Ok, so I have an issue and I’m hoping to get opinions, options, thoughts, suggestions… just your basic feedback. First, some history. I’m 6 weeks out from surgery. I’ve had my first fill (1.2 in 4cc band) for 1 week. I’ve PB’d once (my first bite of eggs post-op, lol). I’ve slimed once (eating too fast).

Mikey (my husband) was banded 2 days before I was, so we’re healing together. I had gas pain post-op (he didn’t). The first 3 weeks were miserable… constant heating pad, Gas X, walking, etc. Week 4 was better… but then week 5 came.

I do realize that technically I’m still healing… and that this MAY be CO2 from the surgery. But I am having MAJOR gas pains. When they hit really badly, the only thing I can do is curl up in the fetal position with a heating pad & cry. About 2 hours later (normally after a nap), it finally goes away, only to return the second I eat or drink anything.

I’m unable to make myself burp. I wasn’t able to pre-band either. Mikey says that now it’s a new muscle to burp. I couldn’t figure out the old muscle, lol, how on earth can I figure out a new one! So if I want to burp, I have to wait for my body to decide to give it up. What a pain!

My working theories (none have been proven to my satisfaction):

1. food allergy: I’ve tried going non-dairy… no result. Nothing else is really constant, unless you can suddenly become allergic to water!

2. Gulping air while drinking: I’ve tried sipping smaller sips, using a straw, not using a straw, using a small-necked bottle, a sippy cup. I haven’t tried a baby bottle yet, but I’m considering it!! I tried 2 days of eating ice only (no drinking)… still got pain… and was REALLY thirsty.

3. Gulping air while eating: Not sure what to do with this one.

4. Letting my stomach get empty: I’ve tried drinking 1 ounce of Protein every hour. It didn’t seem to help.

5. Getting over-full: I’ve started limiting myself to strictly 1C of whatever or less. It hasn’t seemed to make a difference yet.

As of today, I’m keeping a journal, rating the pain… trying to see what’s triggering it. I’ll share the journal with you. If you have ANY ideas, please throw them out! I’m eventually going to my surgeon with this, assuming it’s not just me creating a mountain out of a molehill. I’m hoping this disappears magically on week 7… but in case it doesn’t:

The format is time, pain level, what I’m doing / eating. Today I had zero Water. It was my “try without water & see if that helps” day. It didn’t. **sigh** There goes another theory!

7-9:30 0

9:30 drank AchievOne

11:00 1 -- shoulder only, slight

11:30 5

12:00 6, drank 2nd AchievOne

1:00 3, drank Isopure RTD Zero Carb

2:00 2 with twinges of 3, still drinking Isopure

2:12 5, bad twinges of 6-7 -- heading to eat chili

2:35 1, eating chili, little to no pain

3:30 3... hmmm, maybe too much chili? (1.5C) Maybe this is the pain of a too-full pouch? Except sometimes it seems to happen when it's empty

4:00 2 -- pain in stomach more then shoulder... like gas settling

4:50 4 -- shoulder, came on FAST

5:00 7 -- ugh, not sure what to do... eat? drink? go to bed? Took 2 Mylanta Gas chewables, going to bed with heating pad

5:30 4 (heating pad helps)... stomach now growling, but still in pain, lol, confusing!

6:15 7 Haven't made it to dinner yet, going now... fast!

7:30 4 At least it calmed down SOME! Took 2 more Mylanta

8:30 6 Ugh... at practice too, so no chance of food

10:00 7-8 Singing is a royal pain. This is definitely connected to the diaphragm. Breathing is agony!

10:30 7 Stopped singing, lol, so it hurts less. Taking Tylenol PM & going to bed with the heating pad.

ZERO water today... I'm scared to drink.

Thanks for any help, thoughts, experiences, etc. I’m trying to be all scientific about this, lol, but in reality I’m at my wit’s end. The pain is very wearing, as is being afraid to eat or drink… or not eat or drink, lol.

Sorry this is so long & thanks!

