Caution: If you need an upper GI done...

... and they try to give you the "salts" that create gas in your stomach/pouch before you start drinking the barium, be SURE the person who gives it to you knows that you had a RNY and that they should only give you HALF a dose. Otherwise, the result can be PAIN.  Obviously my pouch is "mature", and I have not experienced actual pouch pain in several years, but I had very sharp pain after taking a full dose of the salts and being instructed NOT to allow the burps to escape.  Sharp enough that I gasped several times and the gas escaped anyway.  When the doctor came into the room right after that and the tech told her I did "not follow" the "no burping" instruction (and I then explained WHY), the doctor informed her that RNY patients should always be given only HALF a dose of the salts as well as half the normal amount of the heavy barium for the first portion of the test (and then a normal amount of the thinner barium mixture for the remainder of the test).

Just wanted people to be aware so they can ASK what dose of the salts they are getting if they need an upper GI...

Lora

Excellent advice.... I remember arguing with them (they won the argument) and oh-my-freaking-gosh.... what pain! No way I could contain that. The gas in those things are designed to inflate a 2 liter container, not a baseball sized container (at fullest inflation).....

Hope your upper GI went well! 

Did you see your pouch? They showed me the films, and I was fascinated to see how neat and tiny and well formed my pouch was, how tiny my stoma, how SHORT the length of my intestines (They did a small bowel follow through) and how extreme my reflux STILL is (though no acid)

Yes, it was quite painful.

I also had the small bowel follow through, but the only picture I got to see was the very last one which was just the mass of intestines.  I did get to see a pic of the INSIDE of my pouch from the EGD, though... but you couldn't really tell anything about size.

Lora 

What GI group did you go to?

For this round, my PCP just ordered it at the hospital.  My EGD and previous GI tests were with Dr Jit in Kettering.  He was ok, I guess.  Hated his billing staff.

Lora

Thanks for the info.  I wish they'd train staff to know these things.

I think we should make an RNY instruction manual for hospital staff.


Sarah

Thank you for that Lora. That just one more thing to write down as instructions of what to tell Dr's NOT to do!! I'm so paranoid about Dr's, surgeons, nurse's screwing me up that I have a whole little notebook in my purse with instructions on how to treat me with a certain med I'm on and RNY stuff. I copied it and gave one to my mother to keep too! Sorry you had to be the guinea pig to find out though...

That is great to know! I had an Upper GI done as a teenager... and I wish they had also told me then to take a laxative afterwords. That stuff constipated me so bad, I was sick from it! It solidified like cement. Horrible experience. I hope I never have to have another one!

Amanda :)

thanks