Bowel bypass syndrome

southernlady

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http://dermnetnz.mobify.me/systemic/bowel-bypass.html
The photos look a LOT like measles or shingles.

Bowel bypass syndrome is also known as bowel-associated dermatitis-arthritis syndrome and blind loop syndrome.

Bowel bypass syndrome is a relapsing condition characterized by rash and arthritis. It is most commonly associated with bowel shortening surgery, where a ‘blind loop’ of bowel is created. This kind of surgery was previously popular for the treatment of morbid obesity. Up to 20% of patients undergoing bowel bypass surgery develop bowel bypass syndrome.

A similar syndrome has been reported in people who have not had bowel bypass surgery (‘bowel bypass syndrome without bowel bypass’). In these cases associated conditions have included:
What causes bowel bypass syndrome?
Bowel bypass syndrome is thought to be caused by bacterial overgrowth in a blind loop of bowel. A blind loop is a length of small intestine which digested food does not pass through. The effect is shortening of the small intestine, which leads to reduced absorption of fats and subsequent weight loss.

Bacterial overgrowth in the blind loop leads to release of bacterial antigens into the circulation. These antigens are called peptidoglycans. Peptidoglycans bind with circulating antibodies and these antibody-antigen complexes are deposited into skin and joints causing inflammation.

Bacteria identified as having a causative role in bowel bypass syndrome include:
  • Escherichia coli
  • Bacteroides fragilis
  • Streptococcus species
 
I've heard of a few people who've had this - joint pain and rash in an intestinal bypass patient should be a red flag, but it is often missed for a LONG time. We need to know these things, because our doctors won't think of it.
 
Wow...this is so interesting. I would occasionally get a red (almost hemorrhagic) rash, but always on my legs. I'd show it to my PCP, and he would be clueless. Of course this all took place during a time when I was going down the tubes nutritionally. Since I regained by nutritional health...no rash. I've always attributed the rash to a vit. deficiency (maybe Vit. K). If the rash ever comes back, at least I'll have something else to show to my PCP. Looking at the photo I would have guessed Shingles.
 
I got this about a year after my surgery. I was sicker then sick. And the pain was terrible. I was lucky in that my doctor referred me to a dermatologist who had seen one case like mine in a woman who had WLS so he biopsied my rash and diagnosed me right away, otherwise it might not have been diagnosed for a long time since it was so unusual back when I had it.
I continued to have the bacteria overgrowth until my revision but thankfully I never had that again. It was over a month after I started treatment before I finally got better.
 
I got this about a year after my surgery. I was sicker then sick. And the pain was terrible. I was lucky in that my doctor referred me to a dermatologist who had seen one case like mine in a woman who had WLS so he biopsied my rash and diagnosed me right away, otherwise it might not have been diagnosed for a long time since it was so unusual back when I had it.
I continued to have the bacteria overgrowth until my revision but thankfully I never had that again. It was over a month after I started treatment before I finally got better.
Taz, I am sorry you had to deal with this. Thank you for speaking up.
 
Taz, I am sorry you had to deal with this. Thank you for speaking up.
Thankfully that was a long time ago. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the issues I had. Even though I didn't get the arthritis/dermatitis complications again I still had to deal with problems from the overgrowth for a long time. My revision must have eliminated the blind loop because I haven't had any symptoms since that day.
 
Thankfully that was a long time ago. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the issues I had. Even though I didn't get the arthritis/dermatitis complications again I still had to deal with problems from the overgrowth for a long time. My revision must have eliminated the blind loop because I haven't had any symptoms since that day.
Taz, could I run some things past you about this? I have been suffering from some rashes in the past year that could be explained by this....
please let me know if you're willing to share more details in a PM.
thank you!
Nickie
 
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Taz, could I run some things past you about this? I have been suffering from some rashes in the past year that could be explained by this....
please let me know if you're willing to share more details in a PM.
thank you!
Nickie
Gonna tag Taz for you. @Ladytaz (I will also PM her to visit this thread since it's been awhile since she posted on this one.)
 
I have been diagnosed with Blind loop syndrome recently and it is also called SIBO- small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. I am looking for anyone else who has had this. I do not have a rash... I just felt miserable mentally and physically. My days consist of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. I keep losing weight and recently lost my job as I could not function anymore. The Dr. has tried 2 different antibiotics and so far nothing has changed. If you google it there is a great article from the Mayo clinic that describes me to a tee. I had 840,000 colonies of bacteria in my intestinal tract. please let me know if you know of anyone I can get some support from...thanks!
 
I have been diagnosed with Blind loop syndrome recently and it is also called SIBO- small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. I am looking for anyone else who has had this. I do not have a rash... I just felt miserable mentally and physically. My days consist of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. I keep losing weight and recently lost my job as I could not function anymore. The Dr. has tried 2 different antibiotics and so far nothing has changed. If you google it there is a great article from the Mayo clinic that describes me to a tee. I had 840,000 colonies of bacteria in my intestinal tract. please let me know if you know of anyone I can get some support from...thanks!
@star0210 just dealt with SIBO.
 
"I had 840,000 colonies of bacteria in my intestinal tract."
I have no idea what this means. We all have WAY more than that in our guts - perhaps you mean per cc? Or of a specific kind of bad bug? What is "normal" for whatever number this is you are reporting? There needs to be units - per something ... or of something specific ... and you need to also say what the normal range is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora
"The human body carries about 100 trillion microorganisms in its intestines, a number ten times greater than the total number of human cells in the body."
 

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