5. This is my new hungry / full sign. I just need to learn to read it.

Until I was propertly restricted, which took 4 fills and 2.8 cc, this WAS my full sign. I never felt stomach fullness and sent DeLarla more than my fair share of desperate "when will I ever feel full" emails. In my case, I think this full signal came because I was pushing more food than necessary through the pouch (because I wasn't feeling full), therefore constantly irritating my diaphragm. Now that I can stop eating when I'm physically full, a much smaller amount of food passes through.

So...that's why I think the pain comes from being not filled enough. Everyone says that when you're unfilled you can eat like you did before, but you're still not supposed to because the band is in there doing SOMETHING (not sure what, I'll let you know when I figure it out).

And everyone anti-RNY keeps saying that our innards aren't rerouted, but they certainly are changed. For example, if you can't burp or pass gas, all your extra gas is getting trapped inside your now compacted organs.

I know when I had similar issues, I had sharp pains in very odd places. That all went away with a good colon cleansing, so you might consider something stronger than Benefiber.

So how's the pain today (at the ass-crack of dawn that I see you on here)?

When it was first explained to me...a long time ago...I was told that the band was touching a nerve that signaled the brain that there was pain in the left shoulder and that it would go away.

Good News: For me that's how it worked.

Bad News: For a friend, repeated surgeries and eventual band removal were needed. The current theory is that her surgeon "nicked" the diaphragm during the original surgery and that it will never completely return to normal.

Other Good News: Most stories are like mine.

Mine lasted for over a year, not as intense, but I will still occasionally get pain in left shoulder. Mine has actually hurt so bad before, I thought I was having a stroke or heart attack.

The only thing that helped mine was massaging it, oh it hurt so good.

Heh, we were getting ready for church at that ever so lovely time of 6 am. **sigh** I HATE "springing forward"!

That eating too much thing really makes sense, StrawartS! I've been trying to keep my portions down to a cup, but I'm STARVING!!! Though when the pain kicks in, I ignore the growling stomach, lol. This past week I've been on the pain diet, works wonders!

Today wasn't too awful... the church pews are very similar to the couch (i.e. I lean back). But every time we stood to sing or whatever, it HURT! And we just got back from choir practice... which was evil!!

Sue -- thanks for sharing your story... and your friend's. I'm hoping I take after you!

I'm with you, Pat! I've been massaging my shoulder to death, lol. Mikey's tired of me asking him to rub it all the time. Hmmm, I used to have a big ol' heavy massager I used on my low back... wonder where it is!

The worst part is really that I'm just so bleh!! Every time I start to do something, I stand up & the pain hits... and I go lay down instead of doing laundry, or the dishes, or mowing, or whatever.

Oh well, tomorrow's a new day! Thanks for all the support & experience! I'm an LBT addict!

Janet...shot in the dark idea...nix the benefiber and switch to Milk of Magnesia? Get moving, don't fill up the colon with fiber just yet, unless, of course, it's with real food. I'm not a fan of benefiber. No real reason, but if regularity is an issue, MOM is helpful and doesn't cause similar bowel issues as the benfiber. I don't know. Just a thought. ???

Janet, I hope your episodes are easing a bit....I think mine are. One thing I discovered that convinced me that I was feeling referred pain is that the heating pad and massage didn't help at all.

Jack's got some good questions and it might be a good idea to make note of them in your diary.

Well, I'm 6 days out, still on liquids and not really wanting much else. I'm back at work today....which means I've got to log off and get to it. I wish you the best.

Ellen

Personally & kinda gross question... how many times a day is "normal movement"? I do about 1 without help from fiber, 2-3 with Benefiber added, none large (in comparison to pre-banding).

We're going to the nutritionist today, so I'll ask her these questions as well... and I'm taking my diary. This will be my first documented complaint of pain. We'll see how they react! (Yeah, I know I should call my surgeon... but we'll see him in 2 more weeks, and if it's just post-op pain I don't want to cry wolf, etc, etc, etc.)

Good luck with work, Ellen! Take it easy on yourself!

Hey Kathy! I've never tried MOM... adding it to my list.

