How is getting sick different now?

[2Bsmaller18 436]

sorry TMI-- I had diarrhea yesterday and I don't think it's related to what I ate. I am thinking it was a virus. That made me wonder what happens post surgery if we get a virus like the flu. Do we still vomit? There's not much in my pouch at any given time so I guess it would only be a little? Maybe that benefits us that we wouldn't get as dehydrated as fast?

Has anyone been ill post surgery? How was it different?

[Bastian 458]

The same still happens except I have found vomiting is very different now, it is mostly heavy drooling then just vomiting pure bile (I have no gall bladder so it goes straight into the small bowel just below the join). I have to say it is THE most disgusting thing EVER! It is so vile I end up shuddering and omg yuck!

Obviously not much room in our pouches to bring back up so you may well find you too just get the hideous bile thing too. Saying that though I would rather a few seconds of disgustingness than feeling nauseated, which I hate with a passion!

[ms.sss 15,588]

I've been sick twice.

Re: BARFING:

Haven't barfed due to sickness, but I have barfed due to food/surgery related issues (dumping, eating too fast). The main difference between barfing pre- and post- for me is that post-wls, my stomach contents come out much easier. Like there is no heaving, just a "slippage" of stuff coming out, you know? This may be different during illness though, when there is nothing in the stomach to throw up.

Re: COUGHING:

Now the thing that is annoying is the coughing. Post-wls, my coughing (when I'm sick or not) is very unsatisfying and inefficient. I find I have these very shallow, weak coughs that basically aren't doing what they are supposed to do. So it takes several of these coughing "huffs" to clear anything out.

[catwoman7 11,212]

vomiting is way less unpleasant after surgery - with both sleeve and bypass. First of all, you have a much smaller stomach, so there's a lot less contents to vomit. Secondly, there's not nearly as much acid in your stomach, so you don't get that awful vomit taste. I don't dread it nearly as much as I did pre-surgery.

[GreenTealael 25,351]

3 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

vomiting is way less unpleasant after surgery - with both sleeve and bypass. First of all, you have a much smaller stomach, so there's a lot less contents to vomit. Secondly, there's not nearly as much acid in your stomach, so you don't get that awful vomit taste. I don't dread it nearly as much as I did pre-surgery.

Agreed. Much less projectile ...

[JRT Mom 919]

So what happens in your "other" stomach where the acid is produced? Does it just roll and gurgle around? There's no way to vomit the contents of the remnant so I guess it just goes into the small intestine? I see my doc for my three week follow-up so maybe I'll ask if I think about it.

[catwoman7 11,212]

49 minutes ago, JRT Mom said:

So what happens in your "other" stomach where the acid is produced? Does it just roll and gurgle around? There's no way to vomit the contents of the remnant so I guess it just goes into the small intestine? I see my doc for my three week follow-up so maybe I'll ask if I think about it.

I've never been away of my remnant stomach at all since surgery, so I'm not sure how to answer this. There'd never be any food any it, so you wouldn't be vomiting up food. I'm guessing any other contents would just go into the small intestine.

[2Bsmaller18 436]

8 hours ago, Bastian said:

The same still happens except I have found vomiting is very different now, it is mostly heavy drooling then just vomiting pure bile (I have no gall bladder so it goes straight into the small bowel just below the join). I have to say it is THE most disgusting thing EVER! It is so vile I end up shuddering and omg yuck!

Obviously not much room in our pouches to bring back up so you may well find you too just get the hideous bile thing too. Saying that though I would rather a few seconds of disgustingness than feeling nauseated, which I hate with a passion!

Good to know since I don't have a gallbladder anymore either and if I was puking bile I would be freaked out.

[2Bsmaller18 436]

So I would guess the cramping and vomiting wouldn't damage your pouch either. Just like if we eat too much it hurts or may make us sick but it's not going to tear the pouch.

[mousecat88 2,280]

I haven't vomited from being sick, but I recently vomited from drinking too much. lol. Nothing came up but foam. Mostly dry-heaving. I've definitely puked from dumping before - also... foam/mucus. SOMETIMES very small pieces of food.... but nothing stays in the pouch long enough and there's not really any stomach acid. Dry-heaving is almost worse than puking up food, imo. ;(

[borg/assimilated 576]

I find I rarely get sick anymore since surgery, maybe it's the Vitamins keeping me healthy? I have vomited twice though. I agree with the above posters; comes up much easier, less volume ,kind of foamy and not quite as vile aftertaste .

[Losebig 508]

Interesting topic. I'm at 2 years and haven't thrown up since right after surgery. I've been close a few times, but never had the issue. I rarely get sick either, in fact I just got the first "sort of cold" that I've had in those 2 years, which is amazing. I attribute it to the Vitamins.

Diarrhea is unfortunately a frequent visitor, espcially if I eat anything fatty. Haven't noticed much of any other differences, though I am really careful to hydrate constantly still and imagine that could become an issue if not feeling well

[Danny Paul 761]

Right after surgery when I still ate fast I tended to throw up. It wasn't the usual bile that came up but mostly drool and mucus. Since I've learned to eat slower that too has passed.

[sideeye 1,440]

I have a virus right now and while I haven’t vomited, I am snotty and headcoldy and miserable, and the big difference pre and post VSG for me? liquid intake.

I used to be able to drink three pints of Water and then pass out with tissues stuck up my nostrils and the humidifier going full blast. I’d wake up 10-18 hours later mightily improved. But now I just can’t get that sheer amount of liquid in. So I wake up and then have to stay up for an hour slowly packing a pint of water in, and of course I fully awake during that time, and then my throat hurts and my mind races and I can’t get back to sleep no matter how much I want to.

honestly that’s the only thing I can think of as a drawback. I don’t think I’ve vomited yet, or if I did it was so minor it barely qualified. Diarrhea is more common now, but usually directly related to coffee intake or something, and a one-and-done event.

[sideeye 1,440]

...oh, HA. Have just remembered that I got SPECTACULAR food poisoning in Mexico 9 months post-op, so I have definitely experienced vomiting. Five days in a row.

Stomach was small so little to bring up even at the start, but after that just cycles of goo and bile. I don’t remember there being anything particularly notable about the sensation though - certainly nothing like “this hurts more than usual” or “oh my god am I going to pop my seam with all this hurling”.