Dreaded diarrhea

Hi there
 I am lactose intolerant and I could not drink the "new" optifast drinks but the old formula which is only in chocolate and vanilla and are in the bigger boxes were ok, plus I took lacteze tablets before I had the drinks.
Hope this helps
Georgiepie

Hi ballomum, Just an idea, have you considered you may be lactose intolerant or sensitive to the sugars in the optifast? It was the inulin in optifast that had the dietitian take me off it and on to a restrictive normal diet pre-op. Even post op I have to make sure any drink supplements I take have no inulin in them. Gives me terrible stomach/abdomen cramps and diarrhea.

Changed Mind wrote:

This dreaded diarrhea is driving me insane, every morning its the same. I get up, get dressed then the hot flush clamy feeling starts and then sure enough got to go cause the diarrhea starts.  I go about 2-3 times, the clamyness goes and i am fine dont have it for the rest of the day.

Does anyone else experience this on a daily basis i dont want to take any otc tablets i just want it to go back to normal

I am 10 months post op and still have diarrhea (so to speak). Very soon after I eat my first meal or coffee, no matter what time of the day, I have to go. I always have to make a dash as I don't get much notice and know that I could quite easily have an accident if I wait too long. Surgeon has no idea and has to me to take fibogel? but with little fluid so that it binds up the bowel. Haven't tried it yet, working on trying to fix it with diet at the moment.
I am still having one optifast a day as I struggle with meat protein and need to get my intake up so include the shake and greek yoghurt so still on very soft diet. Trying to bulk it up a bit to see how that goes.
If you find the answer make sure to share. Good luck.

I am 15 weeks post op today, has anyone else had diarrhea for this amount of time??

This dreaded diarrhea is driving me insane, every morning its the same. I get up, get dressed then the hot flush clamy feeling starts and then sure enough got to go cause the diarrhea starts. I go about 2-3 times, the clamyness goes and i am fine dont have it for the rest of the day.

Does anyone else experience this on a daily basis i dont want to take any otc tablets i just want it to go back to normal

Hi Changed,

Maybe try another stool sample? My first one came back negative too, but some bugs can't be detected until 2-3 weeks after being infected, even though you have symptoms.

Have you tried some imodium to slow the diarrhea down? You can buy some chewable ones from the chemist if you are still having trouble swallowing.

It's pretty typical of a surgeon to push you to the side after he's operated. From his point of you everything is okay surgically, then case closed. But keep pushing him! I know its really hard when you are feeling sick, its like the fight just goes out of you, but if this is effecting your life like this then its just not good enough!

Do you have a supportive GP? Sometimes it works better if your GP calls him. GP's are slightly higher up the pecking order and seem to be taken a bit more seriously.

Hope this clears for you soon. Keep us updated hun xo

Even more reason to contact him and have it sorted sooner than laters, sounds as if he'd be happy if you just drop it. The longer you let it go on the more he's going to feel like this.

At least see if they have an email address and keep them updated if you aren't getting better.

If I were the surgeon I'd want to know what the problem is and how I could fix it. Not only for your health but so that I've learnt something for the future. When they don't want to learn any more it's time for them to stop being doctors.

Changed Mind wrote:

V, i think i am just a challenge for him, told me the other day i am unique and he has had no one who is struggling as much as me and everything he tries to help me just doesnt work.  I am so hoping things settle down real soon, so i dont have to keep annoying him......

don't ever feel like your annoying him, its his job

V, i think i am just a challenge for him, told me the other day i am unique and he has had no one who is struggling as much as me and everything he tries to help me just doesnt work. I am so hoping things settle down real soon, so i dont have to keep annoying him......

Changed Mind wrote:

Hi Lexiswan,
I think early on they did a stool sample but nothing was detected, i have had this since probably a week after the surgery and i am now week 11. I am just so tired of contacting my surgeon to try and resolve all these issues i am having that feel its just easier to put up with it, besides i am still waiting for him to call me since Monday!!! Says it all really - just so desperate to get to 'feeling normal' instead of so much regret and dispair.

Your surgeon sounds like mine changed, in now 17 weeks out and still having problems and still going to emergency every couple of weeks and still have a leak and still have a leak from my old drain site and he just doesn't seem that interested, hope you can resolve your issues soon

Hi Lexiswan,
I think early on they did a stool sample but nothing was detected, i have had this since probably a week after the surgery and i am now week 11. I am just so tired of contacting my surgeon to try and resolve all these issues i am having that feel its just easier to put up with it, besides i am still waiting for him to call me since Monday!!! Says it all really - just so desperate to get to 'feeling normal' instead of so much regret and dispair.

Hi Changed,

I went through the same thing. They were tossing up whether it was food allergies e.g. intolerant to all the diet products with sorbitol, whether it was lactose or gluten (which I am allergic to anyway and am super careful, but gluten seems to sneak into everything!) Then they thought maybe I was allergic to pariet, so they took me off that...no improvement.
Then after it had gone on for like 5 weeks straight, they started thinking maybe it was an effect from the sleeve. Which is a possibility.... My surgeon said that diarrhea with the sleeve will settle down (maybe) after a few months when the stomach readjusts itself and stops dumping food. I had always thought that dumping came from eating high sugar or fatty foods or eating way too much, but he was saying in ultra sensitive people that the stomach will do it with even a bite of food.
I'm not sure if your diarrhea is getting worse or staying the same?
Mine continued to get worse and worse. To the point that I couldn't go to work because I would need the toilet so urgently and was scared of having an accident in public. Then eventually there was blood in the stool, and doctors sent off a sample....came back with severe C.Diff.
I started getting better after a few days of antibiotics, but its come back...so I'm on round two now with possibly another to go before I can experience 'normal' again.
I hope it gets better for you soon!! Make sure you explore every possibility. Our immune systems are still recovering and we're more vulnerable to gastric bugs.

Sway, i do feel i am doing it rough just hoping one day there is light at the end of this black tunnel i feel i am in. The diarrhea starts for me before i have even had anything, yesterday i had yoghurt for brekky, egg on biscuits for lunch and dinner was an omelette with ham, cheese and mushroom, perhaps i need to cut out the diary in the morning but really doesnt explain why i never have diarrhea after lunch or of an evening.
Just another one of my issues to sort out   

Gosh you are doing it tough. I found for the first couple of months that I would get bouts of diarrhoea if I had milk products. Once I cut them out I was okay. I've just recently reintroduced milk products and so far so good so it looks as if it was a temporary lactose intolerance. I've also started taking Inner Health probiotics.

Yet again this morning I have woken up with diarrhea I don't think I have had normal toilet habits since having the sleeve back in January. Can anyone tell me if this settles down, with all my other issues this just adds to the grief