Taking meds post-op. Some things you need to know! - Page 4 - ThinnerTimes

MiladyB · 02-24-2008, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilShowers

Ok I do not know what to do about this. I suffer from headaches.. everytime it rains or there is a change in the barometric pressure. I have been known to have headaches for weeks at a time. Now.. in the past the only thing which hellped was aleve.. now that I know I can not take it I have been trying to use tylenolinstead, however.. ITS NOT WORKING. This is day number 7 with a SERIOUS headache and I am so tempted to just go take an aleve. What do people do when tylenol doesnt do the job?

I'm not sure, April. I wonder if some kind of sinus medication would help you. Other than that Tylenol is about it when it comes to OTC meds. The other choice is getting some kind of prescription.

MiladyB · 02-24-2008, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbDeane

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, although I'm 4 years post-RNY gastric bypass. My diabetes has returned and my doc put me on metaformin (Glucophage) this week. I'm having some serious dumping-like intestinal distress and wanted to see if others have had a similar reaction and/or if there's any information out there about RNY patients and glucophage post-surgery.

I read that the symptoms should subside in most patients in 2-3 weeks, so I'm willing to give it a shot, but I don't know if there are specific issues for WLS folks.

Thanks for any help -

Barb

Barb, I'm not aware of any specific issues with the metaformin. I can see if I can dig up anything specific for you though. Give it a few more weeks and see if things get better. If not I would get ahold of my bariatric surgeon and see if he/she have any thoughts on the situation

BarbDeane · 02-24-2008, 09:52 PM

Thanks, Beth for any information you can uncover. Unfortunately, my gastric surgeon isn't going to be much help. The surgeon who did my surgery moved from IL to Washington State shortly after it, so I had another surgeon in the office for subsequent visits. Then the office went bankrupt and they were concerned I'd sue because my surgery malfunctioned, although I didn't. And then 2 years ago, I moved from IL to Frankfurt, Germany, so I'm kind of swinging on my own here.

Thanks, again -

Barb

MiladyB · 02-24-2008, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbDeane

Thanks, Beth for any information you can uncover. Unfortunately, my gastric surgeon isn't going to be much help. The surgeon who did my surgery moved from IL to Washington State shortly after it, so I had another surgeon in the office for subsequent visits. Then the office went bankrupt and they were concerned I'd sue because my surgery malfunctioned, although I didn't. And then 2 years ago, I moved from IL to Frankfurt, Germany, so I'm kind of swinging on my own here.

Thanks, again -

Barb

Yeah, I guess you are on your own. I have a couple people I can send an email off to who may have some information. Let me see what I can do for you. In what way did your surgery malfunction?

BarbDeane · 02-25-2008, 04:55 AM

Dear Beth,

After a little over a year out, I stopped losing and started regaining and went to the doc. I never felt full anymore and was always hungry. They did an upper GI and the tech said that my stoma was "wide open." So they did an endoscopy and found the same - the stoma is the same size as the RNY branch and it's as if there's no stomach at all really. I never feel full, am nearly always hungry and have basically a tunnel running from esophagus to intestines.

I have maintained a 40 lb. weight loss for over 2 years now, but gained back 40 of the original 80 I lost. The surgeon told me there's nothing they can do about it and that there are very few surgeons in the country who would try to fix this - they strongly recommended I didn't try it as the surgery is "risky." Maybe time will tell.

Barb

MiladyB · 02-25-2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbDeane

Dear Beth,

After a little over a year out, I stopped losing and started regaining and went to the doc. I never felt full anymore and was always hungry. They did an upper GI and the tech said that my stoma was "wide open." So they did an endoscopy and found the same - the stoma is the same size as the RNY branch and it's as if there's no stomach at all really. I never feel full, am nearly always hungry and have basically a tunnel running from esophagus to intestines.

I have maintained a 40 lb. weight loss for over 2 years now, but gained back 40 of the original 80 I lost. The surgeon told me there's nothing they can do about it and that there are very few surgeons in the country who would try to fix this - they strongly recommended I didn't try it as the surgery is "risky." Maybe time will tell.

Barb

Barb, actually the severe dumping that you are having is probably being exasperated by your enlarged anastomosis. It's probably not totally due to the Glucophage. Everything just entires your system at a much faster rate. Actually the problem with your stoma isn't all that uncommon and the good news is there are several procedures that can fix it and they really aren't all that risky. Are you still in Germany or are you back in the states? I'm in Michigan and my surgeon has two different ways he fixes that type of problem. Both are done as an outpatient and involved a endoscopy. Neither require an incision of any kind. Here is the link to a thread about the procedures.

http://thinnertimesforum.com/showthread.php?t=11066

In the states right now there are physicians who do the ROSE procedure, Sclerotherapy and something called Stomafyx. The ROSE procedure and Stomafyx seem to be essentially the same thing. Sclerotherapy is different but used for the same problem.

