# Is IBS and Dumping Syndrome the same



## dreamer0238 (Feb 6, 2003)

Hi-I have posted in the past----was wondering if IBS and dumping syndrome are the same thing. Hubby had gallbladder removed about 5 years ago and is still sick-even more so now, He has been to 2 different docs-one says IBS-has been on several meds-nothing has helped. Went to doc yesterday-he said dumping syndrome and gave Questran--if he is not better in a week hubby is to go back. Would appreciate any input--some weeks he can only work 1 or 2 days


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Dreamer, If you hubby has had D since gall bladder removal (without any C), then he most likely does not have IBS. He has bile salt D, which occurs in 5% of post-gall bladder patients. It occurs when the liver has trouble controlling the flow of bile into the digestive system once a person's gall bladder is gone. There are many discussions about Questran here, and how it's worked miracles for those of us with this type of D. A current thread is "Happy and New Questran User" or something like that. Do a search on this board for "Questran" and you will see many stories about this type of D. Hope the Questran's working for your husband. I lived with an incorrect diagnosis of IBS for 10 years after gall bladder surgery. When I was finally correctly diagnosed, one week of using Questran and I was right as rain. Been using Questran for two years since and am still fine. Good luck.


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## dreamer0238 (Feb 6, 2003)

Thank you so much HereIAm --yes it has been D since gallbladder removal-no constipation------vomiting alot now------he has worked 1 day now this week














The family doc and gastro doc says IBS-----did tests-----they say everything looked fine,,,but he was so sick the other day we tried to get him into a local doctor of internal medicine and he said dumping syndrome-and gave him the questran----he had been on Colestid but it did not help-----how long before he should see a difference if Questran is gonna work for him-------did you also have vomiting and hurting right under the breastbone??? I am at my wit's end----i am afraid he will lose his job and we can't make it on my salary-----that is for sure. Thank you for your reply and i will look up these posts you referred to------any and all info and help is greatly appreciated.


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Dreamer, Sorry to hear of your troubles, it sounds tough right now. No, I never had vomiting, and vomiting is not a component of bile salt D or IBS, or dumping syndrome. Have they scanned your husband's liver since they did the surgery? Sometimes, though very rarely, there can be a stone left behind in a bile duct, and it can cause sickness, including vomiting and pain. Or, perhaps he has a stomach bug right now and it will pass. Has he had the vomiting and pain since the surgery? Anyway, it sounds like the doctor needs to know about this vomiting and if he/she won't listen it's time to move onto the gastro doc. Best of luck with this


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## dreamer0238 (Feb 6, 2003)

Thanks again for replying. Not for sure if they scanned the liver or not---they did an mrcp----supposedly they looked for stones-said nothing showed up--has done tests up and down both ends-still nothing. Believe it or not the doctor of internal medicine seems more concerned than the gastro doc--the gastro knows of the vomiting-knows it has been going on for atleast a year now and just says they can't find anything and is calling it IBS. Put him on amitriptyline to help calm things down i guess. Told him to come back in 6 weeks. The internal doc put him on Questran and said it is the dumping syndrome and told my hubby that 5% of gallbladder patients develop this. Told hubby to come back Tuesday if Questran hasn't helped that he had another idea but didn't say what it was. Can the bile salt build up so much that it would cause the stomach to get so sick that you have to vomit and if so if it builds up like that does that mean infection or gangrene could be inside his stomach---would testsshow that??I don't think gastro doc has ordered any tests of his bowel movements--which is basically water. Keep us in prayer as this is very hard on the family also. Thanks for all information!!!!!!!


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

IBS is not related to dumping syndrome.IBS per se does not cause vomiting.It is not clear to me how having one's gall bladder removed would cause dumping sydrome or how the doctors arrived at this diagnosis. Normally, I don't think gall bladder removal would cause this.


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## LifeBites (Jan 1, 2003)

What's dumping syndrome? I've never heard of this.


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## dreamer0238 (Feb 6, 2003)

