Hi. I am a new lapbander, day 10! But before the surgery, I had gastro problems like you described. I saw an article on Splenda on TV that said this product can have this effect on some people. I wondered if that was my problem as I used Splenda evryday on my oatmeal. I stopped the Splenda the next day and my symptoms immediately went away. I try to stay away from anything containing Splenda now. I hope this helps.