my fellow bandsters please help! i am 6 days post-op and the gas is killing me. I woke up from surgery in terrible pain and it hasn't stopped. i even had a barium swallow the day after surgery to make sure everything was ok.

i'm eat the gas-x strips like candy, chew beano (get some relief) and walk like crazy, oh and tonight i tried some papaya supplements. not to mention being best friends with the heating pad. the gas can be quiet painful at times: very heavy tight feeling in my chest, pain in my shoulders and around my flank, abdominal pain. othertimes it just moves about like a creature living in my stomach. it even hurts to sniff my nose.

has anyone experienced this? is it normal? does it get better? what helps?

YES INDEED, I am 5 days post op and the shoulder pain is hurting me so bad, I dont know if I made the right choice..I cant tolerate a lot of pain. I did the swallow before i left hospital as well and everything was okay. Please can someone answer the question for us.

I am going thru a box of gas strips every 3 days, is that normal?

It will go away. Mine didn't last that long and Gas-X strips were enough to make me feel a bit better. Keep walking and moving when you can. Deep breathing may help a bit.

I totally know what you are going through!!! I just had my surgery this morning, and I can't believe how much pain I'm in from the gas. The incision sites are nothing... just tender. But the gas?! OH. MY. GOD. I feel like I have a basketball just crushing everything in my chest. It feels like the worst heartburn I've ever had. I am laughing now, after having ready story after story of people saying the surgery was a breeze with no pain at all and that they could have gone back to work either the day of or immediately the next day after surgery. Gah.

Do those Gas-X strips work?! None of the doctors at the office or hospital mentioned them. They just said to keep moving around. The only problem is that when I move around I get extremely nauseated.

Any additional advice?

Oh! And the strange part is that when I have a tiny bite of sugar-free Jello (which I liquefy in my mouth before swallowing), I can't tell if the discomfort I'm experiencing is from the gas, or from the band. It's such a foreign experience so far!

I am 7 days post OP. At 5 days I was miserable with a bad stomache ache, couldn't eat/drink. I realized I was constipated, took stool softner and by day 6 I was feeling MUCH better. Today I feel "almost" normal!

i am almost 2 week post op and still have gas pains everynow and then. i am mostly getting it in my shoulders tho.

Honestly, nothing really helped me get ride of the gas besides for trying to push it out hhaaha. what did help was laying on the floor on my back and rotating onto my side crossing my legs over eachother. try just moving around on the floor and it really does help relieve the gas.

Also if you have a yoga ball (the big balls you sit on to do crunches and stuff) helped to. if you kneel on your knees and sit you butt back into your fit and have the ball in front of you and just kinda lay your chest on the ball while sitting for about 30 minutes, really helped constrict my stomach to a small area pushing the gas out...

just hang in there! it should get better every day and all the gas should be gone around 2-3 weeks. They have to pump your stomach full of a lot of air to lift the skin from your organs to they can operate.

Yes, the gas is evil! My incisions are fine but that gas...OUCH! And to make matters worse, I can't even belch; it's like I feel a bubble stuck under my band and it hurts like hell trying to push it up. Gas-X helps a lot but unfortunately the pain seems to be lingering (I had surgery Monday 1/10). Heating pad helps a lot for the shoulder pain, and if you're comfortable sleeping on your non port side that seems to help me push out some of the gas as well. Think I will try walking on a treadmill for a bit; WAY too cold and icy outside to be running around out there. Hey, is anyone else having trouble getting in their food and fluids? I REALLY don't want to end back in the hospital from dehydration, but have no desire to eat and was told not to drink more that a medicine cup's worth every 10 minutes which takes FOREVER. Any help would be appreciated!

I was the same way! And sometimes still! I am introducing new foods..I tried a pear one day I felt like I was having a heart attack!

The gas right after surgery does take a while to go away! The gas x strips only worked for me at bedtime.

Good luck! It will eventually get better! Just hang in there! Its completely normal!

The gas will eventually go away. Mine was really bad and I couldn't believe how air could make a person hurt so bad.

The Gas -X strips didn't do much for me. Moving helped a lot more eventhough it was so hard to move. I would get up and feel like I was going to barf, but I pushed through it to get rid of that gas.

Oh, I feel for you. I was there last Saturday. I never had any gas until 10 days post op. It was in my shoulders and the top of my stomach. Unfortunately nothing was moving in my stomach, I couldn't expel it nor could I burp. It last for about 12 hours, even though I was taking Bean-o and Gas X. The chewable Gas X worked best for me. I told my surgeon about it, he recommended drinking Water, walking and laying on my back.

It was by far one of the worst things I have experienced. I feel for you and try to do everything I can not be in the situation ever again. I take Gas X if I THINK I might have a gas problem.

Good luck!

I am feeling so much better and I can only attribute it to the papaya enzyme that I started taking a few days ago.

YES INDEED, I am 5 days post op and the shoulder pain is hurting me so bad, I dont know if I made the right choice..I cant tolerate a lot of pain. I did the swallow before i left hospital as well and everything was okay. Please can someone answer the question for us.

I am going thru a box of gas strips every 3 days, is that normal?

I used the chewable Gas X and drank as many hot beverages (broth and tea) as I could. The warm liquids seemed to help and so did laying on my side. I got those tips years ago when I gave birth to help with gas. They worked this time too. I know it's awful, but I promise it does get better.