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Crazy cramps?



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Hi. New to this site and forum.

I had RNY GSB on October 20, 2016. For four weeks I had ongoing cramps on my left side that moved around. One was the pain from the muscle incision someone else wrote about. That resolved. But at four weeks I still had this almost constant sharp pain on the left just under my rib cage. It felt/feels like I suddenly ran and got an ache in my side multiplied by 50.

Nothing showed on the scan. My surgeon suspected adhesions or scar tissue to be at the root of it. So two weeks ago, I went under again for an "exploratory" and for her to remove scar tissue. There was scar tissue that she did remove but not as much as she thought would be there.

I do feel better (2 weeks later) but I still get these sudden cramp attacks and can't figure out what causes them. At least they stay in one place: left side under my rib cage.

It can happen when I eat (nothing in particular), or drink, or be walking. Ice packs and/or drinking hot tea helps as does sitting and stretching out on a recliner but it takes a while. They can last up to an hour or more.

Anyone else experience this or have any knowledge what is causing this? And any suggestions to prevent or treat?

Thanks in advance!

(Pictures coming soon)

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Hi....For those that read, thank you.

Thought I would give you all an update and maybe this will help someone else.

Through trial and error, I narrowed this issue down to a couple of things:

1. Drinking.

First, although I wasn't using a straw, I was drinking hot fluids with a "sip top" cover. And I realized, I may have been gulping air when trying to get Fluid through the small opening! Now I just keep the top on to keep the beverage hot (and prevent spills from my mischievous cats who like to run fast and knock things over - lol). But when I sip, I remove the top. This has made a huge difference.

Second, although for the most part I mastered the eating techniques (more in a minute), I believe I may be drinking fluids too quickly. This is because a) I'm not drinking enough or consistently throughout the day so when I drink fluids, I'm so thirsty, I go too quickly (old habits die hard, what can I say?) Also, the eating guidelines are pretty clear. But drinking guidelines I've seen are "sip like you would a hot drink". Guess what? I typically liked my beverages ice cold and even when hot, they were typically very warm. As in hot tea, I would add an ice cube so I could drink it.

Bottom line on fluids for me: Small sips through an open top cup, swish in my mouth, wait at least 30 seconds (like food) before taking another sip.

I haven't figure out yet why I get this pain randomly when sitting or walking. For now, I've accepted it may still be my body healing and relearning to digest food and But if I figure it out, I'll update again.

Regardless of whether you read, reply, post, I'm so grateful to have found this site. Reading others' experiences has been helpful and inspiring to me. You also makes me feel like I am in great company and remind me to laugh at myself now and then - even if laughing still hurts my tummy (but less than it did one week post-op).

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I'm having same cramps. Calling doc tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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I sipped my Water today, had no side pain at all. I guess gulping is not good. . Doc orders did say, sip Water. Lol

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

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