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Looking for some help or insight..

A

applecountry88

Member
Hello,

So to start my name is Misty, I am looking for some help, info or something to help my partner out. I'm not sure really where to start because I'm still learning how all this stuff works or do's and don't so to speak.

She's years after her gastric bypass (not sure actual name of her surgery) I do know that her "tummy" would be the size of a shot glass. Anyhow I would say she's been having an issue with chronic vomiting for about 7 or 8 months? give or take a little bit. She's also been having issues with heart burn and I know that's not something she isn't supposed to be having issues with. Recently she's went to her doctor and that was about a joke but switched her to a different med for heart burn which I don't know the name of and obviously it's not helping. She's eating tums like their candy (i know that's not good either).

She's just about givin up with trying to get it figured out, So I guess I will play detective so to speak. I can't stand seeing her misrable and hoping to find a path or something to get this figured out.

Thank you in advanced for reading and hope maybe someone can help us out,

thanks
Misty
 
3momchaos said:
Did she see her primary doctor or surgeon? She should definitely see the surgeon if she didn’t. It’s really awesome that you’re trying to help her get this all figured out together. It’s very supportive of you.
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Taxman said:
Your partner is lucky to have you looking out for her. She should meet with her surgeon to discuss the problem. Her surgeon, not a GP has a vested interest in the successful outcome. Don't give up.
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She seen her primary doctor's "understudy" if that makes any sense. Her primary doctor is the only doctor in our area at the moment as one is retiring and the "understudy" is going to be the replacement for the doctor who is retiring.

She did get ahold of the primary today and basically begging for MRI or ultra sound, I am hoping that it will be a start and hopefully get her foot in the door with a referral back to her surgeon or even one that she has seen here before and pretty well saved her life once before about 5 years ago or so.

I have been doing alot of research and the only thing that I thought made sense or came close was "dumping syndrome" and we had talked about it and said no that it wasn't that and had experienced that shortly after surgery.

Thank you both for the well wishes and support it sure means alot, thank you again!
 
dianeseattle said:
I had a nausea and vomiting problem that went on for about 3 years or 4 years when I was eight or nine years post-op. The problem precipitated my joining this group in 2019 because I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Ultimately I had a bariatric endoscopy. The tech found one loose staple floating around and a stitch that had broken.

Her stomach is probably twice as big as you think it is because, after one year, it stretches out enough that you can eat more food.

If there is anything wrong, especially persistently wrong, your partner should be calling her surgeon or doctor or another doctor. We should never diagnose ourselves because we probably would under-diagnosed rather than over.
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I had wondered if that was possible i mean about stitch or staples, like any other surgery I would imagine they come loose also. As far as her stomach I'm sure it's a bit bigger now, just had to use that as an example of type of surgery she had as I wasn't sure of the name which I now know.

We're hoping that her primary's doc's understudy will just take over her as a patient, she's willing to help but has to have everything cleared through primary, which is complicated as it is add this covid stuff on top of everything else isn't helping anyone to be brutally honest. Not that I'm downplaying the pandemic it's just making things more complicated then need be.

I was just hoping to maybe run into someone that may of had a similar experience that would maybe give us a clue of what ave. to take or look into, which I thank everyone for their replies that have been helpful!
 
dianeseattle said:
I forgot to say I could actually feel one of my stitches right under my skin along the line that was cut into my abdomen to do the RYGB. I could feel its outline so clearly that it disturbed me and I phoned my surgeon about it. He said it was nothing to worry about and so I didn't worry. By the time I lost all the weight I lost, I could no longer even find a stitch, let alone feel it.
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Thank you so much! Their working on getting her set up with someone in our area for bariatric endoscope, if they can't get her into her original surgeon who done hers. I just hope there is someone who can around here.

I agree with badgy, that is just crazy! Though makes sense as I had a tendon reconstruction done in my knee 6 years ago and said that the stitches used internally wouldn't dissolve and would act as a safety net for about a year then had to have them removed.

I try my best to help in anyway that I can, I'm sure I get on her nerves from time to time but in the end knows I mean well. Also thank you for the warm welcome!
 
Update: So after awhile of back and forth with her doctor and a lot of argument (I am very surprised cops weren't called to escort me out) we have finally made headway with her. So for now their having her try an IBS diet to see if that will help reduce some of the bloating on top of eating then vomiting, while trying to get her into her surgeon who originally done her surgery also exploring other doctors.

Though about the only thing that seems to stay down is Boost or Carnation breakfast essentials with high protein, which i guess is better than nothing. Also having to lay down flat for about an hour or so.

I guess we will see how this diet works.
 
Hello all,

First would like to say sorry for a long pause for updates, between a pandemic and getting switched to a new doctor is what contributed to the pause. We finally have gotten down to the bottom of what is/was causing her issue of constant throwing up. Believe it or not it's been allergies and the drainage from them (phlegm) that has caused all these issues. Neither of us would have thought in a million years that this would of been the issue, When they gave her nose spray and breathing treatments to break up the phlegm and drainage issue the problem stopped within a few days.

