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Weird burning pain 9 months out...

I'll get straight to the point:

I had my surgery in September of last year and I have been great. But the past month or so I have bad pain on my right side under my ribs with severe back pain and constipation. Also, there is a weird burning sensation that comes in waves right below my sternum. I've never had this kind of pain. I went to the emergency room after a bad attack and I just knew it had to be my gallbladder....but they couldn't find anything! No elevated white blood cells, nothing in the urinalysis, nothing on the ultrasound, and nothing in the blood work. They checked my pancreas, liver, and gallbladder.

I believe their diagnosis but now I'm stuck with the mystery pain! I hope nothing is wrong regarding my sleeve but I'm not sure what else could be happening. Has anyone experienced this type of pain??? An ulcer, maybe??

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  • I would definitely push for a HIDA scan if the pain doesn't go away. I had to go through all those tests before my doctor would do the scan -- all tests came back okay -- but the HIDA showed 0% funct

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I hope you find out what is wrong. That doesn’t sound fun. Keep us up to date.

I would advise you to see the surgeon that did your surgery. When I became sick, at three mts out couldn't keep nothing down, pain on right side. Hostipal ran various tests and found nothing. I notified surgeon and had another upper GI done to ensure sleeve was ok. They had to rue stretch it a little. Too narrow. I pray they find out what's going on with you. Keep us posted!

I had those pains a while ago before i even had surgery, its probably from the constipation. I used to get pains under my ribs in waves and it would hit me like a ton of bricks and go away in a few seconds. Its when your body is trying to push the stuff down your intestines it makes a sqeezing motion but when you're backed up, it causes a sudden pain. I ended up going to the ER and found this out and they gave me a laxative and the pains went away once i went "big potty" lol Seems like you're having the same symptoms i had when this happened so maybe this could be it, but i'm not a doctor :\

It really does sound like the gall bladder. How strange.

One of my good friends (non-WLS) experienced similar pain that took her to ER 3 times and ER doc told her he'd bet his paycheck that it was gallbladder and was flabbergasted when results came back negative...fast forward a month, and she had her gall bladder out and surgeon confirmed that it was much larger than it should have been...all that to say that the results are not always conclusive. If it continues I'd see a doctor, especially since gallbladder issues are very common among the WLS set

They can do a gallbladder function test if it still seems like gallbladder pain. I think they have you drink a dye? Have you tried that test yet?

  • Author

I'm making an appointment next week. I've started Chia seeds and more exercising just in case my symptoms are from being backed up or not being active enough. I moved to Texas after having my surgery in Louisiana so I need to find a doctor that can do my after care. Having pain again today. Ugh.

I'm making an appointment next week. I've started Chia seeds and more exercising just in case my symptoms are from being backed up or not being active enough. I moved to Texas after having my surgery in Louisiana so I need to find a doctor that can do my after care. Having pain again today. Ugh.

What part of Texas? maybe someone can suggest a surgeon's office to help you.

Please be sure to drink, drink, drink if u use the chia seeds. U do not want to make it worse.

You need a HIDA scan to check the function of your gallbladder. You don't have to have stones to have problems. If your gallbladder isn't ejecting efficiently then you'll have symptoms the same as stones without having the abnormal labs, abnormal sono and such. Good luck!

Sounds like gallbladder to me, did they do an ultrasound? This will detect stones for sure. If it is a constipation issue take some M.O.M. this will help for sure and you will then know if this is the culprit.

  • Author

Yes, they did ultrasound and looked over the whole area. If the ultrasound d didn't show anything I wouldn't think I would need further gallbladder tests right?

Yes' date=' they did ultrasound and looked over the whole area. If the ultrasound d didn't show anything I wouldn't think I would need further gallbladder tests right?[/quote']

You need a HIDA scan. Stones show up on sonos, but your gallbladder can malfunction without stones. The gallbladder is a pouch that ejects the bile into your stomach when you eat. When it fails to eject correctly then you have the same symptoms as if there were stones in the gallbladder but the test results will all show no stone because there's not one! The only test that can identify a non-working gallbladder is a HIDA scan. I've been a surgical nurse for almost 20 years...

  • Author

Thank you!!! That's where I was confused. I will definitely ask for this to be done. I'm so confused so maybe this will confirm my concerns! If rather it be this instead of doing more trouble shooting...ugh

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