I am now 5 months after my operation (Laparoscopic oesophagectomy) . For the first few months I had some nausea but this has got worse over the last month or so.
I have tried Domperidone, Cyclizine & Maxolon without any improvement. Due to my nausea I am not able to eat very much and am still losing weight (70kg down to 53kg). Any suggestions or help would be welcome.
John34
Hi John,
5 months out is not a long time, my weight slowly dropped but was settled at 11 months and it was 18 months before any weight gain.
Are you taking Lansoprazole daily as well as the others you have mentioned?
Have you spoken to your consultant about your nausea?
It may be something you are eating which may be causing the problem, I kept a diary of all the meals after which I had a problem, with me it was refined sugar, milk and coffee, I'm 5 years out and still limit my intake of these foods.
Gavaston also worked for me in the beginning.
You have not mentioned when you get the nausea, is it at night or during the day?
I still sleep with 4 pillows and can have reflux if I lay flat or on my left side, this is the norm for me even now.
Talk to your consultant, CNS and dietician, it may be that just a tweak in diet will help.
It is still early days, it will improve and you will learn how to control your diet to eat well and avoid certain problem foods.
Best wishes,
Dave C
Many thanks for your help. I will check on my diet and have arranged to see my consultant next week.
John
It sounds like the nausea is the big issue doesn't it! I agree with Dave that it would be worth going back and seeing the medical team to sort it out. They will work out a sensible solution for you, so don't worry unduly. One thing that sometimes happens is that the food does not clear properly from the stomach, when, for instance, the pylorus sphincter, the valve at the bottom of the stomach, does not work as well as it should. So sometimes the hospital can stretch the valve a bit and help food travel through thr system more easily.
It is a minor procedure that they regularly do (but it never seems routine to us, does it!). This is entirely speculation though, and I might be quite wrong. The other thing that they might try is a better or stronger dose of medication to combat hat you have been experiencing.
One would think that 5 months after the operation is long enough for things to be quite OK, but patients often do in fact have some kind of problem at the stage you are at. So don't worry - the medical team will sort it out for you.
Generally, the intake of nutrition is more important than your weight, so, if you can, regard your weight as a wardrobe issue rather than a health & recovery problem.
Many thanks for your help Alan. I have arranged to see my consultant next week and hope he can come up with some solutions.
John
Hi John
i had my op on 3rd November 2011 so we are about the same. i know everyone is different re symptoms but i too was suffering with nausea which was hindering my eating my doctor perscribed tablets which didnt really help. i found that the tramadol i was taking was causing some of the symptoms and also some of the sickness pills were causing other side effects. i resorted to a diary which i started to record everything i ate and if i had nausea or cramping etc. the main things which dont agree with me appears to be sugar for the nausea. especially foods which are classed as "simple sugars" so food which are highly starchy and sugary. biscuits, sweets, sugary breakfast cereal, dried fruit, grapes fruit cake, cakes. when i go food shopping now i look at the list of ingrediants they have to list the largest quantity first if sugar is first or second i know i cant eat it. generally i have found that food which digests quickly has a lot of sugar content and remember a lot of carbohydrates (ie white bread)are also sugars so if you are consuming sweet things and lots of carbs then this may be causing the nausea. i hope this has been of help i am able to control my symptoms quite well now without medication i also make sure i sit down for half an hour after i finish eating as i found this helps. i never had a sweet tooth before my op but now i do which is a bit of a pain when you cant have it. however i have found that belvita biscuits are ok and nairns oat biscuits, also diabetic chocolate and sweets are fine.
i wish you well
sue
Hi Sue
Thank you for your help.
As you say, we are not all the same. My operation consisted of removal of 5cm of oesophagus and about 5/7 of the stomach. I would be grateful if you could comment on my typical days diet.
Breakfast - Porridge with 3 or 4 dried apricots or prunes ?
Mid morning -toast with peanut butter
Lunch - soup with roll or biscuit or egg on toast
Mid afternoon - cake or flapjack
Evening - Grilled fish or chicken or cottage pie all with mashed potato & peas or beans
Later - 1/2 steamed pudding with custard or ice cream or yoghurt.
All these are very small portions.
Very many thanks for your help.
Regards
John
Hi John,
I am now 2 years post op but like you had a lot of nausa after the op.
I found I was eating too much at any one time, looking at what you call small portions I ate half of that, but very slowly. I grazed continually I drank flat ginger ale and nibbled rich tea fingers. I avoided all sugars and kept my dairy intake down, I also took forceval vitimins and procalshot energy drinks. it was about a year before I found I was gaining weight and ate more normally but now am doing really well even have a tiny muffin top over my jeans.
I went to a specialist dietician who explained how my digestion system works now and the fact it is learning to cope too, a bit like a baby cum toddlers if you are too tired it won't cope well,
Take care
Liz
Try asking Gp for Ondansetron for nausea.As for the eating I have had probs for a year! Tried all options and in the end I just eat what and when I want.Its took me 12 months to enjoy eating again.NB Am year post op and doing tremendous.Stick with it it all gets better but can be slow.We"ll just celebrate we are alive to tell the tale!!
Thank you for your comments, I will see if my GP will let me try Ondansetron.
Pleased to hear things improve after a year.
John
Diabetes and oesophagectomy 
Reactive hypoglycemia
Post op sleeping position 
Diaphragm hernia surgery 
GERD and nightly heartburn 