I knew the "pouch" was sensitive to a lot of things but that was one we for sure wouldn't of thought of at all, also we can thank a new doctor in our area that figured this all out.

So next question would be does anyone take Mucinex on a daily basis? If so does it hurt your stomach/pouch?

Thank you all again for helping us out and giving advice we so very much appreciated it more then you will ever know!

- Misty
 
applecountry88 said:
Hello all,

First would like to say sorry for a long pause for updates, between a pandemic and getting switched to a new doctor is what contributed to the pause. We finally have gotten down to the bottom of what is/was causing her issue of constant throwing up. Believe it or not it's been allergies and the drainage from them (phlegm) that has caused all these issues. Neither of us would have thought in a million years that this would of been the issue, When they gave her nose spray and breathing treatments to break up the phlegm and drainage issue the problem stopped within a few days.

I knew the "pouch" was sensitive to a lot of things but that was one we for sure wouldn't of thought of at all, also we can thank a new doctor in our area that figured this all out.

So next question would be does anyone take Mucinex on a daily basis? If so does it hurt your stomach/pouch?

Thank you all again for helping us out and giving advice we so very much appreciated it more then you will ever know!

- Misty
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I’m glad she’s doing better and they figured things out! I don’t take mucinex daily, but I do take Zyrtec. It’s not the same, so probably run it by her doctor and they should be able to get meds figured out.
 
dianeseattle said:
Thank you so much for sharing this. And thanks for the follow-up as well. I actually think I might have an answer for you.

It's a little difficult in our modern age but those of us who grew up before Visine and Sinex, remember how we used to have to lay across our parents' bed and get nose drops put into our noses in order to allow them to get up into the sinuses and help make the mucus liquid enough to expel into a Kleenex.

I don't remember who told me about it but at least 20 years ago, maybe 30, I was turned on to the concept of nasal douching. The most famous product to use for this was called Alkalol. It has since led to wide field of designs and formulations. I still have my original Pink plastic nasal douche tube.

The nasal douche is not uncommon. I'm not sure where the process originated, but I think it was probably part of yogic life in India, where they practice some yoga that cleans from the inside out, but that's all I'm saying because the details might be disturbing to some people. Suffice it to say, you do not need any tools in order to douche any part of your bottom.

So the original was called a neti pot and used a specific solution. In modern times that solution has been copied and also revised. Basically it is water, made into saline with baking soda, and perhaps some witch hazel added in or even, in some cases, a few drops of menthol oil.

It's something that isn't easy to talk about but now they have some sort of machine that they advertised on television that you stick to rubber cannula into your nostrils and then somehow jet the solution up into your sinuses, which are then expelled into a separate chamber. I'm not familiar with this machine so I can't really talk about it.

Here are some images of tools for the technique and I have used two out of three pictured here. In fact I have my nasal douche equipment is on the back of my sink with a little container of baking soda as well. I used to get fancier with the douche mixture but just make sure that you do use something and don't try to shoot straight water up your nose because that hurts and burns.

She may not want to do this but there are people who do this every day using the same techniques, but different tools, to cleanse other orifices, including the ears and various ins and outs down below.

I wish I had learned about this as a kid because I believe I might have avoided dozens of sinus infections and cleared my sinuses, making them free to do their job create a magical moments at the push of a button and allowing me a headache-free existence. That's all I'm saying. I'm going to let you figure out the rest

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I think it is a bad idea to use any patent medicine every single day. I am, in fact, almost anti medicine, though you wouldn't think so if you looked at my bedside table. I am so grateful I discovered the modern version of the Neti Pot. I can still feel and hear my mom's agony as she suffered through chronic sinus headaches. I never saw her spend a day in bed but I heard from her all the time about the excruciating pain she was feeling. If only she had known about the Neti Pot, or even the classic work-around, which is simply running a faucet and sniffing water up into your nose. I don't advise that because I really think you need to add something to soften the water and help end the clog more effectively.

All of these tools are a hundred times better than Mucinex. However, I have used Mucinex or other mucus thinners when nothing else worked, so it's not a perfect world. But it's absolutely amazing how clear you feel and how wonderful your head works after a nasal douche.
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I will have to see which one she would rather use. thank you though for all the information, definitely going to be a big help. She really isn't wanting to add more meds to her daily stuff she takes but if it's something that will help keep that stuff at bay she's almost willing to do it.
 
If allergies are that bad she needs to look into taking a daily allergy medication. This would be better than taking other stuff to break things up. Allergies meds would help keep allergies at bay preventing the excess mucus in the first place.

Also if she has bad acid issues she likes didnt have an actual bypass. Sometimes having gastric procedures done can cause acid issues.
 
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