On to Jack's questions... some of them are going to take thought:

Just where is the pain located: left shoulder... into my pec, but the focus is about where you'd pinch someone's shoulder when you were a kid. I've been pinching it to "help the pain", heh, brings back memories -- and makes me twitch when I do it too hard, lol.

Is it always the same place or does it seem to move around. Same place, though sometimes (when it's bad), everything around it hurts too. But I don't find myself rubbing my arm, just that shoulder... and a touch up into my neck.

Can you actually do any specific to make it hurt on cue. So far I haven't found anything specific, though I have found that sitting on the couch seems to make it subside some. I've decided that it's because I lean back... when I sit forward to get up, I feel it descend on me again. I've been known to sit up halfway just to check if it's still there. (On the couch, level 7 subsides to 3 until I lean forward... not gone all the way, but I can live with it. "Honest, doc, I'm a couch potato because I HAVE to be!" )

How long does it hurt at a time. The bad episodes are about 2 hours, sometimes 3. The level 2-3 pain can be all day... (I can live with that as background pain, it's the 6-7 that throws me for a loop).

Is this more than once a day? Yeah... though with my diary I've noticed it normally spikes around 3 and again around 7ish.

Does raising your arms over your head, or taking a deep breath have any effect? Raising my arms hasn't seemed to help. When it's bad it's hard to breathe deeply, though I was at vocal practice last week & lived through it. Diaphragm breathing HURT!!! I ended up with side cramps like I was running, lol, not a normal response for me. The shoulder was still where the focus was at, though. I think the side cramps were just a last ditch effort to speak to me, lol. (I ignored it, of course. No one at practice knows I've been banded.)

Can you tell for sure when it starts, is it a BANG YEOW! or is it a gradual onset? Gradual onset. I've been tracking as soon as I feel anything... it's normally about 2-3 hours after I hit a 3 that it goes to a 6 or 7.

Sharp or dull? Dull, with some sharp stabs here & there, mostly when changing position.

Does the heating pad help for sure? I don't really think the heating pad helps... I've tried without it & get the same results. But it's comforting & makes me feel like I'm doing something. Same answer for Gas-X & Tylenol. I haven't really noticed them shortening or helping the issue, but ya gotta do something!

Do other symptoms come with the pain? Not that I've noticed. I can be hungry through the pain (my stomach growls), I've sung through it, and exercised through it, and worked through it... though I don't do anything well & mostly just go to bed with it. I haven't noticed any nausea or the runs or anything like that. I have been feeling heartburn lately (2 days), but it doesn't seem to come & go with the pain.

What is the more comforting thing you can do once it is upon you? My little system has become:

Take Gas-X at pain level 2-3.

Drink some Water while you can stand to. (I've blamed the water before & tried without it, but it didn't seem to make a difference.)

Take Tylenol at level 4-5.

Go to bed at 6-7 (with or without a heating pad).

Take a 2 hour nap... or just lay & watch TV.

Get up in 2 hours, rinse, repeat (i.e. wait for level 3 pain again).

I seem to have 2 episodes a day... spiking at 3 & 7. I'm thinking it is GI tract related, if only for that fact. I tend to drink Breakfast & eat lunch around 12-1 & dinner around 5-6, so that's about 2-3 hours after I eat.

Thanks for all the help & suggestions guys! It really helps me to feel more in control to have ideas to give the doctor.

I am almost 7 months post banding. I had real gas pain, from the moment I was in the recovery room. It slowly dissolved over the first week.

Since the first week, on occasion, I have the same feeling of gas pains. However, it know it isn't gas as this point. I feel it must be the nerve or referred pain from the diaphram, as others have spoken. It is always my left shoulder. I have never had this before, pre-banding.

I find the pain occurs when I am hungry (really hungry) or sometimes stressed. Eating usually helps.

Keep taking your pain meds and get in touch with your surgeon. Since it is on a daily basis, I am wondering if it's something that needs to heal. I am guessing that the CO2, from surgery has since dissolved.

Good luck. Shawn

I am almost 9 months out from my band surgery, and this remains an issue for me too. I had almost given up from hearing anyone else discuss it, cause it seems like I am the only one still suffering, long after surgery. My doctor isn't sure what causes it either..........

