I feel really stupid asking this, but I have been hurting pretty badly for about 4 hours. My upper abdomen is distended and hard. It feels like severe gas pains, but nothing is moving.

I sure don't want to go the the ER and be told I have gas, but I am in some serious hurt.

Any idea of what's going on or any advice?

Colleen

Colleen,

I had surgery this month and went to my first support group last week. A girl there said she had the same problem, and her doctor said she had food stuck in her pouch. He opened it up and the food went right down. This may be what your problem is.

I don't know when you had the surgery but if it's been within this week, then it's most likely trapped gas pains. I had it 3 days post op and thought I needed to go to the hospital. Probably the most painful experience aside from giving birth. If that's what you have, take ALOT of Gas-X, lots of water, walk around alot and I even took a very gentle laxative which worked wonders.

Are you constipated? When was your last BM? If you just had surgery you should have your first BM in 3-4 days. If you have been banded awhile you may be constipated. My surgeon recommended Ducolax for 3-5 days till I got relief. (I was in the ER last year with severe abdominal cramping, no desire to eat, gas and unable to produce a BM.) To this day I have to do the Ducolax regimen once a month or I am in misery. Please check with your surgeon or clinic first to be sure. Best of luck!