What is Stomach dumping syndrome? It is a separate medical condition, in which your stomach empties its contents into the duodenum, which is the first part of your small intestine, faster than normal; also known as rapid gastric emptying. This usually happens 10-30 minutes after eating, causing painful cramping accompanied by other symptoms like nausea and diarrhea. You can read all about the causes and remedies for Stomach Dumping Syndrome, but usually for people with hEDS (as our experience revealed), stomach dumping seems to be the result of consuming food that your body is not happy with.
Stomach dumping is a term I often hear from Diane after eating (“I’m dumping”), followed by her taking something for nausea and a trip to the bathroom for diarrhea. Based on our experience, you can not prevent stomach dumping altogether, but you can keep it to a minimum, resulting in a night and day difference. The first thing that you have to do is figure out your diet plan as explained above, and stay true to it. Second, even if you are eating the right food, look out for other triggers: in Diane’s case, she couldn’t eat the same food twice or two days in a row (like leftovers), and we have no clue why. Finally, when you decide to venture into the unknown, like going out to lunch with friends, and want to try certain foods that look safe, start slowly and consume smaller amounts.
While we can not exactly say what the cause of stomach dumping is for those with hEDS, other than sensitivity and reaction, some of the associated pain and cramping is awful and can not be explained. After chewing food, this chunky food is passed to the stomach, which releases acid in order to digest it. Food sits in the stomach for 3-4 hours swishing around with acid until it becomes softer, and then it is passed on to the small intestine, starting with the duodenum. So when food prematurely leaves the stomach, it has a hard texture and causes the pain and cramping as it enters and passes through the small intestine. However, we do not know the cause of the associated diarrhea and nausea.
Finally, one important thing to keep in mind is that frequent stomach dumping episodes, over an extended period of time, will cause stomach dumping to occur more frequently. For example, if you are experiencing ongoing stressful periods, or you are on a vacation and neglected your diet plan for a bit, the digestive tract can become overly stressed, and during this prolonged stress, frequent stomach dumping may occur. When this happens, revert to the “all-in” diet technique explained above, where you start with all the diets at once, and stay with it until you achieve stability, then slowly return back to your usual plan. It worked for us.