Up All Night

[Dinah55 27]

I had my bypass Nov. 5th and am just transitioning to soft foods. Yesterday for lunch I had a small amount of Thai shrimp and rice noodles, and it went down fine. Then I had an applesauce snack, no problem. For dinner I decided I would try some ground beef with a few noodles. I didn’t eat a large amount and I chewed well, but I’ve been sick ever since and throwing up every hour to hour and a half. I’m not throwing up food, just saliva. And if I try to drink anything, it comes up after 5-10 minutes. I don’t really feel nauseated, it’s just an awful feeling of fullness which gets worse and worse until I throw up. It’s now 6:45 a.m. and I’m exhausted! My doctor’s office opens at 8:00, so I’ll be calling the minute they open. I hate the thought of having to go to the hospital, but I’m afraid I may have a blockage, and I’m probably getting dehydrated at this point. Has anyone else experienced this? Up until now I really haven’t had much of a problem, other than experiencing the foamies a couple of times, which were short lived. Ugh!

[Hop_Scotch 1,630]

I know not a lot of carbs, but maybe too many carbs for you with a bypass?

[catwoman7 11,212]

I didn't eat noodles for the first two years after surgery and still can't eat very many of them or I have a similar reaction. I can't handle much rice at one time, either (not sure about rice noodles, though - I haven't had those since surgery). I think you're pushing your stomach too much. i was eating pretty "gentle" foods - like Greek yogurt - when I was where you are. I remember eating shrimp early on - but not sure at what point. I haven't eaten ground beef in probably 20 years, but I know I had issues with certain meats the first few months. I think most people can handle the ground variety, though. I'd just go way easier on your stomach...it takes awhile before you can eat a variety of food without issue.

[Jaelzion 1,127]

Ground beef did that exact same thing to me when I tried it after surgery. I got so sick that I haven't tried ground beef since. Logically, I know it would probably be fine now, but in my mind it's associated with that terrible episode. I don't have any insight as to why ground beef set me off like that. Other vets may be able to explain it.

[ChubRub 1,702]

Sounds like it was a little too much and a little too soon. Obviously see what your surgeon says, but mine always said if someone disagrees with you, then go back 1 stage for a little while and try again later.

[Mr Alley Gator 263]

Takes a long time to eat Pasta or rice it swells up in you belly and raises hell!

[GradyCat 3,695]

I'm two years post-op and I still can't eat noodles or Pasta. Maybe that's what did it?

[Lily66 425]

Hope you feel better as the day goes on! To this day, 9 months out, I don’t do well with meat. I can eat maybe 2-3oz slowly, chewing it very well, yet it still doesn’t set well with me afterward and not worth it. chicken, beef, pork, none of it. Same with nuts. A few cashews, walnuts, etc. and it feels as though it comes up on me. My body just says, “I don’t want it.” I haven’t tried rice, but noodles feel as though they glop up sticky/stuck and come up the esophagus.

Fish, a few shrimp, eggs, greek yogurt, lower fat cheese, oatmeal, lentil Soup and veggies and my tummy is a happy camper. Last few months have been venturing out more to see what digests easily for me. Repeated episodes on foods mentioned above tell me it’s just the way it is now, not a one off, and that’s okay!

Good luck! It’s definitely a learning journey.💝

[WishMeSmaller 1,273]

I could only have about 1.5-2 oz of ground beef, or other meat in a sitting at that time. If I had one bite too much, the same thing would happen to me. Pain, nausea, endless saliva, some foam, more pain. Still happens if I eat too quickly, but the symptoms pass much more quickly now.

I have only had literally one bite of Pasta on two separate occasions since surgery, so not sure how I would have reacted to that. Pasta is a trigger food for me, so I plan to avoid it for the most part. Maybe once I hit maintenance I will have some once in a while.