Here is what I have learned about why it happens to me: I never have it early in the morning, when I first get up....it happens, usually, mid morning, right before lunch when I am hungry. Also, hits me late afternoon when I -you guessed it- am hungry again...or just need more Water.

My husband noticed that one day I was especially complaining about it, that when I bent over to pick something up off the floor I let out a heck of a belch-----------and felt immediate relief. Can't explain it, but seems to work. Meaning, if I can get rid of some of the air, I feel better, tho not forever. (It doesn't go away completely at this point, but is definitely relieved for the moment.) I don't use straws, so can't imagine how this keeps occurring.....I am a teacher, and talk a lot - maybe I really am full of hot air? HAha.

Another way I get some relief is to lie down on the left side..........I usually feel air moving around, and sorry for tmi, but it heads out one way or the other, and I feel better.

I never experienced this preop....don't have a gallbladder anymore so it's not that...and I know that it comes and goes depending on the fills. Can't explain it to save my life, but I have really tried to figure out why I'm suffering! (I am no where near full restriction yet, so can't be that.......Still working on getting to sweet spot)

Good luck.......and know you aren't alone!

I'm with you, Amy!! And BIG ol' hugs for lasting 9 months with the pain!!

I told the nutritionist yesterday... who told the nurse... who told the doctor. I got a call today. He's pretty sure it's still "healing" pains, but he wants to keep an eye on it. He suggested I try liquid Advil or Motrin, NO MORE then 2 doses a day. Since they're NSAIDs, he wants to keep my use down, but he said it was worth a try, in case it's just still swelling causing the pain. He asked me to keep track of how much I take & if it gives me relief. (The nutritionist said I'm only the 2nd patient he's had with this much pain this far out, so we're sorta in new territory.)

We have another appointment in 2 weeks -- follow-up with the nutritionist & fills if needed. He said we'll re-evaluate if I'm still feeling it then.

Thanks everyone for the support & ideas! I loved throwing all the theories at them. :ban:

Janet, about the shoulder pain, for me , it's my stomach (gastritis)

Because I've been fine all day and because I'm feeling so tired, I decided to have the first cup of coffee in a month.Coffee really triggers stomach problems for me. Well, 15 minutes later, the left shoulder pain started.

Sure sounds like a possible sickly Gallbladder to me!! I am an Ultrasound Tech and also had mine out. The pain can be horrible!! Get it checked out before you mess with your band.

I'm with you, Amy!! And BIG ol' hugs for lasting 9 months with the pain!!

I told the nutritionist yesterday... who told the nurse... who told the doctor. I got a call today. He's pretty sure it's still "healing" pains, but he wants to keep an eye on it. He suggested I try liquid Advil or Motrin, NO MORE then 2 doses a day. Since they're NSAIDs, he wants to keep my use down, but he said it was worth a try, in case it's just still swelling causing the pain. He asked me to keep track of how much I take & if it gives me relief. (The nutritionist said I'm only the 2nd patient he's had with this much pain this far out, so we're sorta in new territory.)

We have another appointment in 2 weeks -- follow-up with the nutritionist & fills if needed. He said we'll re-evaluate if I'm still feeling it then.

Thanks everyone for the support & ideas! I loved throwing all the theories at them.

Are aspirins a no-no? I took them once in a while.

Thanks Jack! I haven't been to a chiropractor since we moved, I'll put out feelers.

Sue, I was told to quit using all NSAIDs upon banding. I was given 2 reasons:

1. The possibility of the NSAID sitting in the upper pouch & causing tissue issues. (Not sure this is valid with liquid NSAIDs.)

2. The overall effect of NSAIDs on the body, especially the liver.

I used to take a ton of Ibuprofen (long-term knee issues), but I've given it up on the "better safe then sorry" theory. Neither reason was good enough for me, but until I REALLY need 'em, I'll obey just to be nice, lol. :huggie:

I understand NSAIDs contrubute to errosion. That's enough to keep me away from my Exedrin Migraine. :huggie:

GeezerSue - my doc says Aspirin is a definite no-no. Go with Acetamenaphine (sp?)