Hi, Im three weeks post GB op and the last few days I have had a real horrible bile problem even though i am watching very carefully what I eat. Only porridge and sloppy stuff and very low fat. I have got a really bad headache and mornings are the worst. Today I feel really unwell with it with sore throat and tongue and chest hurting. I have spoken to the Dr and she wants to try me on Domperidone tables 10mg three times a day. Has anyone tried these and found they helped with the bile? I had been doing so well up to now . She asked me if I was yellow so Im not too sure what shes thinking at the moment. Im keeping positive but will just be so relieved to get this bile problems sorted. Id love to hear from anyone else how long its likely to take to settle and if these tablets are likely to help. Thanks
Hi Jane am sorry to hear this. The tablets you have been prescribed are for nausea and vomiting and slow stomach emptying. Am not sure they will help bile reflux. I think maybe your doctor is hoping they will help things move quicker through the digestive system. Have you bile coming up into your mouth with a metallic taste? The usual treatment for bile reflux is a bile binder which soaks up the bile. I'm sure it's only temporary and will settle. I did have it at the beginning as well. Alternative remedies for bile are psyllium husk which soaks up the bile and acid in your tummy or calcium carbonate tablets. However if you suffer from constipation the calcium will only make things worse. I'm hope it settles down soon. Take care xx
Thanks Ace, The Dr said that the tablets will help settle the nausea but that also it will encourage my stomach to empty quicker so hence the bile should go down wards instead of going up ? She is a very good Gp and im hopeing she is right. I have a horrible taste in my mouth which is kind of mettalic i guess. My tongue is very sore. When the reflux starts then the Gb area feels sore for a bit so im sure its just a bile overload at present. I take 40 mgs of omeprazole a day as well. Im so glad yours settled down cause that gives me hope that this isnt going to be for ever. I will look into the things you suggested if this tablets dont work.Thanks very much for your help.
Hi jane I hope your feeling better today. I meant to say to you to try sleeping on propped up pillows as if your nearly sleeping upright. My doctor advised me to sleep that way when I had that bile reflux at the beginning. It's to stop that bile coming up your throat. Take care and keep me posted on how your doing. It will pass. X
Hi Ace, Thanks for the suggestion but I have been sleeping propped up.I dont feel any better yet but too early for tablets to have worked i guess, but boy have I got the most horrendous headache and right sided neck pain from the bile. I had this a few times before the op but its only now I realise what it was. I feel really giddy to but think that is the side effects of the domperidone.I will be so glad when this settles the sooner the better I hope you are as well as can be.
Take care and thanks for caring
Hi Jane domperidone aids emptying the contents of stomach faster and bile that is in there helping with the nausea and reflux.
i had my op almost a year ago and suffered from nausea, sore throat, heartburn to severe chest and back. I still get nausea only sometimes when I eat something like salmon or red meat. One thing I still have is chest pain and I think I still have some reflux from bile. I've tried so many drugs and nothing has stopped my chest pain. I feel like my esophagus is in spasms and it's awful. I'm so tired of suffering but hopefully it's going to be alright. I want to hope for. Hope you'll feel better but it's so hard when we're not the same.
Hi Leni, Thanks for your reply. I have been on it for two days now and my headache has now gone thanks goodness. MYglands in my neck are less painful too . I still have the horrible bile taste coming up but I think it has been slightly better but by no means gone yet. I was diagnosed with acid reflux well before my GB was diagonised but I now believe this was Bile all along cause by a shot GB as the omeprazole never really controlled it.
I really feel for you having had this for a year and it still not being right. Its a horrible thing and disheartening that no one seems to be able to treat it with a lot of success. Im hoping as im only week 3 and a bit its still early days and it will settle for me. I know others have said it can take up to 2 years for your body to adjust to the bile so Im hoping you will eventually get some relief. Thanks for your reply.
Just to update the Domperidone are really helping. When I dont take them I know it. The bile thing is settling nicely and havent got the contsant horrible taste and that awful headache. Im sure I will be able to come off them once its settled as dont want to be taking more tablets than I have to. I have also changed my Omeprazole to one in the morning and one before bed instead of two first thing in the morning and I think that is helping. It is week four tomorrow for me so still early days yet.
Great news jane. Delighted to hear this. Take care xxx
Hi! Never tried it though i also have bile problems.
It seems like its part of it after op. Just in my opinion got my gb out 2 months ago. until now i'm experiencing bile problems. Just tolerating the pain. I don't want to cause any serious harm to my liver and colon by taking meds or pain killers.
Hope you'll be well soon!
Katherine xxx
Hi Jane, I have been taking Domperidone for 4 months along with a proton Pump inhibitor (similar to what you are taking also but a defferent brand name). I take 40 mg. of Nexium in the morning and then 10 mg of domperidone before lunch and then the same again before dinner. This has been a good treatment for my bile reflux and I am more comfortable now although I still have to be careful not to eat too much at one time. Many people suggest smaller more frequent meals and during the day and alhtough I have trouble follwoing that advise , I am going to give it a try.
Hi Dahlia, Thanks for your reply. Its 9 months now on from my GB op and GB wise everything is settled and healed well. In the last three months I found out about the Low Fodmap diet which really helped me control the awful reflux. I found onions and cabbage of any kind triggered my refluz really bad.I have managed to get off the Domperidone. I was on Omeprazole which really didnt help so I have now stopped them and I find that the awful bile reflux stops as long as I dont have onion or cabbage.I also found out I have gastritis which I am now trying to sort out myslef with slippery elm and marshmallow root . My dr wanted me to keep taking omeprazole but it caused me so many side effects I wanted off. I know now I had gastritis well before My GB op and this what was causing most of my symtpoms. I am really beginning to improve health wise and as long as I watch what I eat I dont suffer from the reflux at all. I do find though that small meals are a necesity.If over eat get very hto and sweaty and I think my body is still adjusting to the lack of bile flow. But I just eat smaller meals and have plenty of fish and chicken and it all seems fine. I even eat a certain amount of fats now with no trouble. I hope you cn get your reflux sorted soon as I know how miserable it is but just know there is an end to it eventually for many
I had what I believe to be gastroparesis for 12 years. I had the gastric emptying test and that came back negative but I’m still pretty sure that’s what the problem was. It was truly horrible, I felt sick almost all of the time and would vomit 4-5 times a day. I just felt like that all the time, it wasn’t triggered by eating or anything and was generally slightly worse in the mornings. It really ruined my life. I ended up suffering quite severe depression because it’s no fun feeling sick all the time. I went to therapy and was prescribed anti-depressants. It indirectly led to the break up of a long term relationship too. Domperidone change my life entirely. I was only prescribed it because I was sent to occupational health because I had so much time off work sick and the person I saw, who was a retired GP suggested it so I went to my GP and basically demanded it. I think there is some reservation from doctors to prescribe it because it has been linked to heart problems but a well respected consultant I saw told me he thought these claims were a bit over blown. He said that if you have an existing heart condition it might be best not to take it but that if you don’t, it’s unlikely to cause one. From the moment I started taking Domperidone I no longer felt sick all the time. I also take Lansoprazole but I know it’s the Domperdone that works because if I don’t take it for 2-3 days the feelings of nausea immediately return. I know I’ll be taking it for the rest of my life but that’s ok, I’ve never suffered any side effects from it. When the occupational health guy first mentioned it I thought he said Dom Perignon, I’d definitely take champagne if I could get it on prescription!!
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