So here's a question, just before a major dumping issue starts I get an early warning, before anything else happens any reflected light source flickers (or strobes may be a better definition) only where the light hits not the actual source, so the lamp on my nightstand will flicker where it hits the surface and I know the next thing will be the leg sensation kicking off (if you'll pardon the pun). Anyway just curious if anyone else has either this anomaly or any other that tells them dumping is on the way. Just to be clear though this is not a concern just something I find interesting and wonder if anyone can shed some light on it (once again pardon the pun) I wondered if it may have something to do with the body's natural insulin which apparently is what causes the drop in blood sugar.
Early warning for dumping: So here's a... - Oesophageal & Gas...
Early warning for dumping
Hi I feel lightheaded and sounds echo in my head. I know then time to take some glucose and sit quietly for 15 mins. It is interesting that the warnings are different for different people, also the triggers.
Yes that is interesting, so it seems with you it may be an inner ear response and me an optical nerve response, sounds like possibly a change in blood pressure maybe.
Yes I get late dumping, firstly my eyes go funny, sort of out of vision, then I get an echo feeling in my ears, I can hear you but not sure my words come out right, then I start sweating and my heart rate increases, i get the tummy cramps and diarrhoea, I have to sit down for around 20 minutes till it passes, I carry dextrose tablets with me, my hubby and I used to laugh because it always seemed to happen in the sweet aisle at B and M !, then we worked out it was just after we’d had breakfast at the harvester 🤣 ( we would go B and M after, ), it’s an awful feeling,
Yes, if we’re talking late dumping when blood sugar gets really low, I get this visual disturbance, it’s exactly like when you look directly into a bright light and get blinded, and a bright spot remains in your sight for a while. Except you see this spot without getting blinded first. Then shakiness and sweating starts, and I have to eat something immediately.
Hmmm interesting how everyone seems to get it (and yes I forgot to mention I suffer mainly late dumping, very rarely early) but in different ways, as you say the sudden drop in blood sugar obviously has this effect.
I definitely don’t get that symptom. My first sign is an increase in heart rate to like 80bpm. That’s my early warning sign. This will be followed by feeling light headed if I don’t ingest sugar. Next will come sweating. If I detect is early I can get it under control within a few min and it goes away.
My explanation above is for early (not delayed) dumping. Delayed / late I can’t do anything about. I just get diarrhoea and that’s it.
I have both early and late dumping, but when I have early dumping (with rapid heartbeat and fatigue) I can’t eat something sweet as it only makes matters worse. Sugar only helps me with late dumping, when blood sugar is low.
H Brett, yes it seems a lot of sufferers get diarrhoea and I guess I'm lucky as it doesn't affect my bowels at all I just get numb jelly legs and start to lose the plot fairly quickly soon after that which can make it difficult to control my response and eat all the wrong things out of confusion. The sweats, confusion, shakes and rapid heart beat all hit me at pretty much the same time but once I've ingested something sweet drop off one at a time the confusion being the first thing to go fortunately. Great to hear other perspectives on this though, thanks for the reply. Martin
I start to feel sick, as if I've eaten too much. I know I'm in for a session then. It always amuses me because once I've controlled the sugar levels (with dextrose tablets usually) I'm really hungry.
Hi. With late dumping I get nauseous then cramping in my lower abdomen and blurred vision but if I take glucose or somthing with sugar and sit quietly for a out fifteen or twenty minutes then I'm OK but I do need to follow up with something like a banana to eat but for early dumping I get sudden cramp and diarrhoea. I've only just found that glucose can stop a bout of late dumping because till recently nothing helped but in only 18 - 20 months on from Ivor Lewis surgery and am constantly being reminded that it's relatively yearly days.We're all so different and have different solutions for th side effects of IL so it is helpful to hear the experiences of others.
Hi there!
