I have been banded for a little over a month, and I still get get and discomfort in my left shoulder. I usually have to use a heating pad and stretch it out. Anyone else experience the same?

My left shoulder pain from pressure on the phrenic nerve lasted for months. It also became my full signal for awhile. I used OTC pain patches and they helped quite a bit. The pain will stop after you drop some more weight and the pressure on the nerve eases.

Ditto to what HB said. I had that pain until I lost some of my belly fat which, I think, allowed the band to sag a bit. Even then I'd get the pain when sitting in the passenger seat of the car because it put me at just the right angle. In the last week it has disappeared completely...as has more of my stomach!

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I asked my doctor about it last week. He said that the band is right above your diaphragm and if the band irritates the diaphragm (like when I eat too much or when you're in an odd position like others said) you get that referral pain in the shoulder. It's horrible pain, and it does tell me I've had too much to eat, hope I learn soon to stop before the pain starts!

I've had the same issue, I noticed it a lot last week. I related it to possibly eating too fast or too much.

It is quite uncomfortable. The pain tends to go up my left side of my neck so i wasn't sure if perhaps that was something musculoskeletal going on. Any ideas?

Interesting motivator to not eat too much..

Thanks for your responses!

i'm 8 months post-op and still having horrible referred pain in my shoulder. i've lost 110 pounds, excercising regularly, eating small portions, etc. and still in intense pain at times. in the early days after surgery, i actually had to take my pain killers for the SHOULDER, not for the incisions.

i ran this past some of my nursing instructors who floated the idea about the cold, dry gas they use to inflate the belly actually causing damage to the cells within the body. damaged cells on the diaphragm could easily cause referred pain until they repair themselves, and possibly longer. i did some research and found that there are plenty of doctors now who use heated and humidified (that's the key, it needs to be humidified) gas and their rates for shoulder pain are quite low compared to those who do not.

it's something to ponder, for sure.