no, not at all... just buttermilk." I looked alarmed and told him Buttermilk was dairy. Stay alert. Monitor & Log... It won't be easy but it helps to find 2 to 4 very typical weeks and log everything you eat. Simultaneously, track your blood sugar levels... (min. 3x per day, up to 6x per day) to note when your blood sugar levels plummet due to DS. You don't have to share with your doctors what offending foods you are eating but this exercise can really help you identify the trigger foods and when you're likely to experience DS symptoms. Avoid Trigger Foods... Yes, some of the trigger foods we love are going to be a challenge to avoid, but at least if you've done the exercise to track your eating, and have identified which ones are the biggest trigger foods and when you can expect to experience DS symptoms, you can then make an informed decision about whether you REALLY want to have that delicious trigger food. If you experience symptoms as alarming as mine, that's a pretty darn good deterrent for avoiding those foods. I sincerely hope my experiences (and I must say I'm still trying to figure it all out) has helped even one of you minimize or avoid these frightening Dumping Syndrome symptoms. Be well everyone.