I recently found out that I get delayed or reactive hypoglycemia - low blood sugar after eating a large amount of carbohydrates but a large amount for me would be one toast and banana. I am not quite sure if this is the cause yet. I have been give tablets to eat when eating a meal so that there isn't a big rush of insulin released in the blood stream in one go causing the sugar levels to dip. These haven't worked out as my levels are still dipping and I am still going into a hypo so I am waiting for my next appointment with the endocrinology department. I find that I get a hot flush, feel lighted headed, confused or sometimes dizzy when my levels dip too low e.g. 2.8 on the sugar machine. I have been told that these machines are not very accurate when you are in a hypo situation.
Also, I used to have severe cramping and diahorrea which I assumed was caused by dumping. I found out that this wasn't dumping but an overflow of diahorrea. I kept a food diary and found out I was getting severe cramping and diahorrea on days where I was not eating large quantity of sweet foods and found out that I coukd not suffer from dumping due to the type of oesopphagectomy that I had. My bowels were getting blocked and the body was getting diahorrea due to this.
We should not self diagnose our symptoms without consulting the doctors as I was under the assumption that I was suffering from dumping but I actually had constipation. I am still trying to work out a solution for me at the moment. I had my oesopphagectomy in 2018.
Regards,
Cosmobabe
Hello. I used to get early dumping and my first sign would be a sudden drop in blood pressure. I now don’t get early dumping but now get late dumping. My first sign is visual disturbances where the light becomes odd and disorientating. This progresses to the second sign of tremor, this can be really bad. Then this progresses to the third sign which is light headedness and the feeling I am going to collapse. It rarely deviates from this and I have about ten minutes after the visual disturbances to get some sugar inside (usually a drink of cola) and I can then usually prevent stage two and three. If I miss the ten minute window it will progress through all three stages. I find I am then wrecked for the rest of the day. But, I know which foods do this. For example, a little too much cake is likely to trigger it so I now eat the cake and then take a little more sugar after about an hour and that usually prevents it. But as it isn’t 100% proof I don’t risk any high carb/sugar food if working until safe at home. So, all very manageable. But, interesting to hear of other people’s light disturbances as I have never read this in the literature. Thanks for posting.
Yes I've mentioned it to my consultants and GP and even the optician and of course it's not just post op esophagectomy patients that experience dumping syndrome so it would seem the various differences between sufferers is a bit of a mystery anyway. I normally notice the light flickering somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes before the legs start to go to jelly which I why I refer to it as a early warning, if I act quickly (and lately a strong coffee with a teaspoon of sugar gets straight to it) I can avoid the confusion, rapid heart beat, terrible sweats and severe fatigue. Unfortunately it's only artificial light sources that do this, never the sun so during the day it's of no help at all. thanks for the reply, Martin
Hi, i am 6 Years post Esophagectomy. Six months after my operation I started to get very bad late dumping, which caused my blood sugars to rapidly drop. This resulted in Seizures. Has anybody else had seizures.?
I do get visual disturbance in the form of green kidney shapes that fill my sight, and noise in my ears.
After getting a Libre 2 monitor I now have control over my blood sugars, the monitor gives a audible warning when my bloods are going low.
My endocrinologist prescribed Diaozoside (proglicem), these tablets controlled my blood sugars. However I had to cut the dose down to almost nothing, because of the side effects (chest pain, water rention in my leg, body temp drop)
I am on a low dose, so when I know my blood sugar is going down I take 4 Jelly babies and sit still for 15-20 minutes this works for me.The libre 2 is the game changer without this I feel would still have the seizures or worse.
Good luck everyone
I start to feel light headed and my legs are shaky, My heart rate increases. I eat a glucose tablet and about 15 minutes later I am fine. only happens occasionally. while am taking my daily walk . always after eating more than usual.
Hi yes my eyes go 1st then ears and heart rate. I use Dextrose tablets and maybe a banana which helps. Yes overeating , too much sugar or fat doesn't help.
Best Wishes
Debbie
yes I've heard that the body needs potassium during dumping and I've tried a banana but never had much luck.
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