Troubleshooting & Common Complaints Later Post-Operative

Burping or hiccups:

• Chew with your mouth closed

• Avoid straws, carbonated beverages, and chewing gum

• Eat slowly

Excessive hair loss:

• Hair loss can be normal for several months following surgery. This is not permanent , and will improve once your weight has stabilized.

• To minimize hair loss:

• Stick to your protein regimen

• Drink water

• Take your vitamins

• Talk to your surgeon about taking biotin, zinc, or essential fatty acid supplements

Diarrhea:

• Eat slowly and stop when you reach a state of comfortable satisfaction

• Do not drink liquids 30 minutes before or after your meal

• Avoid sugar, fat, alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods. No smoking

• Continue to eat well-tolerated foods until you feel better, or go back to the last food stage

• Limit sugar-free sweeteners like sorbitol and mannitol

• Take over the counter Imodium as directed

• If diarrhea continues, contact the clinic to check for a possible bacterial infection

Leg cramps:

• Increase fluid and electrolyte intake

• Follow your diet closely as advised by your surgeon and dietitian, and take your vitamins

• Increase your activity: move every half hour and put your legs up if they feel swollen

• Avoid crossing your legs or wearing anything tight on your legs

Food “getting stuck”:

• Eat and chew slowly. Cut food into very small pieces and eat smaller portions

• Avoid dry, tough, or stringy foods

Dumping syndrome:

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, sweating, bloating, diarrhea, cramping, lightheadedness, and fast heart rate. This usually occurs after eating high-fat or high-sugar foods and lasts about 30 minutes.

• Avoid fatty or sugary foods, and those with “hidden” sugars like honey, corn syrup, molasses, jellies, jams, sweet spreads, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and sweet pickles

Heartburn/burning feeling in stomach:

• Avoid caffeine, tea, coffee, chocolate, spicy foods, black/red pepper, and alcohol

• Avoid foods that are too hot or too cold

• Avoid smoking

• Avoid aspirin and other NSAIDs (try Tylenol instead)

• Discuss symptoms and medications your are taking with your surgeon. Your surgeon may prescribe an antacid.

Weight loss stops:

• Evaluate portion sizes, limit high calorie foods and beverages

• Increase physical activity

• Consult your dietitian and/or exercise team

Plugging or indigestion (the sensation that food has “blocked” an opening) :

• Avoid dry, tough, sticky, gummy, spongy, stringy, or fibrous foods

• Avoid bran, cereal, granola, popcorn, noodles, rice, corn, peas, cabbage, celery, dried beans, dried fruit, coconut, citrus membranes, and fruit or vegetable skins/peels

• Avoid acidic foods

• Go back to an earlier diet stage

Lactose intolerance:

Some people develop intolerance to some dairy products after weight loss surgery. This may feel like gas, bloating, cramping, and diarrhea.

• Avoid milk and milk by-products. Replace milk with sugar-free soy milk or lactose-free milk (like Lactaid)

• Try over the counter lactase supplements

Gout:

• Drink fluid according to your schedule to flush waste from your kidneys

• Avoid alcohol, keep protein intake toward the low end of your goal

• Avoid high-purine foods like organ meats (liver, kidneys, heart, etc.), game meat, sardines, anchovies, scallops, mussels, and mackerel

• Limit moderate-purine foods (oatmeal, wheat bran and germ, asparagus, peas, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms)

• Note: Colchicine (a medication to treat gout) may cause diarrhea

Kidney stones:

• Drink fluid according to your schedule to flush waste from your kidneys

• Avoid excessive intake of vitamin C (too much vitamin C can contribute to kidney stones)

• Avoid high-oxalate foods (beets, cocoa, chocolate, prunes, leeks, greens, quinoa, celery, soy, tofu, peanuts, black tea, coffee, soda, wheat bran and germ, spinach, dried beans, sweet potatoes)

• Discuss treatment with your care team

Bloating or gas:

• Avoid sugar alcohols and fructose (sorbitol, maltitol, xilitol) and consider the possibility of lactose intolerance.

• Use probiotics

• Avoid straws, chewing gum, carbonated beverages, or gulping

• Limit fat intake

• Try gas reduction treatment options (Beano, Gas-X strips)

• Limit soluble fiber (oat brain, Metamucil, barley, beans, dried peas) and foods that may cause gas (vegetables, high-fiber cereals, peanuts & peanut butter, soy milk, soy protein)

Cold or congestion:

• You can take Sudafed, Zyrtec or Claritin, sugar-free throat lozenges or chloraseptic spray, and Tylenol

• Avoid NSAIDS, or anything with sugar.