What Causes Dry Cough And Heaving After Gastric By-pass Surgery?

Posted on Sat, 7 Jun 2014

Question: My daughter has had gastric by-pass surgery exactly 2 months ago.. So far, she has not had a normal day. She has had to leave her family and move in with us (after a visit to the hospital for 5 days to make sure she was hydrated and had nutrients -- along with CAT scan and endoscopy) because she gets terrible pain and dry heaves all the time. We have been doing relaxation with her, and trying to get enough fluids and protein in her. She wants to sleep and not eat or drink and I have had to get stern. She will walk with her dad and we did take her to have an IV with B vitamins this week. She is so depressed by this dry heaving and coughing going on and on that she wants to die. We will return to Illinois from MI next Wed for her appt, but I just want to know how to make it so she does not have all this mucus which makes her gag all the time.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Yogesh D (10 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Dry cough and heaving after surgery need attention

Detailed Answer:
Hello Mrs Meyer,

Thanks for posting your query.

I have carefully studied your questions and I feel your daughter needs evaluation soon.

Dry cough and heaving after a gastric bypass surgery are not good signs, they probably indicate regurgitation or infection in the lungs and need to be evaluated soon to find the exact cause.

I would recommend you to continue with providing nutrition, don't lose hope, she will start feeling better with time, two months is sufficient enough time, but some people will need more time to recover after a major surgery like gastric bypass.

Please do visit the surgeon as early as possible and you might have to get an X-ray or CT scan of the lungs, and you will need to consult an Internal medicine MD too for a complete evaluation as to what is going on. A physical exam by an internal medicine MD will give much needed information as the condition.

About feeling depressed, please get the issue resolved by proper medical care, as soon as her medical issues resolve, she will fell way better, until that time, provide the excellent moral support you are providing her right now.

I hope this will answer your query, please do feel free to write back to me if you have any additional concerns.

Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery.

Warm regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar