Dumping Syndrome Can Cause Low Blood Sugar in Gastric Bypass Recipients

Gastric bypass surgery has given a new life to many people who otherwise might have died from their obesity. I tipped the scale at 412 pounds when I went into the hospital to have my gastric bypass surgery. It did, indeed, save my life. I lost a little over 140 pounds. I didn’t lose all my weight with the surgery. I am currently dieting to get the remainder of my weight off. I don’t regret having the surgery, but I do hate the side effects.

One of the worst side effects of this type of stomach surgery is gastric dumping syndrome. When you have dumping syndrome, you often have a surge of insulin which causes low blood sugar that goes along with the dumping. What is dumping syndrome? It’s just what it sounds like. The stomach empties too quickly and the food is moved into the small intestine. Once the undigested food enters the small intestine it triggers the pancreas to produce insulin. The rush of insulin into blood circulation causes the blood glucose level to drop, and then symptoms of dumping syndrome causes light-headedness, fatigue, flushing, shortness of breath, excess gas, nausea, vomiting, and possibly even diarrhea will occur suddenly.

Some people that have gastric bypass surgery have an awful time with dumping syndrome. I only have dumping syndrome when I eat too much sweet stuff. My main problem with sweets is sweet liquids. I can eat cake without frosting and not suffer any symptoms. However, if I eat the frosting or eat ice cream with the cake, I will get very sick and start vomiting soon after eating it. When I get dumping syndrome, I get extremely weak and short of breath. I usually have to put my oxygen on for about 30 minutes and lie still while I wait for the nausea and fatigue to go away. After a little while, I am okay again.

We, who have had gastric bypass surgery, have smaller stomachs than other people. We can’t eat as much at one time. I try to eat 6 small meals per day. As long as I don’t succumb to a craving for something too sweet, I don’t suffer from dumping syndrome. I like diet drinks, but I have found they will also stimulate insulin and cause me to crave something sweet. I’m more likely to eat something to cause gastric dumping syndrome when I drink diet drinks. Even though diet drinks don’t contain sugar, the brain doesn’t know the difference between sweeteners and sugar. Sweeteners will stimulate the pancreas to secrete excess insulin. That starts a whole cycle of low blood sugar, light headedness, and more craving. No matter how many times I have been sick, I will still succumb to a sugar crave once in a while. The need to satisfy the craving is more intense than the memory of the discomfort of dumping syndrome.

I have found a way to manage my day to day eating to prevent the dumping symptoms. I am living on the Weight Watcher’s program. As long as I adhere to the plan and measure out everything and stay within my point range, I don’t have symptoms. I can still have a slice of cake, but I take the frosting off. I had a craving for strawberry shortcake the other day, and used sponge cake for the shortcake, and crushed up several strawberries and a little cool whip. It totally satisfied my craving and didn’t cause me any dumping syndrome symptoms.

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