BarbDeane · 02-25-2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiladyB

Barb, actually the severe dumping that you are having is probably being exasperated by your enlarged anastomosis. It's probably not totally due to the Glucophage. Everything just entires your system at a much faster rate. Actually the problem with your stoma isn't all that uncommon and the good news is there are several procedures that can fix it and they really aren't all that risky. Are you still in Germany or are you back in the states? I'm in Michigan and my surgeon has two different ways he fixes that type of problem. Both are done as an outpatient and involved a endoscopy. Neither require an incision of any kind. Here is the link to a thread about the procedures.

http://thinnertimesforum.com/showthread.php?t=11066

In the states right now there are physicians who do the ROSE procedure, Sclerotherapy and something called Stomafyx. The ROSE procedure and Stomafyx seem to be essentially the same thing. Sclerotherapy is different but used for the same problem.

Beth - thanks so much for the information. I had actually read that thread previously and it raised my hopes a little, but after the results I had with the initial surgery, I'm a little gun-shy about jumping into a second procedure. It's irrelevant at this point, as I'm still living in Germany anyway. Maybe by the time I get back to the States, there'll be more information on possible fixes to my problem.

The more immediate question is whether I'll be able to tolerate the Glucophage. I really don't have any dumping problems with anything else, except for slight queasiness with rice, salmon, and rich ice cream - easy enough to stay away from those. Hopefully, I'll adjust to the Glucophage, as my sugar is improving steadily even though I've only been on it since Friday.

Barb

marine · 02-25-2008, 10:36 PM

Barb, if you know German

"Metformin Nebenwirkungen: Gastrointestinale Beschwerden
Sehr häufig: Übelkeit, Erbrechen, Diarrhö, Bauchschmerzen, Appetitverlust (5–15%).
Diese Symptome treten meist zu Beginn der Therapie auf und gehen in der Regel spontan zurück."

The product circular of any metformin says that there are very often GI side effects:
Nausea, Vomit, Diarrhea, abdominal pain, and lost of appetite (5-15%). In general the above SE are mostly at the beg. of the therapy and get better overtime.

If you needed metformin this means that your GLU levels were not OK. Which means that you might have started to have carbhydrates intake again? This then can also causes the dumping effect after GBP. So all together with the metformin it might explain the issues you face.

Definitely talk to your physician.
By the way ,the metformin is a great antidiabetic because in addition to its great effect on the GLU, you do not gain weight.

Let us know and take care

"Marine, the sea girl"

ForcesSweetheart · 02-26-2008, 03:07 PM

Apo1og1es for hav1ng to use number 1 to rep1ace some 1etters, t1pped coffee on my puter!

1 thought 1 read that we shou1dn't have s1ow-re1ease/mod1f1ed re1ease drugs post-rny? G1ucophage 1s Mod1f1ed Re1ease Metform1n.
1 just sw1tched from g1ucophage to regu1ar metform1n for th1s reason. Metform1n 1s renowned for caus1ng stomach cramps and 1oose movements, 1t does tend to 1mprove though, 1've been on them for years now but 1n the ear1y days suffered those s1de effects, don't so much now.
The mod1f1ed re1ease (g1ucophage) 1s supposed to cause 1ess of these prob1ems than regu1ar metform1n, but that may not be true post-rny, don't know how our changed p1umb1ng wou1d affect th1s.

BarbDeane · 02-26-2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForcesSweetheart

Apo1og1es for hav1ng to use number 1 to rep1ace some 1etters, t1pped coffee on my puter!

1 thought 1 read that we shou1dn't have s1ow-re1ease/mod1f1ed re1ease drugs post-rny? G1ucophage 1s Mod1f1ed Re1ease Metform1n.
1 just sw1tched from g1ucophage to regu1ar metform1n for th1s reason. Metform1n 1s renowned for caus1ng stomach cramps and 1oose movements, 1t does tend to 1mprove though, 1've been on them for years now but 1n the ear1y days suffered those s1de effects, don't so much now.
The mod1f1ed re1ease (g1ucophage) 1s supposed to cause 1ess of these prob1ems than regu1ar metform1n, but that may not be true post-rny, don't know how our changed p1umb1ng wou1d affect th1s.

I'm not actually on Glucophage, but on Metformin AbZ 850 mg tablet - don't know if that's modified release or not. I've been saying Glucophage because that's the more well-known name, but to be accurate, that's not what I'm on. Of course, I'm getting this in Frankfurt, Germany as well, so there's much more on the box and insert I can't read.

Barb