The main treatment involves dietary change, as most people have relatively mild symptoms they tend to respond well. This would always be the first change to make.
Dietary changes
Eat smaller meals. Taken regularly. We suggest breakfast, lunch and evening meal and a mid-morning and mid afternoon snack. This is then equivalent to eating every 2-3 hours.
Eat slowly and chew your food well, this helps prepare it for digestion. This can be especially important with meat so mince may be more digestible than a steak for example.
Avoid sugary foods such as sweets, sugary breakfast cereals, honey, syrups( especially look for added corn syrup) and sugary drinks such as cola
Look at nutritional labels if there is red on the sugars list then it is best avoided
Avoid nutrient rich drinks such as milk shakes or nutritional supplements (build up drinks)
Eat more complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, whole meal pasta, potato (with skin), wholemeal bread and unsweetened cereal.
Eat more food high in soluble fibre which slow the emptying on the stomach and prevent sugars from being absorbed too quickly. These foods include broccoli, Brussel sprouts, carrots, nuts, oats, okra, peas, prunes, pulses and soy beans
Eat protein containing foods with each meal. High protein foods include eggs, poultry, fish, milk, yogurt, cheese, pulses and nuts.
Avoid alcoholic drinks.
Avoid eating and drinking at the same time, have fluids 30-60 minutes after food
Please get in touch with the dietitian on your team if you want further advice.
Medication
If the above doesn’t make any difference then medication may be useful.
Acarbose – delays carbohydrate absorption, and can be helpful with late dumping syndrome symptoms
Octreotide is a synthetic form of somatostatin (a naturally occurring hormone in the body) and can be beneficial as it delays stomach emptying and reduces the release of insulin and several gut hormones,
There are a few newer medicines that are being trialled and these may be useful in the future,
*Disclaimer: Please note that weight loss surgery results and benefits are unique to each individual and in such The Bariatric Group cannot guarantee specific weight loss goals as results for each surgery can vary. If you have any questions or would like to know more about weight loss surgery please contact our expert team.
