hello! Blind loop Syndrome

Lacey2620

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Sep 15, 2015
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I am new to this group and hope to find some answers to my diagnosis of "Blind Loop Syndrome" also called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). I was recently diagnosed with this and am hoping to find someone else who has had it
 
You could have bacterial overgrowth but you don't have a blind loop with a RNY gastric bypass. And that's a good thing.

Some people with the DS benefit from an occasional course of flagyl. I haven't heard of this being used with gastric bypass, so I don't know whether or not it would be helpful for you.
 
Are you a distal bypass? If so, you may benefit from a full round of Flagyl (metronidizole) and lots of probiotics. What are your doctors recommending?
 
I'm on a second round of xifaxan for SIBO.
After the first round I was symptom free but it only lasted about six weeks.
My primary symptoms were chronic constipation and bloating or abdominal distension no matter what I ate.
After the first round I felt great...better than I had felt in months. Then the symptoms returned.
 
Xifaxan didn't do shit for me. So to speak. Why not Flagyl/metronidizole?

The symptoms will return. You just need to recognize that it's time for another round of ABX.
 
You could have bacterial overgrowth but you don't have a blind loop with a RNY gastric bypass. And that's a good thing.

Some people with the DS benefit from an occasional course of flagyl. I haven't heard of this being used with gastric bypass, so I don't know whether or not it would be helpful for you.

Lara, I had RNY and I have been diagnosed with Blind Loop?
 
Welcome I don't know if this counts but since the DS my stomach has always hurted. If I ate it hurt, if I didn't eat it hurt, if I was awake it hurt. Well Monday the pain became unbearable so I went to the ER they said I had an infection in my stomach. They gave me Flagyl and Levaquin iv and the 10 days to go home with. My stomach has not felt bad yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 
@Lacey2620 RNY gastric bypass doesn't create a blind loop. Assuming you have a proximal RNY, which is the usual, you would have your entire duodenum and a very small portion of your jejunum (the part of the small intestine just after the duodenum) bypassed, but not in a blind configuration. Of course you could still have bacterial overgrowth there, but it isn't a blind loop. Maybe someone was using that term loosely.

There used to be a bariatric operation called JI bypass (jejunal-ileal bypass) that bypassed almost all of the small intestine and created a long blind loop. It worked just great for weight loss but created all sorts of severe metabolic complications, as well as severe diarrhea. People died from that operation, and many had it reversed to save their lives. Thankfully, it isn't done any more.
 
Lara, I had RNY and I have been diagnosed with Blind Loop?
Are you a distal bypass? If so, you may benefit from a full round of Flagyl (metronidizole) and lots of probiotics. What are your doctors recommending?
I feel kind of stupid that I don't even know what kind of RNY I had.... I just had my original records here this week but gave them to Social Security for my disability claim. I did have 3 revisions done. I had 18 EGD's done and I did read through the notes and it did say they saw several loops back in 2007. I had the RNY Nov 2006. I dropped like 100 lbs in 3 months couldn't keep anything down. I was put on TPN (tube feedings). They kept doing the EGD's as they said my scar tissue kept growing it shut. I also had several ulcers that would not heal so they had to surgically remove them. The Dr. I am seeing now did confirm that I have blind loop syndrome as did my brother-in-law who is a pathologist and read the report to us so we could better understand what the bacteria count all meant. I was on Xifaxan for the 1st antibiotic and amox/clav for the 2nd antibiotic. Same as you the Xifaxan did nothing but the amox/clav I noticed some gurgling in my intestines after the 2 week regimen. Then it stopped.... I am going in next Wednesday for the hydrogen breath test and they are making me eat a liquid diet with tracers and a beef stew with chicken livers with tracers as well to watch how the food is moving through if at all. They had diagnosed me originally with an EGD and colonoscopy and took biopsies and then cultured those. I am no longer vomiting but the diarrhea/fatty stool has returned :(
I was let go from my job in June as I had to take a medical leave. I assumed it would just be for a couple of weeks but when I saw my Dr. he would not release me as I was to sick. I believe i have had this probably since 2009 after I was at the Mayo clinic where they found a twisted bowel that gangrene had set in. They cut that out and re attached everything. I thought I was ok but continued the vomiting and diarrhea thinking that was NORMAL...until this past January when I just started going down hill physically and mentally... I think it had taken it's toll on me. I appreciate your in put and listening to me as until now I couldn't find anyone who could relate or share their experience... My Dr. did tell me the only way to CURE this for me is surgery and he doesn't think I will find a surgeon that would do another gastro surgery on me as I have had so many and I am full of metal and clips. So, for now I will probably have to continue with the antibiotic regimen and see if we can get some positive results longer term. I have read that the antibiotics can help in the short term but it will eventually come back if you don't have the loops surgically removed. I also have contacted the Mayo clinic again in case I need or want a second opinion.
Thanks for your knowledge and for listening as up until now I couldn't find anyone who has had this... It sure feels better when you can have someone to relate to:)

Peggy
 
Peggy it sounds like you have been through quite the ordeal and I certainly feel for you. Please get all your surgical and egd records together and reach out to Dr Ara Keshshian for a review. Dr k specializes in the DS surgery but as I mentioned in another post, if there is a special case where abnormal things are going on with the gut he will give that person the best possible chance at fix for that intestinal dilemma. Reach out to him at dssurgery.com where you will find the email and phone contact information, and explain your case and ask for him to review your records. He is in glendale, CA but don't let that get in the way. If you talk to them and he agrees to look at your records you can send them and he can piece things together to figure out what is going on that is causing your issues.

Dr K in my opinion is the best outside the box thinker, diagnostician and surgeon in the world when it comes to bariatric surgery. He has completed over 2,000 DS procedures with over 500 of those being very complicated revision surgeries. He did a non weight loss surgery on my son to fix his severe gastroparesis with a pretty simple solution that saved his stomach. Another surgeon wanted to completely remove 90% of his stomach.... Dr k is the best person to review your case and records to see if a solution can be found.

I will be frank in that if you had 3 revisions and don't know exactly what was done, you have a potentially very flupped up GI system and you need a person of Dr K's ability to look at your system to diagnose what exactly is happening to cause your issues and hopefully he can propose a fix. If there is a solution he will identify it for you.
 
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Xifaxan didn't do shit for me. So to speak. Why not Flagyl/metronidizole?

The symptoms will return. You just need to recognize that it's time for another round of ABX.

My GI doc prefers xifaxan over flagyl. If my symptoms return that quickly again, I'm going to talk to him about trying flagyl. Maybe my issues are not limited to just the SIBO. A lot of people who have constipation instead of diarrhea have good luck with a combo of xifaxan and neomycin. I was going to ask him about that next time too.
They were happy that my insurance has covered the xifaxan...a lot of people are having trouble with that. I asked his nurse what they would prescribe if my insurance wouldn't cover it (it's crazy expensive) and we said first she would go to bat with the insurance co but then after that prob flagyl but that he doesn't like it.
 

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