Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Dumping Syndrome

So I had my appt yesterday with my GP, the one my OB wanted me to make for a heart evaluation b/c of my last sugar episode.

My GP believes that it has NOTHING to do with my heart. He said if it was my heart, it would happen all times of the day not just in the morning. He believes that it is strictly related to sugar.

So he's diagnosed me with Dumping Syndrome. Here's a little of what I found online:

Rapid Gastric Emptying(Dumping Syndrome)
An amalgamation of information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and other sources.
Rapid gastric emptying, or dumping syndrome, happens when the lower end of the small intestine (jejunum) fills too quickly with undigested food from the stomach.


Early dumping

"Early" dumping begins during or right after a meal. Symptoms of early dumping include nausea, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, and shortness of breath.
After an esophagectomy, food passes quickly into the small bowel, mixed only with saliva and amylase from the mouth, but little or no stomach acid. The molecules (component parts) of the food remain fairly intact and therefore, large. The small bowel responds by diluting what we eat through a process of "water recruitment" into the bowel space. The "richer" the food, in terms of molecule size or sugar content, the more water will rush into the small bowel to dilute it. Suddenly, the heart will pound and beat rapidly; you may feel dizzy, and overwhelmingly tired. The bowels may gurgle and churn, and will feel bloated and gassy. This might be followed by loose stools and even vomiting. It is not dangerous, but it can be frightening to the uneducated patient.


Late dumping
"Late" dumping happens 1 to 3 hours after eating. Symptoms of late dumping include weakness, sweating, and dizziness.
Late dumping is caused by an insulin response to the ingested food. One might feel flushed, sweaty, fatigued, and experience all the signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).


http://www.eccafe.org/cnt/dumping.html

Here are some other sites:
http://www.womenfitness.net/dumping_syndrome.htm
http://www.gastromd.com/diets/anti-dumping.html

I must have LATE DUMPING since it normally occurs 1 - 1.5hrs after I eat.
I'm so happy I don't have to go to any other appts: cardiologist etc... and to actually know what's going on. Sounds to me like he nailed the diagnosis.

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