I was banded on Apr. 14th. I have been burping since the next day after surgery. These are SO painful! I get them the minute after I swallow a sip of anything. I asked the doc and he said that my band is not filled yet and there is plenty of room. He even did an x-ray. I'm convinced it's too tight. There is never a moment that I don't have pain inside of my chest. Swallowing is also painful 99% of the time- even with small sips. I have been starving every minute since last week. I'm getting upset because all I think about and deal with is pain and hunger. I start my shakes and soups today, but the doc told me that because my band is just "tighter" than others, I won't be able to take in too much at a time. There's NO WAY I will be able to get in all of the liquid required in a day. This all brings me back to the pain and hunger again. I've broken down and cried so much the last few days. Has anyone gone through these issues before? I am just so hungry, yet can't get enough in without feeling the pain of the burping and the band!! I'm almost regreting this whole procedure. I have the will power, it's just that the pain is taking over. And those damn food commercials on TV! I just want to plaster my face on the screen! Can anyone help me?

Hey Jamie. I don't know how much help I can be, but I can tell you that my experience has been similar. I've had gas so bad that I can hardly move on some days. It causes pain when I burp (which is often) and when I "eat". Mine is slowly getting better. I dry heaved several times on the day I had my surgery. That was horrible. The nurses said it was from the gas pushing against my stomach and band. I even went back to Clear liquids after trying full liquids. It just hurt too bad. I've had almost constant pain in my chest and left shoulder. It makes it difficult to do anything and it's very frustrating. So, if nothing else I know how you feel. I just want to get on with life and eat something. I'm hungry too, but mostly I just WANT something. I know what you mean about the commercials. I can hardly watch T.V.

The only thing that has helped is walking (actually riding in the car is the best) and using my heating pad. Also don't be afraid to take your pain meds if you need to. I've found that Motrin helps me almost as much, so that's what I've been doing. It at least takes the edge off without knocking me out. Hang in there. I know this will get better and we'll be so glad that we did this when the weight starts coming off. Good luck. I hope you feel better soon.

I hear you, that sounds very much like the last 2 weeks for me. The first week was especially bad, with pain, nausea and dry heaving from the pain meds I was prescribed (which I cottoned on to very fast and switched to Mersyndol - no nausea since) and a LOT of pain from gas both in my intestines and my shoulder and back. Not being able to drink much at all, and pain with swallowing, and hiccups and burping that hurt like hell. I had some serious regrets on the worst days as well.

Then I figured out that I was swallowing a lot of air with my drinks and have made a conscious effort to stop doing that. That was inflating my poor tummy and the air had nowhere to go, because it couldn't come up.

What helped for me was having someone pound me on the back (around the base of my ribcage on either side of my spine - not directly on the spine) until I felt the gas in my stomach move, and tiger balm all over my back (or some kind of deep heat ointment, the kind athletes used for strained muscles). I love the Tiger Balm, I found that the heat on my skin both worked to break up the gas, and took my mind off the pain enough for me to get to sleep. I think I'll use it every night

I'm at the start of week 3, and the only time I have pain now is in the late afternoons/evenings if I have been at my PC for too long, and/or let myself get hungry. I am eating something (mushy or liquid) now every hour to hour and a half.

Don't forget that as well as the wounds you have on your belly, you also have wounds inside, on either side of your stomach where the band goes around. Those need some time to heal, but once they are, I think you will feel a lot better.

I was banded on the 14th too, and the gas pains are still there if I drink too much. The cream soup helps a little. I cannot really eat anything more than full liquids now. I am craving hot vegetables.