Constant diahorrea!

[Creoncol]

I am 2 years post-op having Oesophagectomy. Have never suffered with dumping but am starting to get diahorrea more regularly with quite severe wind as well. I think it must be related to my diet. Are there any particular foods that I should avoid. So far I think bread and high carbs seem to encourage it, but I'm not sure. anyone help?

[Hidden]

Have you changed what you eat recently? Or are you doing anything different from a few weeks ago before you had the trouble?

This is unqualified speculation, but one of the things that might be happening is a form of small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). There is a breath test for this, and it is when bacteria accumulate in your gut and can create problems with diarrhoea. It seems to be associated sometimes with the absence of the normal levels of stomach acid that keeps these bugs in check, and is treated with various courses of antibiotics. One person I know who had trouble with random, unexpected and urgent diarrhoea (which may be worse than you are experiencing) had three months of a cycle of ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and erythromycin followed by probiotics VSL3, but do not take this as what you need; but it is often only an experienced gastroenterologist that can work this out because of the peculiar circumstances of patients who have had an oesophagectomy. So what I recommend is contacting the specialist nurse for a referral to a gastroenterologist who has experience of post-oesophagectomy patients and take it from there.

It is sensible to monitor what food might be causing more problems, and there might indeed by some element of diet involved. There are so many personal variations in what food upsets some people but not others, that the only way is probably personal trial and error. You could stay off bread for a couple of weeks and see what happens. You have to be quite systematic in working through the permutations of what might be giving you trouble. It might be an idea to have some kind of allergy / intolerance test, perhaps at a health food store if you cannot get anything through the normal channels?

And asking the advice of a specialist dietician is always a good idea.

I think that quite often there are several things going on at the same time so that it is difficult for the doctors to isolate just one thing that would put things right. The more you keep a systematic diary of what is happening, the more help the specialists will be able to help.

[Spikey]

Are you taking omeprazole? I started to get regular diarrhoea about 4 years post-op, having been fine up to then. I went to see a gastroenterologist and he took me off omeprazole, which apparently causes diarrhoea in around 15% of patients, and put me on pantoprazole instead. Since then, I still get diarrhoea very occasionally, but can usually trace it to overindulgence, particularly of sugary foods like apple crumble.

[Creoncol in reply to Spikey]

I'm taking lanzaprazole 15mg, but I have taken them for years well before my Oesophagectomy 2 years ago.I'm considering keeping a food diary to highlight when diahorrea kicks in. It's not so bad when at home,it's when eating out it can be an embarrassment as well as a nuisance.

[liz_crisp]

I find its foods that are sweet and have a high sugar content that can cause the problem also if I have fruit juice or fizzy drinks.

[Rayslife]

Its nearly three years since I had the same op and I can relate to all the problems people are experiencing.

You get tired of trying "This and the other, as nothing seems to work very well"

I thought to myself for a moment! what will bung me up? Bananas I thought......well, I wasn't eager to stuff down half a dozen bananas every day, so, I then thought POTASSIUM! well that's the stuff inside of bananas.

Yes, it works very well for me taking the prescribed dose of four a day makes a BIG difference.

I still have the problem of actually trying to swallowing the tablets of course.

[Prestatynfc in reply to Rayslife]

You don't actually say what tablets you take, are they potassium? If so do you get them on prescription.? Are they that large? Questions,Questions!

[Rayslife in reply to Prestatynfc]

I buy Potassium tablets from Holland & Barrett there's no need to get a prescription. I am tired of going to the doctors for prescription remedies which usually dont work, these tablets work very well for me after suffering for nearly three years. I usually snap the tablets in half as I suffer terribly with swallowing.