Gastric Dumping

[Luv2Sew]

I've been reading archive posts on gastric dumping. Every year or so, I have abdominal pain, sudden diarrhea, the shakes, and feel bad for several hours. I've had my colostomy ten years.
One time I was driving a cousin from out of town to see the apple pie town of Julian, but drank too much sparkling cider (small cup), had to go into the Sheriff's office to find a bathroom to change my bursting bag, and my cousin had to drive us home! Yesterday I may have eaten too much sugar (piece of pie), and it took all night to recover. No nausea so don't think it was food poisoning.
I am prediabetic and try to eat less sugar. But I can usually drink a glass of juice or eat a piece of pie. I just don't have any warning before an episode starts. Do I blame the prediabetes or the colostomy?

[MtnMama]

My ileostomy reacts very badly to sugar. Causes Gastric Dumping among other discomforts and distress. Of all foods to be wary of, sugar is my number one (even more than roughage that could cause a blockage). Most of the time I'm diligent in avoiding sugar; but, every so often I convince myself that a little bit would be OK. It never is. I pay dearly.

Chocolate, too, even without sugar = Temporary enjoyment followed by several hours of digestive woes and regret. I am still wide awake at 3:30 a.m. now thanks to a minor chocolate binge 6 hours ago. Ugh.

Sugar is no good for anyone. Best to reduce or eliminate if you can. My 2 cents.

[Luv2Sew]

I talked to my ostomy nurse today regarding my supplies, and mentioned gastric dumping. Her suggestion was to add a couple of spoons of fiber to my morning coffee or other beverage. I'll think about that. And I will try harder on limiting sugar intake! But chocolate will be hard!

[Diane C]

I'm unfamiliar with the term, gastric dumping -- is it major diarrhea? Since getting an ileostomy in 2018 (I had a colostomy from 2002 until then with slow transit time and other issues), I've had high output. It's been challenging to put it mildly. Because my new stoma was created on top of a scar, there's also much leakage. Oddly, I've found that gas and distention have been worse with the ileostomy than with the colostomy which I irrigated.

I recently put in a new order -- switched from Hollister high-output pouches to Convatec's which have 2 more inches in length but don't seem as comfortable (tried Coloplast). Also take Imodium though recently tried a generic from Amazon from SDA Labs which didn't seem effective.

The BIG change -- and challenge -- is to start the FODMAP food plan. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fodmaps-101 Is anyone else doing this? I believe it helps with distention, diarrhea, etc. Sugary foods are out. Many fruits, too. Someone in my N. Virginia support group follows it. Everyone is different but for her, she said avoiding fruit with pits or seeds has helped -- that includes watermelon -- which I've noticed can give me gas. I'm not a chocoholic but love carbs. For years, I've tried to be non-gluten which hasn't helped much. I'm finding that sourdough bread helps settle my stomach. I'm trying to have only lactose-free dairy and still searching for a substitute. Best so far -- oat or hemp milk but neither is super. Green Valley makes lactose-free cottage cheese, yogurt, and kefir -- very costly thought!

Hope you feel better but maybe this dietary system will help?

[MtnMama]

Fiber can help with gastric dumping. I get my fiber mostly from foods like oats, oat bran, ground flax seed & chia, cooked veggies, etc. I have some fiber powder, but haven't used it in a long time now. Good reminder to add it to liquids. I'd be curious to hear what you think of putting it in your coffee. Effective? (I imagine the flavored powders might be yucky in coffee or tea, but plain might be tolerable.) I'll take unpalatable if it helps reduce dumping.

[Luv2Sew]

A friend who had weight loss surgery told me about gastric dumping. My experience has been several hours after eating. Sudden diarrhea that can fill one or two bags. Very inconvenient. Here is a link.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... c-20371915
Luckily my episodes are few and far between. I am a little reluctant to use much fiber as my surgeon put me on senna to prevent constipation and another said metamucil would stop me up. But this was ten years ago! Still learning.
The FODMAP recommended diet is new to me but worth trying to avoid gas which is a problem sometimes. I have gasx and immodium stocked up! Thank you for info! I don't drink coffee but do drink some tea and cocoa.

[Diane C]

Before I had an ileostomy -- or even a colostomy, senna, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc. gave me so much gas that I still avoid them. I had motility and anorectal muscle issues and these only made life worse. Could be different now but those episodes are stuck in my brain. Inulin is often found in protein powders and causes much distention with me. Too bad as I finally found a super protein powder but the inulin "did me in." Yep, I use Gas-X also (don't use mint if you have reflux -- pick the lemon or cherry flavors) and also buy Imodium. I tried a generic Imodium at Amazon made by SDA labs and it was not very effective. The generic at CVS drugstore seems better. Lactose-free products by Green Valley and lactose-free dairy milk work for me but are quite costly.

My GI doctor who is excellent told me to cut out caffeine -- that it can lead to diarrhea. I'd been drinking a lot of chai and other tea but switched to a ginger-lemon type. Very soothing esp with honey. I don't seem to have any problem with honey and that's good for fighting bacteria and viral infections, esp if it's high quality and "raw." Kind of strange because it's very sweet stuff. Mysteries!

Good luck!

[Luv2Sew]

Interesting info about gas triggers. My husband and son use a lot of Inulin for regularity. Neither have ostomies. My son's doctor suggested he switch to Metamucil, but not sure why. I haven't tried Inulin.
I was drinking some caffeinated Chai tea lately, and should switch to herbal tea. Also I was given a loaf of homemade bread with flax seeds and maybe that was a trigger. I normally avoid all seeds and nuts but this bread was tempting and I couldn't see the seeds!
Thanks to everyone as I gather information.

[Diane C]

Luv2Sew,

Interesting about the inulin used for regularity. I'd not heard about that. I only discovered that it caused distention with me because it was the only ingredient in a wonderful protein smoothie I'd ordered that could possibly be the culprit. I mentioned it to one of my colorectal surgeons and she confirmed that it could cause gas and diarrhea. Dr. Google had also indicated this if that's worth anything.

Flax seed has the same effect on me although not nearly as much. Someone recently suggested I may want to try ground flax seed to thicken my output but I'm not really interested. It's also an estrogenic and since I had breast cancer (diagnosed early) in 1989, I avoid estrogenics like that and soy. Here's a link about flaxseed that may be of interest. https://www.rxlist.com/consumer_flax seed_linseed/drugs-condition.htm

Good luck!