I had gastric bypass surgery back in 2002 and within wks of…

Question

I had gastric bypass surgery back in 2002 and within wks of starting to eat more
regular foods i noticed probs with dairy and sugar i had asked my dr abt dumping
syndrome but he didn't think that was the case and brushed it aside i had
started at 226 lbs i am 5'1" and my lowest weight was 145 i also started to
experience depression shortly aft the surgery and my docs response what do u
have to be depressed abt your skinny now since then he retired aft a few yrs my
depression worsened and i have since been diagnosed with bi-polar, depression,
generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder and some ocd
traits after starting treatment i gained weight back and was up 202 lbs i have
also had a baby 7 yrs aft surgery and during my pregnancy i did not gain any
weight stayed within 5 lbs i had a healthy baby girl she was 6lb 4oz 20in after
delivery i was 175 lbs i can eat a moderate sized portion meal not nearly as
much as before the surgery i still have prob with certain foods like meat and
pasta that dont seem to digest normally and feel very uncomfortable until it
passes or i vomit to get any excess food or liquid out which seems to relieve
some on the pain i still cannot drink a glass of milk or even eat a bowl of
cereal with getting lactose intollerance symptoms i can barely eat a small piece
of birthday cake with out getting hot flashes and cold sweats i have to lay down
for abt 20 min hoping it will pass or sometimes vomit it feels like my body
wants to get rid of anything i had my mother in law who was a lpn test my blood
sugar she was diabetic and it seemed to be within the normal range even after
fasting when it was tested after i started feeling hot flashes my blood sugar
was high sometimes very high for the amt of sugary food i ate when i had to take
the glucose test during my pregnancy i had to lay down at dr office and wait it
out and got the hot flashes and such and was close to vomiting when the test
came back it was 139 which if it wld have been 140 they wld have made me take
3hr test i can eat foods with natural sugar with no prob when i have mentioned
this and some other digestive prob to my family doc they just want me to go to
doc who did surgery which i cant i wld like to know what i might be able to do
it has been 10 yrs since i could even drink any milk without symptoms or take
more than a bite of a candy bar i dont want to indulge in sugary foods foods but
wld like to be able to eat cereal without a prob i try to eat other foods
especially broccoli for calcium and try to take supplements but i even have prob
with the sugar that is in a multi-vitamin i'm sure you may be limited on what
you can recommend or who but any info wld be helpful i am frustrated on what to
do thank u

Anthony Bray, MD · Accepted Answer

Anthony Bray MD :

Hello!

Anthony Bray MD :

First of all are you being treated for your psychiatric diagnoses? If not then
you should be... I would recommend that you seek treatment for your Bipolar
disorder via a psychiatrist if this is not alreaady being handled. This would
help your overall picture....

Anthony Bray MD :

A review of your medications if you are on some would be helpful. In particualr
there are a few drugs especially for bipolar that may lead to weight gain as a
common side effect. You would want to make sure that this was not the case.

Anthony Bray MD :

The issue of glucose intolerance is easily treated by taking Lactaid to help you
digest the milk sugar lactose. Take one to three caplets with each meal
depending on the amount of dairy (usually there is some that may be hidden so we
advocate always take at least one) These are over the counter by the way>> ask
pharmacist if you have trouble finding them...

Anthony Bray MD :

It is frequently a problem following gastric surgery to see patients regain the
weight that they have lost. I would advise that you work on this issue on two
fronts >> work to increase your exercise and work to control the calories that
you take in !! Simple I know but it is simple physics >> you must take in fewer
calories than what you use in order to manage weight loss.

Anthony Bray MD :

A program such as weight watchers is good if you can afford this.

Anthony Bray MD :

Joining a gym to get a mix of exercise to variousmuscle groups is a helpful way
to go if you can manage this. The more muscle groups that you involve with your
exercise then the higher this will push your baseline metabolic rate. This helps
your metabolism to stay at higher rate even when you are not still exercising
and rather are later sitting on the couch....

Anthony Bray MD :

You would want the majority of your exercise to be aerobic type ( brisk walk.
jog, stationary bike, riding a bike and so forth) with some focal exercises
mixed in...

Anthony Bray MD :

If you do not want to go weight watchers route then you might get a reference
book for the South Beach diet>> this is one that I think is helpful and healthy
in nature....

Anthony Bray MD :

You want to eat at least three meals a day but do watch your portions ! It
sounds that you exceed your recommended portions at times and pay for it....

Anthony Bray MD :

It is counter-productive to skip meals as this slows your metabolism.

Anthony Bray MD :

I recommend that you may benefit to take supplements of a vitamin B complex and
CoQ10 at 100mg/day as these are of benefit to your metabolic rate.

Anthony Bray MD :

I hope this information helps. Let me know if you have further questions and I
will be happy to get back with you!

Anthony Bray MD :

If my answer has been helpful and to your satisfaction then please remember to
leave positive feedback! That would be very much appreciated! Thank you and Best
Regards!

Anthony Bray MD :

Anthony Bray MD

Customer:

i am currently under treatment and taking meds for my bi-polar when i was 1st
diagnosed the meds did seem to cause the weight gain i have been put on several
diff types of meds i do eat multiple times a day i know that u should eat abt 6
times a day including snacks my mother complains abt her weight but doesnt eat
more than once and i tell her to eat smaller meals and snacks in between because
if you dont i know ur body feels like it is being starved and stores fat rather
than burning fat and does not rev up metobolism as to my portion i do at times
eat an average size portion dont go back for seconds and at times i eat the same
portion that i feed my 3yr old to watch my portion size due to the prob of my
hot flashes with eating processed sugar i avoid it believe it or not i go
several wks without eating any junk food and look at labels to see the amt of
sugar in an item and have found that it the item has more than 10g of sugar i
cannot not even take a small bite without the hot flashes and if i may have had
some type of complex carb earlier that converts to sugar if i bite of anything
with sugar/candy bar/any junk food then i get hot flashes cold sweats and
sometimes vomiting i wish i could have responded more when u were online i will
give u an ok rating for now because i feel that some of the things i mentioned
explained what i was asking about and at the beginning when u mentioned i should
seek help or be treated for my bi-polar kinda annoyed that i would be able to
list all of my diagnosis if i was not being treated in some way well thank u for
finally answering me guess i'll try and figure out another way to get some extra
insight since i havent been able to from family doc and here

I had gastric bypass surgery back in 2002 and within wks of…

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