Well... had my band removed A bit over a month ago (feb 8). Weight wise I am doing fine. I still have a lot of restriction (actually more than I had with my band!!!!)

My biggest problem right now is intense, debilitating pain. This had been going on for a week now (and NO, I have not seen my doctor yet) When I eat I have been getting stuck, without the relief of being able to throw up. With my band as soon as something got stuck I would just go into the bathroom (or grab a suitable barf container) and it would come right back out, with lots of slime. Now I am unable to get anything out,,, I just need to ride out the pain. This is probably not the worst thing, since my removal was for an erosion, so throwing up is probably not all that healthy, considering I had to have a good sized hole sewn up in my stomach.

Anyway, within a couple of hours after getting stuck I start having pain. It goes from the middle of my shoulder blades on the left side, all the way down my arm and into my fingers. It also hurts down the side of my neck on the left side. The first time this happened I thought I might be having a heart attack :scared: . That was quite scary. After this happening 3 days in a row I finally figured it is most likely refered pain. I just don't know if it is pain from the repair, or pain from the lovely case of gastroparesis my erosion seems to have caused. I am leaning towards the gastroparesis causing this, since today the pain happened withough getting stuck. It seemed to start soon after having something to eat. I suspect now that it is just from my stomach being super full and not emptying. When this pain starts I sometimes feel like if I take another bite or drink of anything I am going to die. It is quite miserable, I have not been getting anywhere near the Water I should be drinking, but when I feel this full I may be dying of thirst, but unable to drink due to how full my stomach is.

I just don't know what to do....

Hi:

For sure you should call your doctor and see what he/she says about this pain after eating. In the meantime you should probably stick to liquids. I've had that horrible left side of the neck pain that travels down to your hand. It's awful!

Let us know how you're doing and what the doctor says.

Take care.

Sue

Contact your Doc at once, IMHO. And it is possible to have any variety of causes for your pain. Go get and exam and some answers. Personally I suffer better when I know what's causing my misery.

I hope you get to feeling better.

Definitely call and ask, at a bare minimum.

FWIW, the pain you're describing can (please don't take that as "is") be caused by the stuck food. When I'm stuck, my pain changes but usually starts as a dull ache near my sternum and eventually evolves into an intense pain between my shoulder blades that wraps down & around to my hips, an intense squeezing pain just above my belly button, and a radiated pain from my belly button out to my sides, first the left side and then the right. It will also hurt down my spine between my shoulderblades.

My father had gastroparesis related to the removal of his band. However, as soon as his band was actually out he felt find and had no problems. But while the gastroparesis was active, it was a different story and he was in a great deal of discomfort. So your gastroparesis continues despite band removal? I'm surprised you're eating -- were you not put on a severely limited diet? Are you on any Reglan, Domperidone, etc.?

Until you can see your doctor I would suggest sticking to liquids. Water, Protein drinks as needed. You can go without solids, but you need to prioritize getting your liquids in. If you can do liquids with nutritional value, even better. That old "if it hurts to breathe, don't breathe" adage has some truth to it. If your problems come when you eat, and it's causing you that much pain & discomfort, you might want to hold off until you can get in for treatment.

i still have my band in, but have had similar episodic problems where i have gotten so sick i thought i might die - two months ago. it got to the point i could not breathe and had to be treated in an emergency room. I have not yet had my band removed, but am very careful not to eat anything during the late evening and to chew thoroughly and being sure to stop at the first hint of pain; perhaps that might work for you? My surgeon and gastroenterologist tell me I have a distended asophogus, which appears to be part of the problem. It can be very puzzling - at times I feel I can hardly eat anything at all, while at other times (usually later in the day), I can be ravenous. I had lost about 105 pounds from where I was, but have gained back between 10 to 15. I'm not sure ultimately what I'm going to do, i.e. whether or not to have the lap-band removed - for now I'll wait and see.