Possible Complication??

[CindyLouWho2 5]

I had gastric sleeve surgery with hiatal hernia repair on feb. 1, 2018. When I awoke from surgery I was in a tremendous amount of pain and had what I call stomach "spasms" nonstop. It felt as if what was left of my stomach was turning inside out and writhing....It would happen with or without drinking, when I moved, etc.

Now I'm 16 days post-op, 20 pounds lost, and the "spasms" are much better but I still have them occasionally. I'm doing well getting all my Protein and liquids down, with a lot of work, of course. For the last 4 days my blood pressure has begun to drop very low for me, around 100/60 P60. I have been on beta blockers for the last 17 years for my high bp and fast heart rate and I had to cut it in half before my surgery and hold it a few days after surgery because it's dipping too low. I've been feeling faint, weak and having diarrhea when I have a BM and I have been hearing a very loud spurting sound in the left side of my abdomen and left back when I go to the bathroom with some pain in the left abdomen near the incision site where they cut through the muscle.

My question is..... I know these surgeries are not easy for anyone! Those of you that have gone through this, does this sound familiar to you, are these normal things that you go through with this? Any advice?

I have read through my handbook over and over and have called my surgeons office a couple of times to ask questions and the nurses usually say to give it time. However, I feel that things are just so different and I don't know if it's "normal" or maybe I should push things and get looked at. thanks for your input!

[Lannie 135]

It is normal to feel weak in the first month. You are on an extreme calorie deficit. However it is possible that Your blood pressure meds may need to be adjusted again due to the weight loss.

Bowel movements are usually weird for people early on as you are eating significantly different than before. I would worry too much about loose stool as long as you are not getting dehydrated.

The spasms you describe are not something I’ve heard of. It could be part of the healing process. If it is continuing I’d make an appointment to be seen. I’m a worrier so, I’d see the doc for my own piece of mind.

[CindyLouWho2 5]

Thank you Lannie. I really started pushing the fluids in case I might be getting dehydrated. And I've always thought the spasms were odd as well. My surgeon just says it will get better. Thanks for responding!

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[Losebig 508]

Its really common to need to change blood pressure meds a few time after surgery (and hopefully get off them all together). If you can check your BP a few times and see if its staying too low and talk to the Dr about changing meds.

The spasms are something I had and they SUCKED. I ended up having some extra hospital time because they prevented me from getting anything down and I had some issues come up because of it. The good news is they went away after about 2 weeks. Ativan actually helped reduce the spasms if I caught them early and could still get a pill down. If not I’d end up dry heaving for hours with severe pain.

On the sound you describe I haven’t heard that or had that. I’d just keep an eye on it and see if you have any other weird symptoms like a fever, swelling, etc. Hope you feel better soon.

[CindyLouWho2 5]

52 minutes ago, Losebig said:

Its really common to need to change blood pressure meds a few time after surgery (and hopefully get off them all together). If you can check your BP a few times and see if its staying too low and talk to the Dr about changing meds.

The spasms are something I had and they SUCKED. I ended up having some extra hospital time because they prevented me from getting anything down and I had some issues come up because of it. The good news is they went away after about 2 weeks. Ativan actually helped reduce the spasms if I caught them early and could still get a pill down. If not I’d end up dry heaving for hours with severe pain.

On the sound you describe I haven’t heard that or had that. I’d just keep an eye on it and see if you have any other weird symptoms like a fever, swelling, etc. Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you Losebig......I was beginning to think I was the only one who had experienced the spasms. Had your surgeon explained what it was to you? And yes, severe is accurate to describe this pain.

[Losebig 508]

It kept me from going home the second day because they started as we did the discharge paperwork. The nurse did an IV while I was doubled over to get in pain meds and something to stop the spasms. They said it was probably due to swelling pushing on nerves and everything being inflammed. I had a LOT of swelling due to the hernia repair and some of the nerves go through that area I guess. The good news is it caused no damage and after a little extra TLC went away.

I ended up getting a full work up and CT scan the day after I went home because my heart rate went crazy. Everything looked fine and they theorized that it was caused by electrolyte issues due to them pumping too much in the surgery or due to adrenaline because of severe pain (I couldn’t get pain meds in because of the hernia swelling). That episode earned me a nice trip in an ambulance, another 4 days in the hospital and a full work up for leaks, blood clots and heart issues. Luckily everything came back totally fine and by 2 weeks out the spasms were gone and haven’t come back.

All that is a long way of saying if they get bad and you can’t get stuff in call the surgeon and get ahead of it!

[CindyLouWho2 5]

Wow, you went through a lot Losebig. I'm glad you told me all this. It is a better explanation that what I got. I also had a hiatal hernia repair with my sleeve so it must have something to do with the nerves and in my opinion, the stomach "trying" to do it's job but most of it is no longer there, aggravating nerves, muscle, etc...
I was in so much pain but all they would give me is IV Tylenol and Dilaudid once every 6 hours. It would relieve a lot of the pain but wouldn't last very long. I cried for the whole day without much relief until my night nurse came in. She stayed on top of it and that was the first real relief I had. I did tell my surgeon several times about the spasms and he came in while I was wrenching in pain but he would just say that it will get better. My particular surgeon didn't like to use pain medicines so I really did suffer a lot.
Anyway I spoke with my nurse again today and everything seems normal except for the bowel issue which I need to make a couple changes and call them back in a couple days. You've been a great help to me! Good luck to you

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[Losebig 508]

That’s crazy that they didn’t do more for pain. I was on up to 3mg of dilaudid when it was bad (i’m Also naturally resistant to opioids it turned out so they doubled the dose twice).

Hopefully things are on the upswing!