[Dinah55 27]

Thanks so much for all your helpful responses. Reading them gave me some peace of mind that it’s probably just a case of too much too soon, and not anything more serious like a blockage. I did finally manage to sleep for about three hours, and I’ve been awake almost an hour, so I’ve made it through four hours without throwing up. Yea! I feel thirsty and would love to drink something, but don’t feel quite brave enough to try it yet. Maybe I’ll try some small sips of Gatorade in another half hour or so. I did call my doctor’s office and left a message, but haven’t received a callback yet. I love my doctor, but do find it frustrating that when you call the office, you are never able to speak to anyone, but have to leave a message and just wait for them to call you back, whenever that may be. Anyway, thank you again for helping me navigate through this rough patch without totally freaking out. Y’all are the best!

[2Bsmaller18 436]

That happened to me around 1 month from eating refried Beans too quick or too much. If you search on here you will find a lot of us describe it as the "foamies" or slime. It's mucous. I would often have that and then most of the time would throw up a little bit of food with it. That made me feel better since I would also get really cold and have the shakes. The whole ordeal made me exhausted. It has happened maybe 4-5 times in almost 2 years. From eating too fast, not chewing and once from something that had too much sugar or fat. I have since been able to eat full sugar ice cream or candy (not endorsing that but it works for me and it is only ever a few bites) and go months without having a reaction. So for me it was just random.

edit-- after these episodes I always would go back to just liquids to give my pouch a rest and work up to yogurt after 18-24 hours. By 48 hours I was back to normal.

Edited December 12, 2020 by 2Bsmaller18

[Arabesque 7,259]

Don’t know how spicy your shrimps were but a friend had issues with spice to begin. Mashed avocado no problems but add chilli big problems. Something to consider especially as you’re still healing.

It could be the carbs from the noodles too. Most plans advise to avoid all bread, Pasta & rice & that includes noodles. (Little nutritional value & take up too much space in your tiny tummy.)

I tried a small amount of a vegan soya pasta the other night & it sat like a lump in my tummy & I’m 19 months out, 1 yr maintenance. I’m going to stick with my zucchini noodles.

Our tummIes are pretty sensitive to begin & often foods we used to be able to eat taste terrible, smell bad or upset us. Go slowly introducing foods again to begin. Stick to your plan guidelines. Your digestive system is not as it was before.

Good luck.

[Dinah55 27]

On 12/11/2020 at 7:26 AM, Jaelzion said:

Ground beef did that exact same thing to me when I tried it after surgery. I got so sick that I haven't tried ground beef since. Logically, I know it would probably be fine now, but in my mind it's associated with that terrible episode. I don't have any insight as to why ground beef set me off like that. Other vets may be able to explain it.

I think it will be a long time before I try it again too! And it really didn’t taste as good as it used to.

[mae7365 372]

I'm 6 weeks post op and still experience the vomiting from the "too full" feeling. Most of the time, it starts with the clear "saliva" looking stuff. My doctor calls it "slimy". According to him, once your stomach/digestive system gets irritated (too much food, wrong food etc.) it swells and starts to produce mucus. Even your lungs will start to produce mucus which is why it sometimes seems like your the saliva is coming out your nose. And vomiting is a cycle - vomiting causes inflammation that decreases the size of your stomach that forces more vomiting.

His instructions to me when this happens: no food or drink for 4 hours for the inflammation to decrease. Then drink warm tea since the warmth is soothing to the stomach. I found that it takes about that long for the "full" feeling to subside. Then I try to log what I ate/drank that triggered the vomiting and avoid it in the future.

[Dinah55 27]

10 hours ago, mae7365 said:

I'm 6 weeks post op and still experience the vomiting from the "too full" feeling. Most of the time, it starts with the clear "saliva" looking stuff. My doctor calls it "slimy". According to him, once your stomach/digestive system gets irritated (too much food, wrong food etc.) it swells and starts to produce mucus. Even your lungs will start to produce mucus which is why it sometimes seems like your the saliva is coming out your nose. And vomiting is a cycle - vomiting causes inflammation that decreases the size of your stomach that forces more vomiting.

His instructions to me when this happens: no food or drink for 4 hours for the inflammation to decrease. Then drink warm tea since the warmth is soothing to the stomach. I found that it takes about that long for the "full" feeling to subside. Then I try to log what I ate/drank that triggered the vomiting and avoid it in the future.

Thanks. I will remember those instructions, if this ever happens to me again. I hope it was the first and last time!