Dumping syndrome as it is called to the best of my understanding is what 5% of gallbladder patients develop after having gallbladder removed. The gallbladder stores bile and sends it throughout the body(or controls it )---after the gallbladder is removed the bile goes directly into the person's stomach---thus making 5% of those people unable to handle the bile--making them have diarrhea constantly----thus it is called the dumping snydrome. Not only this doc is calling it the dumping syndrome but I have read of it before on other sites concerning health problems and various subjects,,,but i lost that site when my computer went down. As of yesterday(sunday) my hubby has had the first form of a bowel movement since having gallbladder removed almost 5 years ago!!!!!!!!! He has been on Questran only since the previous Tuesday--also the pain under his breastbone is not there and he is not vomiting yet. I pray that finally a doc has gotten on the right track!!!!!!!! My husband has been on alot of different meds to try to help him-----so far this is the closest he has come to any relief. he was even on pill called Colestid(which some say is pill form of Questran)but pharmacist says they are different chemicals not just different forms-----Questran is a powder. Colestid did not help hubby----he also tried calcium--several pills including metoclopram---Protonix--amitriptyline-----citracel-Paxil--Hyoscyamin---Chlord/Clind5--too many others to remember-----only taking Questran now with amitriptyline------and amitriptyline did not help alone--so he may quit taking it. This is the first sign of any relief for him since having his gallbladder removed---I pray that this is the answer we have been waiting for.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote: best of my understanding is what 5% of gallbladder patients develop after having gallbladder removed. The gallbladder stores bile and sends it throughout the body(or controls it )---after the gallbladder is removed the bile goes directly into the person's stomach---thus making 5% of those people unable to handle the bile--making them have diarrhea constantly----thus it is called the dumping snydrome.


Dumping syndrome is *not* related to gall bladder removal. The bile shouldn't go back into the stomach and even if it did, why should that cause dumping syndrome?Dumping syndrome generally occurs after having vagotomy or other gastric surgery.However, it now occurse to me that you never meant dumping syndrome and are instead referring to *post-cholecystectomy diarrhea*, which is probably caused by some sort of bile acid malabsorption. That does occur in some people who have gall bladder removal. That does cause diarrhea and maybe why some people with diarrhea are helped with calcium (they actually don't have IBS).


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## dreamer0238 (Feb 6, 2003)

Flux-I don't mean to be rude or anything but as you stated you are not a doctor-therefore when a doctor tells me that the dumping syndrome IS a result for 5% of gallbladder removal patients I prefer to believe him-especially since he is not the first person I have heard this from------as far as i understand the bile is going into the stomach area-----it is certainly going somewhere and messing up 5% of the people who have their gallbladders removed and since my husband has lived with this I have first hand experience as to what he is going through. And as i mentioned before calcium did NOT help my husband. And Yes I did mean dumping syndrome---if i can find the site i have visited before I will post it so that you can see it is not in my head or the doctor's head. I am NOT a doctor therefore I can not relay the message in the same form but I have not misunderstood the relationship between gallbladder removal and the dumping syndrome----there may be those who don't believe it but that is their opinion and they may not have lived through first hand knowledege. But i will recheck my info about the bile going into the stomach------i am almost 99% sure that is what was said. Anyway for those who have had gallbladders removed and found no relief in anything else Questran may be the answer------I guess we will find out in weeks and months ahead but for now-I KNOW it has helped make a stool formation for my husband who has not had that since gallbladder removal. And I know he is not feeling the pain under his breastbone or the vomiting for now.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:when a doctor tells me that the dumping syndrome IS a result for 5% of gallbladder removal patients


You just misunderstood the doctor or the doctor misspoke because 1) Gall bladder removal does *not* cause dumping syndrome.2) Post-cholecystectomy diarrhea does occur in 5% of people who had cholecystectomy.3) Questran does *not* help with dumping syndrome but it does help with post-cholecystectomy diarrhea. (I am speculating about calcium; it hasn't been formally tested and shown to help with post-cholecystectomy diarrhea.)


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## HereIam (Mar 1, 2001)

Dreamer, It's great to hear that your husband is feeling better and that the Questran seems to be working for him. I hope he continues to improve and soon is back to some semblance of normal. Flux, as my mother used to say, "be nice, hon." Yes, it's true that what Dreamer's doctor has referred to as "dumping syndrome" is actually bile salt or post-cholestycwhatever D. He's treating it as if it's bile salt D by prescribing Questran, and has described it as bile salt D, so who cares what he calls it. He's using the dumping syndrome label in the wrong way, but, really, does it matter what it's called? When my bile salt D is at it's worse I could easily refer to is as a dumping syndrome, because I'd eat and dump and eat and dump and eat and dump.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:He's using the dumping syndrome label in the wrong way, but, really, does it matter what it's called?


Yes, because dumping syndrome is a separate and unrelated condition.


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## Smip (May 23, 2003)

It's funney how folks interpert the things they hear from the doc. Or sometimes the doc cuts corners and trys to talk in laymans terms.I know when my doc explaind the bile thing to me, he said the name which seems a mile long and said that very very very few people get this after haveing the gallbladder removed. He said that small percent can not handle the way the bile dumps from the liver to the "INTESTINE" not stomach.I have never heard of dumping syndrome. But my doc put me on questran. I just started takeing it a few days ago.dreamer0238, you seemed to have gotten very much on the defensive. Folks are here to help and to empathize with you. But I can almost feel your frusteration living on the other end of IBS, or other types of "tummy problems" Sometimes it's hard for one to understand what we live through.Anyway, I'm glad that it helped your hubby. Im shure hopeing it helps me.


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